Strong sales growth driven by temporarily increased deliveries to Bosch
PowerCell Sweden AB grew its sales during the first quarter 2020 with 190 percent, from MSEK 9.2 to 26.7. The growth was mainly driven by temporarily increased deliveries of fuel cell stacks to Bosch.
The Corona outbreak affected the activity level in China specifically but had no significant impact on the company’s overall sales and profitability during the quarter. There is however great uncertainty about how the pandemic will affect PowerCell going forward.
Currency effects attributable to a re-evaluation of bank assets in Euro at period-end affected the financial net during the quarter by a total of 25,781 thousand SEK and resulted in a positive income after tax of MSEK 7.8.
Total sales for the first quarter 2020 amounted to 26,727 Thousand SEK compared to 9,226 Thousand SEK the same quarter previous year, an increase by 190 percent. Operating income before items affecting comparability amounted to -17,609 Thousand SEK compared to -17,804 Thousand SEK the first quarter 2019.
“Temporarily increased deliveries of PowerCell S3 fuel cell stacks to Bosch is the reason behind the very strong sales development during the first quarter. The deliveries are made within the framework of our joint development and licensing agreement and is part of the work Bosch carry out to eventually take over and start their own production of S3 fuel cell stacks and fuel cell systems”, Per Wassén, CEO of PowerCell said.
The global Corona virus outbreak has had a clear impact on the activity level in China during the quarter as local employees have not been able to travel and meet with customers as usual. The overall impact on sales and profitability has nevertheless been more limited. It is however hard to predict how the outbreak will affect the company going forward due to the high degree of uncertainty surrounding the virus and its development.
Strategic review completed
During the quarter the company completed the strategic review initiated last year following the agreement with Bosch. The basis for the review has been a comprehensive analysis of how well the company’s products and technology fit into different application and product segments.
“We will focus on the marine and the stationary segments as well as the off-road segment, i.e., construction equipment and various sorts of material handling equipment”, Per Wassén said.
Financial highlights
All amounts in TSEK 2020
Jan-Mar 2019
Jan-Mar 2019
Jan-Dec 2018
Jan-Dec
Net sales 26,727 9,226 66,850 60,513
Operating income before items affecting comparability -17,609 -17,804 -79,898 -60,893
Operating income -17,609 -19,912 448,408 -60,893
Profit/loss after tax 7,793 -20,238 438,011 -61,862
Operating cash flow -32,700 -9,773 369,146 -99,981