How do you make the leap from biomass to Bitcoin and battery storage?
Active Energy Group PLC (AIM:AEG, OTCQB:ATGVF). The pivot, or should I say full 180, has been something of a life-saver, in commercial and corporate terms at least.
AEG, in its former incarnation, was developing and attempting to commercialise its CoalSwitch technology, but without much success. With the end of the funding runway looming, it was saved by a convertible loan note facility and new management.
It has since secured further funding via an oversubscribed share placing. Earlier in the summer, it fleshed out its Bitcoin treasury strategy, followed by a diversification into other cryptocurrencies.
On Friday, somewhat out of left field, AEG announced a move into battery storage with a deal to develop a 150 megawatt facility west of Cardiff. This will generate an estimated £300,000 income stream for the next 30 years.
Strong move
The shares jumped 50% today and are up 90% over the week.
But what conclusion do we draw? Well, AIM is, as it has ever been, a weird and whacky place. However, there is also method to the madness.
The shell of AEG, already plumbed in and ready to trade, was obviously worth more than the legacy assets it owned. The new AEG spotted what the market didn’t: an opportunity to apply the defibrillator.
Out has gone the old guard and in has come accountant and corporate financier Pankaj Rajani as chairman, while Paul Elliot, a property developer whose bio says he specialises in turning distressed assets into “profitable ventures”, has taken the role of CEO.
It remains to be seen whether the “p-word” will ever be uttered in the same sentence as AEG, but investors seem to like what they have seen so far.
Bendiorm-bound
Now, to the wider market. The AIM All Share stood almost pat week on week at 761.15 as it fell victim to the annual mid-August malaise.
This is when the senior traders take their three weeks in Benidorm and leave the juniors in charge. So frightened are the rookies of making a mistake that very little business gets done in the summer holiday season.
It was a similar story for the FTSE 100, the junior market’s benchmark, though the blue-chip index noodled around 0.8% higher, but on seriously absent volume.
Fiinu stormed back from suspension to post a 47% gain after unveiling plans to reverse into forex trading platform Everfex in a deal worth up to £12 million.
Surface Transforms (AIM:SCE), the high-tech brake maker, was well and truly off the skid pan with the stock gaining 47% this week.
It has almost doubled in value since issuing a trading statement revealing the business has turned a corner, with revenues more than doubling year on year.
Overreaction?
Now onto the fallers. Down over 60%, EnergyPathways fell victim of an overreaction that will no doubt unwind over the coming days and weeks.
EP issued what was effectively a good news/bad news statement on the sign-offs required for its ambitious MESH energy storage project, with market makers focusing on the latter to protect their positions.
Mobile Tornado Group Plc (AIM:MBT) crashed 60% after announcing plans to cancel its AIM listing due to the prohibitive costs of maintaining a quote and the lack of liquidity.
GoldStone Resources' value halved following its annual meeting, where a key director was voted off the board and a proposal to increase share issuance authority failed to secure enough support.
Runway running out
Finally, Versarien PLC (AIM:VRS, OTC:VRSRF) dropped 37% amid mounting concerns over its financial position and restructuring efforts.
The advanced engineering materials group confirmed it has begun placing key subsidiaries into administration or voluntary liquidation to conserve cash.
These measures will extend the company’s forecast cash runway, but only until the end of August. Much now hinges on the outcome of a proposed strategic investment first announced in March.