VANCOUVER, CANADA – Ballard Power Systems (NASDAQ: BLDP; TSX: BLDP) today announced consolidated financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2021. All amounts are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted and have been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).
“The second quarter and first half of this year have highlighted our ability to navigate a challenging global environment, while continuing to invest in our business to capitalize on the exciting momentum occurring across the hydrogen sector,” said Randy MacEwen, President and CEO. In Q2, Ballard achieved revenue of $25.0 million, gross margin of 15% and ending cash reserves of $1.24 billion.
Mr. MacEwen added, “Global policy announcements supporting decarbonization continue to move at record pace. The Fit for 55 initiative in Europe, and Hydrogen Earth Shot program in the U.S., both represent clear commitments to accelerate the expansion of a clean hydrogen economy. These policies, and with further clarity regarding the China hydrogen and fuel cell policy still to come, will support future order growth from our customers and scaling of our business across key market segments.”
Mr. MacEwen continued, “During Q2 we continued to make progress in the execution of our strategy, with significant order growth over Q1. Throughout 2021, we have seen important follow-on customer orders from Solaris, New Flyer and Tata in the German, California and India bus markets, respectively, as well as meaningful progress with CP Rail and Siemens in the North America and Europe rail markets, respectively.”
“We are pleased to announce the substantial completion of our investment in advanced manufacturing in our Burnaby MEA manufacturing capabilities, including increased MEA production capacity by approximately six times. We believe our increased investment in people, technology, products, proprietary advanced manufacturing capabilities and customer experience position Ballard to support the expected growth of customer deployments. These investments also enable us to maintain technological leadership while reducing product costs as global momentum in hydrogen markets takes hold.” concluded Mr. MacEwen.
Q2 2021 Financial Highlights
(all comparisons are to Q2 2020 unless otherwise noted)
- Total revenue was $25.0 million in the quarter, down 3% year-over-year.
- Power Products generated revenue of $15.8 million in the quarter, approximately flat year over year:
- Heavy Duty Motive revenue was $11.0 million, a decrease of 12% or $1.5 million, due primarily to lower shipments of fuel cell products to customers in China;
- Material Handling revenue was $2.0 million, a decrease of 12% or $0.3 million, primarily the result of lower shipments to Plug Power; and
- Backup Power revenue was $2.8 million, an increase of 125% or $1.6 million, due primarily to an increase in sales of hydrogen-based backup power fuel cell stacks to Europe and Asia, combined with a minor increase in hydrogen-based backup power systems and service revenues in Europe.
- Technology Solutions generated revenue of $9.1 million in the quarter, a decrease of 7% or $0.6 million, due primarily to decreased amounts earned on certain programs.
- Gross margin was 15% in Q2, a decrease of 6-points, driven primarily by the decrease in total revenues, combined with a shift to lower overall product margin and service revenue mix.
- Cash operating costs2 were $20.1 million in the quarter, an 80% increase primarily attributable to increased investments in technology and product development related to work on next-generation fuel cell stacks and modules for bus, truck, rail and marine applications as well as higher general and administrative expenses.
- Adjusted EBITDA2 was ($19.7) million, compared to ($8.0) million in Q2 2020, primarily as a result of the decrease in gross margin and increase in cash operating costs.
- Net loss was ($21.9) million in the quarter, a decline of 104%.
- Net loss per share2 was ($0.07), a decline of 68%.
- Cash used by operating activities was ($17.8) million, an increase of 20%, reflecting cash operating loss of ($12.4) million and use in working capital of ($5.4) million.
- Cash reserves were $1.24 billion at June 30, an increase of 630% from the end of Q2 2020 and a decrease of 2% from the end of Q1 2021.
- During Q2 Ballard received approximately $26.1 million in new orders – an increase of approximately 120% over the prior quarter – and delivered orders valued at $25.0 million, thereby increasing the Order Backlog to approximately $113.3 million at end-Q2. The 12-month Order Book was $80.6 million at end-Q2, an increase of $7.5 million from the end of Q1 2021.
| Order Backlog ($M) | Order Backlog at End-Q1 2021 | Orders Received in Q2 2021 | Orders Delivered in Q2 2021 | Orders Backlog at End-Q2 2021 |
| Total Fuel Cell Products & Services | $112.1 | $26.1 | $25.0 | $113.3 |
Q2 2021 Operating Highlights
- Bus
- Received follow-on purchase order from Solaris Bus & Coach S.A. for 13 fuel cell modules to power 13 of its Urbino 12 hydrogen model buses, to be deployed with In-der-City-Bus GmbH in Frankfurt, Germany.
- Received follow-on purchase order from New Flyer for 20 fuel cell modules to power 20 of its Xcelsior® model buses, to be deployed with Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District (AC Transit) in Oakland, California.
- Received an order from Tata Motors for 15 fuel cell modules to power 15 of its Fuel Cell Electric Buses to be deployed with the Research & Development Centre of Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) in Faridabad, the largest city in the National Capital Region of Delhi.
- Rail
- Received a purchase order for two 200-kilowatt (kW) fuel cell modules from Siemens Mobility GmbH to power a 2-car Mireo Plus H passenger train through a trial operation in Bavaria, Germany.
- Other
- Subsequent to the quarter, announced receipt of a purchase order for a 200kW FCwaveTM fuel cell module from Fusion-Fuel, to be integrated into its H2Evora Project in the Évora region of Portugal. The H2Evora Project will use Fusion-Fuel’s new HEVO electrolyzer design to produce green hydrogen that will power the FCwaveTM module for generation of zero-emission electricity.
- Announced a follow-on multi-year supply agreement with W.L. Gore & Associates for GORE-SELECT® Membrane material used by Ballard in the production of market-leading and proprietary membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) for the Company’s fuel cells.
Q2 2021 Financial Summary
For a more detailed discussion of Ballard Power Systems’ second quarter 2021 results, please see the company’s financial statements and management’s discussion & analysis, which are available at www.ballard.com/investors, www.sedar.com and www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml.
Conference Call
Ballard will hold a conference call on Friday, August 6, 2021 at 8:00 a.m. Pacific Time (11:00 a.m. Eastern Time) to review second quarter 2021 operating results. The live call can be accessed by dialing +1.604.638.5340. Alternatively, a live audio and slide webcast can be accessed through a link on Ballard’s homepage (www.ballard.com). Following the call, the audio webcast and presentation materials will be archived in the ‘Earnings, Interviews & Presentations’ area of the ‘Investors’ section of Ballard’s website (www.ballard.com/investors).
