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The ARB Corp Ltd (ASX: ARB) share price is shedding during morning trade, erasing the 0.97% gain made this week.

This comes despite the 4×4 accessories company not releasing any price-sensitive announcements to the ASX today.

At the time of writing, ARB shares are down 1.89% to $40.57 apiece.

ARB shares set to go ex-dividend

While the company has been quiet on the news front lately, investors are selling off ARB shares.

This is regardless of the company’s shares set to trade ex-dividend tomorrow.

In comparison, the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) is currently down by 0.89% to 7,763.1 points.

It appears the benchmark index is dragging down the ARB share price. It seems investors are jittery about the Reserve Bank of Australia signalling its intent to raise interest rates as soon as next month.

Nonetheless, investors need to buy ARB shares before market close today to be eligible for the interim dividend.

It’s worth noting though that, historically, when a company reaches its ex-dividend day, its shares tend to fall in proportion to the dividend paid out. This is because investors tend to sell off the company’s shares after securing the dividend.

When can ARB shareholders expect payment?

For those who are eligible for the ARB dividend, shareholders will receive a dividend payment of 39 cents per share on 22 April. This represents a growth of 34.5% compared to the previous corresponding dividend of 29 cents per share.

It’s also worth noting that this is the biggest interim dividend the company has ever paid.

The interim dividend is fully franked which means shareholders can expect to receive tax credits from this.

In addition, investors can elect for the dividend reinvestment plan (DRP) which will add a portion of shares to their portfolio instead.

There is a 2% DRP discount rate and the last election date for shareholders to opt in is on 13 April.

The DRP will be calculated using the five-business day daily volume-weighted average price from Thursday 7 April to Wednesday 13 April.

The latest dividend represents a payout ratio of 46% compared with the 43% in the previous corresponding year.

ARB share price summary

Over the last 12 months, the ARB share price has lifted by 14% but is down almost 23% year to date.

The company’s shares reached a 52-week high of $55.00 in January, before treading 26% lower to today’s price.

ARB commands a market capitalisation of roughly $3.3 billion and has a trailing dividend yield of 1.67%.

The post Hoping to pocket the ARB Corporation dividend? Read this appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• The EML share price jumped 25% in March 2022. What happened?
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday
• What is the highest the ASX 200 has ever been?
• Here are the 3 most heavily traded ASX 200 shares on Tuesday
• High voltage! Origin (ASX:ORG) share price up 3% to new 52-week high

Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended ARB Corporation Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Paladin Energy Ltd (ASX: PDN) share price is falling today amid the company undertaking a share purchase plan.

The uranium miner’s shares are currently swapping hands at 76.5 cents, a 4.38% fall on yesterday’s closing price. In comparison, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is down 1.16% at the time of writing.

Let’s take a look at what is happening at Paladin Energy.

What did Paladin Energy announce?

Paladin opened a share purchase plan (SPP) for eligible Paladin shareholders. New shares under the SPP are being offered 72 cents per share, an 8.9% discount on the last closing price before the plan was announced of 79 cents.

Funds from the equity raise will be used to restart work at the Langer Heinrich uranium mine in Namibia.

The company is hoping to raise $15 million from the share purchase plan. A fully underwritten institutional placement was also undertaken to garner another $200 million.

Following the capital raise, Paladin hopes to have pro forma cash of $259 million with no corporate debt.

Paladin said the equity raise will de-risk restarting operations at the mine and will also position the company well for more uranium marketing initiatives.

The share purchase plan closes at 5pm Perth time on 26 April.

Paladin also recently received a uranium sales tender award to supply uranium concentrates to a subsidiary of US-based Duke Energy Corporation. The deal, subject to conditions, involves the supply of up to 2.1 million pounds of triuranium octoxide over six years from 2024.

Paladin Energy share price snapshot

The Paladin Energy share price has soared 76% in the past year, although it has lost 13% year to date.

For perspective, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has returned 8% over the past year.

In the past week, Paladin shares have slid more than 4% but still remain up 3% over the past month.

Paladin has a market capitalisation of about $2 billion based on the current share price.

The post Here’s why the Paladin Energy share price is sliding today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Why is the Paladin Energy (ASX:PDN) share price frozen today?
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The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

What happened

The price of the meme-inspired cryptocurrency Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) traded more than 9% higher over the last 24 hours as of 11:04 a.m. ET on Tuesday, after news came out showing that Tesla founder and Dogecoin bull Elon Musk has taken a big stake in Twitter.

