AMTE Power shares tank 50 per cent after battery firm issues administration warning
The UK’s only homegrown battery cell maker is on the brink of administration and could be just days away from collapse, with AMTE Power’s scramble for funds becoming even more desperate.
The Highlands-based firm has failed to secure fresh funds for the business after warning last month that it had a matter of weeks to secure sufficient finances to maintain operations.
It now warns its financial situation is “becoming ever more critical” and that it now “needs to implement a solution within the next few business days.”
“Whilst active discussions continue with existing and potential investors, there can be no certainty of the outcome of these discussions, in which case putting the company into administration is ever more likely,” the firm said in a stock market announcement today.
Markets have responded rapidly to the latest developments, with shares in the company nosediving 51.5 per cent on the FTSE AIM All-Share.
In the event that the company is put into administration, trading of its shares on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange would be suspended with immediate effect.
This means if the company is unable to secure additional funding, the prospect of shareholders clawing back their funds would be remote.
AMTE Power specialises in lithium-ion and sodium-ion cells used in high performance electric vehicle batteries and long-duration energy storage.
Its latest struggles are a blow for the UK’s electric vehicle ambitions, with the company previously warning it was considering shifting manufacturing from the UK to the US to benefit from subsidies in the Inflation Reduction Act.
To sustain operations, AMTE Power drew down a £580,000 loan facility from Highlands and Enterprise in March and £1m from its convertible loan facility with Arena Investors in April.
The government declined to comment whether they would intervene to provide AMTE Power with fresh support.
A spokesperson for the department for business and trade told City PM the government is committed to reviving the a British car industry, and is aiming to further unlock private investment through the Automotive Transformation Fund.
They said: “Our funding has helped secure vital investment, including Tata’s recent announcement that they will be investing over £4bn to build a new gigafactory in the UK, the £1bn electric vehicle hub in Sunderland in partnership between Nissan and Envision, Ford’s investment of £380m in the production of electric drive units at Halewood, and £60m investment by Johnson Matthey in Hertfordshire to develop hydrogen technologies.”