ASX-LISTED Magnis Energy Limited (MNS) has announced it has completed a valuation on its lithium-ion battery cell manufacturing facility in New York as part of the due diligence process for project financing.

The independent valuation, which was completed by O'Brian & Gere, a wholly owned subsidiary of Dutch engineering giant Ramboll Group, on the battery plant came in at $US71.34 million.

The valuation began in August 2019 and went through all the items purchased as part of the acquisition made in early 2018. In the current condition of the equipment the report attributes a valuation today of US$71.34 million (A$105.5 million). With Magnis having an ownership of over 50 percent in iM3NY through its direct and indirect holdings including its stake in C4V, a value of about A$53 million can be attributed to Magnis’ share in the value of the equipment.

Magnis managing director Marc Vogts said, "We believe that the purchase of the New York battery plant will fast track cell manufacturing at commercial scale for the company once funding for commissioning of the plant is secured. The purchase of the equipment last year was a strategic purchase and today’s announcement validates our decision.

"We continue to prioritise efforts to secure funding and the third-party valuation of our battery plant will assist in financing considerations.”

Having recently secured $8 million through a private placement with Middle East based Negma Group the company is now well funded to advance on all projects both in Australia and overseas, he said.

ends

THE House of Representatives Standing Committee on the Environment and Energy is travelling around the country for a series of public hearings on nuclear energy in Australia.

Chair of the Committee, Ted O’Brien MP said this is an opportunity to engage with people from Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth and to hear their views both in favour and against nuclear energy.

“We want to hear from experts in the field, and all interested parties from one end of the country to the other, to best understand the feasibility and suitability of these new and emerging nuclear technologies,” Mr O’Brien said.

“These hearings will be looking at nuclear from a very evidence based approach and will be identifying the conditions which would need to be in place before nuclear energy could be considered for Australia.”

Public hearing details

Brisbane
Date: Monday 30 September 2019
Location: Brisbane Novotel, 200 Creek St

Melbourne
Date: Tuesday 1 October 2019
Location: 55 St Andrews Place

Adelaide
Date: Wednesday 2 October 2019
Location: South Australian Parliament building, cnr North Terrace and King William Rd

Perth
Date: Thursday 3 October 2019
Location: Legislative Council Committee Offices, 18 to 32 Parliament Place

The hearings will be broadcast live at aph.gov.au/live.

Further information about upcoming public hearings, including programs as they are released, and the inquiry in general can be found on the inquiry website: https://www.aph.gov.au/nuclearpower. 

ends

THE Financial Services Council (FSC) has welcomed the Federal Government’s announcement of a review of the retirement income system and the members appointed to conduct the Review. 

FSC CEO Sally Loane said the FSC would work closely with the Review to ensure continuing improvements to Australia’s retirement income system, particularly through our unique superannuation system.

“Superannuation consumers receive significant benefits from competition and choice, and this will be an important focus of the FSC’s approach to the Review,” Ms Loane said. 

“However, this review should not delay important reforms that the Government has already committed to that will significantly improve consumer outcomes in superannuation.

“These include the introduction of a ‘default once’ framework to prevent unintended multiple accounts, as recommended by both Commissioner Kenneth Hayne and the recent Productivity Commission review of superannuation, and legislating an obligation for trustees to consider the retirement needs of their members.”

The FSC will also suggest to the Review that:

• the Government should retain its policy of increasing the Superannuation Guarantee to 12 per cent;
• superannuation laws should be simplified, and red tape in the sector should be removed including barriers to rationalising legacy products; and
• there is no need for further tax increases on superannuation, because our system, as measured against OECD standards, is not unfairly beneficial to higher income earners.

“The FSC looks forward to advocating strongly for these positions during the Review process over the coming year,” Ms Loane said.

www.fsc.org.au

ends

“THE amount of engineering construction work done is well down on a year ago with the building and construction industry still waiting for the green light on key infrastructure projects,” Master Builders Australia chief economist  Shane Garrett has warned.  

“During the June 2019 quarter, the volume of engineering construction work done slipped by 0.9 percent and was 15.4 percent lower than the same period in 2018,” he said. 

“Master Builders continues to call for the construction of infrastructure projects to be fast-tracked.

“The heavy volume of new infrastructure project announcements over recent times is very welcome, but today’s figures confirm that there are significant blockages in the way of getting project work started on the ground which must be addressed," Mr Garrett said.

“Tackling the blockages and obstacles in the way of infrastructure projects is an issue which must be prioritised by all levels of government.

“With the pace of economic growth at its weakest in a decade, the prompt delivery of new infrastructure is vital for getting us all moving in the right direction,” Mr Garrett said. 

During the June 2019 quarter, the largest decline in engineering construction work done affected the ACT (-13.1%) followed by Tasmania (-12.7%) and the Northern Territory (-11.6%). There were also falls in South Australia (-5.8%), Queensland (-5.1%) and Victoria (-4.8%). 

Over the same period, both Western Australia (+10.3%) and New South Wales (+3.2%) saw gains in the volume of engineering construction work done.

www.masterbuilders.com.au

ends