So what

Yesterday, filings from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) disclosed that Musk had taken a 9.2% stake in Twitter. Today, filings showed that Musk would join Twitter’s board of directors. 

Musk has been a longtime supporter of Dogecoin and is one of the main influencers who really brought the token to popularity at the beginning of 2021. He would often tweet about how he liked Dogecoin and thought it had potential, so perhaps the market sees some kind of correlation. 

Yesterday, transactions of at least $100,000 into Dogecoin jumped 110%, according to crypto analytics website IntoTheBlock.

Yashu Gola, a financial analyst for the website CoinTelegraph, wrote earlier today that Musk could potentially accelerate crypto initiatives on Twitter and perhaps lead to some kind of integration of Dogecoin on the platform. Gola also wrote that based on chart trends, a 150% rally for Dogecoin is a possibility.

Now what

I don’t personally view Dogecoin as a worthy investment, and it’s still unclear if Musk can really drive crypto initiatives at Twitter. But considering that he has been one of the main reasons behind the token’s rise to popularity, I can see why the market views this as good news for Dogecoin. 

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

The post Why the price of Dogecoin is rising today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why Ethereum and Dogecoin are dropping today
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Bram Berkowitz has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended Tesla and Twitter. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson. 

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

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The Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL) share price is trading lower on Wednesday morning.

At the time of writing, the supermarket operator’s shares are down 1% to $17.90.

Why is the Coles share price falling?

The weakness in the Coles share price on Wednesday is likely to have been driven by news that major shareholder and former parent, Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES), has been selling down its stake in the supermarket giant.

According to a report in the AFR, the conglomerate has sold a $500 million stake in Coles for a small discount to its last close price.

After the market close on Tuesday, Wesfarmers reportedly sold 28.2 million shares via a block trade at $17.75 per share. This represents a 1.8% discount to the Coles share price at yesterday’s close.

While neither company has confirmed the transaction, a big trade was made on Tuesday, which appears to back up the report.

For example, a total of 31,042,457 Coles shares were traded during Tuesday’s session. This compares to 1,789,401 shares on Monday and 2,571,330 shares a week earlier.

Should you buy Coles shares?

While Wesfarmers may be selling shares, one leading broker that believes investors should be buying them is Morgans.

Its analysts currently have an add rating and $19.70 price target on the company’s shares. Based on the current Coles share price, this implies potential upside of 10% for investors over the next 12 months.

Morgans is also expecting fully franked yields of 3.4% in FY 2022 and 3.5% in FY 2023. If we add this into the equation, the total return stretches to over 13%.

It commented: “Trading on 22.9x FY22F PE and 3.5% yield we continue to see COL as offering good value with the company possessing defensive characteristics and a strong balance sheet (1H22 net cash $54m) allowing ongoing investment for growth.”

The post Coles share price falls amid reports Wesfarmers is selling down its stake: Time to buy? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended COLESGROUP DEF SET and Wesfarmers Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Core Lithium Ltd (ASX: CXO) share price is having a tough start to the day.

In morning trade, the lithium developer’s shares are down 7% to $1.37.

Why is the Core Lithium share price sinking?

The Core Lithium share price is falling on Wednesday amid weakness in the lithium sector following a poor night of trade on Wall Street.

For example, it isn’t just Core Lithum that is sliding today. The likes of Liontown Resources Limited (ASX: LTR), Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS), and Sayona Mining Ltd (ASX: SYA) shares are all under significant pressure as well.

What else?

While a good number of lithium miners are falling today, the Core Lithium share price is falling more than most.

This is likely to be due to traders taking a bit of profit off the table today following some very strong gains in 2022.

Thanks to a range of positive announcements, such as its agreement with electric vehicle giant Tesla, Core Lithium’s shares have been well and truly smashing the market this year.

In fact, even though the company’s shares are now trading 18% below their recent high, they are still up a staggering 117% since the start of the year and approximately 500% over the last 12 months.

The post Why is the Core Lithium share price sinking 7% today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The EML Payments Ltd (ASX: EML) share price increased by around 25% in March 2022.

Over the same period, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) rose by 6.4%. That means EML shares beat the ASX 200 by close to 20% in just one month.

However, the gains have just reversed most of the decline seen by the business since the start of the year.

In 2022, the EML share price is now down around 9%.

What have investors been concentrating on recently with the EML share price?

Every buyer and seller has different reasons for transacting at different prices.

