|
|
|
|
|
You can also read this message online.
|
|
|
Dear Readers,
The AGM season has begun at Nanostart. The Annual General Meeting of the Nanostart subsidiary ItN Nanovation AG was held in Saarbrücken at the end of June. A few days ago, in late July, MagForce CEO Dr. Peter Heinrich spoke to shareholders and answered their questions at the company’s Annual General Meeting in Berlin. While ItN CEO Lutz Bungeroth painted a largely optimistic picture, MagForce CEO Dr. Heinrich was confronted with a number of critical questions from investors – something that was unsurprising in light of the company’s disappointing share price performance over recent months. You can read more about both events in this newsletter and on the companies’ websites.
Nanostart CEO Marco Beckmann also discussed the developments at the subsidiary MagForce in his letter to the shareholders as part of the 2010 Annual Report. This letter is reproduced in this newsletter.
You will also find information on how our unlisted portfolio companies have used the summer months to present themselves to their target groups at events.
And don’t forget that Nanostart AG’s Annual General Meeting is just around the corner. The Nanostart AG team looks forward to seeing you there.
Until then, we hope you enjoy reading this newsletter.
Yours sincerely
Dr. Hans Joachim Dürr
Head of Corporate Communications
|
|
|
|
|
|
Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and XING!
  
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
-
Letter to Shareholders
In his letter to shareholders, Nanostart CEO Marco Beckmann summarizes the events of the past fiscal year and among other things discusses Nanostart’s disappointing share price performance >>
-
Annual General Meeting of MagForce Nanotechnologies AG >>
-
Nanostart portfolio company MINT Membranes at the 2011 Singapore International Water Week
“The search for sustainable solutions for global water problems has never been more urgent than it is today.” With these words, Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan, Singaporean Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, opened this year’s Singapore International Water Week >>
-
Holmenkol AG at OUTDOOR 2011: The outdoor market is booming
OUTDOOR 2011, the world’s largest international trade fair for the outdoor industry, was held in Friedrichshafen from July 14 to 17. During the four-day event on the banks of Lake Constance, 890 exhibitors met over 20,000 trade visitors and in excess of 1,000 media representatives from around the world and presented their product and material innovations on an exhibition site covering more than 10,000 square meters >>
-
Annual General Meeting of Nanostart AG >>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
Letter to Shareholders
Dear Shareholders,
There are many sound reasons to invest in Nanostart: we are a young company with a unique business model; a company that - thanks to its dedication to nanotechnology - enjoys a terrific growth potential; a company that invests internationally in a variety of sectors, and thereby effectively minimises risk. That is all true... But, whatever your motivation, one thing surely awaits you as a shareholder: Nanostart will make more of your money. (...)
Click here to read the Letter to Shareholders in full >>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
Annual Report 2010
The German 2010 Annual Report is now available as online-version and for download in the Investor Relations section of our website. The English version is coming soon.
A printed German copy can be requested by sending an e-mail to the following address, including details of your postal address: ir@nanostart.de
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
ItN Nanovation AG: Report on the Annual General Meeting held on June 29, 2011
The Annual General Meeting of the Nanostart subsidiary ItN Nanovation AG was held in Saarbruecken on June 29, 2011. In the following you can read a summary of the presentation of CEO Lutz Bungeroth:
Report by the CEO
In his report, Lutz Bungeroth, CEO of ItN Nanovation AG, summarized the events of the past year and gave an optimistic outlook for the future based on the current developments within the company. Bungeroth said that ItN’s technology and market position had been tested and evaluated externally in 2010 and had come through with flying colors.
The CEO noted that he was particularly proud of the cooperation that was recently concluded with RUSNANO, the billionaire Russian nanotechnology investor, which provided the company with around €11 million in capital for the intensification of its international marketing and growth in April 2011 following a detailed examination. At €5.07 per share, the price paid by RUSNANO for the shares granted as consideration by ItN was significantly in excess of the current market price – something that Bungeroth sees as indicative of the investor’s strategic and technological approach. RUSNANO is set to open the door to the Russian market for ItN. The CEO believes that the Russian market offers great potential, particularly in the area of coatings (Nanocomp Metcast, Nanocomp PP).
According to Bungeroth, the area of ceramic flat membranes (CFM systems) also saw extremely positive development over the past year. The technical superiority of ItN’s products was demonstrated in extensive practical trials with customers. Bungeroth stated that pilot tests at a customer in Saudi Arabia had exceeded expectations. As a result, ItN obtained its first major order from the region in May 2010, closely followed by a second order. Bungeroth stressed the importance of Saudi Arabia as a key region for further growth and discussed the preparations for a joint venture with a Saudi partner, which are currently in progress. On-site production is expected to start by 2013 at the latest, and the cooperation is expected to make a positive earnings contribution of some USD 2.3 million this year.
In addition to its project business with CFM systems, ItN entered the product business in the past year with the launch of a container solution for water treatment. Bungeroth outlined the promising areas of application for the mobile purification plant, particularly among hotel complexes in the Mediterranean area and for waste water filtration in locations that are not connected to the central sewage system. He added that an extensive test phase for the container had already been initiated in Malta, with impressive results.
Bungeroth also underlined the importance of contracted research for the company. In this area, ItN is commissioned by corporate partners to develop new nanotechnology for concrete applications for a fee. As an example, the CEO cited the ‘Bepi Colombo Mission’, a joint project of the European and Japanese space agencies that is preparing to send a probe to Mercury in 2014. ItN is covering the antennas of the probe, which will be exposed to extreme conditions, with nanoceramics.
