Ceres Power PLC’s fuel cell system gains traction

What it does  

Ceres’ core SteelCell technology overcomes two problems traditionally associated with other solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC): cost and lack of robustness.

SteelCell can use a variety of fuels – natural gas, hydrogen, biofuel – that can be manufactured from widely available materials, making it the most cost-effective solution on the market.

“This scalability is Ceres’s key competitive advantage, in our view,” broker Berenberg said recently.

Progress to date

Ceres has an impressive roster of partners.

Key among them are Chinese engines giant Weichai Power, German engineering firm Bosch, US engine maker Cummins and Japanese carmakers Nissan and Honda. 

Japanese boiler group Miura and Korean fuel cell specialist Doosan are also working on projects with Ceres.

In its results for the six months ended 31 December 2019, Ceres saw total revenue and other operating income rise to £11.04mln from £8.27mln in the same period of 2018.

At the end of 2019, Ceres added that it had a strong order book of £22mln and a pipeline of £50mln comprising a combination of staged licensing payments and engineering services.

The adjusted underlying loss (LBITDA) narrowed to £1.41mln from £2.01mln the previous year.

The reported loss before tax was £2.79mln, compared to a loss a year earlier of £2.81mln.

What the boss says: Phil Caldwell, chief executive 

“Ceres has a technology that the world urgently needs to tackle climate change.

“As a management team, we are focused on maintaining our industry-leading position in fuel cells, while also maximising the future value for Ceres presented by the broader addressable market for clean energy technology”.

“I believe that the quality and success of the partnerships we have built with Bosch, Weichai, Doosan, Miura and others is a huge endorsement of our technology, our team and our approach.

What the brokers say  

Liberum

In early April, analysts at Liberum retained their ‘buy’ rating a 540p price target, saying they believed Ceres was “one of the best placed fuel cell companies for the energy transition given the class leading energy efficiency of SOFCs, the very competitive technology package, very strong partners and fuel flexibility”.

“We forecast around £150mln annual revenues and over £100mln of earnings and free cash flow in 2030 from customer royalties associated with the data centre power, commercial heat and power and commercial vehicle battery range extender markets”, the broker added.

In June, Liberum said it thought the appointment of Finegold was ‘a sensible development as Ceres moves into the commercialisation phase’.

Berenberg points out that Ceres is now the market leader in solid-oxide fuel cells.

“While investment has been widespread across proton-exchange membrane fuel cell suppliers, global OEMs [manufacturers] are partnering solely with Ceres in the solid-oxide fuel cell space,” the analysts said.

In taking a closer look at…