At the end of March, brokers at Macquarie called EML a buy, with a price target of $3.95. This was an increase from the previous target of $3.80.

Rising interest rates are expected to benefit EML.

EML had $2.7 billion as stored float on 31 December 2021. Around $2.3 billion of this was held in cash and a further $400 million was in high-rated, low-risk bonds.

Based on the current banking arrangements, if rates across all jurisdictions were to rise by 1%, this would add between $14 million to $15 million to EML’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA).

By FY24, EML could be generating $45 million of interest revenue, according to Macquarie.

In the middle of March 2022, UBS reiterated that it thinks the EML share price is a buy, with a price target of $4.55. This came after the news that EML was entering the European employee benefits market with Up Spain.

Up Spain partnership

On 16 March 2022, EML announced that it would be working with Up Spain, covering meal vouchers and employee benefit solutions, “initially” through a multi-year agreement with Up Spain.

EML said that the employee benefits market is worth more than A$88 billion globally and is expected to grow by A$20 billion between 2021 to 2025. Europe represents 35% of this market, worth more than A$30 billion per year.

Up Spain is one of the three largest providers in Spain, with over one million users across approximately 4,700 corporate clients and a network of more than 30,000 restaurants in Spain.

EML says this deal can showcase its technology and the company can use it as the basis for potential future growth in the segment within Spain and, over time, in other countries.

The ASX payments share also pointed out that Up Spain is a subsidiary of the Up Group, which offers employee benefits and incentive programs in 28 countries including Portugal, France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Turkey, and Poland.

This program is expected to go live in the first quarter of FY23.

While EML indicated this announcement was market sensitive for the EML share price, it also said that it didn’t expect the program with Up Spain to make a material contribution to EML’s revenue or EBITDA in FY23.

However, management did say that the win validates EML’s strategy of focusing on this segment and it provides an opportunity for material future growth.

The post The EML share price jumped 25% in March 2022. What happened? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended EML Payments. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended EML Payments. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Macquarie Group Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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After tumbling 39% in February, the Boral Limited (ASX: BLD) share price continued to suffer through March.

Weighing it down last month was a taxation-related announcement and a guidance downgrade.

As of the end of March, the Boral share price was $3.46, 4.68% lower than it was at the end of February.

For context, the S&P/ASX 200 Index(ASX: XJO) gained 6.39% last month, indicating the Boral share price underperformed the index by 11%.

So, what impacted the building products and construction materials company’s stock in March? Let’s take a look.

Why did Boral’s stock struggle in March?

The Boral share price struggled last month, dragged lower by two price-sensitive announcements.

The first related to the company’s $3 billion capital return, announced in February.

The capital return saw investors receiving an unfranked 7-cent dividend and a $2.65 per share capital reduction. Hence, the stock tumbled 40% on its ex-dividend and ex-capital return date in February.

It didn’t stop there, though. After the market closed on 2 March, Boral released an anticipated update on the taxation of shareholders’ payouts.

The company said the Australian Taxation Office had published a class ruling concerning the capital return, as was expected.

The ruling confirmed no part of the capital return would be assessable as a dividend for tax purposes.

Shareholders were encouraged to seek professional advice on the tax implications of the payout.  

The Boral share price dipped 0.28% following the announcement. However, the worst was yet to come.

Boral’s stock tumbled when the company downgraded its earnings guidance on 22 March.

Devastating floods in parts of Queensland and New South Wales and rising fuel and coal prices dinted the company’s outlook for the financial year 2022.

It now expects its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT), excluding property, to be between $145 million and $155 million.

For context, Boral reported $78 million of EBIT excluding property for the first half of the financial year. It previously expected the second half to bring stronger earnings.

The floods are expected to dint its earnings by around $23 million.

Meanwhile, Boral’s exposure to coal prices is unhedged this half, while hedging is in place on its expected diesel usage until April.

Higher fuel prices have also worsened the company’s supply chain issues.

The Boral share price slipped 3.48% on the release of its guidance downgrade, hitting a new 52-week low of $3.21.

Boral share price snapshot

As of the end of March, the Boral share price was 44% lower than it was at the start of 2022.

Right now, it’s 39% lower than it was this time last year.

The post Why did the Boral share price have such a lousy month in March? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• These were the worst performing ASX 200 shares during the first quarter
• Why did the Boral (ASX:BLD) share price have such a positive day?
• Worried about how the federal budget might impact your ASX shares? Here’s what Goldman says
• Why A2 Milk, Atlas Arteria, Block, and Boral shares are tumbling today
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Motley Fool contributor Brooke Cooper has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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Leading fund manager Tim Carleton from Auscap Asset Management has outlined why ASX shares could be the best way to go right now.

