Battery firm listing debut fully charged for investors

It was a profitable day for two Queenslanders associated with Brisbane battery technology firm Li-S Energy which posted one of the most spectacular stock market debuts of the year.

Glenn Molloy and Robin Levison whose Li-S Energy shares have skyrocketed.

It was a profitable day for two Queenslanders associated with battery technology firm Li-S Energy which posted one of the most spectacular stock market debuts of the year.

Glenn Molloy, the founder of Li-S Energy’s largest shareholder PPK Group, has 6.4m shares in the company which within minutes of hitting the ASX boards had jumped in value from $5.47m to $19.6m as the shares skyrocketed from a 85c issue price to as high as $3.05 for the day. PPK invests in emerging technologies including advanced fiber materials and body armor.

By the day’s close as the shares settled back to $2.33, Gold Coast-based Molloy, who resigned as executive chairman of Li-S in March, was still sitting on a pile of shares worth 15m, a paper profit of almost $10m.

He is still involved in the company as its chief strategic advisor and pocketed $440,000 in consultancy fees in the float. Brisbane-based Li-S Energy director Robin Levison, who has 2.8m shares in the company, collected $110,000 in float consultancy fees.

His stake in the company jumped from $2.38m to a peak of $8.5m before retreating to finish the day at $6.5m, a $4.12m windfall on paper.

CEO Lee Finniear said the strong debut showed investors saw the value of the battery company and its lithium-sulphur technology.

“We are absolutely delighted. It’s a fantastic show of support from the investors and from the Australian public. It’s brilliant,” he said.

Li-S raised $34m through the issuance of 40 million shares, with Regal Funds Management, Ellerston Capital, Wunula Capital,EGP Capital and Fifth Estate among the institutional investors that hopped on to its register.

At current levels Li-S is capitalisedat $1.5bn, putting it in the nation’s top 300 companies.

Li-S is working to become a leading player in the next generation of battery technology by making lithium-sulphur batteriescommercially viable so they can be used as an alternative to mature lithium-ion battery technology.

The lithium-ion battery market is currently valued at $US35bn and is expected to double to $US71bn by 2025, driven by theadoption of electric vehicles.

DOMINO’S BIG CHEESE

A former Queensland delivery driver has been appointed as a top lieutenant to Domino’s Pizza boss Don Meij as the company moves to double in size over the next decade.

The Brisbane-based fast food giant on Tuesday announced a major reshuffle of its management team, with David Burness taking on the powerful position of chief executive for Domino’s Australian and New Zealand operations.

Burness, who replaces Nick Knight, started as a delivery driver for Silvio’s Dial-A-Pizza in 1991 before becoming a franchise consultant and serving as chief operations officer for the Domino’s business in the Netherlands.

He owns seven Domino’s stores on the Sunshine Coast with his wife Melissa and their four children all work in the business. Dubbed “Mr and Mrs Pizza” the couple last year were awarded the fast food company‘s most prestigious award, a Global Leadership Eagle.

Other management changes will see Domino’s Japan chief executive and president Josh Kilimnik take on the expanded role of chief executive of Asia Pacific (APAC).

Current Japan chief marketing officer Todd Reilly will become chief marketing officer for APAC while Europe chief commercial officer Nicky Claeys will perform an expanded role in that region.

Meij says the changes, which focus on expansion in Asia and Europe, would provide Domino’s with a platform on which to build a business double its size over the next decade.

“The Europe and APAC regions each have a population base of about 180 million people with significant opportunity for both organic growth and acquisitions,” says Meij.

Domino's new Australian boss David Burness

“As we accelerate to 2030 and beyond, we will grow much larger businesses in both regions, with each planned to be bigger than the entire company of today.”

Domino’s shares have more than doubled over the past year as the company benefited from growing demand for home delivery during the pandemic.

Thirty-eight year old Knight will leave the company after a career that started waving promo boards for Domino’s as a 13-year-old in his home town. He left the company after school for two years but returned to Domino’s helping franchisees set up shop.

“Nick grew to become a store manager, one of the best multi-unit franchisees in Domino’s globally, and then an executive, where he has spearheaded a strategic improvement in our franchisee base,” says Meij.

“It is never easy to farewell a true Dominoid like Nick – but the measure of success of a leader is the team they inspire, and Nick has built a formidable team.”

THE REAL DEAL

Tiger Woods is probably safe but veteran company director and Republic PR chairman James Canning-Ure is celebrating a long awaited victory on the golf course.

Canning-Ure, known around the sand traps as the Local Deal Maker (LDM), last week won the 2021 Royal Queensland Golf Club’s C Grade Championship. LDM, who plays off a handicap of 19, had spent 34 years trying to win the B Grade Championship.

But this year he drifted into C Grade and pulled off a stunning victory much to the surprise of his mates. LDM partly credited his victory to his caddy and long term friend of 41 years Anthony White.

Royal Queensland Golf Club. Pic Darren England.

LDM says a number of “lucky bounces” on the greens was due to the fact that White, being a Nudgee College old boy, told him where to hit the ball. That was to take advantage of the well-known lucky “Nudgee Bounce”, a term anyone who has played GPS rugby will be familiar with.

We also hear LDM was helped by a number of lucky items including a shirt his son Andrew gave him recently for Father’s Day and his shorts his mother in law Betty gave him for Christmas.

White was quick to acknowledge his contribution to LDM’s win and asked for the usual fee, a meat pie as full and final payment after the match with a number of cold celebratory beers.