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Taken from NI's post:
If AFC Energy’s solid alkaline membrane (AlkaMem™) becomes as technologically robust as its liquid alkaline technology, it would, in our opinion gain a considerable share of the PEM market. In particular, the ability of the membrane to operate with less pure hydrogen (and hydrogen cracked from ammonia) means that it would require less expensive chemical feedstock for PEM applications.
I have not heard it said that a PEM fuel cell could operate on less pure hydrogen or ammonia. I wonder if that is right as I thought this is a function of alkaline fuel cells rather than a function of the membrane. If it does render PEMs able to use less pure feedstock then one of the AFC cell's USPs is undermined, but Alkamem will rule the world!
Many thanks indeed Nickel......that's all really helpful
42p sounds like a credible and realistic target (remember the days when the house broker used to put figures such as 232p on it!). Would give a MCap of about £190m.
I reckon you can double that as Alkamem becomes appreciated.
Thanks again.
I was just pondering a bit re Alkamem. I think the potential here is significant.
We are told that there is a $1bn market for Nafion alone. We have been told that De Nora has independently assessed it and found the results to be above expectations. On this basis:
1. Should we not expect an early announcement re increased take up of Alkamem by De Nora as the benefits for them should be marked.
2. Might not DuPont wish to protect their market by entering into some sort of discussion re rights to use Alkamem or a licensing arrangement with AFC? Such an arrangement could be worth tens to hundreds of millions if the stuff is as good as suggested. AB suggested on Friday that the margins are excellent on Nafion....let's presume 33%. And let's say AFC secure just 10% of the Nafion market. That's a profit of £33m. At a PE ratio of 25 that supports a MCap from Alkamem alone of £825m. Or about £1.80 a share.
Happy for my assumptions to be challenged. (except by BMac)
Also, have AFC checked that Bubble wrap doesn't do the same thing Alkamem does? Is our market share already under threat? And can you spemd hours of fun popping Alkamem like you can Bubble wrap? We need to know.
Suddenly BMacs long essays seem far from comprehensive....he really hasn't thought it all through......
Wrong on all counts BMac.
You say all fuel cells can do this. Not economically they can't, Because they cant use cracked ammonia.
Your arguments are repetitive and, whilst you are entitled to your view, the rest of us can see right through them and you. However much you say the earth is flat, it doesn't make it so.
Sadly i pressed the recommend button for your post erroneously.
Why don't you run along and leave this board for those who are invested in AFC to discuss. It's all a bit sad otherwise.
A very informative presentation today. I had the pleasure of sitting next to Bumble B and Jimmynan and I know the former made copious notes and will produce an excellent report either here or on ii. I encourage all to read it. Most of the points of note have already been made here but there were two things that stayed with me which I'll mention briefly if I may.
The first is that after 4 years of concentrating on the R&D and tech with the prospect of a commercial launch being somewhere in the future AB was very keen not to talk about the tech today, saying openly that that is all done and the product is ready to go. Questions of longevity for example are no longer of concern to them. This is a company that is now in the business of selling products and innovation, and not just inventing.
Secondly, the flexibility of the AFC system is only just becoming apparent to me. Apart from being highly adaptable and responsive to individual client needs I liked the following. It is well accepted that people would like to replace their dirty diesel back up generators. It was also discussed at length how EV charging systems in the work place will be needed, but that the local grid may often not be up to it (examples were cited). Well one AFC fuel cell tackles both problems . The fuel cell can power the EV chargers, but switch to back up power generation as and when necessary. So back up power solutions that currently sit there most of the time doing nothing can now be sitting there making an on going contribution.
I remain uncertain as to how quickly AFC will grow and how quickly the SP might rise. But I am more convinced than ever that this will be a billion pound business at some point.
Sorry, my post earlier was tuncated. It should have ended:
I'm looking forward to Friday, although I am not expecting the fireworks some seem to be. I think it is simply another event in what is an increasingly well-managed progression.
Good luck to all
Doc.
