It’s a jungle out there right now. Amid the chaos, we speak to WCM Global Growth Limited about two small cap picks they believe will outperform in the current market, and how they’re positioning their portfolio amid the chaos. (more…)
Food Revolution Group (ASX: FOD) could be the turnaround ASX story of the last 12 months.
Turnarounds usually occur when a new management team takes over an underperforming business and “turns it around” to become hugely successful for themselves and, within the investment community, shareholders.
FOD was an established business, with a valuable asset that previous management failed to maximise.
As such, its share price languished.
Problematically, while you would recognise FOD’s key brand if you passed it in the supermarket, you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who could tell you that FOD is behind the brand.
FOD had an identity crisis and it needed a fresh approach to operations to pull it out of the sour patch it was in.
The Food Revolution Group is a food and beverage manufacturing company, specialising in the development of innovative health-focused products including beverages, functional foods, nutraceuticals, and wellness supplements.
The wellness category in Australia is worth $500 million and FOD already has a substantial stake in this market through its flagship brand of juices.
That brand consists of the Original Juice Black Label (OBL) products.
While these products sell steadily through major and second tier supermarkets, FOD was experiencing several problems including bushfires and drought temporarily increasing fruit prices and supply, financial losses despite strong revenues and corporate issues with an investment tranche causing uncertainty.
These legacy issues pushed FOD shares to as low as 2.6 cents. However, the market seems to have picked up the story. This is in part due to CEO Tony Rowlinson, who was brought in last year to revive the ailing company. Rowlinson has a history in successful business resurrections.
He joined FOD in April 2020, bringing his experience in fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) to the company. Rowlinson held roles with Simplot Australia, International Paper, the Coca Cola Company and Bristol Myers Squibb.
He was brought on board to revive the brand and launch new juice and wellness products into different markets. In his first 12 months at the helm, Rowlinson has achieved the following:
According to Rowlinson, FOD’s goal is now “To be a leading provider of beverages, nutraceuticals, functional foods and wellness supplements, that improve the quality of consumers lives, by the use of all natural ingredients”.
To prove this point, FOD recently launched its range of "Juice Lab Super Shots” – the first three variants are now selling in Coles.
The initial range includes:
Just this week, the company announced sales of the Juice Lab Wellness shots are exceeding expectations and forecasts have had to be increased. The expected run rate when Coles launched the range was that the range would sell two units per store per week.
Following three weeks of the shots being available in over 160 Coles stores, the range of three variants are selling six to seven units per store per week. This is 200% higher than expectations. Forecasts are being reviewed between Coles and FOD management, the forecast cycle is updated monthly. This is part of the Coles integrated business planning process.
Rowlinson is excited by the rollout saying, “Being first to market with ‘all natural plant based’ product in the Wellness beverage category is a massive achievement.
“The US who lead the world regarding ‘better for you’ beverages has seen a dramatic growth of ‘all natural, pick- me up shots & tonics’ due to COVID -19 impact.
“Preventative foods and beverages is the fastest growing sector within the US$4.8 billion market.”
FOD’s roll out of products, including its Eridani Premium Marine Collagen and the roll out a range of wellness shots, beverages and plant-based wellness powder supplements across its Juice Lab Brand formulated from super foods and plant-based ingredients, has been the catalyst for increased revenue growth.
The company has also established a new state of the art ‘wellness centre’ that has the capability to supply all natural food supplements and will assist the company in accommodating increased volumes.
All this activity has led to stronger revenues.
FOD has continued to grow market share with a growth of 18% over the period H1 2021 period. OBL continues to outperform the fresh juice market, increasing FOD’s share to 13% of the $560M market.
In the six month period to 31 December 2020, the company’s total sales were up 24% to hit $22.2 million, delivering $2.2 million EBIDTA versus $0.2 million in the previous corresponding period – an improvement of over 1000%.
New products accounted for $1.5 million in additional sales. The gross profit reached $5.69 million which equates to 31% of net sales.
FOD’s entry into the beauty market with its Eridani suite of products taps into the collagen market worth in excess of $4.6 billion. This is a market set to exceed $10 billion by 2025 based on it being the best source of all-natural protein.
FOD is now on track to achieve or surpass its H1 figures in H2 2021 and is one of the turnaround stories of the year.
This article is sponsored content. The supplier of this content has a commercial arrangement with Switzer Financial Group.
Province Resources (ASX: PRL) has announced plans to acquire Exploration Licence Applications for a new green energy project located in Western Australia.
Formally Scandivanadium (ASX: SVD), PRL has entered into a conditional agreement to acquire a company that holds seven licence applications in the Gascoyne region of WA that are suitable for developing a renewable green hydrogen project.
PRL is aiming to develop Australia’s first truly Zero Carbon HydrogenTM project.
World on cusp of hydrogen revolution
There is a global push away from using fossil-fuel based hydrogen as an ingredient for industrial process to green hydrogen.
Green hydrogen, generated from wind and solar, could fast track the fight against climate change.
According to Bank of America, the hydrogen marketplace could reach $11 trillion by 2050, possessing the ability to supply our vast energy needs, fuel our cars, heat our homes, and also help to fight climate change.
On the back of climate commitments in Europe and Asia, nearly half of the globe has already embraced net zero policies; further, early statements from the new US Administration appear encouraging.
For climate experts, green hydrogen is indispensable to climate neutrality; featuring in all eight of the European Commission’s net zero scenarios for 2050.
