13.04.2016 – 21:31

Leclanché SA

EQS-Adhoc: Leclanché announces Financial Results for 2015 and reports on achieving key Growth Plan milestones

EQS Group-Ad-hoc: Leclanché SA / Key word(s): Final Results
Leclanché announces Financial Results for 2015 and reports on achieving key
Growth Plan milestones

13.04.2016 / 21:09
Release of an ad hoc announcement pursuant to Art. 53 KR.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

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Leclanché announces Financial Results for 2015 and reports on achieving key
Growth Plan milestones

-Market guidance achieved

-Revenue increased by 69%

-2015 EBITDA loss as percentage of Revenue almost stable compared to 2014 with a
9% reduction.

-Growth investment of CHF 10 million accounts for nearly 40% of the EBITDA loss

-Book to bill (order backlog) increased by more than 100% year-over-year

-Graciosa project to be fully operational by Summer 2016

-Won contract to build world's largest electric ferry

-Major award to build one of the world's largest stationary energy storage
systems in Ontario Canada. US$ 45 million turnkey contract to supply, install
and commission a 53 MWh system.

-Major capital raise planned in 2016 to support growth initiatives

-Annual Report 2015 published today

Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland, 13.04.2016
Leclanché SA (SIX Swiss Exchange: LECN), the fully vertically integrated,
battery energy storage solution provider, announced today its annual results for
the year ending 31 December 2015. Consolidated revenues for fiscal year 2015
were CHF 18.2 million, up by 68.5% compared with the previous year; the EBITDA
loss for the year amounts to CHF (26.0) million compared with a loss of CHF
(16.92) million in 2014.

Anil Srivastava, Leclanché CEO, said, "We are pleased to report the Company met
its financial guidance given to the market for 2015 and achieved break even
EBITDA in the month of December 2015, excluding all exceptional items and
year-end adjustments. This turnaround month was driven primarily by revenues
generated by the Graciosa project.

"2015 was a strong year for Leclanché. Our strategic partnerships and
investments have enabled us to offer world-class customer solutions in several
high growth markets across our three application areas: utility-scale generation
& microgrids; eTransport; and commercial & industrial battery systems. As a
result, we have achieved excellent operational momentum with major
industry-leading, project wins validating our position as the leading vertically
integrated energy solution provider. We are excited about the opportunities
ahead as we execute on our pipeline and continue to build out our capabilities
to continue to capture the rapidly growing global energy storage market."

Key operating milestones achieved in 2015 include:

- Stabilization of balance sheet and operations through Recharge A/S total
investment of CHF 31 million, including CHF 10 million in Growth investment. Of
this, CHF 21.8 million has already been converted to equity.

- Successful repositioning of Leclanché in the market place as a fully
vertically integrated Energy Storage Systems provider.

- Implementation of one of the world's largest Lithium-battery based micro-grid
projects on the Island of Graciosa in the Azores (Portugal).

- Selection to provide battery power to the Largest Electric Ferry in the world.

- Installation of innovative battery pack for solar street lighting solutions in
Saudi Arabia in a strategic partnership with Scotia A/S.

- Successful introduction of All Electric Buses in Bruges, Belgium.

- Contract win over large global competitors for one of the world's largest
Stationary Storage Systems in Ontario, Canada.

"These customer wins and investments strongly validate the Company's growth plan
and are confirmation that we have successfully positioned Leclanché as a
complete Battery and Energy Systems Provider significantly increasing our
addressable market across the full spectrum of power-intensive and
energy-intensive applications.

"We believe the energy storage sector has reached a tipping point where it is no
longer a question of when, but how fast it will grow. All the indications
support this view."

According to Navigant Research, the Lithium-ion market for stationary and
industrial mobility applications segments in which Leclanché offers its
solutions is forecast to grow 37% annually to 75.5 GWh by 2020: these markets
include Residential Energy Storage, Commercial & Industrial Buildings,
Micro-grids, Utility-Scale, Buses, Ferries and Materials-Handling Vehicles.
According to the same study, Stationary Storage Systems is forecasted to grow
48% annually to 4.2 GWh, while Mobile Storage Systems is expected to grow 37%
annually to 6 GWh and Specialty Battery Systems for the commercial and
industrial markets to grow 48% annually to 11.3 GWh.

