But when I met chief executive Phil Caldwell back in May he reassured me that Ceres's renewed focused is on pursuing growth through partnership deals. These deals are expected to absorb some of the exorbitant costs associated with developing the group's technology and thus make Ceres a much more attractive proposition on Aim. I was therefore somewhat surprised when last week the company announced a £20m fundraising through the placing of 229m new shares at 8.75p - a 17 per cent discount to the closing price on the previous day. So is this the same old capital intensive Ceres? Or is the group on the cusp of an exciting new phase of growth?
There's no denying that Ceres' technology sounds exciting. Its 'SteelCell' is a unique, patented hydrogen fuel cell that has the capacity to generate clean, efficient energy for use in a wide range of applications. In an age of increasing concerns about global warming and energy shortage, the potential for such technology is huge. But turning that technology into a commercially viable business has proved to be quite a challenge.
In 2013 Mr Caldwell took over as chief executive and set a target of signing five global engineering partners by the end of 2017 and initiating two commercial launch programmes by the following year. So far, the plan is progressing on schedule. In the last few months the group has entered into partnerships with Nissan, Honda and Cummins to test its SteelCell in electric vehicles, power equipment and data centres, respectively. In September it was also revealed the group would begin to test its home power systems in the UK by the end of the year. These systems are best described as a mini power station that use multiple SteelCells piled together to generate the majority of the energy requirements of a normal home. They are, in theory, more efficient than taking electricity off the grid and are therefore expected to save money and energy. Ceres's trials will be supported by a €600,000 (£531,000) grant from the EU.
It's this sort of progress that Mr Caldwell uses to argue that the group's most recent fundraising is different to previous ones. Apparently, interest was higher than when Ceres stocked up its cash reserves in 2014 because investors now "fully understand the market opportunity". The money is intended to "maintain the group's financial strength through the next critical commercial phase" as well as provide fire-power to the power system trials, help scale-up the manufacturing process and provide working capital. That sounds as though the group still has pretty hefty capital requirements, which begs the question; how long will the £20m last?
