DirectorsTalk Green News rounds up our most popular LSE news stories and exclusive interviews in November 2021. Companies covered include Tirupati Graphite, Ilika, Eden Research, Dialight, Symphony Environmental, CyanConnode Holdings and Nanoco Group.
DirectorsTalk Sustainability and Green Stocks website contains exclusive content on some of the fastest growing London-listed and Green Economy Mark companies and industry sectors that are contributing to a more sustainable world.
Tirupati Graphite begins commercial production at Vatomina
Tirupati Graphite plc (LON:TGR, TGRHF.OTCQX), the specialist graphite and graphene company developing sustainable new age materials, made gains of over c. 16% (11.25 GBp) to move its share price to 79GBp yesterday. It declared the start of commercial production from its greenfield Vatomina Project in Madagascar with effect from 6 December 2021. As such, the Vatomina plant’s commissioning process is complete, with the facilities now stabilised to facilitate continuous, round-the-clock operations. Read the full article here. This news comes hot on the heels of its impressive Interim Results for the six months ended 30 September 2021.
Shishir Poddar, Executive Chairman of Tirupati Graphite, said:
“We are delighted that Vatomina has successfully ramped-up to commercial production so quickly and smoothly. The lessons we have learnt from this project will be captured to enhance our other ongoing and planned new capacity developments. The significant production we are adding will transform Tirupati into a globally significant supplier of primary flake graphite and speciality graphite and enhance the Company’s trading position going forward. We look forward to updating the markets further as we progress.”
Ilika officially opens its Stereax solid state battery manufacturing facility in Chandlers Ford
Ilika plc (LON:IKA), a pioneer in solid-state battery technology, has announced on 6 December, the official opening of its Stereax solid state battery manufacturing facility in Chandlers Ford, UK on Friday 3 December 2021. The new facility will manufacture Stereax micro batteries that are designed for powering next generation implanted medical devices and wireless sensors used in the Industrial Internet of Things. Ilika has been developing Stereax mm-scale batteries and this new facility will now enable manufacture at scale, ready for commercialisation from Q2 2022 of Ilika’s first product, the Stereax M300 micro battery (300uAh, 5.6×3.6×0.9mm). Read the full article here.
Ilika’s CEO Graeme Purdy, stated: “We are very excited to open this new facility which will be the first of its kind in the UK and we are looking forward to selling Stereax micro batteries to markets that cannot be addressed with conventional batteries. I’d like to thank all employees for their hard work and both our investors and Innovate UK for their continued support.”
Eden Research plc (LON:EDEN) is an AIM-quoted company focussed on sustainable biopesticides and plastic-free encapsulation technology for the use in global crop protection, animal health and consumer products industries. It announced on 2 December that the French regulatory authority ANSES has granted full authorisation of Eden’s biofungicide Mevalone® for use on pome fruits (such as apples and pears) to prevent post-harvest storage diseases. France produces close to 1.6 million tonnes of apples annually and exports almost half of that volume. France is consistently among the top three apple producing countries in the EU. Watch Eden’s CEO present the company investment case, financials and outlook here.
Sean Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Eden Research plc, said:
“The new use of Mevalone on apples, which are classed as a major crop in France, is an exciting development for Eden, and grows our addressable market in this key European territory. Mevalone has significant potential in several market segments, and we are focussed on developing the product to meet the needs of farmers who are increasingly unable to use many conventional chemicals due to more stringent regulations. We look forward to receiving further product authorisations in due course and further helping farmers efficiently and sustainably provide food for our growing population.”
World LED leader Dialight’s future looks bright with order intake up 34%
Dialight plc (LON:DIA), world leader in LED industrial lighting, published on 9 November a trading update for the period from 30 June to 31 October 2021 here. The full year results will be published on 28 March 2022.
It also launched on 26 October, the world’s most efficient commercially available heavy industrial rated lighting fixture, the Ultra-Efficient Vigilant® LED High Bay. Dialight CEO, Fariyal Khanbabi, noted: “It can generate a rapid payback in as little as 12 months for some customers”.
