Cyan banking on demand for smart metering

Global demand for smart energy meters was driving momentum at Cyan Holdings, as the group talked up its position on Tuesday ahead of its full year results to 31 December 2015.

The AIM-listed system and software design company said during the year, it made strong inroads into the smart metering sector in its core market of India, following the November 2015 announcement from the country's Ministry of Power to implement smart metering for all state network consumers.

Cyan Holdings said it received two contracts worth a combined £1.5m, on behalf of the Chamundeshwari Electricity Corporation (CESC) and Paschimanchal Vidyut Nigam networks.

It said the first 450 meters for CESC had been successfully installed and integrated, and the remainder were expected to be rolled out in the first half of 2016.

Cyan also deployed its systems to 5,000 smart meters for Tata Power Mumbai during the year, which had since been followed by an order in January 2016 for a further 5,000 meters.

There were discussions underway for a larger framework order from Tata Power.

In the firm's other global operations, Cyan made its first steps into the Chinese smart metering market in December 2015 through a partnership agreement with Newcapec Electronics Company.

It also commenced a pilot project with El Sewedy Electrometer Group in Ghana, which could lead to a rollout to 200,000 customers in the country.

"This was a busy period for the company as we further enhanced our position across our key regions", said executive chairman John Cronin.

"We are very much focused on converting orders into revenues, which in turn can lead to multiple orders and repeat orders from key partners", he added.

Looking forward, Cyan said the majority of the £1.5m contracts in India would be booked as revenue in 2016, with a significant element in the first half.

The Tata Power repeat order would also be shipped in Q1 2016, with the company saying revenue in 2016 would likely be significantly higher than reported in previous years.

"Having further strengthened our foundations for growth during 2015 there is huge opportunity for further scalability throughout India, China, Brazil and sub-Saharan Africa", Cronin said.

"As such, we expect trading during 2016 to reflect our growing ability to win and service new orders."