Good morning, good day, good evening to all of you wherever you are connected from connecting from. It is past 8:30 A.M. CET, so let's start. A warm welcome to you all to Circa Group's Quarter 4, 2023 quarterly presentation. My name is Bertel Karlstedt. I'm the new CEO for the company since January 1st, and it is my pleasure to be addressing you all today. Next slide. The traditional disclaimers, and then we go directly to the agenda for today. I will start with the introduction, followed by Tone covering finance, Philipp covering the FC5, ReSolute and FC6 progress and status, Alessandro will address product development, and I will then close the presentation off with the outlook before we go to the questions and answers session. Next, please, Tone. When we look back, one can state that we have continued with strict focus on the essentials, and I have grouped my presentation under three headlines, the first one being the implementation of the business plan including funding, where we are progressing with our advisor Pareto on the launched process to secure the funding for the finalization of the ReSolute project during this year, and at the startup early next year. We have also been continuing with an active relationship building and seeking opportunities for additional financial supports from France, whether it is banks or grants possibilities. There are opportunities in the market, and we are pursuing those. We are also building awareness and relations, looking at the further implementation of business plan aimed at an FC6 investment decision further on. We have found and we are working with site alternatives, in France, in Thailand, and in Finland alike, three sites that we are looking at for the time being for the more medium term business plan implementation. The second bullet is, of course, the key topic of finalization of ReSolute. Here, I want to state that the project execution progresses as planned, and we are in continued discussions with key partners regarding future operation, and you could say lifecycle approach based setups and cooperation and support agreements with both Gazel Energie as well as with Valmet. More on that topic from Philipp a little bit later. I would also state, which is very important, that we have been conducting and we are in close and constructive cooperation with the authorities as well as the regional and local stakeholders for ensured progress and outcome of the ongoing processes as well as for the future operation of the site and the plants in ReSolute. The third topic I want to address is related to market application and commercialization. We are aware first of all the progress and the work continues in achieving multiple agreements for distribution of Circa products, both Cyrene and LGO. And we have also had a very strong presence, a visible presence by Circa in the market in multiple chemical and chemistry industry and customer events. These are both market driven efforts from the company, and they are supported also by a more science driven approach and efforts conducted at the GCCE Institute in York for identifying new application opportunities for Circa and its products going forward. And lastly, I want to bring forward that with Alessandro on board, we are also now really sharpening the focus for the commercialization efforts for selected applications and products. So progress on all three main fronts, funding, ReSolute as well as market and customer driven approaches. With those words, I would hand the floor over to Tone on finance. Thank you, Bertel. Good morning everyone, and good evening. So we released the Quarter 4 financial report this morning, and I will go through a few of the key figures in these first slides. So these are the figures from the income statement where we had operating revenue of NOK 1.7 million in 2023. The revenue is mainly consisting of grants received, as well as products from the FC5 plant in Tasmania. Yeah, grant income and is included in accordance with their expenses for the actual period. And all expenses are in line with expected quarterly run rate also this quarter. If we look at the balance sheet, our fixed assets has grown quite a lot during 2023 as one would expect. The gross amount is almost NOK 29 million for the ReSolute plant, which is offset by NOK 5.6 million in grant contributions. Our current cash balance at year-end is NOK 11.4 million. In addition to that, we have awarded grants not yet received of approximately NOK 10.2 million. That's not included in the accounts. The spending, cash spending is in line with the expectations and our forecasts. I've included this slide with a lot of information. It's also part of the investor presentation that we have shared with you this morning. We also shared with you updated estimates on the capital need for fulfilling the business plan for ReSolute on time. As you can see from this table here, with the cash at hand and awarded grants, we have estimated a need for new capital of EUR 40 million. That will go to the remaining CapEx of ReSolute, which is approximately EUR 44 million, and the OpEx for ReSolute, operating ReSolute, and also the organization that we have. So, this estimate will bring us not only to start a production in the second quarter 2025, but up to the ramp up of the production of ReSolute, and the positive EBITDA. So with that, I'm leaving the floor to Philipp, who will share an update on production. Thank you, Tone. Hello everyone. I'm happy to give an update on the activities at the different locations. Next chart, please, Tone. So on FC5 in Tasmania, we have made significant improvements over the year, and the output improved by 44% from just below 500 kg to 712 kg per month, totaling now 8,540 kg of Cyrene produced over 2023. We are still having continuous improvement activities ongoing. These came out of a value stream mapping exercise we did at the beginning of 2023, which in the end led to these improvements. We also have had our first customer audit at FC5. It was from a pharmaceutical customer, and this audit has been passed successfully just at the end of the year. Also at the end of the year, we had a gathering with the entire team and made an improvement plan on how to improve, increase the production for further 40% to 1,000 kg per month. So FC5, good improvements, but still more to come. Next chart, please, Tone. On ReSolute, generally the CapEx estimate remains at NOK 73 million. As Tone already mentioned, the overall time plan remains also unchanged with the plant ready for start in the second quarter of 2025. At the site, we