FINANCIAL RESULTS THIRD QUARTER 2022
- Net sales amounted to SEK 4,207 thousand (4,043)
- Total revenue amounted to SEK 13,863 thousand (12,554)
- Operating profit amounted to SEK -11,593 thousand (-9,202)
- Operating profit after financial items amounted to SEK -11,592 thousand (-9,206)
- Cash flow amounted to SEK -23,086 thousand (-18,444)
- Liquidity ratio amounted to 282% (577)
- Order backlog for coating systems at period end amounted to EUR 3,019 thousand (2,570), which at period end corresponds to SEK 32,964 thousand (26,217)
FINANCIAL RESULTS JANUARY-SEPTEMBER 2022
- Net sales amounted to SEK 13,945 thousand (28,556)
- Total revenue amounted to SEK 34,261 thousand (29,494)
- Operating profit amounted to SEK -34,616 thousand (-31,896)
- Operating profit after financial items amounted to SEK -34,620 thousand (-31,903)
- Cash flow amounted to SEK -46,890 thousand (88,437)
SIGNIFICANT EVENTS (1) THIRD QUARTER 2022
- Coating system order for fuel cells from Boyuan (China), with order value in the EUR 1.2-1.4 million range, which includes Managed Services for four months. Boyuan becomes the third manufacturer of fuel cell metal plates in China to purchase an INLINECOATER™.
SIGNIFICANT EVENTS (1) AFTER THE PERIOD
- No significant events have occurred after the end of the period.
(1) Significant events refer to events that comprise insider information and shall be made public via press release.
CEO’S COMMENTARY
The third quarter started with a new system order, from Boyuan, a Chinese manufacturer of metal plates for fuel cells. For the first time, an order included Managed Services, which means that Impact Coatings will operate the coating system at the customer’s premises for a certain period of time. This is a way for the customer to start quickly and build up its own competence, while it generates service revenue for us. We had the opportunity to ship a coating system to China already during the quarter and production is now, shortly after the end of the quarter, already underway at the customer with the help of our local team.
Revenue recognition from the system sale to Boyuan is, as previously disclosed, planned for the fourth quarter and according to plan no system sale revenues are reported during the third quarter. Coating Services performed below expectation. Production appeared to ramp up as expected at the start of the third quarter following a dip that we deemed temporary during the second quarter. But after the summer, orders again declined. The variability is a result of the automotive industry’s component shortage, which has slowed production of some fuel cell vehicles. In addition, there is uncertainty in consumer electronics – a segment where a few of our Coating Services customers are active.
The fourth quarter is also expected to be on a lower level. Longer term, we expect Coating Services to once again grow in line with its previous trajectory. The customer base in Coating Services is expanding, both with established companies and growth companies. The investment pace in the market and the interest in hydrogen as an energy carrier imply that the need for our coating solutions is increasing for fuel cells and electrolysis. In electrolysis, the initial demand is for test coatings and limited test series.
Market trends and customer interest motivate the opening of our new Coating Services Center in China. The country has strong momentum in the production av fuel cell vehicles, supported by a strong focus on hydrogen in the new five-year plan. Our facility in Shanghai is largely complete and wiring and installation of infrastructure is in full swing.
With the system order from Boyuan in July, we prioritized delivery to the customer and reallocated machine and personnel resources, which allowed us to quickly deliver and get started with Managed Services at the customer. To replace the coating machine that was quickly adapted for delivery to Boyuan, we are now building a new machine for our Coating Service Center in Shanghai. After some delays in the supply chain, the machine is now scheduled to be delivered at the beginning of next year, with start of production in Shanghai in the spring of 2023.
After my recent return from Stuttgart and the annual hy-fcell conference and trade fair for hydrogen and fuel cells, I can confirm that the demand for Impact Coatings’ coating expertise in the segment has never been stronger. With well-established and qualified coating technology for fuel cells together with flexible and scalable production solutions, we can help customers start and scale up their production. It is the case for fuel cells today and in the future also for electrolysis used to produce green hydrogen.
Many of our existing and potential European customers were at the Stuttgart event. The old-fashioned way of meeting at exhibitions has its advantages and has received a boost after the pandemic. We had a well-attended both and a strong team on site with both specialists and sales professionals. We pre-launched the INLINECOATER™ IC2000 at the Stuttgart event – our new coating system for volume production.
Many of our booth visitors were companies that form plates for fuel cells. Component suppliers are gaining increasing responsibility, including managing surface coatings. The trend is apparent in the Hydrogen Solutions business area as well as in Metallization Solutions, which includes radomes and antennas for autonomous safety functions. Coating Services, together with our flexible delivery models and additional service offerings, help us work closer to customers in several dimensions, where we can share our expertise and solutions for scaling up production in an appropriate way for each supply chain.
Europe is well ahead in the development of a hydrogen-based energy system and there are strong driving forces in the EU. One example is the RePowerEU plan, which the EU commission presented in May, including recommended actions aimed at phasing out the EU’s dependence on energy imports from Russia as soon as possible. The Commission recommends, among other actions, production of 10 million tons of renewable hydrogen in the EU plus a goal of 10 million tons of imported hydrogen by 2030, as well as support for the development of three large hydrogen corridors for imports via the Mediterranean, the North Sea, and Ukraine.
Also the USA is investing aggressively in the production of green hydrogen. The Biden administration’s Hydrogen Energy Earthshot 2021 aims to decrease significantly the price of green hydrogen and the Inflation Reduction Act, approved by Congress during the summer, includes substantial tax rebates for green hydrogen and "clean" vehicles. Impact Coatings’ regional President – North America Rob Mamazza has a full schedule speaking with system and stack manufacturers, especially in electrolysis, and tracking new players in the American market.
Our established sales offices now provide close coverage of the major markets driving the hydrogen and fuel cell industry: Europe, North America, South Korea, and China.
With so much focus on hydrogen, we should remain aware of the development in our other key business area: Metallization Solutions. The annual sales volume of vehicle radar systems is today in the range 50-100 million units and is expected to increase continuously when more vehicles include current safety solutions as standard and with an increasing degree of autonomy in the vehicle fleet. There is a consensus that Radar (radio signals), Lidar (laser signals), and camera-based solutions will be combined in future vehicles, for a variety of functions and for redundancy that improves road traffic safety.
Many of today’s radar systems are located behind radomes in the form of the vehicle’s front emblem, for which Impact Coatings has become a supplier of coating systems to leading producers. With regard to antennas, most of today’s radar systems contain so-called patch antennas made of metal. There are strong drivers, however, relating to the antennas’ performance and cost indicating that they will evolve to waveguide antennas made of metal-coated plastic. We are continually improving our technology for metallization of plastic in dialog with customers, and we can supply cost-effective production solutions when volumes of waveguide antennas ramp up.
The positive momentum I am seeing in my contacts with industry customers – for example at the Stuttgart trade fair – and in my conversations with companies active in automotive safety, convince me that Impact Coatings’ products, service offerings and expertise will be in great demand in the future.
Torbjörn Sandberg, CEO
The full report is attached, and can be retrieved on the company's website at www.impactcoatings.com/finansiella-rapporter-arkiv/.