Betolar Plc's Business Review 1–9/2024: New partnerships in the mining business
Betolar Plc
Company Release
1 November 2024 at 8:30 a.m EET
Betolar Plc’s Business Review 1-9/2024 (unaudited)
Betolar Plc's Business Review 1–9/2024: New partnerships in the mining business
July–September 2024 in brief
- Net sales amounted to EUR 276 thousand (EUR 167 thousand)
- EBITDA amounted to EUR -974 thousand (EUR -2,625 thousand)
- Cash and cash equivalents and short-term fund investments at the end of the period amounted to EUR 10,748 thousand (EUR 14,989 thousand)
- Order intake amounted to EUR 237 thousand (EUR 256 thousand)
- The number of new NRE projects was 1 (3)
- The number of new pilot customers was 2 (5)
- The average number of employees was 44 (59)
January–September 2024 in brief
- Net sales amounted to EUR 551 thousand (EUR 298 thousand)
- EBITDA amounted to EUR -4,623 thousand (EUR -8,811 thousand)
- Cash and cash equivalents and short-term fund investments at the end of the period amounted to EUR 10,748 thousand (EUR 14,989 thousand)
- Order intake amounted to EUR 732 thousand (EUR 394 thousand)
- The number of new NRE projects was 6 (4)
- The number of new pilot customers was 4 (23)
- The average number of employees was 49 (62)
Main events in July-September
- Betolar and Norge Mineraler signed a memorandum of understanding to develop sustainable mining solutions in Norway.
- Betolar signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Latitude 66 limited to cooperate in exploring sustainable mining solutions for the development of Latitude 66 Limited´s Kuusamo cobalt mining project in Northern Finland.
- Betolar acquired MetalCirc Ltd’s patent regarding treatment of waste combustion ashes.
- Betolar was granted a patent in Finland enabling the large-scale use of side streams in road, soil and ground construction.
- Betolar was granted a patent in Finland for CEM III/B accelerator solution.
- Betolar successfully completed the directed share issue of 1,960,688 new shares raising EUR 2.35 million.
- On 30 August 2024, Ahlström Invest B.V. sold all its shares in Betolar Plc. Consequently, Andreas Ahlström, resigned from the Shareholders’ Nomination Board. Annika Ekman, representative of Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Company, was appointed in his place.
- During the period, Nidoco Ltd’s shareholding increased from 13.26 % to 27.81 %.
- On 3 September, Mikko Wirkkala took up his position as Chief Financial Officer.
Main events after the period
- Betolar and Hycamite TCD Technologies Oy signed a commercial agreement to assess the applicability of carbon nanofibers for enhancing the strength properties of concrete and reducing its carbon footprint.
This business review is not an interim report under the IAS 34 standard. The company complies with the half-yearly reporting requirements of the Securities Markets Act and publishes business reviews for the first three and nine months of the year, which present key information and key figures on the company’s strategy and business development. The figures presented in this business review are unaudited. The figures in brackets refer to the corresponding period in the previous year, unless otherwise stated.
President and CEO Tuija Kalpala
In July-September 2024, Betolar’s net sales continued to grow and was 65 % higher than in the comparison period. Sales was driven by revenue from customer pilots and NRE projects, as well as license and material revenues from the Geoprime concept. EBITDA clearly increased due to efficiency improvements, although it remained negative. We strengthened our financial position in the third quarter and successfully completed a directed share issue, raising EUR 2 353 thousand.
During the period, we made progress in refocusing our strategic priorities, which was announced in the spring, towards the side stream activities and mining and metals industry. We continued to develop our side stream activities and focused on commercial customer projects and new research projects. The first analytical services for two new industrial side streams were successfully completed. We targeted the service development on the needs of the mining activities using AI models and the already previously collected high-quality data. The expanded analytics portfolio enables pre-assessment of several industrial side streams, as well as broader recipes and testing, especially in the mining industry.