Symphony Environmental expands into India and wins ESG Company of the Year
Symphony Environmental Technologies Plc (LON:SYM) global specialists in technologies that make plastic and rubber products “smarter, safer and more sustainable”, has announced a strategic alliance with a team of specialised and experienced people in India who understand the culture and business requirements of a country with 17.7% of the world’s population. Read the full article here.
Amit Lohia, Group Vice Chairman of Indorama Corporation, said: “Protection of the natural environment, and the health and safety of the people are very important objectives in India today, and Symphony’s technologies will help to address those objectives.”
Arjun Aggarwal, MD of Symphony India said: “The formation of a Joint Venture company in India is an important milestone for both Symphony and Indorama. It will lay the foundation of a truly Swachh Bharat (clean India), the vision of our Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Plastic biodegrading automatically will ensure that our planet’s newest continent – plastic waste – does not grow any further.”
In another important development, Symphony announced on 29 November that DEFRA (the UK government department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) has NOT listed oxo-biodegradable plastic in its November 2021 public consultation as a “frequently littered and problematic plastic.” The Scottish Government has likewise issued draft Regulations in November which do not list oxo-biodegradable plastic. Symphony views this as a major step in the right direction and will now be putting more effort into explaining and marketing our d2w technology in the UK. Read the full article here.
Finally, Symphony was awarded “ESG Company of the Year” for its outstanding global achievements in the ever-important subjects of Environmental, Social and Governance. The ninth annual Small Cap Awards winners were announced on 11 November and were given across nine categories, recognising outstanding achievements of the best small and micro-cap quoted companies (sub £200m market capitalisation).
John Cronin, Executive Chairman of CyanConnode Holdings plc (LON:CYAN), discusses with DirectorsTalk, about his latest meeting of the Climate Finance boardroom organised by India Global Forum (IGF).
As one of the key stakeholders in the UK-India partnership on Energy and a key advocate of the “Global Green Recovery”, John explains in this insightful Q&A session here:
- the importance of digitising the Energy Sector – Smart Meters to Smart Grids.
- what more needs to be done and the timeline for replacing the existing 250 million meters with smart meters in India;
- what else is the Government of India doing as a stimulus to the Smart Metering movement
- What are some of the benefits of Smart Metering deployment and leveraging smart grid improvements on this massive scale?
Nanoco Group a year of steady progress and European customer agreement
Nanoco Group plc (LON:NANO), a world leader in the development and manufacture of cadmium-free quantum dots and other specific nanomaterials emanating from its technology platform, has announced:
- its preliminary results for the year ended 31 July 2021 here
- that it has signed an agreement with an important European electronics customer for the delivery of an enhanced version of its technology here.
- that it has appointed Liam Gray to the Company’s Board in the role of Chief Financial Officer with effect from 8 November 2021. Liam will continue to serve as Nanoco’s Company Secretary.
Jubilee Metals Group plc Year End Results
Jubilee Metals Group plc (LON:JLP) CEO Leon Coetzer joins DirectorsTalk Interviews to discuss its results for the year ended 30th June 2021. Revenue and earnings growth was achieved during a period of substantial infrastructure investment, integration and planned operational downtime and has provided a tremendous platform for further future growth.
- Total revenue for the year increased by a strong 143% to £ 133 million (ZAR 2.8 billion)1 (2020: £ 54.8 million (ZAR 1.1 billion))
- Profit after tax adjusted for non-cash expenses including impairments, gain on bargain purchase and share based payments up 194% to £ 49 million (ZAR 1 billion) (2020: £ 17 million (ZAR: 331 million))
- Adjusted earnings per share up 163% to 2.25 pence (ZAR 46.66 cents)
Ferro-Alloy Resources Ltd Expanded Feasibility Study
Ferro-Alloy Resources Ltd (LON:FAR) CEO Nick Bridgen joins DirectorsTalk Interviews to discuss the progress of the expanded feasibility study for the large Balasausqandiq vanadium deposit in Southern Kazakhstan. It also recently announced here that it has made its first commercial sale of ferro-molybdenum and has completed testing of the production of ferro-vanadium.
