TMCnet News
Acta SpA Swings To Loss but Expects Growth In Telecoms Sector(Alliance News Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) LONDON (Alliance News) - Acta SpA Monday said it swung to a pretax loss in the first half of 2014, but expects growth through its Acta Power energy storage system and electrolyser technology in the telecoms industry. Acta swung to a pretax loss of EUR1.7 million in the six months ended June 30, from a EUR516,000 profit in the comparable period in 2013. The company increased revenue to EUR304,000 in the first-half, from USD238,000 in the first-half of 2013. The loss is attributable to personnel expenses, totalling a EUR898,000 loss in the first-half from a EUR1.5 million gain in the same period in 2013. "During the first half of 2014, our flagship product, the Acta Power energy storage system, proved itself repeatedly in demanding real-world conditions under the watchful eyes of commercial customers," said Chairman Robert Drummond. "The Acta Power is an energy storage system that integrates Acta's unique electrolyser technology with a fuel cell system, coupled with an advanced remote monitoring, management and servicing interface. The system has been designed to meet the needs of the large and rapidly growing market for back-up power systems for telecom base stations in remote, bad-grid and off-grid locations in Asia, Africa and other emerging economies," said Acta. "To achieve such a level of commercial and technical validation only one year after the launch of this product [the storage system] has been exceptional," added Drummond. The Acta Power has been under evaluation by four major mobile phone operators located in Australia, Egypt and the Philippines, where Acta has provided back-up power to the live operations of mobile network base stations. One trial is still ongoing and three trials have now ended. In each case, the system performed to the customer's satisfaction, and in one case beyond the customer's specifications, Acta said. "Our next challenge is to close larger volume orders with the major mobile phone operators which have been evaluating our products over the last year, and we are pushing hard to conclude these. This is likely to bring a step-change to the business, providing further validation of our business proposition and visibility for the next stage of our growth," added Drummond. "The sales of our electrolysers are also increasing in both volume and value, and this further indicates the adoption of our technology by our partners and their customers," said Drummond. Acta's strategy is to address the telecom back-up power sector as the fastest route to profitability, and then to expand into other hydrogen markets where its electrolyser technology can offer key cost and performance advantages, said the company. The company is now focused on developing larger electrolyser systems for industrial, renewable energy storage and refuelling applications and securing further opportunities in the telecom back-up power sector, it added. Acta saw its shares drop 12% to 2.52 pence per share Monday morning. Copyright 2014 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. |