have, after the signing of the lease agreement in the last quarter, we have now also signed a lease agreement for the construction yard. The construction yard is approximately the same size as the plot we are installing. And this construction yard is used to install the base camp, laydown area, and also prefabrication area for all the contractors. Base camp will be installed soon. On the permitting, also progress there, we have received the questions from DREAL, and we have answered all of them and uploaded the official answers to the GAM web page. Feedback from the relevant authorities is expected here within the next couple of weeks. After this feedback, the process will move into the next step. At the end of February, this all is in line with the established plan. On the organization, we are now continuing to hire a site manager and an EHS manager for ReSolute. These recruitments are ongoing, and then we'll strengthen the team and help us to set up the whole manufacturing team at the site. Next chart, please, Tone. On engineering, procurement, manufacturing, these activities are ongoing as planned. Procurement plan is executed for the balance of plant items. They are, ordered as needed according to time plan. The equipment for woodyard distillation and hydrogenation are expected to be delivered, in the second quarter, most of them at the end of the second quarter. And we already have scheduled the factory acceptance test for the hydrogenation equipment, which is now planned for end of Q1 2024. So, factory acceptance test is one of the first steps of the commissioning of this plant. Valmet deliveries are ongoing. We have received 75 shipments, and the last deliveries are expected to arrive at site in May 2024. You see in the below pictures, the top pictures are Valmet parts on the left, the big boiler parts already sitting on the construction yard at the site, and on the right-hand side, rented warehouse five minutes from the site, which all whatever you see there is all for the Valmet package. The pictures below show the hydrogenation skid. So the plant will be delivered on two skids. These skids will be manufactured entirely in a warehouse in Germany and at our supplier EKATO. They will then have the factory acceptance test and will be delivered as built to the site where they will be connected later on. So this manufacturing also you see has made significant progress. Next chart. On FC6, we are in the evaluation phase of some areas of some sites. We are looking to different sites in different regions of France. We also have continued the discussions with the National Power Supply of Thailand to evaluate the process and the timeline for the establishment of a site, including all the required steps for the permits. Additionally, we have signed a memorandum of understanding with Finnish Vataset and Kemijärvi Biorefinery to evaluate the establishment of a Circa Furacell facility at their site in Lapland. And with all these activities, our partnership agreements with Valmet and EKATO will ensure continuity in the scale up of the main packages for the next site for the FC6. And also the wood fractionation trials, which have been mentioned before, they are ongoing with the lab in Greece. This, in short, an update on the manufacturing and project activities for myself, and I will hand over to Alessandro now for product development. Thank you very much. Thank you, Philipp. Good morning. Good afternoon, everyone. So I would like to give you the highlights related to product development and market development. Okay, so one area that is remains very important for Circa is to build partnerships with customers in order to develop the market and the different applications of the LGO platform and of Cyrene, as a solvent. So, some of the highlights include interaction with oil and gas player, and we are moving into, let's say, technical discussions under, non-disclosure agreement. Definitely, an application area in the market which is of interest is in the agrochemicals, applications and, where we know that the biodegradability of Cyrene and the versatility of the LGO platform, is of interest. So we continue, interactions with, some of the key players in this space. And of course, those partnerships are aiming at accelerating the adoption of the product. Another important area in, of course, in developing the market and application is the regulatory activities. So we have testing on the Cyrene for the REACH Annex IX, which is the tonnage band up to 1,000 tons for Cyrene. This is ongoing. We completed in Q4 2023 those range finding study, which did not highlight any major or concerning result. So this looks good at the moment. And we have now until March additional studies, toxicology studies, which are ongoing. Now, in terms specifically on the commercial developments, Philipp mentioned before about the QA that has been passed in our plant in Tasmania, FC5. And I think this is also a good sign that a high value market like pharmaceutical intermediates can be served by our production facility. We definitely are seeing more interest from the intermediate role both of LGO and Cyrene, which, for us, is reinforcing the idea that this is an area where we need to have a lot of attention. At the same time, we are focusing our activities to help distributors to propose the products with customers and to have a high acceptance level, to increase the acceptance levels of the products with their customers. We also observe that there is a potential increase in volume of material from distributors that are covering now the entire FC5 output. Concerning the externally funded projects that are an important part for Circa in the development of the products. We have good progress on the TRANSFORM project looking at the derivatives for pharmaceutical ingredients. The CHAMPION project, which is another EU-funded project, is ending now in June. The ReSolute project in terms of applications, I think we are also increasing the involvement of an important partner to investigate the LGO derivatives. In the last presentation, in the last quarter presentation, I started to introduce the concept of the innovation pipeline, what means that, all the activities that are still in the early stage of definition and feasibility. We have a number of projects there. As example, you know, using Cyrene to extract natural products to substitute other solvents or, for example, the LGO derivative, derivatives for pharmaceutical ingredients, those what we define as innovation pipeline, while all the projects that are closer to commercialization, we define