Funding and Balance Sheet Highlights
From a funding perspective, 2015 was been a year of stabilization for Leclanché.
By year end, December 31, 2015, the company had drawn down the full CHF 13
million Facility A, the full CHF 8 million under Facility B and CHF 2.7 million
under Facility B Extension from the Recharge A/S convertible loan for a total of
CHF 23.7 million.

In July 2015, Recharge elected to convert a further CHF 16.8 million into
Leclanché shares, thereby substantially reducing the Company's debt, and agreed
to add an additional CHF 5 million for growth funding under Facility B together
with an extension of the due date from June 2016 to June 2017. This takes the
total funding commitment of Recharge to CHF 31 million (CHF 5 million
acquisition of Oakridge convertible loan, CHF 13 million of Facility A and CHF
13 million of Facility B), of which CHF 21.8 million has already been converted
to equity.

In Dec 2015, the Company raised CHF 6.9 million for investment in developing and
deploying large projects. Leclanché has secured solid backing from most of its
larger shareholders as well as a new significant private equity investor, ACE &
Company. Founded in 2005, ACE & Company is a global private equity group based
in Geneva, Switzerland. The group has five offices globally and invests across
the various stages of private equity, from business angel to buyout
acquisitions, including growth capital and special situations.

"We are particularly pleased to have ACE & Company, and its CEO and founder,
Adam Said, on board as new investors in Leclanché, and appreciate their support
of the company's vision and future," said Srivastava. "This has been a very
fruitful period for the company and one in which we have made significant
progress despite many challenges. We would also like to record our appreciation
for the active participation of the representatives of Recharge, Scott Macaw and
Robert Robertsson as Board members, and for the substantial financial support
which has helped the company accelerate its growth plans."

Key Events and Achievements in 2015

Younicos/Graciosa Project
In April 2015, Leclanché announced a partnership with Younicos to deliver the
world's first megawatt-scale micro-grid renewable energy plus storage system,
integrated with wind, solar and diesel generation, on the island of Graciosa in
the Azores (Portugal). The renewable energy powered grid will boost the annual
share of renewable energies to the island's 4,500 inhabitants from a previous
limit of 15 percent to up to 65 percent and thus allow the island to
substantially reduce its dependence on fuel imports.

In May 2015, the company announced the turnkey order of EUR 8.5 million for the
supply and commissioning of the Graciosa Battery Power Plant ("BPP"), of which
circa EUR 4 million relates to the 3.2 MWh Battery Energy Storage System
("BESS"), for delivery in the second half of 2015, and EUR 4.5 million relates
to the entire Engineering, Procurement and Construction ("EPC") for the BPP.

Additionally, an affiliate of Recharge has provided EUR 3.5 million in
convertible debt financing to the project's operating company, Graciolica, a
wholly-owned subsidiary of Younicos, as support towards the realisation of this
project by the end of 2015. Further, Recharge increased its investment by
providing an equity of EUR 7.9 million to accelerate deployment of the project.

Ontario, Canada Grid Ancillary Services Project:
In January 2016, the company announced winning one of the world's largest
Stationary Storage Systems in Ontario, Canada. Leclanché is the turnkey
contractor (EPC) to supply, install and commission a total of 13 MW / 53 MWh
energy storage systems over six sites with ancillary services agreements with
Ontario's Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO). Leclanché direct
supply incudes Battery Storage System and Power Conversion System, while Deltro
Energy Inc. is the partner for the Balance-of-Plant (BoP) scope.

Eighteen times bigger than the Graciosa project, the Ontario project represents
a contract for Leclanché worth US$ 45 million in the first phase. In the second
phase, due in the year 2018, the project will be upgraded with significant
increase in Power capacity to 120MW resulting in a new order of further c.US$ 35
million for Leclanché.

The project will use high energy density Graphite/NMC cells - the second cell
technology introduced by Leclanché during the year. These services are now
required to maintain grid stability as more and more renewable energy is added
to the electricity mix. This market is growing fast and early players will have
access to GWh markets in the coming years.

