Ladies and gentlemen, good morning. Welcome to the conference call of LION E-Mobility regarding the Q1 2026 results. This call will be recorded. Currently, all participants are in a listen-only mode. My name is Jens Hecht, and I am the Moderator today. On the call, we have the LION management team, Dr. Joachim Damasky, CEO, and Jörg Peter Hahn, CFO. First, Jörg will provide an overview on the Q1 2026 financial results. Afterwards, Joachim Damasky will give you an update on the overall business development and the outlook. After the presentation, the LION team will be available for any of your questions. You will be able to ask the questions via the Q&A chat function, or you can raise your virtual hand and will be unmuted to ask a question. For the presentation, I would now like to hand over to Jörg.
Thank you very much, Jens, for the introduction. Good morning, everyone. Good morning, investors and guests. Please move to the first slide. Thank you very much. Actually, I wanted to present to you a quick overview on the financial highlights first. For the first quarter, our revenue has reached EUR 3.3 million. This is mainly due to the we had inventory effects at customer sites, so therefore we had a reduction in the first quarter as every year. In regarding EBITDA, we have a EUR 0.3 million positive, still positive EBITDA. Last year it was much higher, but we had lower revenues, so this is a consequent effect.
Operating cash flow, here we could increase the amount to EUR 3 million because we had continued our cost discipline and we received better payment conditions from our suppliers. Let's go into detail in the P&L. Looking, as we said, the EUR 3.3 million, last year we had in the same quarter EUR 6.5 million. Last week we had the transition to the announcement for the SE09 replacement to NMC+. This year, the last orders coming in now or came in. Looking at the capital, the own work capitalized, so the development projects, it rose to EUR 0.8 million, so the last final phase of the R&D for NMC+.
Cost materials, the margin remained stable at 52%. This is a in sync reflection of the revenues. Personal expenses was almost stable at EUR 1.5 million. Looking at the operating expenses, they remained stable year-over-year. We had the effects also from the increased R&D phase and the EBITDA still remained positive despite the lower revenue levels. The finance expenses we could reduce to EUR 0.3 million. This was due to the conversion of shareholder loans into equity. So a big thank you to our main shareholder. Yeah, please. Yeah.
Regarding the cash flow, as I mentioned before, we had the EUR 3 million of operating activities cash flows, which is due to the better payment conditions from our suppliers. It also reflects our operating performance, which was quite solid in the first quarter. Going to the investing activities, as I mentioned, we continued our investments and even accelerated our investments into the NMC+ development. Regarding the financial activities cash flows, it went down to EUR 0.1 million, which is mainly reflecting the payments, repayments for our bank loans. Next page, please. Overall, looking at the balance sheet, we decreased the total assets to EUR 38.2 million.
We had year-end, which is the comparison normally, year-end 2025, a reduction from EUR 39.4 million, and this was mainly driven by counter effects, lower trade receivables than offset by higher inventories due to the planned production shutdown and the increased capitalized development costs for NMC+. As I mentioned before, the equity remains stable due to the conversions that has happened already in November last year. Looking at the non-current, current liabilities, it remained at a still low level at EUR 0.7 million, so broadly in line with last year and 2025.
If you look at the current liabilities, it's a decrease of to EUR 22.4. This is reflected, as I said, on the disciplined working capital management, so increased as better payment conditions from our suppliers. With this, I want to hand over to Joachim and thank you very much.
Thank you very much, Jörg, for leading us through the financial numbers. Good morning also from my side, I would now like to report on our current work. Here we can see the current status from SE09, but also NMC+. The good thing is that we have been coming to an end of the production of the old cell. We have no remaining cells left, we have been able to sell everything what was available for us. What we now still have in stock is the module spare part stock that we need. We are calculating a low level of maybe modules that might to be exchanged at the customer. We are now reworking our production line.
We will send out the last productions of the SE09 battery to our customers until July 26. The pre-orders of them have been going that far that they have enough time, especially in the bus area, to do the integration. We have done this already for a few customers, but there's still some work to be done for the integration into the vehicles. That what we need to have in our stock, electronic components like BMS, S-boxes, whatever is necessary, we do have in stock. We have some modules. We have no cells left. And we have the battery packs totally sold. We will be able to produce spare part packs if it's necessary.
For the time being, we have no packs in stock. Production line is going in time. We are doing this together with thyssenkrupp. We have been starting already for the end-of-line testing and the module phase into the pack production line. We are now setting up the new cell stacking. This is necessary because we have now cells, and between the cells, new cells, we have so-called swelling pads. That means, to enhance lifetime, we give space to the cells for the electrochemical changes during lifetime.
