Leclanché SA reports financial results 2010 and provides update on strategic expansion plans

Ulrich Ehmes, Chief Executive Officer, commented: „2010 was a strategic year for Leclanché as we took the required steps to ensure our future growth. A number of important milestones were reached, including the successful conclusion of a capital increase to finance our expansion strategy. Refining the technological potential of our cells allowed us to form decisive partnerships. Furthermore, a fully automated production line for lithium ion cells, which uses roll-to-roll processes for electrode and separator, is now in operation in Willstätt. All elements are now in place to implement our strategy to allow the increase of our production capacity up to one million lithium ion cells per year as of 2012.“

„For 2011, our focus will be threefold: consolidate Leclanché’s sales approach in order to broaden our customer base and increase revenues; manage our cost efficiency and cost effectiveness; implement our strategy to facilitate the industrial roll-out in 2012“, Dr. Ehmes added. As part of its strategic focus, Leclanché changed its organization from a business unit set-up to a functional management structure build around its market segments in order to provide specific solutions adapted to the needs of our clients in four specific areas: automotive, trains & trucks, renewable energies and industrial solutions.

Key achievements in 2010
• Election of former Daimler Manager Rolf Eckrodt as Chairman of the Board of Directors in March 2010 and of Ulrich Ehmes as CEO in October 2010 • Finalized process technology for large scale production: optimized our fully automated pilot production plant in Willstätt, Germany • Refined cell technology in terms of continued quality improvements, increased reliability and durability up to 15,000 full charging and discharging cycles and developed small customized batches for specific applications • Successful delivery of the first batches of over 20.000 portable battery systems for ruggedized application • Concluded several partnerships demonstrating Leclanché’s lead in its areas of expertise: Leclanché is the exclusive supplier of lithium ion cells for „LiANA+“, a German project for developing and proving the applicability of large lithium-ion battery modules in diesel-electric hybrids. Leclanché was chosen as supplier of large format lithium ion cells to the first major European grid project „Web2Energy“ in Darmstadt, Germany. Leclanché was granted from the German Government Euro 3.82 million for further development of large-format lithium ion cells • Closed Leclanché’s plant in Itzehoe, Germany to rationalize costs • Prepared a major capacity expansion plan and raised for that purpose CHF 31.3 million through a capital increase

Subsequent events in 2011 • Significantly strengthened its management team by hiring early 2011 Christian Perrudet as CFO and Jörg Illing as head of production at its Willstätt production unit • Nomination of Antoine Spillmann in February 2011 for election to its Board of Directors • Set-up a new organizational structure focused on four distinct market segments: automotive, trains & trucks, renewable energies, industrial solutions. Leaving the Executive Committee, Suzanne Mühlemann, Daniel Evard and Fabrizio Marzolini will however continue to assume important management responsibilities within the company. Orders in hand As of the end of February 2010, Leclanché had orders in hand of CHF 10.5 million, of which CHF 8.3 million were derived from the Business Unit Integration and CHF 2.1 million from the Business Unit Cell Production.

Outlook The macro trend towards more efficient use of renewable energy will increase demand for power storage options. Leclanché expects to fully take advantage of this trend as its proprietary technology for large-format lithium ion cells is designed for use in a broad range of promising markets and applications, including smart grids for solar energy storage, large hybrid diesel engines and electric vehicles. Leclanché expects 2011 to be another year of investments to expand and industrialize its production capacity, but also to take into account the strengthening of its sales and marketing efforts and to increase its presence in the markets. Headcount is expected to increase substantially from 94 employees at the end of 2010 to about 120 employees end 2011. Accordingly, the company anticipates a loss in the same magnitude as last year, despite an anticipated sales increase. Dr. Ehmes concludes: „2011 is the year which will allow us to register increasing order inflow for our high capacity lithium cells. More important however, we aim to use the existing pilot line to win large contracts for 2012 for the planned capacity increase of our new production line.“

Analyst and Investor meeting Leclanché S.A. will discuss its full-year 2010 financial results and achievements during an analyst and investor meeting taking place today Thursday March 3rd 2011 at the Steigenberger Bellerive au Lac, Utoquai 47, 8008 Zürich. In addition, a live audio webcast of the meeting will be accessible on the Leclanché web site: www.leclanche.ch. A replay of this teleconference will be made available one hour after the conference. Analyst and Media wishing to ask questions during the conference are invited to call at 14:15 CET (13:15 GMT/ 8:15 EST) using the following conference- ID: 4418837 and one of the following dial-in numbers: • Europe: +41 (0) 22 592 73 12 • UK: +44-207 153 20 27 • USA: +1 480 629 97 26

Contact
Swiss media Christophe Lamps Dynamics Group S.A. T.: +41 79 476 26 87 E.: cla@dynamicsgroup.ch

International media Markus Wieser CNC AG T.: +49 89 599 458 114 E.: markus.wieser@cnc-communications.com