Joint Solar Project
In September 2014, Leclanché announced a landmark project together with the
"Polytechnique Federale School" in Lausanne ("EPFL, Swiss Institute of
Technology") and"Romande Energie" (which runs one of the largest roof top solar
electric plants in the French speaking part of Switzerland), with financial
support from the Canton of Vaud, to study innovative solutions to store solar
energy and to distribute it in an optimal way at times of peak consumption. We
are pleased to report that the entire system for 512kWh high-capacity long life
battery storage, comprising approximately 8,000 lithium-ion titanate cells with
related mechanical, electrical and software systems housed in a 40-foot
container, was installed on site at EPFL and successfully commissioned in
October 2015.

This project is an important reference for the Company and has already been
helpful in securing orders for megawatt-scale storage projects for Leclanché.

Visedo Oy Alliance
In May 2015, the company announced a strategic alliance with Visedo Oy
("Visedo"), based in Finland, to produce an integrated solution for battery and
traction control systems and to establish the first full plug-and-play
drivetrain system suitable for use in any electric bus or other EV-solution.
Leclanché and Visedo's solution represents a true breakthrough for the industry
as real-time tests show that it is more than 20% efficient compared with its
peers currently on the market.

The first joint project from the alliance with Visedo has been the joint project
win, announced in June of this year, to deliver a 4.2 MWh battery and a
full-electric drive train for the world's largest electric ferryboat, to be
placed in service in June, 2017 to transport vehicles and passengers between the
island of Æro and the mainland in Denmark.

This is one of the top five projects in the EU Horizon 2020 initiative and part
of the Danish Natura project which guarantees local people green transportation
in these areas. The project is expected to reduce CO2 emissions by 2,000 tons
and NOx by 41.5 tons per year, and also reducing emitted noise levels and wake
waves right behind the ferry by 60-70%. The battery system provided by Leclanché
will allow record-breaking charging power of up to 4 MWHh for short port stays
and efficient operation, and is scheduled for delivery during 2016.

Trineuron Acquisition
In July, Leclanché announced the acquisition of Trineuron, a business unit of
the Belgian Company Emrol. Trineuron's products and market footprint are very
complimentary to those of Leclanché, in particular its multi-functions
applications controller and cloud services platform. Trineuron's significant
sales pipeline, particularly in automated guided vehicles ("AGVs"), will also
help to broaden the company's customer base. An all-shares acquisition preserves
funds for other growth investments.

"We are pleased that Stefan Louis, Managing Director of Trineuron, has agreed to
join Leclanché as Chief Strategy Officer and VP of Systems R & D, bringing a
wealth of experience to the Company. This acquisition provides a strong team of
trained and experienced engineer who will enable the successful technology and
know-how transfer in the design and IP rights for Modules and battery management
systems software," said Srivastava.

ADS-TEC Design and IP Rights Acquisition
In August 2015, the company announced the acquisition of design and IP rights
for modules and battery management system software (BMS) fromADS-TEC.

Srivastava said "This acquisition propels Leclanché into new space as one of a
few select energy storage players in the industry with complete vertical
integration capabilities from cell manufacturing to full storage systems
delivery."

The additional benefits derived from this acquisition include:

- Fast-track to greater control of value chain, together with significantly
improved competitive position and margins, for an insourced total solutions
offer.

- Consideration in the form of 1 million Leclanché shares (preserving funds for
other growth initiatives and strengthening the Company's balance sheet) and EUR
2 million cash.

- Further improvement in margins to be achieved by setting up manufacturing in
Switzerland once know-how has been brought in-house, and continuity of supply is
meanwhile ensured by a two-year co-operation agreement allowing technology
transfer during a period of major anticipated project wins.

Electric Bus Contract
In October 2015, the first three full-electric buses were placed in service by a
consortium consisting ofVan Hool, Bombardierand Leclanché. Through their fast
charge capability, the buses have a virtual unlimited autonomy allowing them to
be used continuously in the city transport system. Leclanché designed and
optimized the battery and charger systems for the given route and simulated
their expected life, in support of the extended warranty. The battery was
designed to be light and compact so that driving performance and consumption
were not negatively affected.