Green & potentially zero carbon
Australia’s potential zero carbon hydrogen exports could reach $2.2 billion by 2030 and $5.7 billion by 2040. It should perhaps go without saying that companies targeting this trend early in their gestation, should be the ones to benefit long term.
PRL’s HyEnergy Renewable Hydrogen Project is proposed to generate 1GW (1,000MW) of renewable energy in Western Australia, using wind and solar, and to produce approximately 60,000t of green hydrogen, or up to approximately 300,000t of green ammonia.
The result would create a clean zero carbon Gas or Liquid Hydrogen Fuel that according to Andrew Twiggy Forrest “could power the world for all of mankind’s existence”.
According to Forrest, by 2050 green (renewable) hydrogen could be the most important green energy source in the world. “The green hydrogen market could generate revenues, at the very least, of $US12 trillion by 2050 — bigger than any industry we have now,” Forrest says.
Province is at the very beginning of its journey. Just like any resources project, it is all about scale, and a large project could generate extremely high economic returns on the back of minimal operating costs.
What are PRL’s fundamentals?
Province Resources sums up the imminent opportunities in the below infographic.
Along with this, PRLs fundamentals are:
Renewable hydrogen a big ticket item
The Gascoyne region in Western Australia has world class solar and wind resources and, significantly, those resources are perfectly complementary, with a high incidence of sun during the daytime and high wind speeds in the morning, evening and night. This enables competitively priced predictable and firm renewable electricity output, 365 days a year.
PRL is looking to become an Australian leader in green hydrogen production, through its Zero Carbon Hydrogen ProjectTM.
What are the project plans?
In the next 12-18 months, the company will:
PRL is an early stage play. However there is a real opportunity for it to take the reins in providing an all-Australian green hydrogen solution.
This article is sponsored content. The supplier of this content has a commercial arrangement with Switzer Financial Group.
The prices of precious metals (gold and silver) have experienced a slight pull back in recent months.
For many, particularly leveraged early-stage stocks, this suggests a possible return to form in the early months of 2021.
Silver stocks could be winners, as some analysts believe the price of silver is poised to run hot next year.
According to Kitco analyst Peter Hug, “Once industrial demand picks up, more tailwinds for silver will push the metal closer to the $35 to $40 an ounce range next year.”
Thomson Resources (ASX:TMZ) could be positioned to capitalise on this precious metal resurgence, with an existing Gold portfolio and the pending acquisition of two silver assets.
Thomson is a NSW focused explorer, set to acquire 100% of two transformational silver assets in the first months of 2021, with due diligence to be completed in January.
The Webbs Project is Australia’s highest grade undeveloped silver asset and will be complemented by the Conrad Silver Project.
Both projects have seen historic silver production and have a resource defined compliant with the JORC Code 2004 as follows:
Both silver projects are located in the New England Fold belt in NSW and combined, equate to an acquisition of over 30 million ounces of silver equivalent resources.
The projects will be acquired from the $207M capped Silver Mines Ltd (ASX: SVL), and as part of the acquisition, Silver Mines will hold ~ 19% of the issued shares of TMZ, which will be escrowed for 12 months. Silver Mines Managing Director Anthony McClure will take a board seat as a Non Exec Director.
The company is aiming to start aggressively expanding its silver resource base over the coming months, both organically and via acquisitions.
There is an experienced management team driving this agenda and it has been strengthened by the engagement of Global Ore Discovery, led by Stephen Nano.
Global Ore is assisting with running the due diligence process of on the silver assets and has a history of silver project generations that lead to takeovers.
Thomson stacks up
Thomson has a $30M market cap, and recently raised $6M, so appears well funded for near term exploration.
With the early-stage nature of TMZ’s silver ambitions, the company is provided significant leverage to this metal heading into 2021, and compares favourably with other ASX listed silver stocks.
Its closets peer is Investigator Resources (ASX: IVR), which is currently capped at $63M. IVR’s South Australian Paris Silver Project has a resource of 9.3 million tonnes at an average 139 grams per tonne of silver and 0.6% lead for a contained 42 million ounces of silver and 55,000t of lead.
Thomson’s peers also provide a pathway to growth, favourably indicating how the market values silver ounces in the ground.
Aside from silver, Thomson has a number of quality intrusion related gold systems in NSW and Queensland, where it is undertaking extensive rolling drilling programs that build on previous high-grade results.
Silver, with a side of gold
TMZ is focused on building a strong silver resource base in 2021, whilst being supported by existing gold assets.
In the coming weeks, the company is set to complete its due diligence to acquire high grade, undeveloped silver assets, with the acquisition to be completed early in 2021.
This article is sponsored content. The supplier of this content has a commercial arrangement with Switzer Financial Group.
Last week, Creso Pharma Limited’s (ASX: CPH; FRA: 1X8) wholly-owned Canadian cannabis cultivation subsidiary, Mernova Medicinal Inc. received three purchase orders with a combined value of C$275,023 (A$288,159).
These new purchase orders are part of a trend this year, which has seen CPH generate more consistent revenue through product demand, whilst substantially trimming operating costs.
The first of the new purchase orders was valued at C$232,826 (A$243,841) and came from Truro Cannabis Company, a licensed producer of medical and recreational cannabis products.
The Truro order is a bulk order for three of Mernova’s high quality, indoor grown, hand trimmed, hang dried, cured, artisanal cannabis strains, in dried flower form, specifically HPG13, Lemon Haze and Mimosa.
