Hydro Intl Share Discussion Threads

[rivaldo] 21/5/2007 08:20

Ta for that Stegrego. I saw the original IPO RNS and then forgot to post it! Modern Water is basically an IPO (or IP2IPO as it used to be) subsidiary and will be an investment holding company, and they issued a long RNS about it here:



As far as I can see none of the 3 investments to date directly compete with HYD - they're concentrating on desalination and the substitution of fresh water with sea water:


And as you say cheap, this will undoubtedly focus attention on the attractiveness of water infrastructure as an investment class. The m/cap for a company with 3 developing, start-up technologies will be interesting. I'm willing to bet it'll be higher than or close to HYD's! Which would be ridiculous, but then the market for some reason often values potential greater than profitability combined with potential - despite HYD having reams of its own IP....

[cheap] 21/5/2007 07:57

Interesting, Stegrego.
Doesn't really challenge Hydro and impossible to assess its technology or whether its yet got anywhere with sales but it does make some very large claims for the size of the market.
More evidence that Hydro is already very well placed in a sector that is becoming increasingly fashionable.

[stegrego] 21/5/2007 07:39

Apparently is due to float in June.

Not sure about the company itself as its a start up with IP stuff, but it should put a bit of attention on the sector.

[gac100] 20/5/2007 17:22

I'm certainly expecting a good AGM statement. I'm not a frequent AGM attendee, but would be at HYD's this year if I didn't have a prior commitment. Hopefully we'll also get an up-to-date broker note before too long ... although I have to say with PH I never know what to expect.

[rivaldo] 20/5/2007 17:03

The AGM is coming up this Thursday 24th May and should be good news given the spate of contract RNS's and bullish outlook. Hopefully it'll be the spur to kick on to a new price range.

[rivaldo] 19/5/2007 10:15

An encouraging article in yesterday's Times. It starts off talking about the improved cleanliness of the UK's beaches, but concludes that this is largely because of specific weather conditions, and concludes by saying this which would be most rewarding for HYD:



"Climate change is forecast to bring warmer, wetter winters and summers punctuated by violent storms and flash floods.

Mr Bell said: "Heavy rain translates into poor water quality because water-borne pollutants such as raw sewage, petrochemicals and farm waste bypass the sewer system and sweep directly into rivers and the sea."

The society said it believes that specific counter-pollution measures must be initiated now, including new investment in sustainable urban drainage systems and a significant expansion of the sewer system to handle large volumes of storm water."

[rivaldo] 18/5/2007 15:57

I've come across Asparks before - he has a big liking for "environmental" type stocks (fuel cells/solar etc) and tends to ramp them all over the boards where he thinks people might have a vague interest. In my case it only makes me want to ignore his ramps because he does it so often. Sorry asparks.

Occasional recommending/ramping of quality stocks by decent posters is fine by me, but he goes massively over the top.

[what is a login ?] 18/5/2007 15:31

REH and HYD are both stocks that enable punters to feel they're doing something for the environment. That's the link.
Just a glance at HYD's website is a cool refreshing experience.
One attractive thing about HYD is that the environment premium isn't yet fully in the share price

[gac100] 17/5/2007 10:31

REH a "water" investment, that's just about the most tenuous connection I think I've seen for putting an RNS for one company on the board of another!

Can't for the life of me see how REH "may interest HYD holders" any more than a hundred other companies.

HYD - profit making history, surplus cash, dividend paying and undemanding forward p/e

REH - loss making history, huge debt facility necessary for expansion, non-dividend paying and blue-sky forward p/e

... which is not to say REH's CETO device hasn't got potential, just don't see any reason why it may be of particular interest to HYD investors

[asparks] 17/5/2007 08:50

another water (and energy) investment that may interest HYD holders is REH:

RENEWABLE ENERGY HOLDINGS PLC
("REH")

ANNOUNCEMENT RE CETO

"WAVE ENERGY FARMS OFF SOUTHERN AUSTRALIAN STATES CAN PROVIDE FUTURE WATER AND
POWER NEEDS

The Company wishes to advise of a proposal for a world-first base-load renewable
energy power station and zero emission desalination plant presented today to
Federal Minister for Industry, Ian Macfarlane at the CETO R&D facilities in
Fremantle, Western Australia.

The CETO technology is currently owned by AIM listed Renewable Energy Holdings
PLC (REH) with Carnegie Corporation being a founder and equity holder with board
representation on REH. Carnegie may directly participate on a project by project
basis subject to detailed agreement with REH and appropriate financing being
established.

Following on from successful trials last year off Fremantle, the CETO system,
which harvests energy from the ocean waves, is on track to begin full scale
deployment off southern capital cities in 2009.

Carnegie Managing Director, Dr Michael Ottaviano, said that Australia was
uniquely positioned to take advantage of the CETO technology for both its power
and water needs.

