ITM Power has reduced its losses and reduced its headcount by a third as part of a 12-month strategy to improve the health of the company.
It comes a year after the UK-based electrolyser maker announced it would slash jobs as part of a 12-month turnaround plan amid an “unacceptable financial performance” in the latter half of 2022.
ITM (AIM:ITM) confirmed in an interim results update on Wednesday that it had reduced its headcount by over 30% at the end of 2023.
Revenues for the six months to October 2023 grew to £8.9 million, compared with £2m in the first half of the year, driven predominantly by product and service revenue from cube deliveries to Germany.
Meanwhile gross losses fell to £8.2m – down from £45.6m – which ITM said represented “a significant reduction as a result of improved management of projects in execution.”
The last year had seen it rationalise its portfolio, ceasing the production and support of older generation technologies, and reducing the number of product variants by 75%.
Instead, it has focused on development of “volume products”, including a 2MW Neptune “plug and play” containerised unit, and a 20 MW Poseidon electrolysis process module, both of which use its Trident stack technology.
The sale of the group’s 50% share in the Motive Fuels joint venture was completed in October, freeing up £28m of ringfenced capital which was directed back to the core business.
ITM also said it had exercised greater capital discipline, cost reduction, and improved processes, and now plans to enhance the level of automation in its production, particularly at its manufacturing facility in Sheffield.
Its market reach has also been “substantially extended”, after the group announced plans last year for an accelerated sales push in the US and a new office in Germany that would help it serve local customers and Europe more widely.
CEO Dennis Schulz remarked: “I am pleased to report that we have completed the implementation of our 12-month plan on time. The first half of the financial year already paints the early picture of a new ITM, which starts to be reflected in our improved financial results.
“We have accomplished what we set out to do in the last 12 months. Our plan successfully addressed the most pressing issues to right the ship. It has made ITM a stronger, more focussed, and more capable company. We have achieved a shift in culture, and the transformation of the company has tangibly improved our project delivery performance. We now have a strong foundation for growth.”
Looking to 2024, the company says it intends to “strategically extend” its development portfolio with a higher capacity plug and play containerised unit for mid-size projects, and launch a larger capacity “game-changing stack platform”.
In turn, it vowed to be prepared for “rapid scaling of stack volumes”.
Its full-year revenue guidance for 2024 of £10m-18m remains unchanged.
