Focus, focus, focus is the mantra at specialist eDrive developer Saietta Electric Drive (SED). Ahead of its AGM tomorrow, the company announced this morning that in the near term it would be concentrating exclusively on its substantial near term opportunities within the global lightweight EV sector, and specifically the  India and Asia.

Its leading AFT eDrives rolled off the production line in Delhi this month at its 50:50 joint venture Padmini VNA Mechatronics Limited, and are already being manufactured in Sunderland for its for North American & European customers).

To sensibly prioritise cashflow, the board has decided to temporarily scale back activities in the heavy-duty eTruck (ConMet) and marine markets (Propel). However, it is still simultaneously seeking strategic partners to take the latter Propel opportunity to the next level given strong underlying demand for these products, and is in active negotiations with  potentially interested two parties. 

Elsewhere, the company also provided a brief trading update before the publication of its FY23 results, which are scheduled for Friday 29th September, where cash closed March and August 2023 at £7.3m and £1.2m, respectively.

In light of today's news, house broker Canaccord Genuity has removed ConMet and Propel from its forecasts, alongside shifting the ramp up of JV sales from its Indian JV to the right.

All told, that means FY24 and FY25 EBITDA and net debt expectations have been cut to -£10.1m/+£5.1m (from -£9.9m LY) and -£5m/-£10m, respectively, on sales up to £7.9m and £18.0m, from £6.0m in 2023.

The Board also said that "it is confident that the group has sufficient funding to meet current requirements for its focused AFT eDrive production plan.”

As such, I’m really looking forward in touching base with the business again in order to learn more about these plans.

Executive Chairman Tony Gott added: "Saietta Electric Drive has reached the point of inflection as we expect to go into series production at our manufacturing plants in Sunderland and at our all-new facility in Delhi. We are focused very heavily on our core target market of lightweight electric vehicles (LEVs) which offers the biggest, nearest and most certain commercial opportunities.”

“We have therefore restructured our operations in the heavy-duty eDrive and marine divisions, reducing expenditure and allowing all resources and management time to be allocated into products for LEVs."