All of the system components, such as the Siemens drive line, Leclanché
batteries and conductive chargers and Bombardier inductive chargers were
efficiently integrated through the efforts of our engineers. The bus fleet is
now quietly transporting passengers - mainly tourists - through the beautiful
city of Bruges, while Leclanché carefully reviews the performance data fed to
our cloud remote management database, ensuring the operation and long life the
customer expects.

Commercial Progress
In addition to the industry-leading customer wins noted, where all Business
Units have won industry-leading reference projects, Leclanché announced a full
range of Home and Office Storage Systems in June 2015 during Intersolar in
Munich. Good progress has been made in building sales channels for these
products, in particular in the UK and Switzerland. Presence on this market
segment, though not a large part of the Company's turnover, is strategically
vital. 'Behind-the-meter' deployments and dynamics will likely have a profound
impact on the Storage Systems market.

Leclanché is focused on expanding the customer base for its Speciality Battery
Systems business unit with a particular focus on replacing lead acid batteries
deployed for industrial applications. For example, a pilot order has been
received for all-electric Street Sweeping Machines. Upon the successful trial,
this is expected to open an addressable market for thousands of such machines
worldwide.

Production Progress
The company commenced production of the new graphite-based cell in the first
half of 2015. The first three months served as a validation period along with
the establishment of all the production specifications. The first certified
commercial Graphite NMC cells were made in the second quarter, and have been
integrated within customer destined battery modules. The cells have now been
used in several different modules and have been sent to external laboratories
for third-party characterisation and validation.

The introduction of this new technology to the product set required only small
changes to the existing production line, which is now capable of producing both
LTO and Graphite-based technologies, with the use of third party electrodes from
Litarion. Since the introduction of the graphite-based cells, the company has
been validating its own electrode production in order to have the capability of
producing all components in-house. This gives Leclanché more flexibility in its
production and supply chain planning and also represents one of the main drivers
in cost reduction efforts.

The first half of 2015 also saw the initial steps of the production of cells for
the Graciosa project. The production was at first running in a single shift
operation, with a second shift being implemented in late Q3. Approximately
50,000 cells were produced in H2 2015, with the majority being LTO cells; most
of the production took place in Q4 when the ramp-up had taken full effect.

On the system integration side, the first half of 2015 had been predominately
focused on the process definition and validation of our next generation
transport modules. The modules are based on previously developed designs and are
being optimised for larger volume production. These activities have been carried
out at the Yverdon, Switzerland site where we intend to implement full module
production.

Research & Development Progress
Available market reports indicate continuous reduction in average selling price
("ASP") in the coming years; Leclanché has continued its aggressive cost
reduction programs in both Cells R&D and Systems R&D.

A lot of our R&D focus in 2015 has been on cost reduction by validating new raw
materials procurement and related development to increase the energy capacity of
cells. This work will result in significant cost reductions at a production
level during the second half of 2016.

The Electrochemistry (Cells) R&D team continued to participate in Batteries
2020, which is an EU-funded project aimed at enhancing the lifetime and energy
density of lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles, and validating their
usability for second-life applications such as stationary storage for
grid-related functions.

- The company is a consortium member of the Ambassador project, which is an
EU-funded project to study, develop and experiment with systems and tools that
aim to optimise district energy usage and manage the energy flows by predicting
and matching energy consumption and production.

- Leclanché cells have been independently tested by Hochschule Landshut
University of Applied Sciences and found to have "enormous cycling stability and
capacity retention" at 100% depth of discharge. Testing has been ongoing at the
institute, further validating our technology performance. The company has also
been working with Hochschule Offenburg and has been running deep
characterisation testing for more fundamental understanding of degradation
mechanisms that could affect our LTO cells.

As previously reported, Leclanché is also working on a high voltage LTO cell,
which might allow us to increase the capacity of our standard cell,
significantly reducing the cost per kilowatt hour. The company has seen
encouraging results in testing and the development program continues to progress
well, but it is still too early to make any commitment if and when Leclanché
would be in a position to launch such a cell on the market.