Truro is well established throughout Canada, and will sell Mernova’s products via its well-established distribution channels.
Creso Pharma also received a maiden purchase order from the Yukon Liquor Corporation (‘Yukon’), opening a new Canadian market with the company anticipating further orders in the future.
The purchase order for the HPG13, Lemon Haze and Mimosa strains, in dried flower form is valued at C$24,333 (A$25,436).
These products will be sold under the Ritual Green brand in 3.5 gram and 7 gram units, through leading retailer Triple J’s Canna Space.
A Notice to Purchase from the Province of Ontario, also marks Creso’s entry into Canada’s largest recreational cannabis market.
These developments serve as confirmation of the significant demand for Mernova’s high-quality cannabis products in the rapidly growing Canadian retail recreational market.
This has been evident since October, when Creso announced that repeat purchase orders totalled more than $2 million on a year-to-date basis following a repeat purchase order from South African-based Pharma Dynamics.
In Europe, CPH continues to sell its CBD products in the animal health market via its Swiss operations, with a total of A$975,000 in Purchase Orders confirmed in 2020.
Total purchase orders continue to grow across CPH’s operations.
Commenting on these recent developments and expressing his confidence regarding the likelihood of further strong order flow, Mernova managing director Jack Yu said, “Mernova continues to make very strong progress in the Canadian recreational market.
“The three most recently secured purchase orders will contribute to Creso Pharma’s growing revenue profile and we expect additional orders to materialise in the very near term.
“Mernova has now become part of a very select group of licensed producers with cannabis products for sale in the Yukon.
“This is a major achievement for us, and we expect growth to continue across Canada and, with our pending entry into Ontario, Canada’s largest recreational market, we expect rapid growth to continue.”
Recreational markets across the globe could open up
Legal recreational marijuana has been available in Canada for two years now, however it looks as though other nations are following suit.
Last Friday, the US House of Representatives passed the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act – an Act that intends to decriminalise cannabis on a national level.
The decision is expected to have far reaching effects on the cannabis industry in North America, encouraging investors and corporate America to fully unlock the value of a multi-billion dollar industry, expected to surge to $130BN by 2024.
Mernova, Creso’s 24,000 sq.ft cannabis growing facility in Canada is only 1,700 miles from the US border.
Creso is now exploring near term opportunities for entry into the US recreational cannabis space right now, in readiness for legalisation. It is being assisted by Canadian cannabis icon Bruce Linton, who has come to Creso as a Strategic Advisor.
Mr Linton was the founder and CEO of Canopy Growth (TSX: WEED | NYSE: CGC), which he built from a tiny start up into a US$15BN market cap powerhouse at its peak.
Given these developments, CPH is currently trading at levels not seen since February 2020, prior to COVID sending global markets tumbling.
Looking globally, the United Nation’s Commission for Narcotic Drugs voted to reschedule cannabis, effectively removing it from a list including ‘hard’ drugs, such as heroin.
Furthermore, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled that member states must not prohibit the marketing of lawfully produced CBD and ruled that CBD is not considered a narcotic.
As a result, CBD can be freely sold in the European Union (EU).
Even Australia is getting on board.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) will shortly bring down its final decision regarding a major regulatory change in the distribution of cannabidiol (CBD) products in Australia.
The changes recommend that CBD products be down scheduled from schedule 4 and classified as schedule 3 medicines in Australia, which would allow Australian consumers to purchase CBD products over-the-counter (OTC) through pharmacies without the requirement of a prescription.
That announcement may already be paying off for Creso, which late last week announced it has secured an exclusive Heads of Agreement with leading natural, sustainable health and lifestyle brand supplier Martin & Pleasance Pty Ltd.
Under the agreement, Creso will manufacture a range of cannabidiol products in Switzerland, which would be sold under new and existing Martin & Pleasance brands in Australia.
Martin & Pleasance was established over 150 years ago and provides an extensive range of natural remedies and medicines to consumers.
Four products are earmarked from Creso’s proprietary nutraceutical range in lozenge and tea form, which are all manufactured at the GMP Certified Mernova facility.
With regulations around cannabis opening up across the globe, and well-established global operations, it’s my contention that Creso Pharma looks well placed for growth.
This article is sponsored content. The supplier of this content has a commercial arrangement with Switzer Financial Group.
Life360 (ASX:360) is a San Francisco-based IT company that connects and protects loved ones through a variety of safety features, all conveniently located in one app for a fraction of their traditional costs. In addition to the free option, there are three membership plans that provide families peace of mind while on the go, on the road and online. Valued core offerings include: advanced location sharing on a private map, smart notifications when family members come and go from designated destinations, phone battery updates, driving reports to monitor safe driving behaviour, 24/7 roadside assistance, and crash detection with emergency response.
The company’s membership model launched in the US market in June 2020, expanding beyond Life360’s location-centric features to incorporate identity theft protection, SOS with emergency dispatch, and disaster, medical and travel assistance. This suite of membership services now allows Life360 to meet the needs of every family lifestage.
As of June 2020, Life360 had 25 million monthly active users across 195 countries, in 13 languages, and 845,000 Paying Circles (subscribers).
