New ITM boss targets overconfident culture after profit warnings

The new boss of ITM Power has vowed to turn round the UK hydrogen start-up, overhaul a culture of “overconfidence” and regain the trust of investors and customers after the company became London’s most shorted stock. Dennis Schulz, who arrived at ITM in December from the engineering arm of Linde, its biggest investor, has laid out a 12-month plan to revive the Sheffield-based maker of hydrogen-producing electrolysers, which has issued three profit warnings in the past year.

Their removal will make way for robots and focusing manufacturing on the “stacks” that contain the special membranes in electrolysers rather than the container units that house them. But given the depth of ITM’s slide in valuation, the tear-up by Schulz might not be radical enough for some investors. “I wanted someone to come in and really scrutinise the technology,” said Lacie Midley, analyst at Panmure Gordon. “That’s a big sticking point for investors. Unfortunately until it is proven at a bigger scale, you are taking their word for it.”

Full article here: https://www.ft.com/content/a68c9a0d-1968-4e95-9c92-39d42a86d443

Author: The Financial Times

Lacie Midgley

Director, Research Analyst, New Energy & Clean Tech