Gordon Stein, CFO of CleanTech Lithium, explains why CTL acquired the 23 Laguna Verde licenses. Watch the video here.
Sharing of your trading knowledge is very much appreciated Lottie, particularly at a time like this when volumes are at the increased levels they're at.
Can I ask your thoughts on the suspected shorting that may have been occuring while the stock was coming down to its lows ? With hindsight, do you feel this has been dramatically shorted and if so what might those shorters future actions possibly be and the impact of these ?
Obviously it would be speculation but in your experience do the very large shorters buy back in slowly or do you tend to get several big hits of buys from them to recover their position ?
Lottie. At a previous presentation (I'm not sure which one), JW referred to the ML and having a plan B, C, D, E and even F should there be an issue with the brine discharge and the granting of the ML.
He never elaborated on what these other options were. I'd imagine though the current plan A would be the most cost effective, and more than likely the quickest method of proceeding.
I'm not sure a tanker would be a B, C, D, E or F option though due to the sheer volume of water being used in the extraction process. It's also a proposed 24 hr extraction of the caverns so 2 tankers would be needed to permit this to happen for a continuous 24hr cycle.
Knowing there are other plans though is reassuring but hopefully these won't be necessary.
This heading of 'Soaring energy prices and potential power blackouts' sounds very dramatic. Is it a reality though ?
For the UK and Ireland it most certainly is according to quite a few informed parties. We've seen the increased volatility and the huge increase in gas prices in recent weeks alone.
My cards are on the table, that as an Infa investor that i want to see the Islandmagee gas storage project proceed. This will help the share price and hence the reason anyone invests.
As a resident of NI and the UK, I very much don't want it to proceed though if indeed it is hugely detrimental to our marine life and the eco balance of our seas. The hoops that DAERA have put Infa through with research, tests, studies, etc, to ascertain the effect the proposed caverns at IM might have, needs to be acknowledged as very necessary and very welcome too. The time delays though have been very frustrating and incomprehensible to those of us not in the informed loop.
Moving on though. Should only Infa investors be concerned on the outcome of this ML at Islandmagee ? My thoughts are that EVERY single consumer of energy in the UK needs to be aware that they WILL be affected with future energy prices if we don't put some plans in place now ? Having adequate storage for gas and ultimately hydrogen are part of the necessary plans for now, until renewable energy sources are greater and more predictable.
My view is that the UK needs to be as independent as possible from Europe, Asia and particularly Russia in producing, storing and providing sufficient energy for us consumers. We never will be 100% independent but the less so that we are, then the less control we will have of future energy prices. Every single one of us are consumers too and have to accept that there will consequences in future energy prices to not having adequate storage provision.
My message to politicians and decision makers is, get this right ! !
We need storage and we need to be confident that this doesn't adversely affect our local waters to an extent to be concerned about. I'm hoping the hoops DAERA have given Infa to jump through are the correct questions that needed to be asked. . . and Infa. . . I'm hoping you guys have addressed these questions to the satisfaction required to proceed with IM.
The consequences of not getting this right are massive with increased energy bills and potential blackouts. I DON'T think this is being too dramatic saying this !
I've popped below some links re comments in the media about these potential blackouts.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-09-09/u-k-power-surges-to-over-2-700-a-megawatt-hour-on-tight-supply
https://www.irishtimes.com/business/energy-and-resources/ireland-at-risk-of-power-cuts-after-new-amber-warning-1.4669712
https://fortune.com/2021/09/10/europe-net-zero-energy-bills-nord-stream-2-russia/
https://www.spiked-online.com/2021/09/08/why-we-cant-rely-on-wind-power/
You could be right Stokey (17.01). There were just over 110 delegates who signed up and watched the webinar (almost 1 hr webinar).
As the webinar wasn't free (it was a minimum £30 inc vat to register for the webinar), i imagine it was only therefore folk who had some sort of interest in H&W or Infrastrata or were prepared to pay a fee to watch it, and not simply viewers with time on there hands to watch a free video about big cranes and wurley windmills.
It's only reasonable to assume some of these delegates purchased shares after watching it if they liked what they seen. I purchased a few grand more myself earlier today too.
Nobby31. Your comments on security of supply and wholesale gas and power prices being through the roof, i would totally agree with.
You also mention Islandmagee and and the ML.
Can i ask your thoughts please on what you feel the possible outcomes on IM might be ?
I previously detailed here that IM has a monetary asset value to Infa. As i see it , the value of this asset is dependent whether :-
1. A full ML is granted with absolutely no conditions (unlikely though).
2. A ML granted but with conditions (ie a longer pipe out, 2 pipes required, slower discharge rates, etc)
3. If a ML is declined and Infa back to the drawing board with maybe a Hydrogen storage application).
4. Alternatively if a ML is declined and Infa sell on the 'project' to a bigger outfit with deeper pockets and a legal team capable of kicking DAERA and NI ministers' ass-s, what might the asset possibly be worth ? Could it be worth more as the need for storage is increasing ? Could it be worth anywhere near 15M that it's cost to date or am i thinking nonsense with so many zeros ? (15M being pocket change to the big hitters).