The company listed on the ASX on 5 May 2019 and raised $145 million from its IPO with a market capitalisation above $600 million. Its share price surged 10.9% on the first day of trade. On 10 May 2019, the Australian Financial Review reported “the float was the ASX’s biggest tech raising since WiseTech Global’s 2016 float.”
The app was founded in 2008 by co-founders Chris Hulls (CEO) and Alex Haro (Non-executive Director).
As well as co-founding Life360, Hulls has been an angel investor and advisor for a number of tech companies, including Tile, Credible, Ring, Automatic, Honk and Zendrive, while Haro worked on the Orbited project that allows real-time browser communication.
In 2019, Hulls told CNBC that Life360 chose not to list in the US to avoid Wall Street’s “swirl of noise”.
“People think of Australia as a small little country, but in terms of investable capital, it’s massively disproportionate to their population,” he said.
The company has five independent non-executive directors across the US and Australia. David Wiadrowski and James Synge are the Australian-based directors. Over the course of 2020, James Synge invested an additional $256,000 into the stock increasing his shareholding to 1.2%. Life360’s “insider ownership” is roughly 10%, according to Yahoo! Finance.
In July 2020, in an article he wrote in the Switzer Report, Tony Featherstone tipped Life360 (ASX: 360) as one of his “2 transport small caps that could benefit from COVID-19”. Featherstone shared his personal experience with the app, which he and his family have used for several years. “Watch more parents register for Life360’s free and paid services during and after COVID-19. Parents will worry more about children using public-transport services that have a higher risk of disruption. Technology that shows when their children have boarded public transport appeals.”
Like all young companies, Life360 has had its hurdles, which Featherstone described in his article as “disgruntled young people who do not like their parents tracking them”. “After hearing teens vocalize their feelings very publicly about Life360 on TikTok, we decided to reach out to them and open a dialogue to really hear what they had to say,” said CEO Chris Hulls to BusinessWire. “Teens are a core part of the family unit - and our user base - and we value their input. After months of communicating with teens, I am proud to launch a feature that was designed with them in mind, continuing our mission of redefining how safety is delivered to families.”
This new feature is called “Bubbles” and, when activated, shows a general radius rather than exact location to respect privacy, while ensuring the app can still achieve its main objective of safely monitoring and connecting loved ones. The company has also committed to bridging the communication gap between parents, teenagers, and technology by producing content and offering resources from Life360 Family Expert, registered psychologist and parenting educator, Dr Vanessa Lapoint.
In June 2020, Life360’s annualised monthly revenue was up 26% to US$77.9 million and subscriber growth picked up post-COVID in April. In the CY20 H1 Results report, the company said this reflected its “resilient” business model.
As the chart below shows, this year Life360’s share price has rallied from its March 23 COVID-lows, when it dropped to around $1.50, to then reach a high of $4.49 on September 8.
This article is sponsored content. The supplier of this content has a commercial arrangement with Switzer Financial Group.
Vonex has several platforms to help SMEs communicate with their customers and connect with the community.
The company has a target audience of over 2.37 million SMEs in Australia, with a goal to connect them simply, efficiently and affordably.
This year, Vonex has delivered strong growth on the back of its platforms, generating predominantly recurring revenue and has continued to develop, deliver and license advanced communications technologies.
The recurring revenue base the company is building is impressive.
Unfolding acquisition strategy
2020 has been punctuated by an acquisition strategy that has delivered the 2SG Wholesale telecommunications and data wholesaling business, which supplies network and communications solutions to telco retailers across Australia.
The acquisition has transformed the company and it is now looking at further acquisitions that will expand its operations.
The 2SG acquisition has been paramount in Vonex’s growth this year and has effectively changed its relationship with major suppliers.
Before the acquisition, third party wholesalers supplied either the NBN, Mobile or Landline services to Vonex.
Vonex has now flipped the switch and is able to purchase these services via 2SG.
The advantages of this include:
Pac Partners analyst Mark Yarwood said of the transaction at the time, “The recent 2SG transaction highlights management’s appetite and ability to acquire smaller telco companies which we see as rich in opportunities.
“2SG was an asset rich purchase given its relationships with Tier-1 carriers, 100+ wholesale customers, along with direct access into NBN, offering the ability to cross-sell with the potential to build out a direct NBN presence.”
Integration of 2SG has brought a new dimension to Vonex’s business along with 150+ new wholesale customers, and has allowed Vonex to expand its offering to SME customers with new products, including fleet mobile, mobile broadband and NBN with 4G backup.
Notably, prior to acquisition 2SG had negotiated an agreement to supply business grade mobile broadband to ASX 300 company, Data#3 (ASX: DTL).
2SG’s multi-year investment in a sophisticated network environment is now also contributing to a meaningful relationship with Optus Wholesale, helping to build traffic on the Optus network by quickly deploying complex solutions for a broad base of customers.
Direct carrier relationships are valuable in facilitating better support, rates, control of customer internet and cost of supply.
There is strong customer demand for 2SG’s secure, business-grade wireless broadband, especially as demand for work-from-services dramatically increased in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Strong numbers
VN8’s June quarter update featured the strongest operational and financial quarter that the company has delivered since listing on the ASX in 2018.
One of the key takeaways was the 88% increase in annualised recurring revenue during fiscal 2020: this now stands at $16.4 million.
Vonex finished the first half of the year with $3.7m in total contract value (TCV) of new customer sales — 65 per cent up year on year. It has shrunk its net loss from $2.79 million last year to $596,000 in FY20, ending June 30.
