NEW YORK & OSLO, Norway & NEWNAN, Ga.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–FREYR Battery, Inc. (NYSE: FREY), a developer of sustainable, next-generation battery solutions, today reported financial results for the second quarter of 2024.
Key Messages:
- FREYR’s new Board of Directors and leadership team executing plan to achieve first revenues and EBITDA as soon as 2025. The Company’s top priority is to focus resources on financeable projects and inorganic opportunities that accelerate FREYR’s commercialization and pathway to cash flows.
- FREYR is prioritizing conventional technology strategy to achieve commercialization. FREYR is advancing discussions and diligence tied to agreements to develop conventional battery technology solutions in the U.S. and Europe under its previously unveiled FREYR 2.0 growth initiative. Within the commercial and project pipelines, the Company is focusing on less-capital intensive opportunities tied to downstream modules and packs which offer the fastest and most readily financeable paths to first revenues and cash flows.
- Maintaining strict financial discipline and balance sheet strength. The Company remains committed to preserving the strength of its debt-free balance sheet by reducing its cash burn rate. The spending reductions currently underway are expected to extend FREYR’s cash liquidity runway to approximately 36 months. As part of the Company’s commitment to value maximization, FREYR is concurrently evaluating value accretive business models and use cases for Giga Arctic.
- Evaluating inorganic opportunities. FREYR is pursuing potential inorganic opportunities to accelerate its commercialization efforts.
- Maintaining ambition to establish long-term competitive moat based on next-generation intellectual property with the 24M SemiSolidTM platform. As FREYR intensifies its near-term commercialization efforts with its conventional technology strategy, the Company is preserving the option value of its position on 24M’s SemiSolidTM platform. After hitting several production milestones at the Customer Qualification Plant (“CQP”) in 2024, the Company is exploring new funding and commercial pathways for its next-generation IP to augment its long-term competitive position.
“Following the second quarter’s production achievements at the CQP on the 24M platform, FREYR’s reconfigured Board of Directors and management team have unified the organization’s focus on rapid commercialization while we extend our liquidity runway to 36 months,” commented Tom Jensen, FREYR’s Co-founder, Chief Executive Officer and Board Member. “Having demonstrated that our people have unique technical and operational capabilities, during the last 65 days since the new team was appointed, we have been building momentum with our partners and customers to develop projects in high-return adjacencies on the battery value chain. The discussions we are having with a variety of industry leaders are exciting, and we look forward to sharing additional updates on these important strategic initiatives as they continue to develop.”
Recent news
- Successful production trials at Customer Qualification Plant (“CQP”). Following several prior interim milestones at the CQP earlier this year, in June, FREYR announced that it had become the first company to complete automated production trials on the second-generation 24M SemiSolidTM manufacturing platform. While simultaneously running the anode casting, cathode casting, and merge units in automatic mode, FREYR produced more than 50 individual unit cells. FREYR is now exploring funding pathways for the long-term development of its next-generation technology stack.
- Leadership changes to support FREYR’s commitment to accelerate path to profitability. In June 2024, FREYR announced the return of Co-founder and previous CEO and Executive Chairman Tom Jensen to the CEO role, and the appointments of Evan Calio as FREYR’s CFO, and of Daniel Barcelo as the Chairman of FREYR’s Board of Directors. FREYR’s Board and management team are focused on key initiatives, including: pursuing organic and inorganic opportunities in the U.S. and Europe to accelerate FREYR’s timelines to revenues and EBITDA and maintaining strict financial discipline to preserve the strength of the Company’s clean balance sheet and extend FREYR’s cash liquidity runway to 36 months.
Results Overview, Financing, and Liquidity
- FREYR reported a net loss attributable to stockholders for the second quarter of 2024 of $(27.0) million, or $(0.19) per diluted share compared to net loss for the second quarter 2023 of $(25.3) million or $(0.18) per diluted share. The increase in net loss in the second quarter of 2024 was primarily due to a $0.1 million net foreign currency transaction loss for the three months ended June 30, 2024, compared to a $7.7 million gain for the three months ended June 30, 2023, partially offset by lower operating expenses mainly from decreases in personnel costs and legal and professional fees.
- As of June 30, 2024, FREYR had cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash of $221.5 million, and no debt.
About FREYR Battery
FREYR Battery is a developer of sustainable, next-generation battery solutions. The Company’s mission is to accelerate the decarbonization of global energy and transportation systems by producing sustainable, cost-competitive batteries. FREYR seeks to serve the primary markets of energy storage systems (“ESS”) and commercial mobility, and the Company maintains an ambition to serve the passenger electric vehicles market (“EV”). FREYR is operating its Customer Qualification Plant (“CQP”) for technology development in Mo i Rana, Norway, and the Company is continuing development of the Giga America battery manufacturing project in Coweta County, Georgia, in the U.S. To learn more about FREYR, please visit www.freyrbattery.com.
