| | Fuel cell sector revenues slipped in 2004 - survey
Tue Oct 4, 2005 04:04 PM ET
(Figures in U.S. dollars)
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Revenues for companies trying to develop fuel cells into a viable, environmentally friendly power source slipped last year, according to a survey released on Tuesday.
The PricewaterhouseCoopers survey of 20 publicly traded firms focused on developing fuel cells and related technology said the sector had a net loss of $465 million in 2004, up from $387 million in 2003.
Fuel cells can produce electricity from hydrogen through a chemical process, and have been hailed as environmentally friendly because they do not release the harmful emissions of internal combustion engines.
The fuel cell's prospects dazzled the investment community in the late 1990s, but companies attempting to develop it for uses such as automobiles have struggled to make it financially competitive.
Aggregate revenues for fuel cell companies were $234 million last year, down from $244 million in 2003, while market capitalization slipped to $3.2 billion from $3.6 billion.
The companies spent $221 million on research and development in 2004, up 2 percent from 2003, according to the survey that was released in conjunction with a fuel cell conference in London.
Two North American firms, Ballard Power Systems (BLD.TO: Quote, Profile, Research) and FuelCell Energy (FCEL.O: Quote, Profile, Research) , accounted for 48 percent of the sector's total revenue, according to the researchers, who also looked at firms in Europe and Australia.
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