"We are currently finalizing details for the world's first base-load renewable
energy power station. A 50MW demonstration CETO Wave Farm would supply power
for around 40,000 households and cost around $400 million." Dr Ottaviano said.

"If the project gets the go ahead this year, then we will be able to start
construction in 2009, with full capacity achieved in 2012. Once it is in
operation, the generation cost should be competitive with fossil fuel
alternatives because it has zero fuel costs".

The preliminary proposal involves the deployment of around 300 CETO units which
would provide 50MW of peak installed power capacity and 25MW average capacity.
Additional onshore desalination infrastructure is included as an option in the
proposal which would allow the 300 unit wave farm to also act as a 50GL/year
zero-emission desalination station.

All of Australia's southern mainland cities' current water needs could be
satisfied by CETO units covering an area of 155 hectares (70 AFL football ovals)
of sea floor at around 75% of the price of current desalination projects. In
addition, these Wave Farms would generate around 300 MW of zero-emission power,
enough for about 300,000 households.

CETO inventor, Carnegie chairman and REH director Alan Burns said the CETO
technology provides a solution to Australia's water crisis as well as helping to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions from its power generation sector.

"Australia's largest, cleanest energy resource is its ocean's waves and for most
Australians, this resource is within short transmission distances." Mr Burns
said.

The Company & REH have commenced the process of developing detailed co-operation
terms which will progress in parallel with site selection and approval
processes.

Wave Energy & CETO background:

Named after the Greek ocean goddess, the CETO system distinguishes itself from
other wave energy devices by resting out of sight on the ocean floor. An array
of submerged buoys is tethered to seabed pump units. The buoys move in harmony
with the motion of the passing waves, driving the pumps which in turn
pressurises seawater and deliver it ashore via a pipeline. The high-pressure
seawater can then be used to supply a reverse osmosis desalination plant,
replacing greenhouse gas emitting pumps usually required for such plants. The
high-pressure seawater can also be used to drive hydro turbines, generating
zero-emission electricity.

Other wave energy & CETO characteristics include:

* Wave energy is a renewable, zero-emission source of power.
* 60% of the world lives within 60km of a coast, removing transmission
issues.
* As water is about 800 times denser than air, the energy density of waves
exceeds that of wind many times over dramatically increasing the amount of
energy available for harvesting.
* Waves are predictable days in advance making it easy to match supply and
demand. (Wind is predictable hours in advance at best.)
* CETO sits underwater, moored to the sea floor, meaning there is no
aesthetic impact.
* CETO units operate in deep water, away from breaking waves. The waves
regenerate once they pass the CETO units, meaning there is no impact on
popular surfing sites.
* CETO units are designed to operate in harmony with the waves rather than
attempting to resist them. This means there is no need for massive steel
and concrete structures to be built.
* CETO is the only wave energy technology that produces fresh water directly
from seawater by magnifying the pressure variations in ocean waves.
* Any combination of power and water can be achieved from 100% power through
to 100% water.
* CETO contains no oils, lubricants, or offshore electrical components. CETO
is built from components with a known subsea life of over 30 years.
* CETO units act like artificial reefs in the way they attract marine life.

Carnegie Corporation (CNM) is a clean energy technology developer currently
involved in developing two clean energy technologies: the CETO Wave Energy
technology & its 100% owned clean coal technology, Cleaner Coal Power. Carnegie
is focused on developing and investing in clean energy technologies that will
lead to revenue generating projects globally."

[mustau] 16/5/2007 22:39

LLoyds have never had a good investment arm

[gac100] 16/5/2007 18:37

I see that as well as the Financière de Champlain buy announcement, there's also an announcement to the effect that Lloyds TSB has reduced from 915,207 shares to just 20,800. I'd thought they might have been in for the long-term, so a bit disappointing they're off ... no doubt happy with their profits: they bought a little under half the shares in April 2006 (around 130p) and the rest only 3 weeks ago (around 170p).

[rivaldo] 16/5/2007 11:41

Nice - FDC are straight in with 5.65% (800,000 shares). Good post gac100 - it looks like HYD are about their only UK investment!

Here's what they say about HYD's sector and presumably why they've invested in HYD:

"Water offers strong growth prospects. Demand for drinking water is expanding rapidly, given the brisk pace of urbanization in highly populous Asian countries. Water investments are typically larger-cap companies, with high early-stage capital expenditure and above-average dividend yields."

[mustau] 16/5/2007 11:02

There's still another 800k to be announced.

[gac100] 16/5/2007 10:32

NOTIFICATION OF MAJOR INTERESTS IN SHARES

FINANCIERE DE CHAMPLAIN

Threshold(s) that is/are crossed or reached: 5 %

--- interesting French fund management group joining the party.

"Financière de Champlain was established in 2000 and is an independent asset management company. The majority of its capital is held by the management... Financière de Champlain has 20 staff at the service of a diversified clientele which includes institutional investors, asset management companies, financial advisors and private investors."


