Valoe Oyj - Company Announcement

VALOE EXPANDS ITS KNOW-HOW OF THE BACK CONTACT CELLS TOGETHER WITH ITS PARTNERS - TEKES GIVES VALOE A NEW LOAN OF CA. 4 MILLION EUROS

  Valoe Corporation          Stock Exchange Release              28 December
2015 at 9.45 Finnish time 

VALOE EXPANDS ITS KNOW-HOW OF THE BACK CONTACT CELLS TOGETHER WITH ITS PARTNERS
- TEKES GIVES VALOE A NEW LOAN OF CA. 4 MILLION EUROS 

Valoe Corporation (”Valoe” or ”Company”), specializing in the clean energy,
especially in the photovoltaic (“PV”) solutions, and the Finnish Funding Agency
for Technology and Innovation (“Tekes”) have agreed on additional funding for
Valoe. Tekes gives Valoe a subsidized loan of ca. EUR 4 million to further
develop photovoltaic modules and to develop solar cells based on the back
contact technology. The loan can amount to max. 70 per cent of the project’s
total costs which are estimated to be ca. EUR 5.8 million. The loan will be
withdrawn in 2016 - 2019. The loan period is seven years. 

Valoe’s advances in solar PV-business have been based on the understanding in
automation, laser technology and the company’s experience in flexible circuits.
Further, laser technology is one of the key technologies in the production of
the cells based on the back contact technology. Additionally, Valoe has a deep
understanding in physical metallurgy that is one of the key sciences in
developing the PV-cells. Together with its strategic partners Valoe plans, in
the future, to expand its offering with solar cells based on back contact
technology. 

”The decision of Tekes to fund Valoe’s photovoltaic technology based on the
next generation back contact is significant. Valoe has been co-operating
closely with Tekes for several years in relation to the development of the next
generation solar cells. The decision of Tekes to provide Valoe with more
funding strengthens remarkably Valoe’s possibilities to create an ecosystem
based on the technology developed by Valoe. I believe that in the near future
we will see new initiatives supporting Valoe’s understanding that the market
share of the back contact modules will grow fast in the next few years”, says
Iikka Savisalo, Valoe’s CEO. 

The loan arrangement with Tekes has a positive impact on Valoe’s financing
situation. Further, the Board of the Directors of the Company wishes to
emphasize that there are risks relating to the Company, especially in terms of
sufficiency of financing. The Convertible Bond I/2015 and the loan now given by
Tekes have enabled the Company to stabilize its short-term and long-term
financing remarkably. Also negotiations for deliveries of production technology
have made good progress. However, the financing situation of Valoe continues to
be tight. The sufficiency of the company’s financing and working capital for
the next twelve months involves significant risks. According to the current
view of Valoe’s management the company continues to need financing until the
cash flow from the business operations has turned positive or a long-term
financing arrangement has been secured with the planned share issue. The
company will have a significant deficit in its working capital until the first
delivery of production technology for solar modules will start to generate
positive cash flow. If the company does not succeed to secure sufficient
financing, the continuity of the company’s operation may be jeopardized. If the
company does not receive new orders as fast as it expects or if the market
situation gets worse it may take longer time to turn orders into revenue. This
would affect significantly the schedule in which cash flow before investments
would turn positive. In such a case the company’s financing situation would
further tighten. 

Other risks connected to Valoe have been presented in more detail in the
Interim Report released on 4 November 2015 and in the Annual Report for 2014. 

In Mikkeli 28 December 2015

Valoe Corporation

Board of Directors


For more information:
Iikka Savisalo President and CEO, Valoe Corporation
Tel. +358 40 521 6082, email: iikka.savisalo@valoe.com

Distribution:
NASDAQ OMX, Helsinki
Main media
www.valoe.com

Valoe Corporation specializes in the clean energy, especially in photovoltaic
solutions. Valoe provides automated production technology for solar modules
based on the company’s own technology; production lines for modules; solar
modules and special components for solar modules. Valoe's head office is
located in Mikkeli, Finland.