Revenue grew 67 per cent, from $9.2 million to $15.4 million, while underlying earnings before tax returned to the black, to $25,237 from $454,332 in the red in FY19, and $4.8 million cash at bank. Annualised recurring revenue grew 89 per cent to $16.4 million.
In a letter to shareholders, Vonex non-executive chairman Nicholas Ong said its achievements during the year were incredible considering the challenges faced by many businesses in the wake of COVID-19, particularly highlighting its June quarter as its “best quarter since becoming a listed company”.
“We have continued to accelerate our growth and generate revenue that is largely recurring, which provides a strong foundation to build on in the years ahead,” Ong said. “As we commence FY21, we are excited to build on our strongest quarter to date, and I’m confident the strategies and targets we have in place will drive Vonex to hit new milestones as we continue to execute on a range of growth initiatives.”
This article is sponsored content. The supplier of this content has a commercial arrangement with Switzer Financial Group.
The most notable trend related to the transition to electric vehicles over the last 12 months is the acceleration in electric car sales in Europe.
EV car sales in Europe now outstrip China and other Asian countries that have been active in developing lithium-ion batteries.
In a recent article published by The Driven, European auto market analyst Matthias Schmidt was referenced in relation to his European Electric Car Report for the seven months to July 2020.
Schmidt noted that during this period there were more plug-in electric car sales in Western Europe than in China, a country that in previous years had been considered the world’s largest electric car market by volume.
It should be noted China's electric vehicle market is still strong. EV sales in China grew for the first time in 13 months in July 2020, due to a government extension of financial incentives and Tesla's local production.
The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers reported sales of EVs last month jumped 19.3% on the year to 98,000 units.
However, sales of EVs in Europe are projected to exceed one million units in 2020 and to grow rapidly in the years to come. Europe has increased its market share to 26%, growing by 44% since 2019.
Part of this growth can be attributed to Europe’s policy initiatives that have the overarching aim of making Europe climate neutral by 2050.
Government, corporates and consumers are all on board and focused on making the switch. Euro governments have introduced stimulus plans to provide momentum for electric vehicle adoption. This means tightening emissions standards and subsidies to drive consumer demand.
Over €24BN (AU$39.1BN) in investments in European EV and battery supply chains are underway right now, and the continent has emerged as a major electric vehicle production hub.
Furthermore, the likes of Shell has called on the UK to “make a bold move to ban petrol and diesel vehicles by 2030”. Even Australia is being urged to follow in the UK’s footsteps to ban fossil fuel cars by 2035.
While we know lithium is a major driver of EV growth, high purity manganese is another battery metal that will play a key role in the transition.
EuroManganese Ltd. (ASX | TSX.V EMN), a $15M capped company is capturing investor attention by developing a waste recycling operation to extract high purity manganese (HPM) products for the manufacture of lithium ion batteries.
These batteries are being produced in increasing quantities in Europe and EMN could be the only primary producer of these materials in this region.
Effectively, EMN will be waste recycling from historic mines, delivering high purity manganese to EU battery makers, whilst at the same time cleaning up what is currently a polluted site for the local community.
Put simply, EMN will be recycling waste to produce highly refined manganese metal and salts. These are the finished products that producers of lithium-ion battery cathodes require.
The company recently raised C$4.1M (AU$4.2M) and will be investing this to advance permitting and to continue advancing the project.
It also plans to get its Demonstration Plant (DP) up and running, which will showcase the quality of EMN’s manganese to customers. This is expected to cost ~ US$2.5M (AU$3.4M), plus US$1.5M installation and commissioning costs.
Most of the output for the first year of production has already been allocated to several Tier-1 customers, as a prelude to potential offtake agreements.
Of further note, thepreliminary economic assessment of its Chvaletice Manganese Project (CMP) indicates the net present value after-tax of nearly $600 million.
EMN ideally located
The European location of the Chvaletice Manganese Project is of high importance.
EMN noted that 30 battery and battery precursor and cathode factories, with no fewer than 25 electric car factories are already operating, under construction or have been announced in Europe recently. Europe currently imports 100% of its manganese requirements.
Europe is expected to become the second most important centre (after China) of the global electric car and battery industries.
At least six large battery factories that will consume manganese inputs are located between 200 kilometres and 500 kilometres of the Chvaletice Manganese Project. Others are being built across Europe.
Several prospective customers have expressed interest in procuring high-purity manganese products from the Chvaletice Manganese Project, and in conducting supply-chain qualification of the products of the proposed Chvaletice demonstration plant.
Euro Manganese has already signed five memorandums of understanding with major customers, which are intended to evolve into long-term offtake agreements.
EMN has reported that these customers are attracted by the strategic European position of Chvaletice, by the incomparable environmental footprint of the project (no mining or new solid waste generation) and by the exceptional purity of the products that Euro Manganese has produced in previous pilot plant trials.
EMN sees the Chvaletice Manganese Project as becoming an important and environmentally-sustainable part of the international and European lithium-ion battery supply chain.
The company expects to become the only primary producer of high-purity manganese in the European Union, where 100% of manganese requirements are currently imported. That would be a significant achievement as investors begin to focus on the growth of the electric vehicle manufacturing and related battery industry, especially as countries such as France and Germany become central to a multi-billion post-COVID Euro economic recovery based on sustainable action.
This article is sponsored content. The supplier of this content has a commercial arrangement with Switzer Financial Group.
