Ceramic Fuel Cells Share News (CFU)

Fuel cells and micro-CHP products developer Ceramic Fuel Cells (CFC) says that the net operating cash outflow increased in the quarter to December 2010 because of increases in stocks as sales of micro-CHP products build up. German utility EWE has placed an order for up to 200 integrated power and heat generators in a deal that could be worth up to A$4.9m over two years. CFC has received orders for 62 BlueGen gas-to-electricity units and 21 units have been installed. The cash outflow was A$6.2m (£3.8m) in the fourth quarter of 2010 and there was cash in the bank of A$29.8m (£18.6m). The strengthening of the Australian currency has produced unrealised foreign exchange losses of A$2.4m (£1.5m) on the cash not held in Australian dollars. The net operating cash outflow for the six months to December 2010 was A$7.3m (£4.6m). A receipt from a legal settlement also helped to offset the cash outflow in the earlier months. In order to increase production of fuel cell stacks at Heinsburg in Germany, CFC is transferring three furnaces from Melbourne to Germany. They will be operational in February. BlueGen units will be manufactured in Heinsburg by the end of January. Adelaide-based Hills Holdings has signed a deal to sell and service BlueGen units in South Australia. Hills will also install and service BlueGen units in the rest of Australia.