- The company has also been validating the performance and process ability of
its in-house electrodes made for the Graphite-based cells.

The Systems R&D team continues to focus on all the technology that goes on top
of the cell such as module, pack & rack, BMS, asset planning, asset management
and asset service. Leclanché has obtained the cooperation with several Swiss,
German and Belgian universities and research institutes to maintain the lead in
state-of-the-art technology. The focus is on cost reduction programs such as a
new module design, a new multi-purpose in-house BMS platform and a smart
multi-asset cloud database. Initial results indicate significant cost savings
can be realised in H1 2017 and beyond.

New Organization fully functional
Effective since January 2015, Leclanché has been organized around three
commercial Business Units, one Engineering Business Unit (BU) and one Technology
and Industrial team:

Stationary Storage Systems BUsells to, and supports, customers requiring Storage
Solutions coupled with Distributed Power Generation like PV Solar/ Wind/ Diesel
Gensets and Grid Ancillary Services.

Speciality Battery Systems BUcombines the Portable and Distribution businesses
to focus delivery of Customized Battery Systems to its Customers.

Mobile Storage Systems BUsells to, and supports, customers requiring Storage
Solutions for mass transport networks such as hybrid/full-electric fleets of
Bus/Trams/Trains/ Ferries, and Industrial Machinery.

System Engineering and Delivery BUis responsible for Design, Project
implementation and Services for all commercial Business Units.

Technology and Industrial Teamis responsible for group-wide R & D and Production
functions.

Over the past two years, Leclanché has built a world-class international
leadership team with a good blend of existing personnel and new recruits.
Strategic hires during the year include Stefan Louis as Chief Strategy Officer.

While the company has focused on operating as efficiently as possible in the
past year, the current operating cost levels are unlikely to be substantially
reduced further since this would be incompatible with Leclanché's planned
business expansion. The new growth plan, in which we have invested more than CHF
10 million in the year, has already required significant scaling of operations
in sales and solutions delivery which, although incorporated within an efficient
organisational structure to deliver increased productivity per person, has
inevitably impacted the results and working capital absorbed within the year
2015, as outlined in the summary of financial results below.

Financial Results

Key Figures

(in million CHF)                               31-Dec-15 31-Dec-14

Revenue                                        18.2      10.8

EBITDA                                         -26.0     -16.9

Loss for the period                            -35.5     -23.4

Earnings per share (CHF)                       -1.20     -1.21

                                                          

Number of Full Time Equivalent (FTE) Employees 159       114
 
Notwithstanding the new funding available from Recharge from January 2015 the
overall financial performance of the Company was still adversely affected by the
tight liquidity that had been experienced during the second half of 2015. Work
to rebuild customer and supplier confidence, while contributing to new project
wins and a growing sales pipeline, translated into new business in December 2015
with the revenue generated in the Graciosa project (CHF 9 million) so that 2015
consolidated revenues were just CHF 18.2 million, up by CHF 7.4 million or 69%
compared with the previous year.

The 2015 Group EBITDA loss was CHF 26.0 million (2014: EBITDA loss CHF 16.9
million). However, this increase of EBITDA loss year on year should be read as
follows:

- As stated in June 2015 interim report, thanks to the continued successful
implementation of the Growth Plan and to the revenue generated by the Graciosa
project, December 2015 Adjusted EBITDA was breakeven (defined as EBITDA
breakeven adjusted to exclude any non-cash items and as further adjusted to
exclude any negative effect of growth initiatives and activities which are
separately funded under Facility B or otherwise). This major improvement was
also achieved thanks to the various strategic and restructuring decisions and
investments made in the year 2015, including relentless efforts to achieve cost
reduction.

- 2015 EBITDA loss in percentage of Revenue is almost stable compared to 2014
with a 9% reduction. Yet adjusted EBITDA loss as defined above is showing an
improvement of EBITDA loss/Revenue ratio by 25% compared to last year (-117% vs.
-156%). Here too this upturn reflects the work done in reshaping Leclanché
towards becoming a more efficient company.

