Thyssenkrupp Nucera prepared for any US shift on green hydrogen (updated)

thyssenkrupp nucera AG & Co KgaA

17/12/2024 11:21

(Recasts, adds share price reaction in paragraph 3, CEO quote
in paragraph 4)
       FRANKFURT, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Thyssenkrupp Nucera
 NCH2.DE , which makes electrolysers that are needed to produce
low-carbon hydrogen, said on Tuesday it could quickly shift
resources elsewhere if U.S. policies under President-elect
Donald Trump proved negative for the sector.
    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 9.6% at 1054 GMT,
reaching their highest level since Nov. 7, in part due to a
smaller-than-expected operating loss for 2023/24, reassuring
investors who have been concerned by delays to projects.
    "We would be poor strategists and poor business leaders if
we did not prepare for this," Thyssenkrupp Nucera 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 broad global
footprint and its asset-light business model as indicative of
flexibility. Production of its electrolysers, which are needed
to produce low-carbon hydrogen, is essentially outsourced.
    "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.
    Ponikwar said that legislation on green hydrogen incentives
in the U.S. and Europe needed to be clarified quickly, warning
that the sector will otherwise experience further delays.
    The group's operating loss for 2023/2024 was 14 million
euros ($14.7 million), better than the mid double-digit million
euro loss it initially expected.
    Sales rose 30% to 862 million euros, said the company, which
is majority-owned by Thyssenkrupp  TKAG.DE , forecasting sales
of 850 million to 950 million euros for 2025.
($1 = 0.9538 euros)  

 (Reporting by Christoph Steitz; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and
Alexander Smith)
 ((christoph.steitz@thomsonreuters.com; +49 30 220 133 647;))