PS: In trust should have been in truth, and AFRC is of course AFC. Apols for the typos. Fat fingers on a small phone.
Hi Beachandsurf
Re your post of 1120 today, thank you for thinking of me.
In answer to your question, yes I am a lot more positive about AFC now.
I haven't posted much since the AGM. That's for two reasons. In the run up to the AGM I was getting somewhat disillusioned with AFC after a decade supporting them and felt my posts had become a little too negative. Secondly, the AGM gave me a degree of confidence once more and I thought I would lay low and see what transpired.
To be honest I was not convinced about the shift to EV charging with the announcement early last year. I felt it to be just another potential application of a technology that had still not been made to work at a price that would be affordable. I felt it was a stalling tactic.
If I an honest I am still not sure that the Ev charging market will be our holy grail. But there is so much more to be positive about than there was pre the AGM. The De Nora partnership is one thing. Their view seems to be that the AFC product is world class and they are supporting that with resource. Moreso I am enthused by two innovations. The first is the high density smaller solid fuel cell. I think this will open up markets that will be very significant to us. The second is Alkamem. I don't think the significance of this has been appreciated or priced in yet. If it is as good as the hype just a small share of the billion dollar market will re-rate the SP considerably.
In the background is the political and social agenda. This seems to be well aligned with the AFRC cause. It really does feel as though the time for hydrogen has arrived….one can barely opan a newspaper these days without reading something on it.
I am not sure if the changes in AFC's fortunes is down to AB or not. I have been critical of him in the past, but I think the changes since the beginning of November are impressive, and the news flow was excellent. In trust I think it is part him and part serendipity. He has my vote at present, but I also feel there were errors in the past.
So what of the future for AFC. On the balance of probabilities I think it is positive. I don't know how positive but I was interested to read about Oxford Nanopore today which has reached the fabled unicorn status (ie worth over £1 Bn) on revenues of just £32m and despite a £53m loss. AFC may well be the first fuel cell company to make a profit and £32m is just 3% of the Alkamem market. That would mean a SP over £2. And then there is the potential from the fuel cells themselves to consider.
I think there is a real opportunity here and when the market sees it (ie when we have orders for the cells or for the membrane) I think the market cap will be considerably higher than it is now. I have backed up my sentiments by increasing ym holding by around 50% since the AGM.
I'm looking forward to Friday, although I am not expecting the fireworks some seem to be. I think it is simply another event in what is an increasingly well-mana
I would be happy to be involved in any meeting Notes. As you say, I think the chances of one happening are very low. I wrote formally to Rennocks quite a few weeks ago to remind him of the promise he made to my questions at the AGM and have been ignored. That is regretful and casts doubt upon his ability to act honourably, something I value in a chairman.
Let's hope we start to see some fireworks. Not sure much will happen in December so we only have about 7 weeks of Q4 left for it all to come good.
Does anyone know anything about TUVA. I emailed them ten days ago and got no reply. Their website has precisely zero info....they are a PR company for goodness sake!!
They seem to have made a grand total of 26 tweets and to have 36 followers. And they seem only to tweet about one other company.
Is this a legitimate PR company as the activity does not seem compatible. What on earth do the employees do all day??
As an AFC shareholder I am very concerned that this outfit has been deemed suitable by the AFC board. Why?
Interesting article in the Sunday Times today. Shell is apparently to pressure the government to up its game with regard to electric vehicles, and particularly the infrastructure for charging. Shell plans rapid charging points on all its forecourts.
Wouldn't it be great if AFC could be a part of that? We can certainly provide a green solution for Shell's ambitions and AFC/Rolec between then can provide a complete solution.
It would be lovely to think that Shell is aware of AFC, and even nicer to think that they might have had conversations. Shell is a member of the Hydrogen Council after all.
Hi BumbleB. I'm glad Jim felt able to stay behind and talk to you. I have been impressed by him in the past and I genuinely think he and Adam could be a winning team. My implication was that the vibes being given by the board today may have reflected their feelings about the behaviour of the chairman. Jim also talks passionately about AFC and I think him and Adam each presenting would have been powerful. Maybe they will consider it for the future.
