Voller Energy

‘We will be the first fuel cell play to reach profitability,’ claims Stephen Voller, chief executive of Voller Energy, which floated on AIM with a £9.1m funding at 74p in February. The Basingstoke-based company makes portable fuel cell systems for use as battery chargers and mobile generators. Its VE100 – a 100-watt portable fuel cell system that runs off rechargeable hydrogen-infused metal hydride cylinders – has already launched and might well deliver meaningful sales this year. The VE100 uses a fuel cell stack and incorporates Voller’s power output technology and integration know-how – and a forthcoming next-generation product should deliver far more power, helping Voller attack a wider market for portable generators. Voller has also side-stepped a perennial fuel cell industry problem – supplying hydrogen to power fuel cells – with the recent acquisition of KAT-Chem, a developer of hydrogen reformer technology. Reformers extract hydrogen from propane, liquid petroleum gas and butane, and the deal means Voller’s systems can use existing fuel infrastructures without having to wait around for a new hydrogen infrastructure to emerge, a crucial point given Voller’s target markets of building services, camping and boating. Voller also boasts a letter of intent with tool hire star Speedy Hire, which will be the launch customer in the UK for the VE100 and larger brethren the VE1000. For June 2006, house broker Arden Partners predicts pre-tax losses of £2.3m on only £994,000 sales, ahead of a £2.25m deficit from a top line £2.4m the following year. For June 2008, however, Voller might well score first profits of £600,000 on £14.5m sales. Voller offers investors exposure to the imminent commercialisation of the fuel cell industry. The shares have speculative appeal.