Impact Coatings, experts in clean PVD coating solutions, announces the opening of a subsidiary in China with headquarters in Shanghai. The objective of the opening is to distribute Impact Coatings’ market-leading expertise in PVD coatings for hydrogen solutions and to improve the availability of Coating Services solutions to Chinese customers in the hydrogen value chain.
China, the largest renewable energy market globally, has repeatedly demonstrated its commitment to a carbon-neutral society built on hydrogen energy. Numerous global giants in the automotive and energy sectors have recently announced their entry into the Chinese fuel cell and hydrogen market. This as China is accelerating to meet new ambitious sustainability targets to cut pollution and carbon emissions.
As a market leader in sustainable coating solutions for bipolar plates, Impact Coatings has already built a strong foundation in the Chinese fuel cell market in terms of branding and sales, and is now expanding its presence and offering.
“Based on expected growth due to local market demand and global trends, we see this expansion as a natural next step in our growth journey. We are familiar with the customer needs and the customer benefits from offering coating services in our Swedish Coating Service Center and are now ready to expand our offering to new strategic growth markets such as China,” said Torbjörn Sandberg, CEO of Impact Coatings.
“This is the optimal time for us to expand our presence in China and provide a broader and better service to a growing customer base. Our goal is to reduce risks for our customers and support the growing hydrogen market from sampling and test phases to volume production, to accelerate the transition towards a carbon-neutral future,” said Yaowen Wang, President, China at Impact Coatings.
Yaowen Wang joined Impact Coatings in early 2019 as Sales Director, China, and now steps into his new role as President, China of the newly formed subsidiary. He has an M. Sc. degree in Environmental Engineering and Technology from Ghent University (Belgium), and more than seven years of experience in the hydrogen energy industry with various roles in engineering, business development, and sales.
FINANCIAL RESULTS FULL YEAR 2021
FINANCIAL RESULTS FOURTH QUARTER 2021
SIGNIFICANT EVENTS FOURTH QUARTER 2021
SIGNIFICANT EVENTS AFTER THE PERIOD
1) Significant events refer to events that comprise insider information and shall be made public via press release.
CEO’s COMMENTARY
2021 marked the highest-ever levels of annual sales and total revenues for Impact Coatings. Both system sales and Coating Services contributed strongly. We delivered according to plan all coating systems on order during the fourth quarter of the year and Coating Services generated sharply higher sales over the full year. The operating result reflects the offensive strategic initiatives that the company started in 2021.
As we enter 2022, we see a continued strong order inflow for Coating Services, while irregularity in new system orders has resulted in a momentarily empty order book. One explanation is component shortages in the automotive industry affecting forecasting and delaying new projects. Several system sales discussions are in progress, and we are during this period using production resources for assembly of coating systems for internal use to help the company expand in multiple dimensions.
Impact Coatings has established a clear strategic direction to meet the real market needs in the hydrogen and fuel cell sector. It involves an increased focus on our services offering and capitalizing on the company’s globally unique expertise within coating technology. In parallel, we are developing the next generation, larger coating system for fuel cell plates and are preparing for the production of a greater number of systems for our own Coating Services facilities and for customers around the world.
The transition away from combustion engines is driving the development of the fuel cell industry. The value chain is forming, where new players and long-time automotive industrial companies will find their roles and evaluate various technical solutions. Despite aggressive volume forecasts, many companies are therefore waiting to initiate capital investments and are focusing to a great degree on buying services. Impact Coatings’ ability to deliver both Coating Services and production technology for high-volume manufacturing – while at the same time being a development partner that makes a difference for fuel cell system performance – makes the company a unique and influential supplier. The services market also gives the company an opportunity to ally itself with strategic customers already during their development stage.
We see the demand for Coating Services both in the consistently increasing order inflow and in our ongoing discussions with customers about their future needs. The fourth quarter was another strong quarter for Coating Services, although with somewhat lower sequential sales vs. the third quarter, largely due to production delays among certain customers. Sales for Coating Services over the full year amounted to SEK 11,386 thousand, an increase of 61% vs. 2020. To meet the market demand for Coating Services, we will increase the capacity both in Linköping and through geographic expansion, where the implementation of a first coating center in China has started with estimated commissioning in the second half of 2022.
In Linköping, coating operations for fuel cell plates are moving to new premises and will become automated. The new production hall, which will also serve as a demo center for potential customers, is expected to be completed during the first quarter of 2022. Here, we also assemble the first unit of our next generation coating system – a machine type that can be used both in our own facilities and delivered to customers for high-volume production.
During the fourth quarter, we completed the final delivery and invoicing of three coating systems. Symbio received the first production machine for fuel cell coatings in Europe. We also delivered two coating systems for metallization of radomes for automotive radar applications, to HELLA MINTH in China and to the HELLA Group’s subsidiary in Slovenia, which received its second Impact Coatings system in less than a year.
