One of the more unusual companies on the ASX in Fastbrick Robotics Ltd (ASX: FBR) has seen its share price rise 19% to 13.7 cents today after it announced a joint venture agreement with Australia's leading brick manufacturer Brickworks Limited (ASX: BKW).
Fastbrick boasts it has developed a robotic machine (Hadrian X) that can lay bricks far quicker than any human bricklayer, but is yet to earn anything in the way of revenues via its invention.
For the six months ending December 31 2018 it posted no revenue and an operating cash loss of $3.3 million, although it won't be short of bricks for its robot to lay thanks to Brickworks agreeing to supply it with customised bricks..
Fastbrick has $14.5 million cash in hand to fund its plans to demonstrate to construction businesses that the Hadrian X robot is a credible alternative to human bricklayers on a commercial building site.
It looks a speculative bet, with serious investors preferring the reliable earnings and dividends of Brickworks as an investment candidate.
