Media Update, page-1325

Hi @stockrock,
Yes, the tender has specified 'MABR’ as the treatment process; as was the case with iTEST’s first bulk order. This current tender is an identical setup to that first project. Last year’s tender was comprised of 56 MABR install sites which was for a scale of around 5750 m3/day (11% of iTEST min. 3/yr target) and had 10 listed project owners/tenderers, all of whom were subsidiary members of iTest’s parent company:

HubeiShishou Changjiang Highway Bridge Co., Ltd.

HubeiJiaotou E-Southeast Expressway Construction Headquarters,

HubeiJiayu Changjiang Highway Bridge Co., Ltd.

HubeiBaiyang Changjiang Highway Bridge Co., Ltd.

HubeiJiaojing Jingmen North Expressway Co., Ltd.

HubeiJiaojing Jingmen South Expressway Co., Ltd.

HubeiJiaotou Qianjiang Expressway Co., Ltd.

HubeiGaolu Exi Expressway Co., Ltd.

HubeiXuanhe Expressway Co., Ltd.

HubeiJiaotou Hongjian Expressway Co., Ltd.

Incomparison, for the project that I posted this morning, there are 51 install sites (Scale of around 6 500 m3/day - 11% of iTEST min. 3/yr target) and there are 14 listed projectowners/tenderers:

HubeiWuxue Changjiang Highway Bridge Co., Ltd.

HubeiJiaotou Shagong Expressway Co., Ltd.

HubeiQipanzhou Changjiang Highway Bridge Co., Ltd.

HubeiJiaoyu Yushen Expressway Co., Ltd.

HubeiJiaotou Fuyang North Expressway Co., Ltd.

HubeiJiaotou Fuyang South Expressway Co., Ltd.

HubeiTrading Co., Ltd.

HubeiJiaotou Daba Jiangbei Expressway Co., Ltd.

HubeiJiaotou Shiwu Expressway Co., Ltd.

HubeiJiaotou Shagong South Expressway Co., Ltd.

HubeiJiaotou Jiangbei East Expressway Co., Ltd.

HubeiJiaotou Guifengshan Expressway Co., Ltd.

HubeiJiaotou Hunchun West Expressway Co., Ltd.

HubeiJiaotou Xiaogan North Expressway Co., Ltd.

Each of these project owners/tenderers is also a first-level subsidiary member of the HubeiTransportation Investment Group (our partner, iTest’s, parent SOE). These companies are run as joint ventures funded by HubeiTransportation Investment Group for the investment, construction and operation management of transportation infrastructure (highways and bridges). Given the similarity of the tenders, and the relationship between iTEST, Fluence, the HubeiTransportation Investment Group and it's 14 construction arm subsidiaries, I think it is safe to say Fluence’s is the incumbent and would prove very difficult to displace as the supplier for this tender.

In saying that there is always risk in assuming that we will win the tender, but as you said @stockrock, and I tend to agree, Fluence are the clear leaders in this technology and they are also now proven in executing volume orders; which is very important in this instance as I believe that the construction companies are under pressure to commission the works in a very short time frame. The news articles below report that the expressway will be operational before the end of this year. A further example of this pressure is the recent government official visit to the Wuxue Yangtze River Highway Bridge project ( which will include 4 toll stations and one service area – possibly 5 MABR installations). Officials have stated that this is a livelihood project for the 830,000 people in Wuxue City and the early completion of the bridge is a major event for the people of Wuxue. Would Hubei Provincial Government open their expressways and bridges without fully operational toll stations, parking lots and service centres? There would be an expectation that building works be delivered by year’s end (or early next year) and I imagine that the government wouldn’t want to take execution risk by selecting an unproven supplier (like Oxymem) for such a large and important project. I’m unaware of any other company that could deliver this volume of water treatment in such tight times frame.

@ywtoh, I agree that we have to be very aware of confirmation bias and should be questioning our investment thesis constantly. A very prescient reminder that we should be keeping an eye on our competitors! Thank you!