We continue to develop system technology and coating processes for hydrogen fuel cells as well as for automotive safety. Much of the development is driven independently, but an increasing part is also conducted in cooperation with strategic partners and customers.
Impact Coatings’ Seoul office has been up and running for just over a year now. The joint development with Hyundai continues, with daily interaction between our technical expert on-site and Hyundai’s R&D department. The INLINECOATER R&D system that we delivered to Hyundai during spring 2021 is invaluable for ongoing development activities within both fuel cells and electrolysis. Being on location in Korea with both technical expertise and sales personnel makes possible our establishment in Hyundai’s value chain and gives rise to productive relationships there and with other customers in the region.
We are also building a team and a professional structure for growth. At the start of the new year, our German colleague Stefan Dreger started as President EMEA, Hydrogen Solutions. Stefan comes to us most recently from the automotive giant Robert Bosch GmbH, where he worked as Senior Sales Manager in the hydrogen solutions business area. Since November 2021, Bengt Rosengren has been our new VP Operations, with 30 years of industrial experience from a range of companies including Ericsson. Stefan and Bengt will be important for Impact Coatings’ development, and I extend to them both a warm welcome.
Impact Coatings turns 25 during 2022. Although we remain a young company with our best years ahead of us, we have established a unique position in industry as a PVD coatings specialist offering materials, processes and production technology tailored to our customers’ needs. Our expertise in growing application areas, such as hydrogen fuel cells, electrolysis, and automotive safety, will drive innovation and the transformation to a safe and sustainable society during 2022 and for many years to come.
Torbjörn Sandberg, CEO
The full report is attached, and can be retrieved on the company’s website at www.impactcoatings.com/finansiella-rapporter-arkiv/.
Impact Coatings is pleased to announce that Stefan Dreger has joined the company in the new role of President EMEA, Hydrogen Solutions. Stefan’s responsibilities will encompass sales leadership and business development with a clear goal to accelerate Impact Coatings’ revenue growth within the Fuel Cell and Electrolysis segments in the EMEA region. Focus will be to further expand the company’s customer base and execute a partner strategy, as well as contribute to the company’s marketing and business strategies. Stefan comes to Impact Coatings from Robert Bosch GmbH, where his most recent role was Senior Sales Manager for Hydrogen Solutions.
Stefan brings more than ten years of sales, strategic marketing, and business development experience to Impact Coatings, with four of those years in the fuel cell ecosystem. Prior to joining Impact Coatings, he gained expertise in growing and leading cross functional international acquisition & project teams. Stefan is a graduate of Hochschule Ulm/Neu-Ulm with a diploma in Industrial Engineering.
“Stefan is an outstanding addition to Impact Coatings, as he brings deep experience from the automotive industry and knows what it takes to deliver customer success. As Impact Coatings continues its rapid growth and focus across the EMEA region, we expect Stefan’s sales and leadership skills, and his background in building strong customer relationships, to accelerate Impact Coatings’ growth. We are thrilled to have him on board,” said Torbjörn Sandberg, CEO.
“I am excited to join Impact Coatings and look forward to working with our talented teams to continue to build on the solid foundation developed over the past decades. From my perspective, Impact Coatings is perfectly positioned to help customers transform their business towards clean and sustainable solutions, not least in the automotive industry. I look forward to helping Impact Coatings accelerate towards its future goals,” said Stefan Dreger, newly appointed President EMEA, Hydrogen Solutions at Impact Coatings.
As of November 15, Bengt Rosengren has been appointed Vice President Operations at Impact Coatings. Bengt has 30 years of international experience and has a proven track record in production, sales, project management, business strategy and business development. He has worked for Ericsson, Sensys Gatso Group and Arriva Sweden.
Bengt will be based in Linköping and report to CEO Torbjörn Sandberg. Henrik Åkeson, who previously managed operations, has left Impact Coatings to pursue new opportunities. We wish Henrik the very best and thank him for four great years with the company.
“Henrik has been instrumental in transforming Impact Coatings into an industrialized and commercialized company and has contributed to some of the most important milestones we have achieved. Thanks to the fact that Bengt has worked as a consultant for Impact Coatings in 2018, before stepping into the role as VP Operations, he had a head start and has picked up from Henrik from day one. We are happy to have Bengt and his international experience and expertise onboard for this next leg of our commercial journey,” said Torbjörn Sandberg, CEO.
“I’m excited to join Impact Coatings. Since I have worked with the company previously, I know the capacity of the people working here, and of the solutions that we provide. I am also excited to be part of the accelerating journey to transition society towards a safe and sustainable future with the help of Impact Coatings’ environmentally friendly PVD coating technologies. It’s a privilege to join both a great team and a great cause,” said Bengt Rosengren, new VP Operations.
