Companies: ZEN ��

Zenergy’s high-temperature superconductor (HTS) technology offers many improvements over existing techniques used in industries ranging from metals processing to clean energy generators and power grid current limiters.

Hence enthusiastic institutional investors chased the shares up from its 84p issue price of 2006 to a 318p peak in December, contributing to fundraisings pulling in €21.7m (�17.3m) last year. Although forecasts indicate the company will continue losing money for at least the next three years, it is surrounded by an air of anticipation.

This is because Zenergy, as chief executive Dr Jens Muller explains, is ‘the first in the world’ to make a commercial sale of an HTS induction heater and the first in line to make HTS for hydro and wind power generators. ‘This technology is like Star Trek to the guys using induction heaters,’ he exclaims. HTS allows the heaters used by copper and aluminium processors to double the speed and efficiency of traditional methods, for about the same purchase price.

A first sale was made in September and the order book shows a second booked in too. ‘But we’ve got 34 in tender with various potential customers that could mean more than 1,000 induction heaters,’ claims Muller. ‘That’s a €2bn market a year!’ The €2.5m order book also includes agreements with power conversion expert Converteam to contribute technology to make the ‘next generation of generators’. The pair have a further agreement with German giant E.On.

With forecasts pointing to progressive, though still modest, sales of €2.7m and €4.8m this year and next, there is lot of expectation in the share price. Nevertheless, the shares represent a potentially very lucrative play for risk lovers to chance their arm.