Decisions, decisions and oh what to do, as that old number by the Clash “Should I Stay or Should I Go”, sounds perfectly apt in this instance.
I am talking GETECH (GTC) of course, where the shares have moved from the 12p highlighted here at the end of December to a current 35p which is just about a 200% gain.
Indeed, the shares did touch the dizzy heights of 46p a few days back which is one big return in just over a month.
To date, I am still holding here, although given the recent news from the company I am resigned to the fact that the shares are likely to continue to prove volatile, as it is clear short term traders have come, gone and done the same again on the back of GTC announcing news across the Hydrogen space.
As many will know this is a popular area for investors looking for the next big thing and there is certainly momentum behind it. That said, any quoted stock really does, in my view, have to posess something special and critically be aligned to big energy players, or others in the field. GTC - as I wrote in my last piece - is a geospatial software company where historically they have worked for and with big name oil companies in assisting them with oil exploration. This also applies to mining and more recently a diversification into new areas such as water, and now seemingly Hydrogen. The Hydrogen focused news release was focused on it partnering with a company named H2 Green, along with SGN commercial services. The latter of which is a division of the SGN energy company that serves some six million homes and businesses across the UK. SGN Commercial is already active in the progression of Hydrogen as can be seen by the links below. In terms of the potential for GTC, this isn’t your typical blue sky prospect, as this is in part seemingly being driven by a massive UK energy industry player that in turn, is already forging ahead on the back of Government strategy. https://sgn.co.uk/news/ready-deliver-worlds-first-100-green-hydrogen-network https://www.sgn.co.uk/news/were-exploring-potential-of-hydrogen-super-hub-port-of-southampton GTC’s expertise and technical geospatial data focused software will, if all goes according to plan see it playing a key part in the identification and establishment of numerous hydrogen hubs for storage.
These are planned to be housed on brownfield sites within SGN’s own property portfolio, although it also appears other sites could be considered. The deal is, it seems, almost up and running in that 30 potential sites have already been identified as potentially suitable which is where GTC comes in with H2 Green. The latter is a Scotland based business where I believe some of the sites identified are located, although it looks a very new business with limited history. The initial target for these hubs will be the likes of Buses within public transport and also HGV’s which could result in an accelerated move to cleaner energy across that area. https://www.heraldscotland.com/business_hq/18726183.glasgows-buses-go-green-new-clean-hydrogen-fuel-project/ Additionally and interestingly, GTC has an option on buying H2 Green in the future, so there is plenty of upside potential, although I do retain a sceptical hat too.
My underlying optimism though is largely because of the big player involved which is already pushing forward across this space. The CEO of H2 Green had this to say on announcing the deal “H2 Green has been developing a differentiated business case for hydrogen supply. We believe the key to providing affordable hydrogen lies in an optimised network of hydrogen supply, developing alongside demand growth. We also see clear opportunities in redevelopment and repurposing of existing infrastructure.
Our links to industry and government have been central to us developing the concept and the strategic relationship with Getech, which we are announcing today, will allow us to accelerate the business proposition. Getech's world-class geospatial expertise allows us to take our analysis of site and network development to another level, and importantly, pass that value to our customers in terms of a lower price per kilogram of hydrogen.
The opportunity to join Getech is particularly exciting for us.
Together we have the capability to develop a pipeline of strategic opportunities and rapidly scale our offering nationally. I am particularly pleased to work closely with Stuart Paton and Jonathan Copus, bringing their prior C-suite experience to the fore, where they financed and executed major capital projects for asset-intensive energy companies."
Aside the Hydrogen news, GTC also announced a major board change with the appointment of a top notch new Chairman who also sits on the board of MTI Wireless Edge, where I have an interest.
Richard Bennett has extensive business and listed company experience over a career spanning 30 years. During that time, he has worked for General Electric in Asia and the US and co-founded and listed on NASDAQ J2Global, an internet telecoms business currently valued at US$3.5 billion. He has worked in executive, chairman and non-executive roles with a series of highly successful growth-focused technology and clean energy companies, currently including the AIM-quoted wireless technology company, MTI Wireless Edge.
Of course, I didn’t buy in to GTC for the Hydrogen potential, rather, the fact that it lingered in deep value territory and along with its historic revenue stream, the company had been looking at diversification to drive growth.
The big question now is what comes next, as the shares have spiked on the back of the Hydrogen news and as experience tells me, when things quieten down and there is a distinct lack of news, the share price in these situations will drift downwards.
Despite that, I am sticking around and holding to see how this plays out over the coming months and hopefully longer term.
Much to my mind hinges on the big partner involved in this scheme and any positive news beyond what has thus far been released is likely to set the shares off again.
Additionally, it is feasible that any one of GTC’s other clients could require its services across the renewable energy space, which could provide for a further strengthening to this story. More clarity is needed though and to that end I have attempted to set something up with the company having been in touch directly with the Broker. To date, despite some early positive sounds, it has gone quiet and may or may not happen.
There could be any reason for that, from just not wishing to engage which is how some companies operate, or the timing right now just isn’t right for whatever reason.
It should be interesting to see just how this pans out and whether it could prove to be something really meaningful for shareholder returns further down the line, or if it transpires that it is really just another one of those false dawns that afflict many small companies, flattering to deceive.
The positive for GTC however is that it has an established track record in the energy field and is good at what it delivers, whilst is already has relationships with some of the biggest energy players.
The market cap is now £13m, which although good deal higher than when I penned the piece is still pretty paltry given its balance sheet, handy recurring revenue along with the tech itself which is said to be highly regarded.
No guesses on my part as to where it is heading in the coming weeks and no doubt quite wisely some have elected to take profit, so well done to them.
No doubt I will return to this in due course, particularly if I do get the nod to speak with management, although there is no holding of the breath.