Just one week after Bengt Rosengren’s appointment, Impact Coatings decided to further increase in-house production capacity in Linköping. The premises are, as of the beginning of December, being upgraded to increase efficiency and capacity with an automated production line ready for operation in 2022.
“To meet customer demand, we are increasing our Coating Services capacity and adding system assembly space to our Linköping site. The timing could not be better with Bengt starting his new role,” said Torbjörn Sandberg.
FINANCIAL RESULTS THIRD QUARTER 2021
FINANCIAL RESULTS JANUARY-SEPTEMBER 2021
SIGNIFICANT EVENTS SECOND QUARTER 2021
The highlight of the period was a system order from Symbio, the first European system order and a sign of strength in the fuel cell segment. Symbio is, since 2019, a joint venture owned equally by the French automotive industry giants Faurecia and Michelin, with the stated goal of together becoming a global leader in hydrogen-powered mobility.
Michelin had already initiated development work with Impact Coatings when they in 2014 first invested in Symbio. The fuel cell manufacturer has since then been a key customer of our Coating Services business and we have seen significantly increasing volumes over the past year. Their decision to invest now in their first own coating system and in-house production is in line with our own strategy for helping customers grow and validates the technical performance and cost advantages of our solution.
Three system deliveries are planned for the fourth quarter: to Symbio in France, to HELLA in Slovenia, and to HELLA MINTH in China. The latter machine is now planned to be shipped from Linköping during October-November, a few weeks later than initially planned.
During the year, we have expanded our customer base within Coating Services in line with our strategy, which has contributed to continuously improving sales. Despite the summer holiday period for both our own team and our customers, during the third quarter Coating Services generated nearly the same revenue as in the previous quarter. Revenues for the year-to-date period already exceed full year 2020 revenues, and sales appear strong for the remainder of the year. As mentioned in the previous quarterly report, we will install an industrial robot in Coating Services to achieve higher production efficiency and increased competence in automation. The automated production cell for fuel cell coatings is expected to be complete at the start of next year.
During the period, we participated in two exhibitions related to hydrogen and fuel cells, in South Korea and Germany – two countries with fast-growing industrial hydrogen ecosystems and where Impact Coatings is located and is strengthening our presence. The recruiting process is complete for the President – EMEA role with a base in Germany and sales to the European hydrogen industry as the primary focus. Our new colleague will join the company January 1 and will be further introduced at that time.
I attended the conference and industry exhibition “f-cell” in Stuttgart during September, and in conjunction also met with customers and development partners in Central Europe. Our ability to now visit customers and welcome them to Linköping is a significant and welcome change. The activity level at our facilities and in industry generally is at an entirely different level now compared to during the pandemic.
The ongoing global wave of national hydrogen strategies and the enormous, planned investments in green hydrogen production, storage, and transport, are impressive dynamics of our market. There is an emerging global consensus that electrification using hydrogen is a necessary complement to electrical grids and battery technologies.
At the same time, the market for producers of fuel cell plates and fuel cell systems is, with periods of both acceleration and delays. Application development with evolving requirements is ongoing in parallel with the expansion of production capacity. System manufacturers, above all, are willing to work closely with suppliers during the buildup of this new industry. Impact Coatings’ strength is that today and in line with our core strategy for the future, we can supply production solutions for the hydrogen and fuel cell industries that are both cost-effective and flexible.
By offering clean coating technology, coating systems and services that support innovation and the transformation to a safe and sustainable society, Impact Coatings is a company that makes a difference.
As resolved by the AGM, the nomination committee of Impact Coatings shall comprise three members representing the company’s largest shareholders in terms of votes, together with the Chairman of the Board as an adjunct member.
If any of the three largest shareholders decides not to exercise the right to appoint a representative on the nomination committee, the right is passed on to the next largest shareholder.
The nomination committee consists of:
Kai Tavakka, Chairman, appointed by Accendo Capital SICAV RAIF Syafiq Johari, appointed by Hyundai Motor Company Torsten Rosell, appointed by Hans Österberg Mark Shay, Chairman of the Board, adjunct member
The AGM will be held in Linköping on May 18, 2022. The proposals of the nominating committee will be published in the invitation to the AGM and will be made available on the company website, www.impactcoatings.com.
Shareholders who wish to submit proposals to the nomination committee may do so via e-mail to investors@impactcoatings.se no later than February 1, 2022.
Impact Coatings CEO Torbjörn Sandberg will present at the Pareto Securities’ Renewable Energy & Cleantech Conference today, October 13. The full-day online event will feature presentations by Scandinavian companies in the rapidly growing renewable energy and cleantech sectors.
The conference is accessible only to registered clients of Pareto Securities, but the presentation material from Impact Coatings is now available on the company’s website via the link https://impactcoatings.com/presentationer-dokument-en/.
