Annual losses at Atlantis Resources – the innovative tidal power colossus which is building the world’s biggest underwater power station off the Pentland Firth – more than doubled last year.
But the massive boost to its balance sheet of crystallising $98 million dollars of assets as it continues to physically build power-generating assets at its tidal array off the Caithness coast served to bolster investor confidence.
The loss for the year ending 31 December 2014 was S$16.2 million, an increase of S$6.5 million on the previous year.
The primary reason for the increased loss was the impact in the year ending 31 December 2013 of the “other gains” resulting from the negative goodwill arising from the acquisition of MeyGen, which was in part offset by additional financing costs relating to the conversion of shareholder loans.
The other factors contributing to the enlarged loss are the S$0.9 million reduction in revenue and the S$0.6 million increase in expenses as described above.
However, the group’s net assets were boosted to S$98.0 million at 31 December 2014 from S$21.6 million 12 months earlier. This was a result of the capitalised expenditure on construction of Phase 1A of the MeyGen project, as well as increased cash, also primarily relating to funding for the MeyGen project.
Tim Cornelius, Chief Executive, Atlantis Resources Limited commented: “2014 was a seminal year for Atlantis and we have again reached new milestones for the group and the wider tidal sector.
“Having become the first tidal developer to successfully float on AIM, we then secured another industry first when we achieved financial close on a funding package of more than £51 million for the first phase of our flagship MeyGen project in Scotland – the world’s largest tidal stream power development.
“Construction is now underway at MeyGen, and it’s exciting to see the onshore works begin to take shape. We’re on track to deliver our 1.5 MW turbine to the project for installation in 2016, and we’ve contracted industry leader Lockheed Martin as our major delivery partner for this first-in-class machine.
John Neill, Chairman, Atlantis Resources, added: “Not least of our achievements has been the commencement of construction for the first 6MW phase of the MeyGen project – which is truly a world first
“The total potential of this site is almost 400 MW – powering the equivalent of more than 75% of all homes in Edinburgh.
“The start of 2015 has been just as notable, culminating in our announcement of the execution of a sale and purchase agreement for the acquisition of MCT from Siemens AG in April. This will bring a host of benefits to both our turbines and projects businesses, and is positive news for consolidation in an industry which continues to mature and grow.”
Atlantis is domiciled in Singapore, from where it manage its activities in Asia, but the principal project and operations office in the UK is in Edinburgh, supported by a design satellite office in Bristol and a small corporate office in London.
Going forwards, construction works commenced at the MeyGen site in northern Scotland to establish the onshore power conversion centre and drill cable routes for power export – the project is on track to deliver first power in 2016.
In March 2015, Atlantis entered into a multi-million pound turbine construction contract with Lockheed Martin for delivery of the first AR1500 turbine to MeyGen in 2016
And in April 2015, Atlantis announced the execution of a sale and purchase agreement with Siemens AG for the acquisition of Marine Current Turbines Limited (“MCT”). On completion of the acquisition, the Atlantis UK project portfolio will be boosted by 50% and the turbine product offering will be expanded to include the SeaGen system. A 1.2 MW SeaGen demonstration unit has been in operation at Strangford Lough in Northern Ireland since 2008 and is included in the acquisition.
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