CEO Resigns

The company announced CEO David Taylor has resigned. His tenure commenced August 1, 2022 so he lasted almost 12 months.

Sold my holding (both in Strawman and real).

I still hope this company can execute, and the demand from the market is clear, but there are now too many red flags for me.

The news reports about the ASIC investigation are unsubstantiated, and being under investigation doesn't imply wrong doing, but the big run up in price was odd.

This is combined with the rather promotional nature of some of their market announcements, plus directors being issued performance rights for hitting a $500M market cap (from my understanding of the ASX announcements).

Too many, so I'm out.

The company requested halt in trading today following The Australian publishing a report (paywall):

Excerpt from the report:

Frank Poullas, chairman of next-generation batteries player Magnis Energy, is under investigation by the corporate regulator.

Sources close to the Australian Securities & Investments Commission inquiry said investigators had not ruled out expanding the probe to include the company.

The Australian Federal Police has assisted the regulator with its inquiries, but declined requests for further information because it “would or could reasonably be expected to prejudice the conduct of a current investigation”.

The company plans to release a statement before commence of trade on Friday, 19 November and trading will be resumed.

This short video on ShareCafe is an interview withFrank Poullas, Chairman of Magnis. The video is undated but appears to be recorded early August 2021. It doesn’t cover anything new but rounds up some recent news from the last six months regarding the New York lithium ion battery plant

The New York battery plant is owned by iM3NY, and Magnis is majority shareholder with ~65% ownership. My view is that this is by far the most promising part of the Magnis story.

My notes from the video:

A$20 million Investment
Frank Poullas discusses investment from US based investors and the plan to list iM3 in New York. He expects this will offer greater valuation on the road to double digit GWh production.

Binding offtake
‘Semi-autonomous’ production by the end of they which should give “semi-serious production numbers”. Fully automated production by April 2022. Magnis have announced binding sales agreements of $A1 billion.

Additional funding
Exploring additional funding options to accelerate growth.

Product application
Batteries are intended for grid storage and electric vehicles. Apparently in discussion with well known players in both markets.

To view the video go to  https://www.sharecafe.com.au/videos/ and look for “Big Week for Magnis Charges the Company Battery”

(I hold)