And some more on them here:

[gac100] 15/5/2007 22:48

Good to see newsflow continuing positive Riv. One of the things I'll be hoping for from the upcoming agm is an update on US operations - the 'several large projects' in the wastewater sector, that were awaiting additional funding approval or going out for rebid; and in the stormwater sector the 'significant growth expected in early 2007.'

[rivaldo] 15/5/2007 21:45

More USA news - two more Sales Managers:



"Hydro International Names New Stormwater Regional Sales Managers
14-May-2007

PORTLAND, Maine – May 14, 2007 - Hydro International today announced the hiring of two new Regional Stormwater Sales Managers serving Northeast markets.

Gregg Drames, who will be based out of Philadelphia, will cover Hydro International's Mid-Atlantic North territory consisting of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Drames has several years of experience selling for Technical Design & Marketing in the municipal odor control and remediation markets. He lives in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania.

Darren Fickett is based out of Raymond, Maine. His territory consists of the six New England states: Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Vermont. Fickett has worked in sales, engineering and design positions for Hancor Inc., Wright Pierce Engineers and Vortechnics Inc. He lives in Naples, Maine.

Each started work with Hydro this week.

"The Northeast has always been a strong market where our stormwater solutions have enjoyed great acceptance," said Ed Izzo, President of Hydro International's US operations. "We look forward to leveraging their impressive skill sets in this important region." "

[rivaldo] 14/5/2007 14:53

Seems to be an inexorable upward trend here. I love that word "inexorable".

FYI from HYD's USA web site - looks like a big push in New Zealand as well as the USA:



" Conferences
Date Tradeshow Location
5/16/2007 NZ WWA South Pacific Stormwater Conference Auckland, NZ
6/12/2007 ASCE Stormwater Management Workshop Virginia Beach, VA
6/20/2007 Florida Stormwater Association Conference Sanibel Harbour Resort
10/13/2007 WEFTEC San Diego, CA

» Educational Seminars
Date Time Seminar Location
5/16 10:45 am Pollutants Washout-The Missing Dimension in Urban Stormwater Treatment - Dr Robert Andoh
NZWWA - Auckland, NZ
5/17 11:45 am A Novel High Rate Modular Upflow Filtration System for Stormwater Treatment - Dr Robert Andoh
NZWWA - Auckland, NZ
5/18 10:45 am Approaches to Urban Drainage Systems Management in the 21st Century - Steve Hides
NZWWA - Auckland, NZ
8/23 1:30 pm Sediment Gradation presented by Kwabena Osei
StormCon - Phoenix, AZ"

[nhb] 10/5/2007 22:29

I agree with mustau on that. The house broker will get their clients in first before publishing any note. The attempt to buy shares just before a RNS release is outrageous.

[mustau] 10/5/2007 19:37

I believe some buys from last week went through today, 800k from what I saw.
Riv, We all know press and most tipsters will only mention when fully accumulated.

[rivaldo] 10/5/2007 15:50

Waggle, good to hear from you. I'll see if I've still got your e-mail address.

If you're correct on the Ely property then I assume you're talking about a £3.5m unrealised surplus...not bad on a £26m m/cap!

Cheeky Peel Hunt gits - imo they're useless and have done nothing for HYD in promotional terms. Without wanting to appear egotistical most of the market recognition from a PI point of view appears to have come from this thread - I've seen virtually no tipsheet or press mentions, even with the recent run of contracts!

Which I suppose begs the question, what will happen when somebody out there actually notices HYD?

[cheap] 10/5/2007 14:41

waggle - how do we get hyd and trt to avoid these agm clashes? This is the 2nd year running - I prefer an agm to a private meeting - and when you are only invested in 3 companies....

[waggle] 10/5/2007 13:41

riv,
sorry not to have posted for so long, I had a very good meeting down there some 3 weeks ago. you should have a word with the FD about the val'n of the Ely property..or get in touch with me directly. I believe that there is upwards of 25p per share latent balance sheet value.
I was also exceedingly unamused by peel shunts efforts to buy 50,000 shares from me at 10,00am on the morning of the meeting..when the Rns then came out at 10.32am...Roger Lockwood was even less amused when i told him..

[rivaldo] 09/5/2007 14:31

No probs cheap - it's for my own benefit after all!

I assume the 60k T trade at 186p is a buy which has been reported late - another sign that demand is very healthy at these new highs. And even if it were a sell, the fact that a large seller could offload at 186p would be an equally good sign.

[gac100] 09/5/2007 13:01

Riv, I pencilled in 11.2p EPS for 2007 back in March based on an assumed normalised growth rate of 17.5%. Good to see that more or less supported by your calculations today. As you say at the current price the P/E for 2007 doesn't look too demanding. Given continued growth - which should be more or less assured by the stage we're at in amp4 spending cycle alone I would have thought (never mind the global potential) - then HYD could be considered very cheap at the current sp, on the basis of an attractively low 2008 P/E.