VANCOUVER, BC, May 7, 2024 /CNW/ - Ballard Power Systems (NASDAQ:BLDP) (TSX:BLDP) today announced consolidated financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2024. All amounts are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted and have been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). "In our last earnings report, we indicated that we expected continued growth in our Order Backlog, major order announcements from customers in our Bus and Stationary verticals, and the announcement of our next manufacturing facility," said Randy MacEwen, Ballard's President and CEO. "In Q1, we delivered on each of these milestones, highlighting our continuing journey to becoming a commercial products company. We booked $64.5 million in new orders, increased our Order Backlog by 38%, announced total non-dilutive funding of $94 million for the planned build-out of our Rockwall Gigafactory, grew revenue by 9%, improved gross margin by 5 points, and reduced cash operating costs1 slightly while continuing to invest in next generation products and product cost reduction." "We are particularly encouraged with our progress over the past 6 months with new order intake," added Mr. MacEwen. "After booking $64.7 million of new orders in the fourth quarter of 2023, we booked another $64.5 million of new orders in Q1, bringing total new bookings over the past two quarters to $129.2 million. We are seeing growth indicators across our Bus, Rail, Marine and Stationary verticals. In our Bus segment, so far in 2024, we have announced or secured repeat orders from three customers totaling approximately 1,200 fuel cell engines. We also announced an order for 15 MW of fuel cell engines from a repeat customer in our Stationary vertical. We are excited by the increasing order sizes as customers transition from demonstrations to larger scale deployments." Mr. MacEwen continued, "Q1 revenue of $14.5 million, up 9% year-over-year, was overwhelmingly generated by Power Products revenue, which contributed 88% of revenue compared to 71% in Q1 2023. Despite the continued shift in revenue mix to Power Products and the burden of fixed production overhead costs on seasonally low revenue, gross margin of (37%) improved 5 points compared to Q1 2023. Similar to prior years, we expect 2024 revenue to be back-half weighted and expect to realize corresponding gross margin expansion. We also continued our discipline on operating expenses and balance sheet strength. Notwithstanding inflationary pressures, our cash operating costs1  were slightly down compared to Q1 2023, and we ended the quarter with $720.7 million in cash and cash equivalents." "During the quarter, we were pleased to announce certain non-dilutive funding awards for our proposed Gigafactory in Rockwall, Texas," stated Mr. MacEwen. "The planned 3-gigawatt facility will feature advanced manufacturing of next-generation fuel cells at scaled production volumes and significantly reduced costs. The $40 million award from the U.S. Department of Energy Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office, and an award valued up to $54 million from the Qualifying Advanced Energy Project Tax Credit (48C) funded by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), provide Ballard with a total of up to $94 million of U.S. federal funding." Mr. MacEwen concluded, "In the context of an increasingly constructive policy environment, a growing Order Backlog, and with sustained investments in product cost reduction, advanced manufacturing, and capacity expansion, we see an exciting set-up for a strong second half of 2024 and growth in 2025. We are well positioned to enable our customers to compete in the energy transition and the adoption of hydrogen fuel cells to decarbonize heavy-duty mobility and select stationary power applications." Q1 2024 Financial Highlights (all comparisons are to Q1 2023 unless otherwise noted) Total revenue was $14.5 million in the quarter, up 9% year-over-year. Heavy Duty Mobility revenue of $10.6 million increased 22%, driven by higher revenues from our Bus vertical, though offset by weaker revenue in Rail and Marine verticals. Stationary revenue of $3.7 million increased 48% year-over-year driven by the European market. Emerging and Other Markets revenue of $0.2 million was down 90% compared to the prior year. Gross margin was (37%) in the quarter, a 5-point improvement year-over-year and 15 points lower from the previous quarter as expected due to lower revenue in Q1 2024 compared to Q4 2023.   Total Operating Expenses and Cash Operating Costs1 were $37.1 million and $29.8 million, respectively, a change of 3% and (2%) respectively, from Q1 2023. Net loss from continuing operations for the first quarter of 2024 was ($41.1) million, or ($0.14) per share, compared to a net loss from continuing operations of ($32.4) million, or ($0.11) per share, in the first quarter of 2023. The ($8.7) million increase in net loss was driven primarily by lower finance and other income of ($7.5) million largely due to higher negative mark to market and foreign exchange impacts on our long-term financial investments. Adjusted EBITDA1   was ($36.6) million, compared to ($36.9) million in Q1 2023, a change of 1%. Cash and cash equivalents were $720.7 million, a ($30.5) million decrease compared to $751.1 million at the end of 2023. Ballard received approximately $64.5 million in new orders in Q1, and delivered orders valued at $14.5 million, resulting in an Order Backlog of approximately $180.5 million at end-Q1, a 38% increase from the end of Q4 2023. Order Backlog growth was driven predominantly by the European Bus and Stationary verticals and includes the impact of the recently announced long-term supply agreement with Solaris. Power Products now represent approximately 88% of the total Order Backlog, with European and North American customers accounting for approximately 86% of the total Order Backlog.  The 12-month Order Book was $79.7 million at end-Q1, an increase of $13.0 million, or 20%, from the end of Q4 2023. Order Backlog ($M) Order Backlog at End-Q4 2023 Orders Received in Q1 2024 Orders Delivered in Q1 2024 Order Backlog at End-Q1 2024 Total Fuel CellProducts & Services $130.5 $64.5 $14.5 $180.5 2024 Outlook Consistent with the Company's past practice, and in view of the early stage of hydrogen fuel cell market development, specific revenue or net income (loss) guidance for 2024 is not provided. The Company expects revenue in 2024 will be back-half weighted, with roughly 30% in the first half and 70% in the second half, similar to 2023. Ballard's Total Operating Expense2 and Capital Expenditure3 guidance ranges for 2024 are as follows: 2024 Guidance