Or with the apparent incompetence and dilly dallying of the NI politicians to come to a decision on this ML do you see IM having and value or future at all ?
Like Chrisatrdg, i also registered for the H & W webinar this morning. Chrisatrdg's post is an excellent summary of the presentation.
The only thing i would add to it is that EIC (Energy Industries Council) who ran the event had a published list of all attendees on the webinar while we were watching it. I'd didn't expect them to make the attendee list public knowledge, however I'm glad they did as it was very interesting to see just who was watching it. There were some big big hitter names in the world of industry there, and some surprises too, inc Babco-k and others who might be seen as competitors in some of Infa's markets.
We've seen a couple of percent increase today in the share price (and that's a rare thing recently), so maybe this presentation has been well received by some interested parties.
Ps to NigelHaemo - Well spotted that a PI asked the IM question. Who i wonder might have mischievously asked that, lol ;-)
and from the official government .gov website :-
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-enters-next-stage-of-fleet-solid-support-competition
Stokey. If Infa can deliver on the existing Saipem contract (and i don't see any reason why they won't), then i would definitely feel we're in a very very strong position for a follow on contract from Saipem. If we've delivered on this 1st Saipem contract, they may also not require the capital security, or the level of capital security that they did on this first 26M contract.
I won't be happy though Stokey (and i don't believe the share price will be happy either) if we don't win a biggie or even biggish contract in these 4 months before year end.
Hi The East. I totally understand your concerns and agree with a lot of them. The cash burn for the various sites would really hurt the ongoing Infa bank balance.
The dry docks in Belfast haven't seen the level of activity I believe is necessary to even break even in their own right over the last 4 to 5 months, Appledore being exactly the same. This situation of empty docks (a lot of the time) isn't a good one and can't be sustained in the longer term going forward !
With my above paragraph it's own right and with no other factors taken into account, I would have quite some concerns over the lights being kept on for too much longer. There is a 'however', however !
The 'however' i feel is the Saipem contract. This is a 26M contract, with monthly payments to Infa and where Saipem are responsible for supplying the steel for the contract. That's a massive btw for Infa not having that capital expenditure for the steel and probably the main reason Saipem needed the capital bond security (4M I think i remember it being, altho i could be wrong in this amount) . These monthly payments and with no capital outlay for the steel is a great contract to have.
I feel the ongoing monthly incomes from this contract will fund the batteries to keep the Infa torch lit until something to take the company profitable comes in.
Will this Saipem contract on it's own be enough to have the company in an overall 12 monthly profit. My thoughts ! Not a chance !
Was this Saipem contract needed to keep the company operating while waiting for the biggies. Most definitely it was !
To summarize. I'm not concerned at all for now about possible insolvency of Infrastrata, but I'm not naïve either, we need to hit a few biggies to get to profitability. Saipem should keep the meter topped in the meantime to keep us going, and i believe there are enough bats being swung in the meantime that we might hit a few renewable 4's or even hit maybe a 6 (or two) with some MOD work.
Just my own on thoughts and hunches.
Arnish and Methil getting a mention below on the energyvoice.com website.
There's no news in this item but getting press like this on a high traffic renewables, energy and oil & gas type website can't do any harm for the brand out in the marketplace.
https://www.energyvoice.com/renewables-energy-transition/345496/images-promising-signs-for-arnish-as-harland-and-wolff-shares-details-of-upgrades/
SpudTP posted at the weekend about the upcoming RN contract.
There's nothing new on this in my link below other than it's being talked about in the Belfast Telegraph too (N Ireland's biggest daily newspaper.
https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/business/northern-ireland/h-and-w-eyes-30m-contract-with-royal-navy-40780403.html
Fill your boots Stokey with this : -
https://www.ecex.co.uk/all-you-need-to-know-about-en-1090-and-structural-steel/
It tells you all you need to know about what EN 1090 and ISO3834.
It's basically the regulatory requirements to confirm the big metally stuff that's being bulit is built correctly and is fit for purpose.
Cheers OT. It was however you're comments in the 14.32 post that motivated me to make a wee cuppa and get the pointy finger on each hand to start typing. i agree totally with you in that we can't honestly can't expect and RNS for everything, but we can ask for more ongoing info, and social media is a great avenue to pop it out on with no company expense.
Hi JW, AR, Seena, etc
You guys do read this LSE page, don't you ? ? ?
You do ?
Wow, great. . . . . I knew you did, lol ! !