I think we all know that due to the new Euro 7 Regulation, we have to guarantee 72% state of health of the cells after eight years or 160,000 km. This is the reason why we are using now in coordination with the cell manufacturer, as well, the so-called compression pads. Therefore, we need a new cell stacking and module welding, and the changes are currently running. We have produced overall roughly 50 battery packs already as C-samples for all the testing. I think I reported last time that we did this to achieve the ECE R100 Rev. 3. All the tests have been passed.
This has been done by prototype modules and also the integration at our main customer in the bus area, Karsan. This is the way how we did these integration. Now we are working on the final serial production. We will have hopefully the release for our new production line late June or beginning of July. We will already produce batteries. Next slide, please. Where we are at NMC+. I think what we should know is that the NMC prototypes and the C-samples have been sent out to several customers. They are doing the integration work. We are, of course, accompanying them. We have been several times at our customers especially for the communication between the bus interfaces and our battery.
I think I explained last time also that we are developing a new BMS because the old BMS, that we have been buying, as being developed from BMW does not fulfill the current regulations, so there was the necessity for building up a new BMS. You can see this BMS on the picture on the right side. The applications are running. We have already buses in the field, that means at customers in Portugal and Lithuania. Of course, as normal, there is a necessity of software improvements because some of the issues, they and this is totally normal, come up when the buses are in the field. The customers are happy with the buses, and now we are doing the final changes and the software.
The main sales for the NMC+ battery, that means the 53 kWh is coming from bus customers in Europe, Canada, and the U.S. We are also working on the BMW i3 conversion together with a company that is called Mandrill . There are already a lot of inquiries. This is the 120 upgrade. This was the old one, and we are now able to together with them to do the advertisement to the 147 amp hours, what will give the vehicle a driving range of roughly 400 km.
We already have a lot of customers who ask for this. We are now together with our BMS manufacturer working on the software integration that it really fits not only in our buses, but also in the serial application of BMW. We, on the other side, also have first defense projects running. We have some starters. We have sent out a lot of samples. I will come to this later on. Next slide, please. Coming to our major bus customers, Karsan as leading customer. Together with them, we have done the integration. You see the smaller bus. This is the minibus, e-JEST. There is also a bigger bus, it's e-ATAK. In one of these buses, in the smaller ones, we have two batteries.
In the e-ATAK, that means the bigger one, we have up to five batteries in one bus. We have been working closely together with them to make sure that everything is running under serial application. We have achieved the whole test phase with them. We have got the road release for our battery. This is the first time that an own LION Smart battery has achieved the road release, what means that our software is working also sufficient to the customer's demands. With Lion Electric, this is a big Canadian customer, I think I explained some one and a half year ago that they unfortunately went into Chapter 11, or I think in Canada it's called CCAA.
They have been restructuring now. They are successful back. They are not doing any more the electric truck business, but the bus business is still going on. They decided not to continue their own battery assembly in Canada, so they now rely again on our battery packs. We have sold now in the beginning of the old battery, several hundred packs already this year. We have shipped them over the first samples with NMC+. Our people will go to Canada in the next weeks to make sure that the bus integration also is working.
The good thing is that the Canadian government does not follow the political situation in the U.S. They will still keep boosting electrification, especially in bus transportation, and this gives us good chances. They have a full order book. They rely on our battery. Next slide, please. We are also working on additional markets. As I mentioned before, the good thing is that our battery has one of the highest gravimetric energy density. That means, in comparison to the weight and the energy, it's the benchmark. This is also very well appreciated by other customers, especially in other areas, what means, we are one of the remaining battery suppliers within battery manufacturers within Europe and also in Germany.
We have so far resilient supply chains. We are buying also most of the components except the cells. Unfortunately, there is no cell manufacturer available in Europe for this kind and that size of cells that we need for our battery. All the other components, including the electronics, is coming from Europe, and this is very well appreciated by our customers that we are also looking now in the defense market. They, the customers appreciate also the robustness and safety of our battery packs. We have now a lot of inquiries also from the growing defense market and also in automated transport, agriculture, but also in mining. The good thing is that we are also able to help our customers for the integrations.
Our technicians are working with technicians of, for example, Quantum Technologies, but also others to make sure that they get the battery that they demand. Next slide, please. Here you can see a few of the projects we are now working on. We have with Go Electric an e-harvesting system. We have a battery trailer with at least two batteries. We are working on UGV, that means a ground vehicle, together with Quantum and also Volvo Trucks. The people are very much interested in our battery because this is a battery that is coming not from China, but from Europe, and it's a reliable battery.
This is also one of the focus of the growing defense market to have the so-called unmanned ground vehicles to reduce in case of any conflict the exposure of soldiers. this is something where we see especially with the also changing let's say public appearance of defense also our market where we think that we will be able also to supply our batteries to. We are next slide please. Still working also on our immersion-cooled battery technology.