Talking to Livewire, Carleton suggests that Australian shares have proven themselves over the long term. He says the lucky country could be the best place to invest over the United States and European markets.

How bullish should investors be about ASX shares?

Carleton suggests that investors should consider investing in Australian shares as much as possible. Livewire quoted him saying:

There is a massive push to diversify out of Australia, but I think you want to be as overweight Australia as you can possibly stomach for the rest of our lifetimes.

That’s certainly been the right way over the last 100 years, with the Australian market delivering the best returns of any developed market, at around 12% a year, and I see no reason for that to change and if anything, we’re in a better position now than we have been.

Rising inflation and worries regarding interest rates may be hurting the valuations of businesses overseas. But Australia’s inflation is currently lower, and wage growth may also be slower.

Australia has a number of advantages

According to Auscap, Australia has a number of useful advantages.

The first is the country’s “natural resource advantage”, which could help us in the transition to green energy. Some of the biggest ASX shares are resource giants like BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP), Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) and Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG).

Another advantage, according to Auscap, is the relatively strong population growth over the medium term.

Australia’s proximity to the “high growth and rapidly developing” Asian economies is another advantage.

The final advantage that Australia has is its democratic and rules-based political system including the protection of property rights. This is a reason to expect Australia will continue to provide one of the best investing environments in the world.

Which ASX shares does Auscap like?

Tim Carleton refers to four ASX shares that Auscap has invested in recently.

Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG)

Macquarie is a global investment bank that is well-liked. It makes profit from across the world, with more than two-thirds of earnings coming from international sources. It also has “exceptional returns on invested capital.” The company has achieved long-term earnings per share (EPS) and the fund manager thinks growth can continue.

Mineral Resources Limited (ASX: MIN)

Mineral Resources is an iron ore and lithium miner. According to Carleton, it’s the world’s fifth-biggest lithium producer and this could drive the company’s growth.

The fund manager referred to Albemarle’s prediction that demand for lithium is going to increase by 8x by the end of the decade.

Nick Scali Limited (ASX: NCK)

Nick Scali is one of Australia’s largest furniture businesses. This ASX share is Carleton’s favourite pick at the moment, referring to the company’s average return on equity (ROE) of over 50% in the past decade.

A key reason for the bullishness is the potential of the business to keep growing revenue and profit over the coming years through multiple avenues. Some of those ways to grow the business include a store rollout, e-commerce growth, and the ability to raise profit margins.

Nick Scali recently acquired the furniture business Plush-Think Sofas.

HomeCo Daily Needs REIT (ASX: HDN)

This business is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that has a portfolio of more than 50 homemaker centres in Australia. Its tenants are predominately ASX shares or large global names.

Carleton says that the business has a forecast dividend yield of 6.6%. It also has contracted rental growth built into its leases, at an average of 3.6%. This could provide a good starting point for returns, according to the fund manager. Carleton thinks the REIT can achieve above-market rental growth for quite a while.

Another interesting thing about this business for Auscap is that the ‘site coverage’ is only 38%. So there is more land that it can develop on. The business comes with a development pipeline of $500 million.

The post Be as overweight ‘as you can possibly stomach’ in ASX shares right now: fundie appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Is a bubble forming for ASX green metals shares?
• Mineral Resources share price leaps on ‘unprecedented’ lithium demand update
• 2 lithium ASX shares to buy in April 2022: experts
• Macquarie share price lifts despite ASIC legal action
• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: IGO dealt blow, Block’s data breach, Xero jumps

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison owns Fortescue Metals Group Limited. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Macquarie Group Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

What happened

On Tuesday, shares of Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) fell by a little — about 2.3% as of 2:30 p.m. ET — on some big news. The company is, of course, most famous for its e-commerce business, though it actually makes far more of its profits from cloud computing. And now, it plans to spend billions of dollars to build another brand new business. 

In space.

So what

Let’s get specific.

Project Kuiper is Amazon’s plan to mimic SpaceX’s Starlink by putting a constellation of 3,000-odd small satellites into orbit that will allow it to sell broadband internet access from space.

Well, on Tuesday morning, Amazon announced plans to kick Project Kuiper into high gear, revealing it had signed contracts with Arianespace (largely owned by Airbus and Safran), United Launch Alliance (a joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin), and Blue Origin (led by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos). Together, the three will provide up to 83 rocket launches that will put Amazon’s satellites into orbit.  

