Heliocentris Energy Solutions AG: Heliocentris doubles sales in first half of 2012

Heliocentris Energy Solutions AG / Key word(s): Half Year Results

28.09.2012 / 17:20

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Heliocentris doubles sales in first half of 2012

Corporate news

Berlin, 28 September 2012 - Heliocentris Energy Solutions AG, which
specialises in energy efficiency and autonomous power supply solutions, has
today published its preliminary half-yearly figures for 2012 in accordance
with the German Commercial Code.

Financial and operational highlights of the first half of 2012: 

* Scaling of the industrial business is continuing to gather pace; sales in
the first half of 2012 at EUR3,424 thousand (30 June 2012: EUR1,516
thousand) are already higher than in 2011 as a whole (EUR3.3 million).
* The order backlog has increased sevenfold to EUR3,324 thousand (30 June
2011: EUR447 thousand).
* Follow-up orders from customers in the Middle East and Africa are
testament to the attractiveness and increasing maturity of our energy
management systems and turnkey solutions, even under the toughest operating
conditions.
* Gross profit is considerably lower year-on-year due to start-up costs for
the industrial business; significant improvement is expected in the second
half of the year.
* Net loss amounted to -EUR4,396 thousand (30 June 2011: -EUR2,784
thousand), reflecting the growth of employees and experienced managers from
the telecommunications market to a level suited to considerably higher
sales volumes.
* Former joint partner in P21 GmbH is bringing its shares and fresh capital
to Heliocentris AG; full takeover enables complete integration and
therefore total realisation of the synergy and growth potential resulting
from the takeover.
* Equity interest in the Italian company Acta secures access to
non-precious-metal electrolysis technology, which has the potential to
substantially reduce the costs of hydrogen produced by solar energy.
* The foundation for tripling sales in 2012 and reducing losses as against
2011 has been laid.




Ayad Abul-Ella, CEO of Heliocentris AG said: 'Looking back on the last six
months, we are very pleased, firstly with the successful stabilisation of
the solutions and customer relationships that we took over from P21 GmbH,
and secondly with the sales growth we have achieved, especially in the area
of industry. Looking forward to the rest of the year, we will now expand
these customer relationships and significantly increase gross margins in
the industrial area. By doing this, we will lay the foundation for more
significant growth while simultaneously increasing profitability in the
year to come.'

In the first half of the year, Heliocentris increased its sales from
EUR1,516 thousand in 2011 to EUR3,424 thousand. This is not only more than
double the previous year, it is actually more than 2011's full annual sales
of EUR3.3 million. Geographically, the Middle East and Africa were the main
drivers of this growth. At 90% (previous year: 71%), the export share of
sales was correspondingly high.

In comparison with the previous year, the ratio of gross profit to gross
revenue for the period declined from 44.2% to 27.5%. In general, this is
overwhelmingly attributable to start-up costs in the industrial business
and specifically to the learning curve associated with the implementation
of our new solutions in different climatic conditions. For this reason, one
of our main tasks in this half of the year was to successfully transfer the
knowledge gained in the field to our solutions and services as well as to
adopt a number of measures to improve the supply chain and material costs.
We are very satisfied with the progress made in this area and therefore
already expect a considerable improvement in gross profit in the figures
for 2012 as a whole.

For total costs, we must point out the limited comparability with the
previous year because the P21 takeover only occurred in May 2011 and
therefore only a small portion of the costs of P21 were included in the
first half of that year.

Total costs below gross profit amounted to EUR5,695 thousand in the first
half of the year (30 June 2011: EUR3,822 thousand). This increase is to a
large extent due to the costs of our industrial business, which are now
incurred over the full period. On the one hand, the effect of the EUR1,407
thousand increase of other expenses to EUR2,607 thousand is made clear
here, with, in addition to rent, travel and other traditional costs of the
industrial business, higher costs for the capital market amounting to
EUR323 thousand (previous year: EUR180 thousand) also included. Personnel
costs likewise rose by EUR670 thousand to EUR3,089 thousand.