We have ongoing projects with truck OEM where we now have realized a concept for the so-called megawatt charging so that we will be able within 15 minutes to charge at least 500 MWh into a truck. During a break, the truck can be charged again and then can be back on the street. We are still working on a technical feasibility study with a high-performance car from one of the German OEMs. I think we have mentioned this before.
Unfortunately, as I told also last time, the project decisions within the car OEM industry, especially for high-performance cars, have been postponed several times, so that we are still working on the concept, and hopefully we will get also for this a next prototype status for a serial car application. We are partnering with Castrol, but also with a big German supplier for the cooling oil, but also for the infrastructure and the vehicle. That's been pumps, heat exchangers, so the things that we are not pro-producing on our own. We have now a system that is ready to be applicated. We will show this also on several trade fairs next time, the AABC in Mainz, together with Castrol.
Next slide, please. Now I would like to switch over to the next step in our BESS business. I think we all know that BESS, that means battery energy storage systems, has been a major part of the LION Smart GmbH business in the past. With the battery pack SE09, this has changed dramatically also through the availability of LFP cells, but also modules and packs. The whole market with BESS has been changing to LFP, especially to big containers coming from China. We have started our partnership together with LEAPENERGY, a daughter of Leapmotor, last year. We are now in the finalization phase for this.
We have been awarded by the first project last year. The containers are already at Hamburg Harbor. We will build up the part that means the containers on the groundings. Also the inverters is planned for next week. We hope that we will be able to finalize the electrical connections, that means the grid readiness, before end of June 2026. We have realized the project in a very short time. That means less than eight months. What is also quite benchmark, especially when the containers have been built up. We had also the opportunity from our people to attend the factory acceptance test in China. Our engineers have been there. They have been educated by Leap for these special kind of containers and the infrastructure.
We have been also working with Sinexcel. This is an inverter manufacturer from China, but we are also working together with European companies, as we know that there might be the demand for European-produced inverters and power conversion systems coming from the government, to make sure that our infrastructure will be from the software side also under European control. We have now final negotiations for a second project, 5 MWh- 10 MWh , what also will be delivered in 2026. We hope that we get it. We have already the agreement. We hope that we will be able to sign the contracts this week. I think the pipeline is now full.
We have budgetary quotes given to possible future customers, more than 7.6 GWh with more than 10 customers. We have a very good reputation in the market as being one of the battery manufacturers, also with a long experience and also with a support team that can go out to the containers in case of a failure, but also only for maintenance. We are also building up now a second source for BESS with Sunwoda. We are working on the Tier 1, the Bloomberg Tier 1 listing together with Leap. I think this gives us more and more opportunities also in this kind of business. We are also on the next slide, we can see that now improving our sales team.
We have been in China. We have now hired four more sales and business development people here in Beijing. We are now also hiring engineers dedicated to the BESS business because we then not only have to understand the battery itself, that means the DC side. We also need to know what is the AC side doing, what is about the communication between the DC side, that means the BESS, and the BMS from the BESS to the power conversion system. That means to the inverters and transformers. We need to be able, this is something that we are currently doing with an external engineering company to do the drawings, that is necessary for getting the grid connection allowance.
This is what we are now building up for both for the site that we can have the support during the offer phase, but also in the realization phase. Also we are now doing some building up in the mobility sales team. That means for the NMC+ battery. We have already hired one more person, and we are also looking. We have the parts ready. We have the availability of containers of cabinets. I showed this last time. That means the 5 MWh, but also 250 kWh and 400 kWh. Therefore we are now building up our sales team, but also our engineering team.
This is the overview on that what we are currently doing. I would say we are on track. I hope that we will be able. We are confident to get our turnover target of above EUR 35 million this year. As we also have shown this, we expect positive EBIT and positive EBITDA. This would be then the second time in the company's history that we are growing profitable. Thank you very much from my side, and I now would like to hand back to Jens.
Thank you, Joachim. Thank you, Jörg. We can now begin with the Q&A session. If you have a question, please use the Q&A chat or raise your virtual hand, and I will put you in the conference. I see a first question from Christian Sandherr. One second, please. Christian, now you can unmute yourself and ask your question.
Great. Thanks. Good morning, everyone. First question would be on the Q1 sales development. Could you again clarify a bit the reasons behind it? I understood that it is largely driven by the product shift, so away from the NMC towards the NMC+, and the resulting fact that a lot of customers pulled forward orders that they would have placed in Q1 into Q4. Because you are, as of today, not able to deliver new or not able to produce new cell packs anymore. Is that correct?
Yes, this is right. We will start the production in June. We expect to have between 120 to 140 packs in the ramp-up phase in June, and they are already going to our one of our bus customers because we need them then directly there. The larger scale of the turnover with the NMC+ will come then in July. In June, we will have the ramp-up phase. We will in May now, we will not produce any more batteries, so we are selling that what we have already produced in the first half of this year or the first five months of this year.
