As per last year, the devil is in the detail. There is reference in the accounts to the Group being the ultimate controlling company and has all the relevant figures but Hill Helicopters Ltd is where the action is. Clearly the balance sheet doesn't tell you that much but there are some notes in the accounts on how depositor cash is handled:
" The company has, as planned, recorded a loss before tax of £8.6m (2021 - £3.4m) after expensing its investment in development activities of £3.6m (2021 - £1.8m) and further design and development costs recharged from within the group of £5.0m (2021 - £1.Sm). During the period the total income generated in the form of deposits totalled £12.5m from 331 units. These deposits are currently held in deferred income on the balance sheet and will be realised on delivery in future periods. Since the balance sheet date (as at 28 February 2022) the directors have successfully secured further sales of 135 units (therefore total sales to date of 711 units). This has generated income in the form of deposits of £4.4m. The current total order book value for 711 units is £307.3mThe structure of the sale and purchase agreements and the timing of the deposits and payments is designed to generate sufficient cashflow for each phase of the design, development, production and delivery of the HX50/HC50 helicopter to market. The directors carefully monitor and manage cashflows to ensure liquidity at each phase.
In doing so, the directors have prepared cashflow forecasts, covering a period extending beyond 12 months from the date of approval of these financial statements, taking account of anticipated costs, expected revenues and funds raised. These forecasts demonstrate that the company can operate within the finance facilities available to it for a period of at least 12 months from the date of approval of these financial statements and therefore the directors consider it appropriate to prepare the company's financial statements on a going concern basis."
So the Depositors are treated as Creditors.
Further I think it's safe to assume that up to July 22 they had spent £12m on development. And there was £17m left, and they have taken another 135 deposits since then (I assume the reference to Balance sheet as at 28/2/22 is a mistake). So another £5.4m has gone into the pot. If we assume the cash burn remains the same (I would expect it to increase as the team gets bigger and more machines come on line), they will have used up c£6.5m since July 2022.
So the gamble is: will they get the aircraft developed and flying with c£16m of funding, unless they get even more deposits? I can see why they leave the order book open!