Shares in Getech Group PLC (AIM:GTC) fell 25% to 5.47p in early trading after the company noted a "growing level of caution" among clients and warned that revenue will be lower than last year.
Sales for the current calendar year for the specialist in locating subsurface resources are expected to come in at £4-4.4 million, compared to £5.1 million last time.
But the company said demand for its services and data is increasing for 2024 and beyond, with its order book standing at £3.7 million and a "substantial" pipeline of projects across all petroleum, critical and battery metals and geothermal, though the order book is down from £4.4 million in June.
After adding natural hydrogen as a new search option in August, Getech said it has completed its first commercial project, which was to screen 32,000 sq km in Eastern Europe for mineral systems that produce natural hydrogen.
A story on the BBC about natural hydrogen prospecting said Getech is hunting potential deposits in Morocco, Mozambique, South Africa and Togo.
"This project has become a valuable case study for further work from prospective customers," it said.