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- ClearVue Technologies (ASX:CPV) inks a new distributor agreement for its solar panel glass in Australia
- ClearVue is teaming up with MS Glass, an existing partner in CPV’s network
- The deal comes after the company inked a distribution deal in the US back in November
- The stock was one of the rare few ASX-listed ESG stocks to have a strong 2023
- UBS expects the ESG theme to bounce back in 2H of 2024 but a possible Trump election could complicate
- Shares last traded at 59 cents
ClearVue Technologies (ASX:CPV) looks set to continue its strong 2023 run into the new year with a new domestic manufacturing deal.
Victoria-based Safety Glass – trading as MS Glass (Melbourne Safety Glass) – has inked a manufacturing and distro agreement with Clearvue to market the latter’s products domestically.
ClearVue “retains rights alongside MS Glass to supply WA, SA and NT” the company wrote this morning. MS Glass will act as an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM).
First US, now Australia
Today’s new deal comes after CPV inked a US distribution deal back in November.
To date, most of ClearVue’s revenue-making activities have focused on the US. Shareholders are hopeful today’s news means more activity for Australia.
Management announced today that those activities aren’t too far off.
“This agreement couldn’t have come at a better time … MS Glass were one of four processors globally who shared their production facilities and industry knowledge with us,” Clearvue Global CEO Martin Deil said, highlighting the company’s existing relationship with MS Glass.
“We look forward to reporting to the market as and when new Australian projects are signed through MS Glass both in the short term and over the years to come.”
Company of interest to Canberra
MS Glass produces a number of glass products with a view towards residential construction but also manufactures bulletproof safety glass for vehicles and buildings.
For the uninitiated, Clearvue manufactures glass panels of the type used in office towers which are embedded with solar panel tech.
In short, as daytime sun rays hit the glass, they generate electricity which can be used to power the building’s internal workings.
Now, MS Glass is expanding into this new class of glass products spearheaded by Clearvue – those imbued with Clearvue’s tech needed to harvest solar energy.
That tech has the Australian government interested, with the company eligible for R&D rebates – it recently clocked a return of nearly $1 million.
The company has also won favour from at least one private equity player.
Rare ESG winner for 2023
Shares sold off on the news in the first hour of trade but as of 1:20 pm AEDT shares were up 2.6 per cent to 59 cents.
ClearVue’s tech represents one of the more legitimate net zero strategies for the building sector, and market interest in the stock underlines this.
CPV was one of the rare few ESG stocks on the ASX that managed to shirk a market-wide lull in enthusiasm for renewables equities across 2023.
As of this afternoon, ClearVue’s one-year performance is up 218 per cent. The stock outperformed the ASX200 1Y performance through 2023 by 213 per cent.
Impressive stats for a company with a market cap of $135.6 million.
UBS analysis released in late 2023 tipped ESG stocks for a gradual recovery globally in terms of trading volumes and market interest.
The investment bank believed in December the end of COP28 and the settling of hydrocarbon commodity markets – read: fading high oil prices – will put renewables stocks back onto the mainstream agenda in H2 of CY2024.
Bloomberg reported in November last year the global ESG market shrunk by US$5 trillion since 2021, according to stats from the Global Sustainable Investment Alliance.
One big issue hangs over the ESG space – the US election later this year. Donald Trump says that if he’s elected, he’ll repeal Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) – the Democrat’s historic climate change spending bill repackaged under a different name.
CPV shares last traded at 59 cents.