I know you didn't ask for this, but you're gonna get some feedback from me on recent Infa related social media activity.
THANKS ! ! !
Yep, that's it. Thank you !
I'll explain why my thanks. You guys get criticism here for not communicating to us investors as much as we'd like you too. I feel you've previously deserved some of this criticism too. I also feel a lot of it you haven't deserved. Us investors (particularly AIM stock investors) thirst for information but we need to also understand why you can't always provide it. Reasons might be that not every bit of news is RNS-able, and RNS's cost money to put out. There may be commercial sensitivities why you mightn't release details as obviously competitors are also watching what you're doing. There might be client confidentiality involved in that your customers may not want it discussed the works they're having done for various reasons.
The bottom line is we don't get as much info from you guys (as to what's going on) as we'd like to. We (investors) probably never will though in any of our AIM stock companies inc Infa.
Recently however, between JW and H & W, the social media posts have increased. We've seen photos from the various H & W sites, inc, new machinery installed, steel deliveries, this 3 ship announcement, and other updates, etc. Hence my thanks for posting these. Please post LOTS more though is my request. Us investors want to see works being done, activities in the yard and knowledge of what's going on. Posts like this help to instil confidence and reduce ongoing negative speculation.
Please keep the social media info and photties rolling guys, it's very much noticed and appreciated too.
Any ship deal is a good one.
A 3 ship deal is a better one.
But as to whether i get too excited about a 3 ship deal, I'd like to see some meat on the bones of what the deal is before i jump up and down. Even if it's not RNS-able what about some more detail to excite us shareholders a little ?
Not being negative, but getting the 3 Viking sisters back for refurbs and getting 3 Stena RoRo's in for an oil change is quite a difference.
Regardless at this stage what the actual work is, well done JW and team for getting another contract confirmed.
Cheers Stokey for the find and posting it. I've a can Arthur's Black Stuff chilling and and the pouffee waiting for my feet ready to watch it.
I don't know if she's coming in to Methil Port OT or if she's coming to the H & W dock at Methil. I just had a look at vesselfinder website and it's just dropped anchor a short time ago. High tide is 6pm this evening so we may see movement then, (as we seen Beautrident wait for high water before docking).
The Methil quay at H & W can take a second vessel having 2 load out quays, so we're not reliant on Beautrident coming out to let Francisca in.
The Belgium registered 'Victorine', is showing on the Belfast Harbour webpage as coming into BDD on 15th August. It's a RoRo ferry. It's 162 x 25M and comes in at almost 24k tonne.
What i find encouraging is that this appears to be a new customer, a company called CLdN. They have 30+ RoRo ferries. They also state on their website that CLdN Cobelfret operates a fleet of owned and chartered bulk carriers with capacities between 30.000 and 200.000 tons of dead weight. These are mighty big vessels when you think that Beautrident that has just delivered steel to Methil has just over 7k of carrying capacity.
It's always good to see a new customer and even better to see one with a lot of big boats on their books.
That's great news OT. Thanks for posting.
We knew Beautrident was coming to the port of Methil but didn't know if it was coming to H & W or just into the general port. She has a 7,200 tonne carrying capacity and lets hope she has every single tonnage of that in steel to offload.
There's another 2 general cargo ships due in Methil tomorrow and Saturday (Francisca and Baltica Hav) so fingers crossed they might be coming to H & W with some steel too.
We need the Saipem contract to proceed as planned as the monthly payments from Saipem will be needed to keep the lights on without further capital raises or borrowings, until further contracts and payments come in.
Did infa headhunters find this new director or was he sent to the company ? (Chitta)
Your above question is an interesting one Chitta.
Now, thinking out loud (again).
We have a 290M, 115,000 tonne cruise ship in the Azura currently docked in the SRQ Belfast. It had a multi million pound refit postponed last year with the Covid situation. It's resuming it's cruise schedule in December coming. It will obviously need works completed before coming back into service and there's speculation in various blogs I've seen that it could be getting this postponed refit before coming back into service.
The Azura is operated by P & O Cruises and owned by Carnival.
Our incoming new NED is an NED for Carnival too.
Could these be linked that Carnival want one of 'their own' onboard the Infa ship before they commit to placing work with Infa ?
Could Carnival have told Infa to give Sir Jonathan a job to suss them out before placing major contracts ?
Could this appointment get an Azura contract over the line ?
Is Sir J's appointment not linked in any way whatsoever to Carnival work ?
Could Boris we have told Infa to give Sir J a job as he wants one of his navy boys sailing with Infa to report back with all things MOD work related.
Could Sir J get some MOD work over the line with a contract ?
Lots and lots and lots of questions.
Re : Lots. I'm glad to see our pal Lottie has topped up too, and ta Lots for your thoughts earlier on shorting behaviours and possibly giving a reason for a share price fall on what appears to be a positive RNS.