In closing, Bungeroth presented his revenue targets for the 2011 fiscal year. Based on current developments, the CEO is forecasting revenue of around €6 million for the year as a whole. He added that, providing the current cost structure is maintained and planning is not delayed or impaired by unexpected events, it would even be possible for the company to turn a profit in the second half of 2011.
7,174,207 shares were represented at the time of voting, corresponding to 65.26% of the share capital. The results of the votes and all other information on the Annual General Meeting can be accessed via the company’s website at www.itn-nanovation.com.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
Annual General Meeting of
MagForce Nanotechnologies AG
On July 27, 2011 the Annual General Meeting of MagForce Nanotechnologies AG took place in Berlin. All information about the AGM (only in German) as well as the annual report 2010 can be found on the company’s website: www.magforce.de.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
Nanostart portfolio company MINT Membranes at the 2011 Singapore International Water Week
“The search for sustainable solutions for global water problems has never been more pressing than it is today.” With these words, Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan, Singaporean Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, opened this year’s Singapore International Water Week (SIWW 2011), which was held in Singapore from July 4-8, 2011. The Minister stressed that growth in the global population and the sustained process of urbanization throughout the world in particular are presenting society with major challenges.
For the fourth year in a row, politicians and industrial leaders from around the world met in Singapore to discuss the global challenges of climate and social change and sustainable solutions for the resulting water problems.
The Singapore-based Nanostart portfolio company MINT Membranes was also represented at SIWW 2011. During a workshop entitled Why Membranes are Important to Emerging Water and Water Resources Management Options, MINT Directors Dr. Glen Diagger and Prof. Anthony Fane presented their innovative sensor technology for quality and efficiency control in water treatment plants to an audience of high-profile experts. More than 80 attendees, including systems integrators, operators of purification plants and membrane suppliers, obtained information on how they can improve the efficiency of their treatment plants with the aid of MINT technology while reducing the cost of water production.
The full program for the workshop can be found here >>
About MINT:
MINT is the newest addition to the Nanostart portfolio. Formed in 2009, the company develops and operates innovative analysis systems for quality and efficiency control in water treatment plants. Such plants are subject to strict quality requirements on the part of the relevant authorities, meaning that operators must perform permanent monitoring and regular water analysis. The key parts in these plants are the large number of microfiltration and ultrafiltration membranes that filter the water. Water quality can deteriorate substantially if even just a few of these membranes are not in good working order. This is why it is vital that the functionality of the membranes can be controlled reliably and seamlessly. MINT’s main product is an automated sensor system that allows the efficiency of these microfiltration and ultrafiltration membranes to be tested in a more targeted manner, more reliably and substantially more cost-effectively than using conventional methods.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
Holmenkol AG at OUTDOOR 2011: The outdoor market is booming
OUTDOOR 2011, the world’s largest international trade fair for the outdoor industry, was held in Friedrichshafen from July 14 to 17. During the four-day event on the banks of Lake Constance, 890 exhibitors met over 20,000 trade visitors and in excess of 1,000 media representatives from around the world and presented their product and material innovations on an exhibition site covering more than 10,000 square meters. This meant that this year’s OUTDOOR achieved a new attendance record – a sign of the strong growth in the outdoor industry.
The Nanostart portfolio company Holmenkol AG also had a stand at the 2011 OUTDOOR trade fair, where it presented products from its Care segment, among other things. “OUTDOOR is the ideal platform for us to present our textile protection range (Care segment) and further establish ourselves within the industry. The event has confirmed our assessment of the growth opportunities presented by the outdoor industry,” commented Karim Grueber, CEO of Holmenkol AG.
Although hiking and rambling remains the most important economic player in the industry, new, innovative leisure activities such as slacklining and bouldering are becoming increasingly popular, particularly among younger generations. Rising demand for ecologically sustainable products shows that there is a growing trend towards environmental awareness among consumers, and the interest in ecological products among visitors to this year’s OUTDOOR was clear to see.
More information on OUTDOOR can be found here >>
We reported on the expansion of the outdoor market in previous newsletters (January, May). The outdoor market is now the strongest growth segment for the Nanostart portfolio company Holmenkol. In the Care segment, Holmenkol offers suitable impregnations, care products and special washing agents for high-quality outdoor equipment.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
Nanostart Annual General Meeting on August 8, 2011
Nanostart’s Annual General Meeting for 2011 will be held on Monday, August 8 at the Taunus Tor Conference Center in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. The event will start at 11:00 a.m.
The documents are available to download from the Investor Relations section of the Nanostart website under the menu item “Annual General Meeting”: www.nanostart.de
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Upcoming events in August/September
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
-
August 08, 2011
Annual General Meeting of Nanostart AG; Frankfurt am Main >>
-
September 09, 2011
Zurich Capital Market Conference; Zurich >>
-
September 11-13, 2011
Rodman and Renshaw Annual Investment Conference; New York >>
-
September 09, 2011
Nanotechnology: Research and Application; Wiesbaden >>
-
September 09, 2011
Hamburg Investment Conference; Hamburg >>
Further key dates for Nanostart and its subsidiaries can be found here >>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Contact
Dr. Hans Joachim Dürr
Head of Corporate Communications
T +49 (0) 69-21 93 96-111
F +49 (0) 69-21 93 96-150
E-Mail: presse@nanostart.de
Website: www.nanostart.de
Nanostart AG
Goethestraße 26-28
D-60313 Frankfurt am Main
Germany
CEO: Marco Beckmann
Supervisory Board: Dr. Alfred Krammer (chairman),
Prof. Wolfgang M. Heckl (vice chairman), Achim Lindner
Commercial register: Frankfurt am Main, HRB 74535
If you want to unsubscribe, please click
|
|
|
|
|
