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Interesting that, rightly or wrongly (I do not have the appropriate information to pass comment or judgement), AB is hung out to dry. A CEO does not operate in a vacuum - why is similar opprobrium not levelled at the rest of the Board, c.f. the Chairman or senior NED? Again, not suggesting for one moment that they should be subject to such abuse or not.

What I observe is this:

1. The whole hydrogen business sector rallied excessively and then tanked (you can use the London Stock Exchange charting facility to check AFC relative performance against ITM, Ceres, Nel, Proton et al and you will see that AFC has performed in-line or better than the other companies mentioned);

2. AFC, along with the other hydrogen-based companies, are introducing new and more expensive technologies for which there is already a solution. AFC has targeted construction site use of generators, replacing (currently) cheaper, polluting diesel powered generators with cleaner, but (currently) more expensive hydrogen powered generators. This is a tough thing to pull-off, without some significant external influence. For example, this is not like manufacturing large, flat-screen TVs back in the day and selling at a huge price - you will always have first-time adopters, and as volumes rise, unit costs reduce and it can become a mass market. The closest analogy is roof-top solar panels - to shift it from a niche product to a market where it started to become a sound economic choice, required some pretty hefty subsidies (e.g. FIT). AB, and no other CEO, can force a company to buy this product, but what they can do is put in the infrastructure to ensure that when those "externalities" kick-in, AFC will be in as strong a position to deliver as possible. Personally (and make no mistake, it is down to personal interpretation - I willingly accept that others may take a contrary view), I think in the last couple of years the company has made not inconsiderable progress to be in a position to deliver in this niche market, e.g. the tie-up with Speedy and others, the manufacturing agreement, etc., with limited competition, and a business with high barriers to entry. But, I also recognise, that there has to a catalyst for sales, and this must be external. For example, if the govt states that no generator over a certain size can be diesel powered by (say) 2030, coupled with a staged annual increase in the cost of red (?) diesel, and even possible subsidies for hydrogen-powered solutions, this will be a lightning rod for sales and dominance in this sector for AFC. I think current and potential investors should be mindful of this dynamic (my sense is that Helikon is betting against this - and, they may well be right, who knows.

3. I hear bandied around a lot that AB "lied to shareholders". One that springs to mind was the ambition to roll-out hydrogen-powered stand alone EV chargers across the country. Whatever happened to that?? TBC

I think Surfie has hit the nail on the head " IF and when this thing gets launched in the US".

I may be incorrect here, but I am pretty certain that the $4m up-front fee is due from Haleon on commencement of their US campaign, i.e. it is conditional on the campaign going ahead - notwithstanding that this is not what the CEO's statement in the 2023 Financial Report states or the webpage ("...As part of the agreement, Futura received an initial upfront payment of US$ 4 million..." - p 16). It is noteworthy also that this fee has not been recognised in the accounts, supporting the view that is conditional. I really can not understand how it can take more than a year (exclusive agreement signed in July 2023) to put together a marketing campaign by an outfit such as Haleon. My fear is that they are either undertaking further (informal - perhaps with staff?) studies and/or are waiting to see how successful other campaigns in other regions have gone. This could have the RB fiasco written all over it!

Furthermore, anyone who watched the last investor presentation could not be overly impressed. Barder came across, at best, disinterested, at worst, downright shifty. To not disclose revenue figures or costs, hiding behind "commercial sensitivity", was totally disingenuous.

Which leads me to think, stick or twist or fold?? Ultimately, it comes down to trust. And the Board, and Barder in particular, do not in any shape or form provide any confidence at all.

I think this is why the share price is where it is today - a market cap of £100m is doing an awful lot of heavy lifting if the US launch does not go ahead....

Mucksy - many thanks for the link, a good find.

One interpretation is that this is enormously encouraging - it validates the view that there is, indeed, a large and viable market out there for a key product in AFC's range. Many investors here are confident that "decarbonizing construction operations will play a key role in driving a successful energy transition", and that hydrogen fuel cell-based generators can (will?) help accelerate the construction industry’s transition to a low-carbon future. Accordingly, to see that a (very) established player in this market shares this vision is very welcome indeed. But, this transition (i.e. from diesel to renewable solutions) takes time, and requires political will and (potentially) intervention (by way of carrot and/or stick); but, hopefully, we are on the cusp, momentum is building. Many people here seem to expect, if not demand, immediate gratification. Helikon certainly seem to be betting on this. Sadly, this is unlikely to be the case, but AFC looks like they are preparing a robust pathway for this vision to be realised, e.g. the tie-up with Speedy Hire and others. And, by raising funds now, hopefully will be in a more secure position to see this through to realisation.

As to your more substantive point, to paraphrase, "why chose an AFC fuel cell, when you can buy an Hitachi", you could be right. However, the potential market is huge and there will always be competition. I, for one, am confident that the alliances and partnerships that AFC have secured will enable them to capture a sufficient market share to make this a profitable investment from the current market cap level.

But, again - thanks for the link. we need more of this and less abuse, on this Board.