The release of Minbos Resources’ (ASX: MNB) Scoping Study demonstrates this company could achieve robust returns in the near future, as it looks to its goal of building a nutrient supply and distribution business that stimulates agricultural production and promotes food security in sub Saharan Angola and the broader Congo Basin.
Minbos’ work here is important. Sub-Saharan Africa dedicates nearly as much land to growing corn as the US. However, crop yields in the region are significantly below that of other global producers.
The issue is a lack of fertiliser. More fertiliser, cheaply available, would see sub-Saharan Africa catch up to more developed countries’ food production, and remove their reliance on food imports.
This is important, as fertiliser consumption is expected to almost double in the next 10 years in Africa.
That said, there has been enormous activity in the region.
In Nigeria, Indorama built a US$1.5 billion fertiliser plant. In Ethiopia, OCP built a US$2.4 billion fertiliser plant. In Kenya, Toyota Tsusho commissioned a new large-scale fertiliser blending plant to service the Kenya and Tanzania markets.
There are significant opportunities in Africa, with food demand value approximately $313 billion and growing.
While the majors fight it out in the west, one damning statistic is that Middle Africa has virtually no fertiliser production and limited infrastructure to transport fertiliser, leaving the door open for socially-minded companies to work with local governments and populations to help address these problems.
Minbos is addressing these issues in Angola, with, as stated, an eye to the broader Congo basin.
In Angola, agriculture is the main source of income for 90% of the 9.6 million countrymen and women living in rural areas. There are 35 million hectares of arable land here (the size of France) with only 8% currently tilled for farming. Furthermore, 100% of all nutrients (nitrogen and potassium – NPK) are imported.
The conundrum is that spending on food in Angola is expected to increase from US$15 billion in 2017 to US$21 billion by 2021.
In light of this, the Angolan government announced a A$750 million expenditure programme in June to accelerate agriculture and fisheries in the country with the aim of achieving food and nutrition security.
In fact, Angola plans to double its agricultural output from two million tons of cereals, to almost four million tons.
The country aims to increase the availability of seeds, fertilisers and agricultural equipment for local requirements.
Simply put, Angola is looking to create its own food supply.
The $11 million market capped Minboshas a world-class phosphate ore project within the Cabinda Province of Angola designed to build a nutrient supply and distribution business that stimulates food security in Angola and the broader Congo Basin.
Minbos has been working on the Cabinda Phosphate Project for years, and has lofty goals.
This project has the potential to impact the whole country by boosting fertiliser production and food security, alleviating poverty, improving nutrition outcomes and mitigating the impacts of climate change on farmers.
Of course, none of this would be possible without robust economics.
Scoping study points to strong cash return
Results of a Scoping Study released this week demonstrate the company could generate strong cash returns on the Cabinda Project for a relatively small capital investment.
The pre-production CAPEX (capital expenditure) is between US$22-28M, which is not a lot to get the project into production – and the payback period is just three years, with a Life of Mine (LoM) of 21 years.
The After Tax NPV of the Project is US$159M-$260M.
The Scoping Study results will be used to initiate discussions with debt and equity financiers for the construction of the project and frame the scope of work for a Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS), which is currently underway.
Minbos has also advised the market that it’s working on an offtake agreement with the Angolan government as part of the DFS – if successful this would substantially de-risk any development funding needed for the company’s project.
Minbos has done an enormous amount of work at Cabinda and, whilst having its ups and downs, has dedicated 10 years to the project and the potential to positively impact sub Saharan Africa’s food supply.
The Scoping Study gives it confidence that this can happen sooner rather than later.
“The company is excited to begin its journey to move rapidly to production, using local phosphate rock, to produce fertiliser for local markets using technology developed by the International Fertilizer Development Center,” Minbos CEO Lindsay Reed told shareholders when the company announced the Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) for Cabinda was underway.
“Producing fertilisers locally would improve the availability of nutrients, reduce transport costs and would protect against exchange rate fluctuations which impacts on fertiliser pricing.”
All in all, that is a win-win for the African nation and the company.
This article is sponsored content. The supplier of this content has a commercial arrangement with Switzer Financial Group.
MyFiziq (ASX: MYQ), the company behind the proprietary dimensioning technology that enables its users to privately check, track, and accurately assess their dimensions using only a smartphone, has 25 million new users in its sights.
The company has collaborated with multi-sided health platform Bearn, to integrate MyFiziq’s body tracking application into the Bearn app.
Bearn’s users will be able to track changes in their body shape, weight and health using the MyFiziq technology as they follow Bearn’s coaching, fitness, and nutritional programs.
Essentially, this collaboration provides users with a holistic approach to their health management encompassing fitness, nutrition and weight management.
Bearn provides a range of benefits to its users, allowing them to earn cash for exercising while interfacing with health and fitness brands and simultaneously building a health profile.
The MyFiziq technology is embedded into the Bearn application and is ready to reach into the 25 million pre-registered users Bearn has acquired through existing partnerships. With the new integration, customers of Bearn will be able to access the MyFiziq technology, via the Bearn app, which is available on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
MyFiziq taps into Bearn’s popularity
Bearn’s technology is popular throughout the fitness community.
It presents a unique multi-sided vendor backed platform that allows for the gamification and engagement of health with users who earn actual cash for improving their health, fitness, and wellness.
Bearn Founder Aaron Drew sees great synergies between the companies.