Revenues from the Specialty Battery Systems Business, formed from the
combination of the business units previously called Portable and Distribution,
(SBS) were CHF 7.2 million (2014: CHF 10.0 million), down by CHF 2.8 million
compared with the previous year, mainly as a result of one large long-term
contract drawing to a close during 2014 and not yet being replaced by new
business.

SBS has continued to recruit new sales personnel during the period and is
successfully diversifying into new sectors such as medical systems and Automated
Guided Vehicles (AGV) with a view to replacing this lost revenue over the course
of the next 12 months. As announced in recent days, the Company's Belgium unit,
formed from the acquisition of Trineuron in July 2015, has also won a large
contract for supply of lithium-ion titanate batteries within AGV to be used for
materials handling by a world-known brand leader.

As mentioned earlier, through a further strategic partnership with Scotia Light
A/S of Denmark, the Company has introduced innovative solutions for off-grid
solar-powered street lighting. This represents a promising new product range
using Leclanché's lithium-ion titanate cells in a custom configuration, which
has already translated into sales of 200 battery modules for off-grid street
lighting masts for deployment in the demanding environment of Saudi Arabia.

Revenues in the Stationary Storage Systems Business and Mobility Business were
CHF 10.8 million (2014: CHF 0.6 million), with the deliveries under major
project wins such as Graciosa and E-Ferry. The E-Ferry project itself is
representing an additional CHF 3.5 million revenue in aggregate, scheduled for
the second half of 2016.

The Speciality Battery Systems Business generated an EBITDA loss for the year of
CHF 2.1 million (2014: EBITDA loss CHF 0.8 million), as a result of reduced
revenues and the increased cost from new sales personnel.

The Stationary Storage Systems Business recorded a reduced EBITDA loss of CHF
9.0 million (2014: EBITDA loss CHF 9.3 million), mainly as a result of the costs
absorbed under the development programme for the EPFL project, as partly offset
by further costs from the reorganisation and ramp-up of sales and marketing
activities and personnel which has continued during 2015.

The new Mobile Storage Systems Business recorded an EBITDA loss of CHF 2 million
for the year, reflecting the personnel and operating costs of this new division
but without the revenues from project wins such as E-Ferry.

Group central costs at the EBITDA level were CHF 11.1 million for the year
(2014: CHF 6.8 million), an increase of CHF 4.3 million, including the impact of
Trineuron acquisition, mainly attributable to the organisational and operational
restructuring needed to deliver business expansion under the new growth plan
which, although incorporated within an efficient organisational structure to
deliver increased productivity per person, has inevitably increased costs.

The net loss for the year was CHF 35.5 million (2014: net loss CHF 23.4
million), an increase CHF 12.1 million, as a result of an increased Group
central costs EBITDA losses described above, amounting to CHF 6.8 million,
together with an increase in finance costs of CHF 0.8 million, resulting from
higher levels of convertible loans, the reversal of a deferred tax asset of CHF
1.1 million, a CHF 1.2 million impairment made on several capitalised project
costs and a CHF 1.8 million provision to cover a dispute with a tax authority on
a grant which should be reversed in the first half of 2016 following the
favourable settlement we are about to reach.

The earnings per share for the year is a loss of CHF 1.20, compared to a loss of
CHF 1.21 in 2014, due to a higher net loss and the higher weighted number of
shares in issue when compared to the previous half-year.

Available cash and undrawn facilities at 31st December 2015 were CHF 3.5 million
(2014: CHF 0.5 million). In addition, CHF 2.3 million was undrawn from the
Facility B under Recharge A/S convertible loan. Further on 7th March 2016, the
Company announced a new Convertible Loan of CHF 20 million withACE Core
Convictions Ltd. (ACE & Company).

Outlook

We are now uniquely placed in the energy storage market as manufacturer of both
power-intensive LTO cells and energy- intensive G-NMC cells. Secondly, we are
now able to deliver a complete turnkey systems solution (including battery
packs, design engineering, systems integration, software and EPC). Our move
downstream in the value chain has been very successful and is core to our growth
strategy.

