Interim report

INTERIM REPORT January - September 1998 * Three Autofill units installed in Germany, two in the US and two in Sweden. Eleven units currently being delivered and installed. * General agreements with US oil companies involving delivery of around 400 Autofill units. * Organisational consolidation. * Issue of 3 million new B shares oversubscribed. Autofill raises SEK 60 million in equity capital before issue costs. * Listing of Autofill B shares on Stockholm Stock Exchange O list planned for 1998. Autofill does not intend to issue new shares upon listing Autofill AB (publ.) Interim Report - January-September 1998 The Board and Managing Director of Autofill AB (publ.) hereby submit the Interim Report of the company covering the period from 1 January to 30 September 1998. General Autofill is a high technology company which develops systems for the fully automated refuelling of cars. The company's refuelling system is the only commercially available system in the world and has attracted huge interest in Sweden and the international arena. Work on commercialising the Autofill system has continued throughout the reporting period. Three units have been installed in Germany, two in the US and two in Sweden. A further eleven Autofill units are currently being delivered and installed. Autofill's US subsidiary during the period signed an extensive general agreement involving delivery of some 400 Autofill units with major US oil companies regarding the testing and future delivery of Autofill systems. The Autofill Group - Turnover and income statement for January - September 1998. The Group's turnover and profit/loss are presented in the Income Statement below. Consolidated Income Statements (SEK thousands) January - January - Full- September September year 1998 1997 1997 Net turnover 5 441 690 2 600 Other income - - 1 Operating income 5 441 690 2 601 Cost of goods sold - 2 394 - 681 - 3 948 Gross profit/loss 3 047 9 - 1 347 Other external costs - 19 472 - 12 689 - 20 382 Staff expenses - 14 287 - 10 435 - 14 612 Other operating 0 - 7 670 - 8 861 expenses Depreciation, write- downs of fixed assets and - 12 843 - 6 601 - 24 455 goodwill Operating expenses - 48 996 - 38 076 - 72 258 Operating profit/loss - 43 555 - 37 386 - 69 657 Financial income and - 526 1 311 1 917 expenses Profit/loss after - 44 081 - 36 075 - 67 740 financial items Tax 0 0 0 Loss for the period - 44 081 - 36 075 - 67 740 Sales and installations During the period three Autofill units have been installed in Germany, two in the US and two at OK in Sweden. SEK 2.9 million of the income for the period is related to payment for the project management of customer projects. SEK 0.7 million of the cost of goods sold relates to this income item. A great deal of work has gone into preparing the installation of a further 10 Autofill units for OK in Sweden. This installation in Stockholm is the first to let motorists refuel automatically at several locations in the same city. The installation will be complete by January 1999. Two of the units for OK are for an upgrade of the existing facility at the OK filling station in Mörby, just outside Stockholm. The OK installation also includes a newly developed payment terminal which has been adapted to let the motorist pay while remaining in the driver's seat. A second Autofill unit has been successfully taken into operation in the US. A technical assessment of the system will be carried out over the next few months, followed by consumer and market tests in 1999. The recently installed system in the US is the world's first with a combined system for fully automated refuelling and payment. Technology The development work focusing on improving the functionality of the system and creating the conditions necessary for large scale, cost effective production continues unabated. This process should be implemented in the latter part of 1999 when the large scale production of the Autofill unit can be introduced at a much lower cost than at present. Efforts are also being made to reduce the installation time. The installation of the latest unit supplied to the US took 6 days, a considerable improvement on previous installation times. The goal is to cut the installation time down to 1 to 2 days per unit. Issue of 3 million new Autofill AB (publ.) B shares The new issue of 3 million class B shares in Autofill AB was implemented over the period 27 May - 10 June. The issue was oversubscribed and Autofill raised SEK 60 million in new equity capital, before issue costs. As a result of the new issue, which brought Autofill a substantial number of new shareholders, the company is also able to more than satisfy the Stockholm Stock Exchange's shareholder requirements for a listing on its O list. The plans for listing Autofill class B shares on the Stockholm Stock Exchange's O-list remain, and the Board forecasts that this will take place at the end of 1998. It is not intended that new shares will be issued at the time of the listing. Organisation and staff The organisation has been strengthened by several new recruits. These include a technical director with long-standing experience in the fields of technology and the production of advanced systems used