2008 Highlights:

First stage development contract completed and second stage commenced with a global manufacturer and with Sumitomo Corporation;

Completion of technical milestones and customer launch of six new and improved catalysts across Acta’s target applications;

Development of world’s first prototype high pressure hydrogen, membrane-based, non-noble metal water electrolyser;

Development of world’s first prototype platinum free 100W ethanol fuel cell power generator;

Performance improvements in catalysts for ammonia decomposition by cracking and electrolysis;

Commercial and technical progress in catalysts for zinc-air batteries;

11 new patent applications filed. 32 new NDAs signed.

2008 Financial Results:

Operating cash outflow of EUR4.3m (2007: EUR4.1m);

Year end cash of EUR6.4 million provides available funds to end of 2010;

GBP2.3m investment from strategic partner, increasing Sumitomo Corporation’s holding to 9.8%;

Completion of EUR2.1m FIT grant project (100W direct ethanol fuel cell generator)

2009 First Quarter Progress;

Approval of EUR12m government grant-funded Hydrostore project with ENI and ENEL, providing;

Acta with EUR750,000 grant over three years:

Second stage development contract with global manufacturer delivered on time with promising results;

High pressure water electrolyser and ethanol fuel cell generator successfully demonstrated at Fuel Cell Expo 2009;

Positive commercial interest in high pressure water electrolyser demonstration units;

Continuing customer interest in ammonia waste treatment and zinc air batteries.

Robert Drummond, chairman of Acta, said: “In 2008 Acta has responded to the deteriorating economic environment by increasing its focus on near-term revenue opportunities and reducing non-core costs to preserve cash. This has been successfully achieved, and has ensured that Acta now has cash resources until the end of 2010. We are committed to developing those catalyst applications which show technical merit and strong commercial potential, and which we can exploit in partnership with major industrial companies. We thank our industrial partners for their continued support and encouragement, and we look forward to demonstrating greater visibility on our product portfolio and revenue potential during 2009.”

Financial Results:

The loss included EUR0.5m of non-cash share option expense and excluded EUR0.6m of grant income which is expected to be received in 2009 to 2010 for project costs incurred in 2007 and 2008.

Revenues reflect lower sample and component sales but higher development revenues, as the company progressed from initial samples to deeper engagement with its key customers.

Operating cash outflow for the year was EUR4.3m (EUR4.1m in 2007). In March, Acta completed its fund raising with Sumitomo Corporation, providing an additional GBP2.3m to the company. With this extra funding, together with the recent cost reductions, the company has sufficient funds for its current operations until the end of 2010. An improvement in revenues above the modest levels that we have prudently assumed would extend the company’s cash horizon into 2011.

In view of the company’s stage of development, a dividend is not considered appropriate, and is not permissible under Italian law due to our accumulated losses.

Outlook:

2009 will see the company benefitting from the lower cost base that we have established and a greater focus on near-term revenue opportunities.

We will continue to pursue commercial and technical developments in ammonia cracking, zinc-air batteries, and ammonia waste treatment applications, and we envisage that these opportunities will show good technical progress during the year, with a view to commercial engagements in 2010. We will also be scaling up our noble metal free, high pressure hydrogen water electrolyser to an industrial prototype and pursuing this promising technology with our industrial partners.

The development relationship with our major customer remains strong, and we envisage entering a further phase of work on the development contract during this year. We will also continue to pursue grant funding opportunities in the sector together with significant partners, where such projects offer value to our technical and commercial strategy.

Chief Executive’s Statement:

Against the background of economic turbulence, global environmental issues continue to make themselves heard, and the latest research from the International Scientific Congress on Climate Change (Copenhagen, March 2009) indicates that sea levels are set to rise, due to global warming, at a faster rate than had already been feared.

Society needs practical, economically viable solutions to the problems of developing clean and renewable energy sources, and to reducing the emission of greenhouse gases and other pollutants. Catalysts will play a key role in the world’s industrial response to these problems, and Acta’s strategy is to continue to address its catalyst technologies to the key sectors of renewable energy, transportation, waste management and portable power.

Commercial Progress:

During 2008 Acta successfully completed the first phase of its development contract with a global manufacturer and with Sumitomo Corporation, our Asian distributor, and in November announced the continuation of this contract into a second phase. This contract has been a significant revenue source during the year, and we are encouraged that we have continued to work with this major customer despite the upheavals witnessed in their sector.

We have continued to develop our applications with customers in the fields of ammonia waste treatment and zinc-air batteries, in order to extend our promising lab results to meet the technical needs of our customers’ particular industrial applications. This is a lengthy and demanding process, and we are encouraged by the continuing feedback from our partners with regard to the commercial potential that they see in our technologies. We look forward to making further disclosure on these developments as we enter pilot programmes with our customers in due course.

The further expansion of our commercial engagement was seen in the signing of 32 new Non-Disclosure Agreements with customers and research institutes, taking the total number of signed NDA’s to over 100. On 23 July 2008 we also announced the launch of six new catalyst products across each of our areas of activity, bringing enhanced performance levels to our catalyst product range.

Our commercial strategy is to pursue our key applications in collaboration with major industrial companies, to ensure accurate customer feedback and rapid access to substantial markets. We are confident that our progress in these areas will bring clear revenue visibility by 2010.

Technical Progress:

Acta achieved significant technical progress during 2008, and the announcement of new catalysts for a range of Acta’s applications completed a number of technical milestones. The launch of noble metal-free catalysts for water electrolysis was particularly pleasing and opened the possibility of low cost, high pressure electrolyser units for existing hydrogen applications and access to the growing market for energy storage from renewables.

A further significant technical achievement during the year, completed early in 2009, was the development of a prototype alkaline membrane water electrolyser stack. This noble metal-free system produces hydrogen at 30 bar pressure (tested up to 100 bar) from intermittent energy sources, without the loss of energy typically incurred by compression. The hydrogen may then be burnt as a fuel, or in an internal combustion engine, or re-converted to electricity through a fuel cell when required to meet grid demand.