Going forward, we aim to enhance our current organization around the following
strategic pillars:

- Electrochemistry, in particular around LTO cells

- Mechanical and electronics systems hardware, such as inverters

- Energy storage systems software

- Customer applications for grid-scale stationary and mass eTransport and
industrial applications

- Project management as well as engineering, procurement and construction
capabilities

We are seeing an increasing number of opportunities in the market with increased
activity in particular around large-scale energy storage solutions for both
grid-scale electricity and mass eTransport segments. We are very excited about
the opportunities, particularly around Micro-grid/ energy islands, the grid
ancillary services market and eTransport, and we are confident that we can
deliver 30 MWh or more of solutions this year (up from 5 MWh last year).

International expansion remains a top priority for us and we will continue to
pursue strategic alliances to establish a strong go-to-market and delivery
partnership in the following markets: US, Canada, China, India and South Africa.

Subject to the availability of funds, we intend to carry out selected M&A and /
or strategic alliances to complement and enhance our strengths in the
abovementioned areas. More details shall be provided during the course of the
year.

We anticipate that, subject to the continued successful implementation of the
Growth Plan and timely payments from the IESO project in Canada, current funding
facilities in place will satisfy the Company's working capital requirements for
the year 2016.

To support the current momentum toward sustainable and profitable growth, in
particular delivering integration and services in both secured large projects
and the new large projects in the pipeline, the Company and its Board have
decided in principle to launch a Large Capital Raise using the shares to be
authorized by the AGM and by the EGM held in January 2016. We are targeting this
raise to be around CHF 70 million, including CHF 20 million for select merger/
acquisition transactions. The goal is to raise CHF 50 million in equity to
finance our growth over the next two years plus CHF 20 million in loans to
finance mergers and strategic acquisitions. The Large Capital Raise project was
launched in February 2016 with an end 2016 targeted completion date.

In parallel Leclanché has announced on the 6th of March 2016 the signature of a
CHF 20 million facility for medium term growth financing whereby ACE & Company:
buys the current outstanding convertible loan from Recharge A/S; extends the
current convertible loan agreement with a new committed CHF 10 million as
Facility C; and has agreed to raise further CHF 10 million on a best efforts
basis. These proceeds will support growth investments related to the 53 MWh grid
ancillary services project for IESO Ontario.

Key Risks and Mitigation:

A large-scale industrial ramp-up is well underway: after registering
industry-leading commercial success in the year 2015, as reported above, we have
increased our focus on mitigating the execution risk associated with delivery of
such large projects, including ramping up the production to the highest level
since the facility was put in place. That said, the execution risk remains high.
As mentioned we are committed to deliver 30 MWh or more in the year 2016, which
is 6 times more volume than in 2015.

A large-scale Organizational ramp-up in well underway: we will continue to
ramp-up staffing in all critical areas, in particular in engineering and
customer project delivery. We have recruited key personnel in the US and are
building the project team to deliver the IESO project in Canada.

Large capital raise mentioned above is crucial to step up the investment in all
key areas, in particular R&D; production volume increase; project engineering
and management; and sales & marketing.

The financial results in the year 2015 do not yet reflect the positive impact of
customer orders won and acquisitions made by the Company. We are encouraged by
the progress and excited by the challenges and opportunities ahead of us.

Finally, as announced on the 7th of April 2016, our Cells production factory in
Willstätt Germany suffered a fire accident in a section of the factory. The
local firefighting brigades extinguished the fire. Measurements of the
firefighting brigades have shown no health risks for the people in the vicinity
of the factory. No personnel were hurt. The cause of the fire is still under
investigation. While, the production in Willstätt has been stopped, Leclanché
has activated the contingency plans in place and is confident to meet all its
delivery commitments to customers, in particular for the IESO Ontario project in
Canada.

We would like to conclude by expressing our thanks to all our employees, and to
our shareholders for their support during this period. We look forward to
continuing to build Leclanché's future with them and with you all.