in the industry. Marketing and customer project management have also been strengthened, as has technical development. The finance function has also been strengthened. The majority of new employees will be starting work at Autofill in the second half of 1998. At the end of the period the number of employees was 36 (25), of whom 27 (21) are employed in Sweden. The increase in the number of staff runs parallel with the decrease in the number of consultants at the company. Financial position The equity/assets ratio was 88 per cent ( 95 per cent ) at the end of the period. Liquid assets totalled SEK 31.7 million ( SEK 30.7 million ). The Group had no bank loans and had not utilised any credit facility at the end of the period, and the operations are entirely equity financed. Investments in fixed assets totalled SEK 1.3 million for the period ( SEK 1.9 million ). The Parent Company The role of the Parent Company is to act as a holding company for the Group. The CEO of the Group is Managing Director of the Parent Company. Turnover for the period totalled SEK 122 thousand ( SEK 670 thousand ).The loss for the period was SEK 32,190 thousand ( -SEK 30,302 thousand), of which SEK 28,730 thousand ( SEK 12 568 thousand ) relates to a provision for Group contributions to cover losses at subsidiaries. The Parent Company's liquid assets at the end of the period totalled SEK 28,471 thousand ( SEK 26,746 thousand ). The subsidiary Autofill Inc.'s income statement as per September 30, 1998 has been converted at an SEK/USD exchange rate of 7.95 ( 7.65 ). Its balance sheet has been converted at the balance sheet date at an SEK/USD exchange rate of 7.88 ( 7.68 ) as per September 30, 1998. Forecast for 1998 and onwards. The results for 1998 are expected to show a loss, but to be an improvement on 1997. It is expected that 20 Autofill units will be delivered in 1998. By and large, operations are expected to develop as planned, i.e., create a basis for a considerably larger number of installations in 1999, and this will be followed by continuous serial deliveries in the year 2000. All customer projects are performing well, and the latest project was completed with successful installations at Mobil Oil Corporation in the US and at OK in Sweden. Stockholm 29 October 1998 Autofill AB (publ.) The Board of Directors This interim report has been reviewed by the company's auditors. Upcoming information: Press release of the year-end statement of the company to be published on 17 March 1999. Questions are answered by Managing Director, Sten Corfitsen or CFO, Gustaf Wettergren, + 46 - 8 - 442 89 00 Consolidated Balance Sheets Assets Sept. 30, Sept. 30, Dec 31, 1998 1997 1997 Fixed assets Goodwill 34 590 63 415 46 120 Equipment, tools and 5 609 3 637 5 101 installations Total fixed assets 40 199 67 052 51 221 Current assets Raw materials and necessities 10 506 3 424 2 935 Work in progress on behalf of 1 057 0 0 others Advances to suppliers 1 366 1 332 1 313 Accounts receivable 0 518 205 Other receivables 5 157 6 975 2 810 Pre-paid expenses and accrued income 1 524 1 630 489 Cash and Bank 31 735 30 710 24 673 Total current assets 51 345 44 589 32 425 Total assets 91 544 111 641 83 646 Liabilities and shareholders' equity Shareholders' equity Share capital 2 428 2 128 2 128 Share premium reserve 49 958 0 0 Other restricted reserves 146 036 174 859 157 564 Translation differences 2 106 2 151 2 333 Unrestricted shareholders' equity Loss brought forward - 76 076 - 37 161 - 19 866 Loss for the year - 44 081 - 36 075 - 67 740 Total shareholders' equity 80 371 105 902 74 419 Current liabilities Advances from customers 492 807 0 Accounts payable 6 056 1 646 3 832 Other liabilities 366 1 244 380 Accrued liabilities and pre-paid income 4 259 2 042 5 015 Total current liabilities 11 173 5 739 9 227 Total liabilities and 91 544 111 641 83 646 shareholders' equity Comparative figures for 30 September 1997 have been restated with regard to the new legal requirements of the Swedish Annual Accounts Act. Key figures Sept. Sept. Dec. Dec. 30, 30, 31, 31, 1998 1997 1997 1996 Operating margin (%) neg neg neg neg Profit margin (%) neg neg neg neg Return on shareholders' neg neg neg neg equity (%) Return on total capital (%) neg neg neg neg Equity/assets ratio (%) 88 95 89 95 Debt/equity ratio (multiple) n.m n.m n.m n.m Share of risk-bearing 88 95 89 95 capital (%) Interest cover (multiple) n.m n.m n.m n.m Shareholders' equity (SEK 80.4 105.9 74.4 139.8 million) Net investments (SEK 1.3 1.9 4.1 78.4 million) Number of employees 36 25 25 13 Number of shares at end of 24 279 21 279 21 279 21 279 period 200 200 200 200 Number of shares at end of period after full conversion 24 479 21 879 21 879 21 279 200 200 200 200 Profit/loss per share (SEK) - 1.82 - 1.70 - 3.18 -1.87 Share price/shareholders' 2.72 6.03 6.86 2.89 equity (multiple) Share price (SEK) 9.00 30.00 24.00 19.00 Shareholders' equity per 3.31 4.98 3.50 6.57 share (SEK) Dividend per share (SEK) - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------ Please visit http://www.bit.se for further information The following files are ready for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1998/10/29/19981029BIT00350/bit0001.doc