As mentioned in the Impact Coatings Q2 2021 interim report, the Board of Directors decided to extend the subscription period of the AGM-approved 2021/2024 employee warrant program per the program’s conditions. As of the interim report publication date August 20, 2021, the program remained open. Warrant subscription proceeds in the amount of SEK 118,000 were disclosed in the Q2 2021 financial statements. The warrant program was closed on August 27, 2021. Additional warrant subscription proceeds in the amount of SEK 107,600 were received during the period July 1 – August 27, 2021.
FINANCIAL RESULTS SECOND QUARTER 2021
● Net sales amounted to SEK 14,308 thousand (5,016)● Change of work in progress amounted to SEK -3,208 thousand (4,377)● Total revenue amounted to SEK 11,586 thousand (9,726)● Operating profit amounted to SEK -11,216 thousand (-6,305)● Operating profit after financial items amounted to SEK -11,219 thousand (-6,305)● Cash flow amounted to SEK -16,099 thousand (-2,299)● Liquidity ratio amounted to 650% (282)● Order backlog at period end amounted to EUR 1,456 thousand (3,765)
FINANCIAL RESULTS JANUARY-JUNE 2021
● Net sales amounted to SEK 24,513 thousand (10,039)● Change of work in progress amounted to SEK -8,444 thousand (5,933)● Total revenue amounted to SEK 16,941 thousand (16,301)● Operating profit amounted to SEK -22,694 thousand (-12,188)● Operating profit after financial items amounted to SEK -22,697 thousand (-12,190)● Cash flow amounted to SEK 106,882 thousand (-7,150)● Liquidity ratio amounted to 650% (282)
● Coating system order for radomes from HELLA Saturnus Slovenija (Slovenia)● Delivery and final acceptance of coating system for fuel cell development for Hyundai (South Korea)
● Coating system order for fuel cells from Symbio (France)
CEO’S COMMENTARY
Impact Coatings continued its strategic progress during the second quarter. We have continued proving our ability to deliver and that we are continuously maturing as an industrial company. This is reflected not least by a follow-on order received during the quarter in the field of automotive safety – the third system order in less than a year connected to the global automotive supplier HELLA.
The Coating Services business in Linköping, which is an important part of the sales process for future coating systems, has maintained a high activity level and closed yet another quarter with significantly increased revenues. During the second half of the year, we will be investing in increased production capacity and automation, with the planned addition of a robot. Beyond increased efficiency, this will improve our ability to help customers with their own production automation.
Despite the ongoing pandemic, we delivered and obtained final acceptance during the second quarter of a coating system for fuel cell development from our development partner Hyundai in Korea.
Joint development work with Hyundai in coating technology for fuel cells and related hydrogen applications continues, and we have in parallel enhanced our presence in Korea through cooperation with a local business partner. With our own Korean office as a base, we are working together with our local partner to establish Impact Coatings broadly in the Korean market, where there are several relevant customers in both hydrogen and automotive safety applications.
After the period end, we received a system order from the French fuel cell system manufacturer Symbio – our first European fuel cell system order and a recognition of our strong offering in the segment. Generally, we see that European and North American companies within hydrogen and fuel cell-related areas are advancing their positions, with several large automotive suppliers driving progress.
During the past year, we have intensified our relations within the European and North American fuel cell industries. To further strengthen our presence, this spring we engaged Robert Mamazza as President – North America. Recruiting of a President – EMEA is ongoing, and the position will initially focus on the company’s positioning and sales in the European fuel cell industry. In May, Anette Therén joined the company as VP Marketing & Communications with the goal of implementing a more structured and customer-oriented communications strategy.
Our development team is working intensively on our next generation coating system designed to meet the increasing capacity demands of the fuel cell industry. Development will enhance our ability to adjust fuel cell coatings for specific technical requirements, and to provide delivery models that meet companies’ differing stages of development.
Within automotive safety we are in constant dialog with companies about coating solutions for radomes and cost-effective antenna coatings for automotive radar. The past year’s three system orders related to the HELLA Group were all for coating of radar emblems, or radomes. The German automotive industry group is a leading global supplier of automotive lighting and electronics, where radar and radar emblems are examples of products within the field of automotive safety. We are committed to delivering innovative, cost-effective production technology to our existing strategic customers, and we see a growing business potential within the whole automotive safety segment.
With some trepidation, markets are opening up in Europe and around the world, allowing travel and in-person meetings. At present, it looks like industry exhibitions and other planned events will take place during the autumn. I sincerely hope the momentum continues as I am personally looking forward to meeting IRL – in real life customers, partners, and other industrial players in the coming months, as well as Impact Coatings shareholders.
Impact Coatings has received an order for an INLINECOATER™FC system from the fuel cell system manufacturer Symbio. The value of the system order is approximately EUR 1 million. Final delivery of the system is planned to the fourth quarter of 2021.
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