Our activities in the mining and metals industry expanded well. We signed Memorandums of Understanding with Norge Mineraler and Latitude 66 Limited. With Norge Mineraler, we will focus on developing sustainable mining solutions for Norway, while we will with Latitude 66 Limited explore sustainable solutions for the Kuusamo cobalt mining project in northern Finland. In addition, we continued to develop low-carbon shotcrete at Outokumpu’s mine in Kemi, where the first pilot project was successfully carried out with our solution.
We continued to deliver low-carbon concrete solutions to our customers in both Europe and India. Our products passed challenging salt freeze thaw tests, which are essential for the long-term durability and performance of concrete. As a result of these methods, our products are proven to be of even higher quality and durability.
We are very pleased with this progress and proud of our team’s achievements. This success strengthens our position in the market and gives us the credibility to continue developing and delivering innovative and sustainable concrete solutions to our customers around the world.
I would like to thank all our staff for their excellent work and dedication to our company. I would also like to thank our customers and partners for their cooperation and for being a frontrunner. Your contribution has been crucial in driving Betolar forward in line with our new strategic focus.
Key Figures
| (EUR thousand, unless otherwise specified) | 7–9 2024 |
7–9 2023 | 1–9 2024 |
1–9 2023 |
1–12 2023 |
| Financial indicators | |||||
| Net sales | 276 | 167 | 551 | 298 | 515 |
| EBITDA1 | -974 | -2,625 | -4,623 | -8,811 | -11,181 |
| Cash and cash equivalents and short-term fund investments (at the end of the period)1 | 10,748 | 14,989 | 10,748 | 14,989 | 14,315 |
| Operational indicators | |||||
| Order intake (EUR thousand)1 | 237 | 256 | 732 | 394 | 607 |
| Number of new NRE projects1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 9 |
| Number of new pilot customers1 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 23 | 24 |
| Personnel (average number during the financial period) | 44 | 59 | 49 | 62 | 60 |
- Betolar uses certain indicators (EBITDA, cash and cash equivalents and short-term fund investments, order intake, number of new NRE projects and number of new pilot customers) as quarterly indicators of operational profitability and business performance. The definitions and calculation formulas of these indicators can be found in the appendix to the report.
Financial reporting
Betolar will publish the following financial reports in 2025:
- 5 February Financial Statements bulletin 2024
- 24 April Q1 Business Review
- 18 July Half-year Review
- 28 October Q3 Business Review
The Annual Report for 2024 will be published no later than 5 March 2025. The Annual General Meeting is planned to be held on 27 March 2025.
Betolar's financial reports are available on the company's website at www.betolar.com/investors
Webcast for investors and media
Betolar will host a live webcast in English for investors and media on 1 November 2024 at 10.00 a.m. Finnish time. The webcast can be followed at https://betolar.videosync.fi/q3-2024.
During the presentation, President and CEO Tuija Kalpala and CFO Mikko Wirkkala will present Betolar's business review and other topical issues. A recording of the event and a corresponding presentation in English will be available on Betolar's investor website later in the day.
Betolar Plc
More information
Tuija Kalpala, President & CEO, Betolar Plc, [email protected], +358 50 567 6608
Mikko Wirkkala, CFO, Betolar Plc, [email protected], +358 50 458 4190
Certified Adviser:
Aktia Alexander Corporate Finance Oy, +358 50 520 4098
About Betolar
Betolar Plc is a pioneering Finnish materials technology company driving the green transition in mining and construction. Betolar’s mission is to help reduce CO₂ emissions and the use of virgin natural resources.
Betolar develops low-carbon and waste-free solutions for the mining and metals industries, and its Geoprime® solution produces i.a. the world's lowest-emission hollow-core slabs. Betolar’s AI-powered Data Platform turns industrial side streams into value, accelerates solution development and builds global markets for side streams.
Betolar was founded in 2016 and is domiciled in Kannonkoski, Finland. Betolar is listed on the Nasdaq First North Growth Market. For more information, visit www.betolar.com