Good luck all

Morning Garonne

https://www.londonstockexchange.com/stock/AFC/afc-energy-plc/company-page

It might be worth taking a look at the chart included on this page. It is very useful as you can enter several benchmarks. I entered ITM, Ceres and Nel, but you can enter benchmarks of your choice, of course. The chart defaults to a one-year period, but again you can vary this by using the drop-down menu (although, be aware that if you select "max" the results are not directly comparable). If you read across to the right, you get the total return performance in percentage terms (no need to select the "total return" button, as none of the selected companies have paid a dividend (if you select a benchmark which has paid a dividend, you will need to check the "total return" box).

Over a one-year period, the performance is as follows: AFC 33%; ITM -16%; Ceres -28%; and Nel -41%.

Over a five-year period: AFC 268%; ITM 65%; Ceres 15%; and Nel -70%.

Over a much shorter period, one-month, Nel has powered away by 66%, against 38% for Ceres, 25% for AFC and ITM bringing up the rear at 10%.

You can play around with alternative dates as well, so feel free. However, I'm not sure you will be able to come up with any concrete or defensible conclusions. But, if you select a five-year term, you can clearly see the spike in prices in January 2021. If you run the cursor over the chart, you get the performance results for each trading date. I selected Jan-22 2021 - performances to that date from 341-May 2019 are ITM 1896%; AFC 1226%; and Ceres 708% and if we put in Jan-22 as the start date (i.e. buying at ITM's peak) to today, we get: ITM -92%; Ceres -86%; Nel -75% and with AFC "out-performing" at - 70%.

You may or may not be correct in your analysis of Mr. Bond. But certainly. over a one-day performance, ITM has nailed it (reminds me of the Conservative Party going all triumphant over one-quarter's GDP growth performance, whilst conveniently forgetting the past performance!).

Hopefully though, the charts do shed some light on the overall industry performance. I find it quite strange that you would champion ITM over AFC? But, I guess if an investor has bought one stock (AFC) at its high only to see it crash, and then made a purchase of a company in the same industry (albeit, not a direct competitor) at a later date at a bombed-out price, then perhaps they may have a different perspective.

Hopefully, all stocks in the hydrogen sector will now see renewed growth prospects; I am as confident as I can be that a Labour government may be more supportive, but it, of course, remains to be seen whether they will be in power.

Garonne/Ade - sorry, am struggling with your logic, here. As joaung points out, he has a not inconsiderable number of options. As you (correctly) pointed out, Garonne, he got these for "free" - why on earth would you pay out your own cash, when you get more than enough for nothing?

If (and it is still a big if), all goes well, as (hopefully?) we all hope it will and this becomes a billion sterling company, Bond will be a v wealthy boy. He has absolutely no need to buy further shares and, indeed, it would be very foolish of him to do so - if it does go ti ts up, he will lose twice, not a great place to be.

I think your insistence that he buys now is to merely to get the share price higher. Nothing wrong with that per se, but I suspect a much greater force to that end will be a statement confirming significant sales. The share price is only really an issue if a new funding round is due - then, I agree, it is imperative to get the price up to avoid ruinous shareholder destruction in the form of dilution.

that is the 24bn $ question!!

when you read this: "according to research from radicle, vpp in feature-length films and tv shows in the u.s. will be worth $6.6 billion in 2023, accounting for nearly two-thirds (63%) of the u.s. product placement market" (many thanks for the link cab*****) and with all the deals and tie-ups mirriad have secured, it seems incongruous that the company has a market cap of c. £8m?!?

my take on this, for what it's worth, is a serious question mark over a (near-time) funding requirement. there must be a race to get as much revenue in as possible in order to avoid another equity raise, because, make no mistake, at such a low mc, an equity raise of, say, £4m would lead to a serious dilution. i suspect that this is holding back new investors at the moment. should, however, the company announce in a trading update that the company has moved/is moving (with a date) to a cash positive position, i would anticipate that the share price would rocket - if only because it will "come into play". even at 10x the current mc, this would represent loose change for a large ad company and as we know, the potential is absolutely enormous - see quote above.

gla, and many thanks to the regular posters - 2phevs; lotm-13; et al

Re dual listing, never underestimate the cost or the executive time involved in doing so. Personally, I would prefer management attention 100% focused on the deliverable AB outlined in the presentation. A "truer" value will then take care of itself.

Same applies with a main board listing, either standard or premium. Again, costly, and lot of management time tied up and it is not at or clear that there will be a discernable benefit (see Ceres). The only caveat to that is if the company sees, or perceives, that customers are not comfortable dealing or partnering with an AIM-listed company - this does not look to be the case at present given the tie-ups AFC have achieved in recent times.

My v strong preference is for the senior management and Board to be fully focused on delivery. It looks like they have some v good products in what should be an expanding market.

But, ......., as I have always thought - this is a highly "politicized" stock, as are many others in the "green" energy market place. If Donald "Drill, Baby, Drill" Trump returns and an emboldened anti-green, climate change denying Conservative govt is returned, all bets are, v sadly, off.