Publication of results
Leclanché SA published today its annual report which is available in pdf format
on the Company Web site:
www.leclanche.com/investor-relations/financial-reports-publications/annual-repor
ts

Analyst and investor webcast
After the AGM scheduled on Wednesday the 4th of May 2016, a live audio webcast
will be accessible for analysts and investors on Monday the 9th of May 2016 at
14:15 CET (13:15 GMT/ 8:15 EST).
Analysts and investors wishing to ask questions during the conference are
invited to register with the investor relation team by email: 
investors@leclanche.com

Media contacts:
Worldwide, except US and Canada:
Jacques Boppe / Maya Aprahamian
Tél.: +41 (0) 24 424 65 00
E-Mail:communication@leclanche.com

US and Canada:
Rick Anderson / Henry Feintuch
Tel.: +1 (718) 986-1596 / +1 (212) 808-4915
E-Mail:leclanche@feintuchpr.com

Shareholder, Analyst and Investor contacts:
E-mail:investors@leclanche.com

About Leclanché
Leclanché SA, listed on the Swiss stock exchange (SIX:LECN), has a wide range of
energy storage solutions for homes, small offices, large industries, electricity
grids, as well as hybridization for mass transport systems such as fleet of
buses, trams, ferries, etc. Established in 1909, Leclanché has been a reliable
partner for battery energy storage solutions for over 100 years. Founded in the
tradition of Georges Leclanché, the inventor of the dry cell battery, Leclanché
today has a rich portfolio of Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) that include
bespoke battery systems from industry leading lithium-ion solutions. Since 2006,
the company evolved from a traditional battery producer into one of the first
developers, manufacturers and provided of lithium-ion cells in Europe.
Leclanché's BESS are optimized for various applications, in particular for the
integration of renewable energy, diesel fuel reduction, electricity
grid-connected ancillary services, peak power shaving for heavy industries, as
well as for heavy duty transportation in buses, trams, trains or maritime
vessels. Leclanché products are characterized by a very high cycle stability
(both for cells with titanate and graphite anodes) and industry-leading long
service life. Thanks to our patented separator technology, which is a core
element of lithium-ion batteries, Leclanché is able to make cells with very good
safety characteristics, under a highly automated production process. Leclanché
operates a fully automated plant for the production of large format lithium-ion
cells at an annual maximum capacity of up to one million cells and is capable of
running multiple chemistries through production for different cell
characteristics. In addition, Leclanché offers a number of specialized battery
systems through its Portable Business Unit, such as customer-specific energy
storage systems for defence and medical applications. Leclanché also distributes
primary and secondary batteries and accessories of other producers.

Leclanché, which is quoted on the Swiss stock exchange. SIX Swiss Exchange:
ticker symbol LECN | ISIN CH 011 030 311 9

Disclaimer
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements relating to
Leclanché's business, which can be identified by terminology such as
"strategic", "proposes", "to introduce", "will", "planned", "expected",
"commitment", "expects", "set", "preparing", "plans", "estimates", "aims",
"would", "potential", "awaiting", "estimated", "proposal", or similar
expressions, or by expressed or implied discussions regarding the ramp up of
Leclanché's production capacity, potential applications for existing products,
or regarding potential future revenues from any such products, or potential
future sales or earnings of Leclanché or any of its business units.
You should not place undue reliance on these statements. Such forward-looking
statements reflect the current views of Leclanché regarding future events, and
involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause
actual results to be materially different from any future results, performance
or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. There can be no
guarantee that Leclanché's products will achieve any particular revenue levels.
Nor can there be any guarantee that Leclanché, or any of the business units,
will achieve any particular financial results.

*****

End of ad hoc announcement

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13.04.2016 News transmitted by EQS Schweiz AG. www.eqs.com - news archive:
http://switzerland.eqs.com/de/News

The issuer is responsible for the contents of the release.
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Language: English

Company:  Leclanché SA

          Av. des Sports 42

          1400  Yverdon-les-Bains

          Switzerland

Phone:    +41 (24) 424 65-00

Fax:      +41 (24) 424 65-20

E-mail:    investors@leclanche.com

Internet: www.leclanche.com

ISIN:     CH0110303119, CH0016271550

Valor:    A1CUUB, 812950

Listed:   Foreign Exchange(s) SIX


End of News EQS Group News Service
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