ATOME (AIM: ATOM), the only international green fertiliser project development company on the London Stock Exchange, with current large-scale projects in Latin America announces its audited results for the year ended 31 December 2023 and provides an operational update for FY 2024 year to date.

These financial statements follow only the second full year of operations and project development after joining the London Stock Exchange's AIM market on 30 December 2021 and reflect another year of major progress which is projected to culminate later this year by the making of the Final Investment Decision ("FID") on ATOME's flagship project in Villeta, Paraguay together with the start of construction.

The Company's Annual Report will be posted to shareholders on 28 June 2024 together with the Notice for the Annual General Meeting, further details of which are set out below.

Operational Update H1 2024

Statement by the Chairman, Peter Levine

This is the second set of full year results for ATOME and reflects demonstrable positive progress towards our goal of achieving Final Investment Decision on our flagship Villeta Project and start of construction there by the end of this current year.

It was only on 30 December 2021 that ATOME joined the London Stock Exchange's AIM market and today ATOME remains the only pure play green fertiliser project development company on the London market. Since Admission, the Company has made remarkable progress placing us at the forefront of the world green fertiliser industry.

Maintaining our fast-track schedule to be the first industrial scale producer of green fertiliser we successfully achieved numerous milestones in the year under report. These include acquiring 30 hectares (75 acres) of land for the Villeta project, completing the necessary Environmental and Social Impact Study, obtaining necessary environmental and operational licenses, gaining Tax Free Zone status for our Villeta facility as well as increasing the power purchase agreement there to 145MW. The progress has continued into this year with the FEED study completed.

We now have three exciting world scale projects, the 145MW project in Villeta, Paraguay, our 300MW Yguazu project also in Paraguay and the 120MW project in Costa Rica. In respect of our first project, Villeta, we look forward to agreeing offtake for our entire production in the near future.  

We have every confidence that ATOME will go from strength to strength in the years ahead and become one of the world leaders in the production of green fertiliser, delivering capital appreciation to our shareholders from sustainable growth whilst being an important contributor to the drive for global net zero in the food and agriculture industries.

Financial

The financial statements present group results for ATOME PLC for its second full year of operations, following its market debut in 2021.

Total loss for the year ended 31 December 2023 was US$6.8 million (2022: US$5.4 million), in line with expectations, reflecting the increased level of activity and fast track development throughout ATOME's project portfolio.

Sustainability

ATOME acknowledges and respects the increasing emphasis on climate change around the world. The Company aims to build a platform for a cleaner, more sustainable future for our planet in recognition of the climate change imperative driving nations and industries around the world to "green" their infrastructure, operations, and products.

Conclusion

I would like to close by thanking all my colleagues throughout the Company for their contribution to the success of ATOME. Together we work towards delivering another year of significant achievement, progress and delivery of value to our shareholders.

Since its foundation and subsequent emergence as an independent AIM listed business ATOME has made great operational progress and established itself as a leading international developer in the field of green ammonia and its derivatives, with a unique focus on green fertilisers. ATOME's strategy has been clear since day one: we aim to accelerate the development of our business by looking for reasonably sized projects, leveraging existing infrastructure in order to be first to market producing green fertiliser at the lowest cost possible near markets with existing demand.

We listed in London through our IPO in December 2021 having become a public company two months earlier. At the time of Admission to AIM we had our two core projects in Paraguay and Iceland, both substantive in nature and providing significant opportunity for significant increases in shareholder value, extending into the future.  Hindsight, together with subsequent events, has shown ATOME to be the right company at the right time for the green ammonia and fertiliser markets.

I am pleased to report that since our first annual report for 2022, ATOME has now completed the front end engineering and design (FEED) study for its first project in Villeta, Paraguay. It is not only significant for us, but it is also the first industrial scale green fertilizer FEED globally. We are now rapidly proceeding towards agreeing terms and conditions for a definitive form PPA for the 300MW Iguazu project in Paraguay combined with continued progress in Costa Rica with National Ammonia Corporation, where we are actively working on securing power for this project. All this progress has considerably exceeded our original expectations at the time of the IPO both in scale and the time frame of our business.

In January 2023, we created National Ammonia Corporation S.A (NAC), a joint venture with Cavendish, the renewable energy arm of the Quirós family-owned Grupo Purdy S.A., one of the largest corporations in Costa Rica, to pursue renewable energy generation and green ammonia-based fertiliser production. Similar to Paraguay, Costa Rica is one of the greenest countries in Latin America with a significant agricultural sector, presenting a great opportunity to leverage all the work we are currently doing in Paraguay and fast track project development there.

In May 2023, being armed with the already signed PPA, we took the decision to solely focus Villeta as a producer of green fertiliser (Calcium Ammonium Nitrate, or CAN) being the most value accretive option for the production facility, supplying that product to the fastest growing agricultural market globally in Mercosur and further. We also entered into a strategic partnership with Baker Hughes who invested in the Company and with whom we have agreed rights of first offer for the supply of compressor and other equipment to our projects. The FEED study for Villeta is now complete, with offtake terms for 100% of production in the process of final negotiation projected to provide structured support for long-term sales to underpin Villeta project commerciality and bankability.

Following the strategic review of our portfolio in view of significant effort, progress and clear path to market achieved in Paraguay and Costa Rica, we took a decision to divert the focus from the less commercially attractive operations in Iceland, with the 75% owned subsidiary Green Fuel ehf formally wound down in February 2024.

We believe ATOME is ideally placed to not only decarbonise the food and agriculture sector but also increase food security. Our projects will contribute significantly to fulfilling the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 2, 7, 9, 11, 12 and 13 which cover hunger, affordable and clean energy; industry, innovation, and infrastructure; sustainable cities and communities; responsible consumption and production, and: urgently combating climate change.

The stable price environment, the increasing demand for fertilisers, together with the international emphasis on environmentally necessary green commodities and security of supply, has provided a very fertile end market for ATOME's planned production. We have ever increasing confidence, backed by industry interest in us and strong support from a number of financial institutions, that there will be robust demand for our production which will support strong economics for our business, with profitability and sustainability going hand in hand.

We look forward to delivering further material progress during the balance of 2024 as we move forward with bringing our projects on-line with FID on Villeta projected by the end of this year and production targeted to commence in 2027. We intend to further develop a pipeline of new international projects in other jurisdictions as we become increasingly recognised as a leading first-mover developer in green ammonia and fertilisers.

Annual General Meeting

The financial information set out in this announcement does not constitute the Company's statutory financial statements and is derived from the consolidated financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2023 and year ended 31 December 2022.

Financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2023 will be delivered in due course. The auditors have reported on those accounts; their report was (i) unqualified, (ii) did not include a reference to matters to which the auditors drew attention by way of emphasis except for potential material uncertainty that may arise in the event if, around the Company's ability to continue as a going concern as further funding will continue to be required from shareholders, lenders or otherwise for the Company to achieve success in project financing for Villeta Project within the period to December 2024 allowing it to achieve the desired project outcome of cash generative production in 2027 and to continue its operations, and (iii) did not contain a statement under section 498 (2) or (3) of the Companies Act 2006 in respect of the accounts for 2023 and 2022.