Well, it's certainly helpful ....

https://www.hydrogeninsight.com/production/biggest-yet-eu-green-lights-7bn-in-hydrogen-infrastructure-subsidies-from-seven-member-states/2-1-1599130

The fall yesterday, what was it, c. 6.5% (?) seemed a little odd, given no information flow.

Maybe the MMs got notice of today's RNS and dropped the price to trigger stop-loss orders in the (almost certain) knowledge that the price would rally on the next morning's news, enabling them to make a killing?

I understand that stop-loss orders have a role to play when trading, but in a quote-driven market (such as AIM) rather than an order-driven market, they are fraught with danger. Always, caveat emptor ....

Ex-sparky 07:13

I think you will find it is over 60s that get free prescriptions. Increases the number of take-up significantly

A "good write up" - I guess so if I were Helikon Investments, who established a sizable short position at a range of prices from 14p to c. 11p, so now posting a not insignificant mark-to-market loss with the offer sitting at 16p per share.

"16p is really overpriced I think most people agree on this" - a strange view to hold. If that were the case, the price would be trading at your target price of 12 - 13p, and people would not be buying at c.16p.

Is it overvalued? Maybe. Impossible to say - the value is derived from the embedded "real options", which are notoriously hard (impossible) to value. As with other "green centric stocks", the value proposition is heavily influenced by the political landscape. Even small changes, e.g. a time frame for the roll-out of "x" quantity of EV charging points; or, a time frame for the phasing -out of diesel generators, could unlock significant value for a company like AFC. But, neither you, nor I, have any real insight as to how likely this with be. My sense, however, is that the mood music is now (slowly) changing (but, I fully accept that that could be due to the current press coverage of Cop 28). What Sunac and his govt say they are doing (i.e. pulling back on the green agenda), and what they they are (ever so quietly) actually doing in the background may be quite different. And i suspect that following the election, with possibly a different govt in place, that (positive) momentum will increase.

The price could retrace; of course it could, in the short-term. But, it could also rally further before spiking up on further good news. Given the wide spreads, I suspect a lot of people here are investors (Helikon Investments accepted) rather than traders. Rather than sell now on the bid, and buy back on the offer, making 1 or 2 p per share, I for one, will hold - but many thanks for your kind advice, much appreciated. If it does drop, given AFC's current cash position, it might be an opportunity for me to add.

I guess it might be if you are short. But, surely not, Ade ....

Https://cirtecmed.com/event/small-smart-speedy-and-scalable-resonant-link-and-cirtec-medical-partner-to-power-the-future-of-implantable-medical-devices/

September, 26, 2023 – South Burlington, Vermont – Wireless charging leader Resonant Link and leading medical device manufacturing solutions provider Cirtec Medical Corp. have announced a strategic partnership to power the future of implantable medical devices. By combining Resonant Link’s next generation wireless power with Cirtec Medical’s expert product design, development, and manufacturing services, this partnership will offer medical device makers the best technology, fully integrated components, and faster time to market.

Would anyone know if this is complementary to Stereax or competition. It sounds like it is a means for re-charging batteries wirelessly; if it is compatible with Stereax (which I am pretty sure is rechargeable), this could be very positive. Alternatively, if RL provide the battery, it could make Stereax redundant ("Small, Smart, Speedy, and Scalable: Resonant Link and Cirtec Medical Partner to Power the Future of Implantable Medical Devices").

They also developing or have developed (a bit unclear) wireless charging for cars (https://www.resonant-link.com/solutions/electric-vehicles). Again, this might be something that Goliath could leverage off?

Any thoughts?

I actually feel that this market (non-ED sufferers) may be key and the (much) bigger opportunity. If you can achieve greater certainty and better performance, that would make the product very, very attractive. I would also target the *** community as well, for this very reason.
The risk with targeting ED sufferers only is that it may/will not work in a proportion of cases (lets say, 20%) - the negative feedback from the failures will potentially drown out the positivity of the 80% where it does work.
Market positioning and messaging will be key to the successful adoption of Eroxon.

V good question, BB.
Would love to know

Illustrates nicely the range of applications. The potential is enormous.
But, ......, I do wish people could do the basics right. See column two, page 1:
"The battery must NOT unintrusive to the wearer as any object thicker than a few hundred microns becomes an irritant to the eye."
Clearly, they mean "... must BE unintrusive......" or " must not BE intrusive .....". Also, the webpage link does not work.

Are they actively collaborating with other companies on this (and the other applications they cite), or is it merely blue-sky thinking?

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/mar/17/breast-cancer-treatment-life-health-chemotherapy-drugs-side-effects
For anyone who has been affected directly or indirectly by this insidious disease, one can only wish the company well in its endeavours to get the product to market asap

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-10695231/Viagra-users-85-likely-develop-eye-conditions-study-finds.html

And I was brought up that it was "self help" that caused blindness!

Surely Eqtec should be all over this? Maybe it is - but they do not look like it is one of the Speakers

https://www.efwconference.com/

https://www.rechargenews.com/energy-transition/-we-will-produce-carbon-negative-green-hydrogen-from-non-recyclable-waste-at-zero-or-below-zero-cost-/2-1-1162744