them as being opportunity pipeline, which have shorter time to the commercialization. Here is still an overview on the pipeline that we keep maintaining with high priority projects that have value for Circa. And with that, I will give the word back to Bertel. Thank you, Tone, Philipp and Alessandro. Let me then pull it all together and give a view on the outlook for the upcoming key topics as we move forward. As we have heard, the company is progressing according to plan and at this stage state that the market preconditions for the business plan to be successful is unchanged, for us. With the same split I had in the beginning talking about business plan, ReSolute, and market driven topics, I would then start with the business plan implementation. Three different phases, you could say, as we heard from Philipp. The plan is there to ramp up the FC5 capacity to meet the demand that Alessandro also briefly touched upon. We are continuing the initiated funding process for the ReSolute finalization. Let me hear also the details from Tone. Like I mentioned earlier, we are evaluating opportunities and trying to secure new financing solutions and new EU flagship grants, for both short term and medium term next steps, of the business plan of Circa. So many things that we will continue to work upon and secure during the upcoming months and quarters. On ReSolute, two very distinctive milestones that we need to secure. First of all, the environmental permit process that Philipp also touched upon. Of course, the fact that the start of production is planned to be in Q2 2025. On market partners and commercialization, one topic on each, we need to secure the distribution offtake agreements that we are in negotiations, with key customers regarding and that we foresee to happen shortly. On partners, we are making progress in the medium term implementation plans for our business plan. And we need to conduct and finalize the things related to the France, Finland, and Thailand opportunities that are there with different partners, business partners, and regional stakeholders in the picture. And finally, on commercialization, we will continue to have a strong presence and visibility and high profile in upcoming industry events. So with these three topics, business plan, ReSolute, and market driven topics, we will take the company forward during the upcoming months and question months and quarters. With those words and with that presentation, I propose that we then move over to the questions and answers session of the presentation this morning. And we open the floor for questions from anybody out there. Please. If they have one hand raised, I can see. Who is that? Let me check. Chris. Yes, Chris. Yeah, thank you. Thank you, Bertel. Can you hear me? Yes, we can. Yeah, okay. Thanks very much for the presentation. First of all, welcome to Circa Group, which I know you know quite well. My concern, I think from the shareholders' point of view, is, within all of what we've heard, there is no addressing of the value of the company and the share price, within the company, and the market. What do you see as being the role of yourself and in supporting directly the share price? And And what process do you see for valuation when we come to a dilution event such as yours as being proposed of EUR 40 million? Thank you. Well, first of all, Chris, thank you. It is my pleasure to be at the helm of this company, which I, their state, will have a good future when we are and if not if, but when we are implementing the business plan. My role, as I see it, is to, in the multiple dimensions of tasks we have in front of us, to ensure that we are able to safeguard, secure, and progress as planned, whether we are talking about technology production, whether we are talking about market and customer commitment, or whether we are talking at financing stakeholder interests. It is a multidimensional task that we are all embarking upon. I have the pleasure of having a good organization with me on the dilution effect. I won't speculate. Let's see what the funding process will be, what the solutions are going to be, and how that will affect the shareholder the share price from where we are today. But I think what I want to focus on is the medium and long term projections and business plan that we have that will strongly support a positive development of the share price as we move forward and implement the business plan as we have it today defined. Did that answer? I hope that answered the question, Chris. Well, it was an answer it was an answer to the question. I'll leave it at that. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Any other questions? No other hands raised. No other questions this morning. Now we have one. Jonas Borg-Grönvik has a question. Please go ahead. Yes. Hello. So I have a request. And there's a lot of shareholders in this company that would like more information. I think it could be good to give a bit more information, going forward, a bit quicker because what happens is that people lose trust in this company. And it's a so a such a great company. So I think a bit more information when you have it would be great. Okay. I can understand the background for the question. I think the company, of course, releases press releases on key topics whenever we have something that is of the material nature that it should be told about. And of course, we have a quarterly setup for presenting the results and the development of the company. And I think those are the two tools that we have to work with for a stock listed company, quarter reports, and then press releases as seen needed and actually demanded from us as well on material topics related to the company's progress or situation in general. And of course, it is in our interest to be out there with press releases as fast and as fast as possible on topics. Tone. Just to mention, we have the updated investor presentation this morning, which was also updated a half a year ago, which is quite extensive with information. But we make a note of your comment, Jonas. Yes. Thank you, Jonas, for the question. Anybody else that would have a question for us this morning? If not, then I think it is time to thank you all for your participation, your interest. Thank you. Tack. Merci. Kiitos. Whatever whatever language, we appreciate you being present. We appreciate your interest in us. And we are looking forward to be able to communicate to you again, during upcoming quarters and in between with good press releases. Thank you all. Have a good continuation of your day. Thank you.
Loading workspace