Did you learn anything of note from Jim afterwards?
Part3
So in summary where do I think we are?
• We have a technology that for the first time is actually up to the task
• Only now has AFC given us enough information to understand the real issues of the last 4 years
• On reflection I think Adam is to be commended for getting us from where we were in 2015. I think he believes in the company, is charismatic enough to drive it forward, and deserves our support
• The chairman is toxic to AFC and needs to be replaced. If my guess that he enjoys the support of neither the board nor the employees is right then the board needs to take action and ask him to go.
• The rest of the board need to step up and support Adam and show some leadership. Today there was none
• TUVA: Very unconvinced, especially as they could not be bothered to defend themselves today. their chap just grinned inanely.
• I think we now have a target market (or range of opportunities). However AFC needs to give itself a jolly good polish if it is to succeed. The website (our shop window) describes a very different company to that I heard about today. Much of it is now frankly misleading. It needs a total revamp
• The news flow and comms policy must now be very different going forwards - regular, positive, articulate. The media need to be courted
I honestly do not know if AFC will make it, but I remain invested. That is partly as the downside is minimal from this lamentably low level, but also because I can see that the product may just penetrate what is a big market in a very significant way. I no longer think in terms of pounds for AFC (not anytime soon anyway), but I do see significant a significant re rating of the SP as the promised news starts to flow.
It was really good to meet in person some well known contributors…..BumbleB, Notes, Eddietheo and Beachandsurf and I hope we will get a chance to reflect on all this at the 6 month meeting!
Best wishes
Doc
pt 2
And so to the Q&As. This is where the board let themselves down, and John Rennocks more than all. Many questions were asked, and in fairness the board did not try to truncate the session. Questions by Richlist and Notes have already been alluded to. BumbleB asked a series of well thought out questions and I'm sure will give a summary of the responses in one of his characteristic summaries (n fact he has done so whilst I have been writing this).
I asked about TUVA given their lamentable website and their lack of any apparent activity. A TUVE rep was there and I suggested that he might like to comment. He didn't, just smiled inanely. Adam replied, but unconvincingly.
Rennocks became increasingly frustrated as the session went on. I am afraid that I have to agree with the adjectives used to describe him earlier. He comes across as a gruff man, lacking in wisdom or charisma, and he is not the right person to be leading this company. This was the main topic of conversation afterwards and opinions (there were many) were unanimous. A chairman sets the tone for a company and dictates the culture. Rennocks is rude and in no way an asset.
I was particularly annoyed that he chastised one questioner for asking if the 1GW by 2020 target is still intact. He stated that such a target had never been made, and suggested that such utterings are conceptual only. Clearly Mr Rennocks has never read AFC's website as even tonight (on the middle east page) it still clearly states that there is a target of 1GW by 2020. As that is there, and as there has been virtually no comms from AFC this year, the question was a wholly legitimate one but Rennocks showed his lack of knowledge, frustration and lack of professionalism in the way he bullied the questioner.
The facts are that many people in the room have lost a lot of money on AFC. By the board's admission the company has been going down rabbit holes until recently, released news it never should have, and had a flawed model. What was needed today was for the board to show some humility and understanding. I'm afraid this was lacking. Towards the end I gave Rennocks two opportunities to agree another meeting in 6 months (a Q&A with the board) as this would end the meeting on a positive note and reconnect with PIs. The atmosphere of such a meeting in six months, presuming the promised news comes, could be very much more supportive and positive. He refused. Eventually when pushed he agreed to consider it and said that , if he decided against, he would communicate the reason. I'm not sure how he plans to do that…..I can't think of any way other than an RNS- good luck to him with writing that one.
I also challenged Mr Rennocks about his failure to invest in AFC given that they tell us the technology has never been better and the price never lower. I don't think I have ever heard a less convincing response to a question and everyone in the room could see through it
So in summary where do I think we a