“I believe that this technology will enhance the engagement and gamification of health with our users and strengthen the value we bring to our advertiser and brand partners,” Drew said.
“The ability to allow the user to take body and composition measurements from their mobile phone with such accuracy creates an exciting opportunity in the evolution of Bearn.
“Our intention is to encourage weekly scan check-ins as an exciting and rewarding feature for our users who will be checking in to demonstrate their changes and earn their cash rewards.’’
To date, Bearn has been able to demonstrate a 75% retention rate of its users, and the group is focused on partnering with companies that are looking to build retention through rewarding their consumers for achieving their fitness and weight loss goals.
Bearn is using its expert industry knowledge and global strategic networks to bring the world’s best technologies together, accelerating and enabling the distribution of its innovative application to the mass market consumer through multiple industries such as health and wellness providers, as well as many of the world’s largest wearables health device manufacturers and distributors.
MyFiziq will play a major role in Bearn’s product offering
The Bearn application with the MyFiziq in-app scanning capability is being released on both iOS and Android to deliver maximum reach into their current pre-registered users.
Bearn has become a global player in fairly quick time, securing contracts across multiple sectors and industries, including health platforms, healthcare organisations, gym chains and fitness retailers.
The company has also negotiated contracts with government bodies and some of the world’s largest wearables manufacturers and distributors.
These partnerships have contributed to the group’s success in achieving more than 25 million pre-registrations for the Bearn application, which now includes the MyFiziq technology.
Bearn intends to stage the release as it is not sensible to draw on the whole available pre-registered users on day one.
MyFiziq and Bearn envisage the application being in the hands of the first 10% of the pre-registered users over the initial 30-60 days, paving the way for an accelerated release to the balance of the pre-registered users over the months to follow.
“I was floored when Bearn brought to my attention the 25 million pre-registered users they have accumulated via their partnerships,” said MyFiziq CEO Vlado Bosanac.
“The launch of Bearn has been highly anticipated by both MyFiziq and our shareholders as MyFiziq will receive $2.00 for every scan performed by the users.
“This release is our largest to date, and Bearn’s founder Aaron Drew has actively expanded the business partnerships over the last 12 months, partnering with global organisations that now offer more than 25 million potential users of the combined platform.
“Together with Bearn, we have gone the extra mile to release both iOS and Android simultaneously to maximise outreach across this enormous audience.
In addition to our standard offering, Bearn will be the first platform to offer our full suite of measurements including a first-time release of total body fat calculation.
“The application has been through rigorous testing in readiness for this launch.
“I am pleased to say the application is performing well on all fronts, with our in-house team observing accuracy and repeatability of 98% to 100% over multiple devices and captures.
“The look and feel of the application is a credit to both teams, and we are looking forward to supporting Bearn with its launch, users, downloads, and usage.”
Interestingly, MyFiziq’s looks set to continue its strong share price performance in recent months, with this announcement laying the foundations for further momentum.
MYQ’s shares are trading close to their 12 month high after spiking more than 15% late last week with particularly high volume buying occurring on Friday.
This article is sponsored content. The supplier of this content has a commercial arrangement with Switzer Financial Group.
This South Carolina, USA-based performance chemicals provider has a focus on flame retardancy and thermal management, with an innovation model to address market gaps with patent-protected technologies.
The group’s environmentally-friendly solutions have applications for several markets including bedding products, military uniforms and workwear, and they can be customised to meet customer needs.
Its new Phonon™ perpetual cooling technology enhances the rate of cooling by up to 200% over current products and, more importantly, the cooling never stops. This patent pending technology establishes a new standard for extended cooling performance.
The breakthrough cooling technology is poised to disrupt markets by continually regulating and removing heat from consumers, creating a constantly comfortable experience.
The patent pending technology establishes a new standard for extended cooling performance, and from an operational perspective it opens up a host of new markets for Alexium, providing a new growth platform for the business.
While its perpetual cooling properties are the standout feature, the technology also provides a wide range of benefits important to consumers. These include:
The new Phonon™ perpetual cooling technology adds to the company’s existing products, including its Alexicool® cooling technologies, and Alexiflam® flame retardant chemistries.
The Alexicool® technologies absorb and releases thermal energy to maintain a cool outer temperature that is comfortable against the skin.
In its solid form, Alexicool® products are fully encapsulated phase change materials (PCMs) that absorb body heat and melt into a liquid form — drawing heat away from the skin and containing it in the core of the PCM capsule.
The company’s Alexicool® Total Mattress Cooling System (TMCS) takes a systems approach to total mattress cooling, leveraging its materials science expertise and analytical tools to enable unique leading edge products.
Now with its new PhononTM technology, Alexium can significantly expand its offerings for total mattress cooling systems (TMCS) where a number of customer trials have proven the viability of this patent-pending, breakthrough technology platform.
The total addressable market in the US for cooling technologies in TMCS is estimated at US$60 million, with an additional US$25 million for top-of-bed applications.
Beyond bedding applications, this technology has comparable opportunities in other markets, including upholstery, medical products, sporting goods, and outdoor apparel/accessories.
The group has established robust relationships with clients/distributors, including the US Defence Force, major flame retardant chemical company Israel Chemicals Ltd (TASE/NYSE: ICL), and Soft-Tex — a supplier to the largest bedding retailer in the US, Serta-Simmons Bedding.
Given Alexium’s established position in bedding markets, this industry is the initial target for commercial application of the new technology.
