Libertine warns of possibly falling short this year as projects conclude

(Sharecast News) - Linear generator technology developer Libertine Holdings updated the market on its trading and operations on Friday, reporting that its grant-funded development project in collaboration with Mahle Powertrain and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) had finished. The AIM-traded firm said that, although the project completion came later than initially planned, it successfully developed a fuel-flexible performance validation prototype known as Linear Generator LGN120-P1.

It said the prototype had displayed promising initial combustion performance using bioethanol.

The company said further performance and durability tests were slated for the third and fourth quarters of 2023, as it aimed to conduct additional combustion tests on various fuels in the first quarter of 2024.

To mitigate the supply chain challenges faced during 2022, Libertine said it had pre-funded the construction of a limited number of prototype units.

Those units were intended to facilitate multiple original equipment manufacturer (OEM) development programmes, after the completion of the second phase of intelliGEN combustion performance validation.

Libertine also reported completing the first phase of its engineering development with Hyliion Holdings.

That phase supported the integration of Libertine's HEXAGEN linear generator technology into Hyliion's first prototype KARNO powertrain, which was showcased at the ACT Expo in Anaheim, California, in May.

As of 1 September, Hyliion had entered into a six-month option period, during which it could negotiate intellectual property (IP) licensing rights for the HEXAGEN technology.

The company noted that a significant portion of its anticipated revenue for the current financial year was expected to come from further fees from Hyliion.

If those fees did not materialise as initially expected, Libertine's financial outcome for the year could fall substantially short of current market expectations.

As of 31 August, Libertine said it had cash reserves of £1.2m, with outstanding debtors of £0.2m and inventories valued at £0.6m.

Those reserves, if no additional revenue was generated, were projected to sustain the company's operations until May next year.

Despite uncertainties, Libertine said it remained committed to further developing its technology platforms, and was continuing to receive commercial interest across various applications and markets.

The company said it was aiming to support multiple OEM development programs after the completion of its ongoing combustion performance validations.

"We are pleased to have both intelliGEN and HEXAGEN platform hardware generating positive test results on a number of programmes," said chief executive officer Sam Cockerill.

"The time taken and costs incurred to reach this stage have been greater than anticipated, and the timing of the second phase of combustion testing at MAHLE Powertrain has been impacted by planned developments to Linear Generator prototype hardware and test cell infrastructure necessary for operation at higher power levels and for longer durations in our next phase of combustion testing."

Cockerill said those developments were intended to meet the entry performance thresholds for multiple OEM programmes, expected to commence in 2024.

"Commercial interest in our intelliGEN technology for the decarbonisation of heavy-duty vehicles and distributed power generation continues to remain robust and we are making good progress with a number of OEM and end product customers, who we anticipate will support the further development of the technology."

At 1113 BST, shares in Libertine Holdings were down 47.39% at 2.5p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.