Yes, it is the case that for the time being, we have had this switch from the old cell to the new one. Everything was done in coordination with our customers so that we can make sure that they can ship out their buses. We have been doing this from end of last year. They have been informed, of course, two years ago, and we did a proper planning so that they have now the batteries that they need for their buses being produced until July this year. Or, in, when we look to the abroad markets, until beginning of September, and this is the time that we need to fulfill the supply chain with the new battery.
Right. Looking ahead, how good is your visibility in terms of demand from your bus customers? Second part of the question, you talked about the BMW i3 conversion. What are your expectations here? Do you have kind of an estimate of how many BMW i3s are still out there and where could make sense to convert a battery pack?
Yeah
I'm just trying to understand a bit the potential from this.
Also, thank you for that question. We have a forecast from our bus customers. With that we will be able, in combination with our BESS business, to fulfill our turnover expectations. We have already from them the forecast, what they want to order. We are now working also on contracts with them, with also binding minimum order volumes so that we get more visibility. Of course, we now are also negotiating warranty times that we have to do or might have to change due to the new Euro 7 Regulation. At least we know the numbers. Coming to the i3 battery thing, we have a company that is doing this conversion, Mandrill.
They have given us some numbers, but this is something, the real advertisement for this, they will start then when the battery will be available because otherwise, I think, this is more or less an end consumer market, and customers will be disappointed if they get not in time the batteries. We, because we cannot supply batteries to them, before, I would say, end of July, beginning of August, because this is the time that we need to fulfill the supply chain to our abroad customers. We will start the marketing next month. We have a forecast from their side, but we are sure it makes sense also for other vehicles.
I think we know all that the BMW i3 fortunately has a carbon monocoque structure, so that means corrosion for these kind of cars is not a big issue. We have a lot of people who are asking already for this upgrade. What we also need to know is that the battery lifetime of the original battery, that means the SE09, is much better than originally planned. I think we will, we hope that we will be able only in Germany to convert several hundred cars. Of course it costs, let's say, including the changes, we are talking about prices of, I would say, at least EUR 12,000-EUR 13,000 for the customer.
This is something that makes only sense if the car still has a current value. We have been looking to that. There are some customers who want to have the extended driving range and are willing also to this, so we are talking about several hundred of these pack conversions.
Right. I have another question on the BESS topic. I mean, getting approvals for Netzanschluss.
Yeah
seems to be really hard overall. I mean,
This is right.
in the market for containerized solutions.
Yeah.
Is this changing your strategy? I mean, you, 'cause you could be ready, but the problem is that, I mean, the customers are ultimately are not able to get these things connected as quickly as they would like to.
Yeah. You are totally right. The topic with the grid connection allowance, [Non-English content], is really something hard because we have already some grid companies, if you ask for a [Non-English content], they say, Oh, yes, we receive this, but please come back in two years from now on. T his is the reason why we are concentrating, and this has been mentioned also last time, on smaller new systems, especially when you have already this, we are calling this co-location. That means systems where you have a wind turbine, windmill standing there, or where the solar field already is existing there. There we do already have the so-called [Non-English content].
On the other side, we are talking directly to the so-called [Non-English content], that means the local power companies, who then can decide together with the grid company what they do. I think we have less problems with the size because we are talking about main business up to 30 MWh- 40 MWh. That means smaller units, where in a lot of cases the [Non-English content] already exists.
Right. Okay. The final question on the defense topic. Do you have any kind of visibility in terms of potential orders in that space? Is this, are these basically trials and testing or ideas, or is this concrete with structural demand behind the products?
I think I have shown that we are here working as second or third source, as third-tier suppliers. We are working together. We know the production volumes that our customers, as I have shown them, have in their plannings and what they are on now building up for production volume. This is something that we need. We know, but I think we know that especially Koblenz, that means for the German military, the purchasing area, is not the fastest in the world. They are working also in other countries. We have protections, but unfortunately we do not have concrete contractual volumes. We are working on the concepts now.
I think this whole overall defense business now is changing. I have been last week at Hensoldt, and they have shown that they have now order entries of EUR 2.5 billion already this year. They want to grow, for example, up to EUR 6 billion in the year 2030. Of course, as you know, the contracts are currently under negotiations. This is the reason why I showed you several vehicles that we want to support and not being dependent only on one customer.
Yeah. Right. Perfect. Thanks so much.
Thanks, Christian, for your questions. Currently, there are no further questions. If you have a question, please raise your virtual hand or type in a question in the Q&A section. There seem to be no further questions. We would like to end the call for today. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for your attention. If you have any further questions, please reach out to the LION Investor Relations team. Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Thank you. Bye.