News

December 05, 2008

A Month On And Ceramic Fuel Cells Massive Impairment Charge Looks No Prettier

By Ivor Watt

The credit crunch is wreaking havoc in many sectors, not least in the alternative energy sector from where investors have been withdrawing in droves as they seek to minimize the risk in their portfolios. But an unexpected blow related to the credit crunch has hit Ceramic Fuel Cells, the combined heat and power developer which has lined up partners across Europe for its fuel cell-driven household boiler replacements.

The positive effect of recent good news on technological advances from Ceramic Fuel Cells (CFCL) was blown out of the water earlier this month when the company, which remains loss-making, announced that its vital cash pile had been hammered by an investment write down. It transpires that some of Ceramic’s cash reserves had been invested by its investment adviser back in 2006 in asset-backed securities, mortgage-backed securities and credit-linked notes. One of its Euro-denominated credit-linked...