The net loss increased to -EUR4,396 thousand in the first half of the year
(30 June 2011: -EUR2,784 thousand).

When looking at the net loss, it must be noted that the cost increase
includes the increase of employees and experienced managers from the
telecommunications market to a level suited to considerably higher sales
volumes.

As at 30 June 2012, Heliocentris had cash and cash equivalents of EUR4.1
million (31 December 2012: EUR3.1 million).

The major tasks for the second half of 2012 are to win more major
customers, improve gross profit in the industrial business, qualify more
regional partners to roll out our solutions and to fill key positions in
Development, Sales and middle management. By doing this, we will lay the
foundation for further sustainable high growth while simultaneously
improving the earnings situation significantly, especially as the now
established structures are already prepared for considerably higher sales.


About Heliocentris Energy Solutions AG
Heliocentris specialises in autonomous energy supply and energy efficiency
solutions with the aim of replacing diesel generators with 'zero-emission'
products. The company, which was founded in Berlin in 1995, develops and
markets systems and turnkey solutions for customers in industry and science
and has three business areas: Energy Efficiency, Clean Energy and Didactic.
The 'Energy Efficiency' area specialises in energy efficiency, monitoring
and management solutions for autonomous energy supply solutions. With the
existing solutions, diesel consumption in applications such as mobile phone
network base stations can be reduced by up to 50%, while the cost of
operating such facilities can be reduced by up to 70%. The solutions are
being commercially rolled out in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. The
'Clean Energy' area focuses on 'zero-emission' solutions for autonomous
energy supply, including solutions for supplying electricity to off-grid
applications such as monitoring stations, telecommunications facilities or
self-sufficient houses. The core competency here is the efficient
hybridisation of energy generators such as, solar and wind or even diesel
generators with energy storage such as batteries and the own hydrogen fuel
cell based storage solutions based on our scalable energy management
solutions. Heliocentris has already successfully demonstrated its expertise
in this area in numerous projects with renowned partners across the world.
For over 10 years now, the 'Didactic' area has been offering a range of
learning and research systems for fuel cell and solar hydrogen technology
and other regenerative energy technology. Customers include training
centres, research institutes and industry. The comprehensive range of
products and services makes Heliocentris one of the world's leading
companies in its field. With a subsidiary in Vancouver, offices in Dubai
and Singapore and customers in more than 60 countries, Heliocentris is well
positioned internationally. The Heliocentris Group currently has 110
employees. Further information is available at: www.heliocentris.com.

Disclaimer
This press release contains forward-looking statements that are based on
current assumptions and forecasts of the management of Heliocentris Energy
Solutions AG. Known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors
could lead to material differences between the forward-looking statements
given here and the actual development, in particular the results, financial
situation and performance of our Company. The Company assumes no liability
to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future
events or developments. The information in this press release does not
constitute an offer of securities for sale or a solicitation of an offer to
purchase securities in the United States or any other country.


Press contact: 

Dr. András Gosztonyi
CFO / Managing Director
Heliocentris Energy Solutions AG
+49-(0)30-340601-560
A.Gosztonyi@Heliocentris.com


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Language:    English                                                    
Company:     Heliocentris Energy Solutions AG                           
             Rudower Chaussee 29                                        
             12489 Berlin                                               
             Germany                                                    
Phone:       +49-(0)30 63 92 63 25                                      
Fax:         +49-(0)30 63 92 63 29                                      
E-mail:      info@heliocentris.com                                      
Internet:    www.heliocentris.com                                       
ISIN:        DE000A1MMHE3                                               
WKN:         A1MMHE                                                     
Listed:      Freiverkehr in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Stuttgart; Open Market  
             (Entry Standard) in Frankfurt                              
 
 
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187051 28.09.2012