Ilika Plc Share News (IKA)

(Sharecast News) - Ilika reported continued technical progress across its solid-state battery programmes on Thursday, and confirmed it remained on schedule to release its next-generation Goliath prototypes by year-end, although first-half revenue and EBITDA reflected increased investment in development and testing.

In an update for the six months ended 31 October, the company said revenue is expected to be £0.6m, down from £1m a year earlier, mainly due to the phasing of income from the government-funded Drive35 Primed programme, which began in August and would accelerate in the second half.

EBITDA loss, excluding share-based payments, widened to £3.2m from £1.9m as costs increased ahead of the release of 10Ah Goliath prototypes.

Cash and equivalents at the end of the period were £6.9m, compared with £10.1m a year earlier.

Half-year results would be published on 22 January.

Ilika highlighted further milestones in its Stereax micro-battery line, which serves active implantable medical devices and wireless sensors.

In August, Cirtec Medical, the company's licensing and manufacturing partner, completed process qualification of the Stereax M300 line at its Massachusetts facility.

That followed equipment commissioning in January and marked the final technical step before production.

Ilika said the qualified line incorporated advanced layer deposition, alignment and patterning systems required for medical-grade micro-batteries.

Subject to "any last-minute delays due to international logistics over the US-UK festive period," initial M300 deliveries to lead customers were targeted for the fourth quarter of 2025.

The company also advanced its Goliath programme, which develops large-format solid-state batteries for electric vehicles and consumer applications.

It said its 2Ah P1 prototypes were validated by OEM and Tier 1 partners early in the period, and in July Ilika secured £1.25m in grant funding under a £3m Advanced Propulsion Centre programme to support production of the first automotive A-Samples.

Jaguar Land Rover and professor Paul Shearing of Oxford University joined the project as strategic advisors in September.

Ilika said its automated assembly line for the Goliath pilot plant was fully commissioned last month, improving yields and enabling the higher volumes required for customer testing.

The company remained on track to begin releasing 10Ah prototypes to customers in December, with 50Ah cells to follow based on customer feedback and demand.

At 1506 GMT, shares in Ilika were up 2.33% at 44p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.