The press release was a bit short on details. There was no specific date given for the first satellite launch, for example, nor did the company mention the cost of all these rocket launches it’s buying. Commenting on the news, however, our friends over at Ars Technica speculated that “Amazon is likely paying at least $10 billion for these launches.”

Now what

Is that a lot of money, or a little? Investors selling off Amazon stock Tuesday may think it’s a lot — but when you consider that the company earned more than $33 billion in profits last year alone, I’d argue that $10 billion is actually a relatively small amount for a company of its size. That’s especially true given that the rocket launches in question are expected to be spread out over five years — and $2 billion a year would amount to only about 6% of Amazon’s annual profits.

Of more concern to me is the fact that Amazon has made deals to send its satellites to space aboard rockets that mostly don’t exist yet — or, at least, haven’t yet been proven able to fly successfully. According to the press release, Amazon plans to hire rides on:

• Arianespace’s Ariane 6 (which has never yet flown);
• United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur (which likewise has never flown);
• And, of course, Blue Origin’s New Glenn (and not only has that one never flown, Blue Origin has yet to put any rockets at all into Earth orbit).

Granted, I expect that if given enough time, most of these rockets will eventually be proven spaceworthy and reach orbit, such that they’ll eventually be able to help Amazon out with its new space project. Still, it’s more than a little strange that Amazon is strapping such a high-profile project to the backs of unproven launch vehicles. That doesn’t bode well for the chances of Project Kuiper coming to fruition anytime soon.

Then again, if that means Amazon might not actually end up spending $10 billion on rocket launches, investors might decide that’s actually good news. 

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

The post Why Amazon stock rocketed off course today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Will Amazon start paying a dividend?
• 3 differences between you and billionaires, and 1 thing you have in common
• 1 investing strategy to grow your money like magic
• Why Amazon stock was outperforming the market today
• 5 of the fastest-growing stocks on the planet

Rich Smith has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended Amazon. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended Lockheed Martin. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Amazon. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson. 

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

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The Vulcan Energy Resources Ltd (ASX: VUL) share price is pushing higher on Wednesday morning.

At the time of writing, the lithium developer’s shares are up 3% to $10.50.

Why is the Vulcan share price rising?

Investors have been bidding the Vulcan share price higher today following the announcement of a new offtake agreement.

However, this offtake agreement isn’t for lithium as you might expect. Rather, it is for renewable heat from its geothermal wells.

According to the release, Vulcan and MVV Energie AG have executed a 20-year binding purchase agreement for at least 240 gigawatt hours per year of renewable heat.

MVV is the largest municipal energy supplier in Germany and generates an annual revenue of 4.1 billion euros.

The agreement with MVV commences in 2025 and includes the supply of a minimum of 240,000MWh per year to a maximum of 350,000MWh per year to households in Mannheim, outside of Frankfurt, Germany.

Vulcan advised that this heat will be supplied from the company’s planned geothermal wells in the area surrounding the City of Mannheim. Heat will be transferred via heating grids and a series of underground pipes that deliver hot water or steam to buildings in the local community.

Vulcan is developing its Mannheim licence as part of a planned larger Phase 2 of the Zero Carbon Lithium Project.

Management commentary

Vulcan’s Managing Director, Dr Francis Wedin, was pleased with the agreement and believes it will help Germany transition away from Russian gas. He commented:

“Vulcan is committed to playing a leading role in Germany’s “Wärmewende”, or heat transition as the country looks to reduce its reliance on Russian energy. This agreement represents a real and immediate step taken by a German energy utility to achieve energy security whilst not compromising on climate goals.

“We believe that Geothermal renewable energy on a mass scale, combined with lithium extraction from the same deep geothermal source, can and will play an important part in achieving Europe and Germany’s energy security and independence. We are proud to partner with MVV, a leader in German energy supply, dedicated to making a lasting and sustainable contribution to the local community through the provision of renewable energy and heat.

Our binding offtake agreement for regional geothermal energy positions MVV to deliver secure, sustainable, economical and environmentally friendly heating for its industrial, commercial and private household customers. Vulcan intends to build several further distributed geothermal renewable energy plants across the Upper Rhine Valley region and we are in discussions with other regional communities regarding additional heat offtake agreements.”

The post Vulcan share price up on new offtake agreement appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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