By Christoph Steitz
FRANKFURT (Reuters) -Thyssenkrupp Nucera, which makes electrolysers needed to produce low-carbon hydrogen, could quickly shift resources elsewhere if U.S. policies under President-elect Donald Trump proved negative for the sector, it said on Tuesday.
Clean-tech players have been concerned over what a Trump presidency might mean for the industry, fearing substantial cuts to President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, which is aimed at promoting everything from wind power to green hydrogen.
Thyssenkrupp Nucera’s shares were up 14.3% by 1225 GMT for their highest since July 8, helped by a smaller than expected 2023/24 operating loss that traders said reassured investors who had been concerned by project delays in the sector.
“We would be poor strategists and poor business leaders if we did not prepare for this,” CEO Werner Ponikwar said after presenting forecast-beating annual results, singling out India as a market with strong growth momentum.
Ponikwar highlighted the German company’s global reach and asset-light business model as indicative of its flexibility. Production of its electrolysers is essentially outsourced.
INCENTIVES CLARITY NEEDED SOON
“If we find that there is actually less business in the USA than we originally thought, it does not mean that we cannot deploy our resources elsewhere,” he said. Thyssenkrupp Nucera makes less than 10% of its sales in the United States.
Ponikwar said that legislation on green hydrogen incentives in the United States and Europe needed to be clarified quickly to avoid further delays across the sector.
Mwb research said that while weakening customer demand in the hydrogen sector was a cause for concern, it remained “confident in the company’s long-term prospects, supported by the general expected growth of the hydrogen market and its strong market position”.
Thyssenkrupp Nucera’s operating loss for 2023/2024 was 14 million euros ($14.7 million), significantly better than its initial expectations.
Sales rose 30% to 862 million euros, said the company, which is majority owned by Thyssenkrupp, forecasting sales of 850 million to 950 million euros for 2025.
($1 = 0.9538 euros)
(Reporting by Christoph SteitzEditing by Lisa Shumaker, Alexander Smith and David Goodman)