Alexium chief executive Bob Brookins said, "Cooling technologies have become a critical selling feature for premium mattress manufacturers over recent years and Alexium has garnered a deserved reputation for leading technical innovation and analytics via its Alexicool products.
“Generally, technical innovation is incremental in nature and it is therefore particularly exciting to announce today a truly disruptive platform technology, one which we believe can change the narrative in relation to thermal management solutions not just for the global mattress industry but also for several other performance applications in consumer products."
Colinton capital joins AJX
Sydney-based institutional investor, Colinton Capital Partners, has recently taken a position in the company. Colinton is headed by Simon Moore, a leading Australian entrepreneur, who has also taken up a Board position at Alexium.
As a general rule, Colinton invests in growing businesses with strong market positions, positive earnings and enterprise values from $20 million to $200 million. The group specialises in providing flexible capital solutions for expansion, succession planning, management buy-outs/buy-ins, public-to-private transactions and active minority public positions, an ideal partner for Alexium in terms of negotiating the corporate world.
Colinton’s investment in Alexium is certainly a positive endorsement of the business, and brings significant strategic guidance in negotiating what at times be a challenging path for smaller companies.
One of the factors that really sold Colinton regarding Alexium’s potential was that it had two proven products, plus established goodwill and credibility in the market. This provides a running start in terms of having credibility with customers on each side of the business.
Especially with big bedding customers and on the defence uniform side of the business, it can be difficult to build that initial level of trust. The brand’s reputation and its goodwill is already established in the eyes major customers such as Serta, and US military uniform provider Pine Belt Processing, meaning Alexium doesn’t have to establish itself from ground zero.
The recent addition of Dr Paul Stenson to the Board brings significant advanced material sciences and fire retardants expertise. Stenson’s experience in research and development, commercialising products and leveraging third party distribution networks in the US will also be highly valuable. He has lengthy experience in working for big chemical companies similar to ICL, enabling him to understand all facets of Alexium’s business.
This article is sponsored content. The supplier of this content has a commercial arrangement with Switzer Financial Group.
WhiteHawk Limited (ASX:WHK), has been contracted by a US Federal Government CISO (Chief information Security Officer) to implement WhiteHawk’s Cyber Risk Radar.
News of the contract saw WhiteHawk’s share price rise by 70.21% to 16 cents on Tuesday, just shy of its 52-week high.
WhiteHawk is the first global online cyber security exchange enabling businesses of all sizes to take smart action against cybercrime.
The annual Software as a Service (SaaS) contract is a milestone contract with a Tier 1 client – a key US Federal Government Department. It will see WhiteHawk generate base revenues of US$580,000 (A$811,000) and up to an additional US$600,000 (A$839,000), for a total of up to US$1.18 million (A$1.65 million) for each year of the contract of $5.9 million in total. This will have a large impact on the company’s top-line revenue growth.
WHK will implement its Cyber Risk Radar for the undisclosed US Federal Government Chief Information Security Officer (CISO).
The Cyber Risk Radar is a SaaS subscription that will monitor, identify and prioritise both cyber and business risks of vendor companies to this US Federal Government Department.
WhiteHawk will provide Cyber Risk Scorecards quarterly, virtually and remotely for the department's 150 to 300 vendors via an integrated risk management dashboard.
This is the first US Federal contract where WhiteHawk is the Prime Contractor.
Of its three other US Federal Department CIO contracts, WhiteHawk is a cyber solution sub-contractor to Accenture Federal, SAIC and GuideHouse (formerly PWC Federal).
As this is the first US Federal contract where WhiteHawk has been nominated as the Prime Contractor, it is an extremely important development.
Terry Roberts, executive chair of WhiteHawk said of the contract, “After a very successful Proof of Value early last year, now we are putting in place our first 5-year Cyber Risk Radar contract with a sophisticated US government CIO, who will work with us to take the capabilities of our platform and virtual services to the next level.”
As Roberts stated, this contract is the result of a Proof of Value that was implemented early in 2019 across 10 vendors for the same US government agency.
Roberts recently told Yahoo Finance that she was a self-confessed “paranoid international risk professional”. More importantly, she is a 35-year veteran of the US national security and cyber intelligence community, including being a former Deputy Director US Naval Intelligence, a Department of Defence Senior Executive, and an Executive at the Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute.
WhiteHawk mitigates safety concerns
WhiteHawk demonstrated through automation and subject matter expertise, the status and health of suppliers using global publicly available data sources, AI analytics, and custom Cyber Analytics to assess and report on top risk indicators and vectors, areas that may require prioritised attention.
Because the Cyber Risk Radar approach is externally available data and is non-invasive, WhiteHawk does not require access to internal IT assets and configurations in order to deliver its services.
Rapidly evolving technology had already set cybersecurity up to be a major growth sector but the sudden COVID-19 driven shift to remote work has brought this sector to the fore quicker than anticipated.
Organisations are vulnerable to malicious attempts to exploit this shift — right as their IT teams are stretched to the max and as they become increasingly dependent on the internet and a remote workforce to operate.
Yet organisations are recognising the need for ongoing risk monitoring and mitigation approach to cybersecurity — now more than ever.
Whitehawk is well positioned to capitalise on the growing investment by organisations seeking to mitigate their cybersecurity risks.
This article is sponsored content. The supplier of this content has a commercial arrangement with Switzer Financial Group.