We would love to hear your thoughts about our site and services, please take our survey here.
London South East prides itself on its community spirit, and in order to keep the chat section problem free, we ask all members to follow these simple rules. In these rules, we refer to ourselves as "we", "us", "our". The user of the website is referred to as "you" and "your".
By posting on our share chat boards you are agreeing to the following:
The IP address of all posts is recorded to aid in enforcing these conditions. As a user you agree to any information you have entered being stored in a database. You agree that we have the right to remove, edit, move or close any topic or board at any time should we see fit. You agree that we have the right to remove any post without notice. You agree that we have the right to suspend your account without notice.
Please note some users may not behave properly and may post content that is misleading, untrue or offensive.
It is not possible for us to fully monitor all content all of the time but where we have actually received notice of any content that is potentially misleading, untrue, offensive, unlawful, infringes third party rights or is potentially in breach of these terms and conditions, then we will review such content, decide whether to remove it from this website and act accordingly.
Premium Members are members that have a premium subscription with London South East. You can subscribe here.
London South East does not endorse such members, and posts should not be construed as advice and represent the opinions of the authors, not those of London South East Ltd, or its affiliates.
Excellent post @ Sanchez. I have always said that a BOD should deliver for its shareholders, and that is in terms of financial reward. I am only invested here to make money, as I’m sure we all are. Although I admire some of the deals Fortune has pulled off, as yet, I have seen no return. By now I would have expected this share to be blossoming, and I can’t help but think we are really not at our full potential because of how we are perceived. It is for the company to spread the message, not BBN, or anyone else.
As for Mikhali, what the hell is going on!! How long has it been now and how many contracts secured, despite these pipelines!? Time to get your finger out or fortune should pull the plug on him. How long can this go on?
Yes I am fed up, but I am not invested at 2p or 7p. More like an average of 28p!
The other point about regular RNS', (Uncle John) is if they are more frequent, it stops people selling out at every single one because they aren't as sure there will be a month gap until the next one. Currently it is just made easy for every negative force circling us and it is naive that the business can't see that and don't stop it. Less sells equals a rising SP which leads to more buying which leads to... etc
Anyway, let's be hopeful Q1 delivers and starts us on a positive trajectory finally.
Exactly Lionel, and it is actually more than that as Steve says.
Whether some disagree with my recent posts or not, it is safe to conclude that the strength of feeling and general agreement is massive.
Nearly everyone here believes in Bushveld and has backed them vociferously and financially through what have been truly woeful periods, and in all honesty, to our detriment. It is time the business showed they back us and delivered some ROI to shareholders, responded to feedback and hit some of their own targets and deliverables. Remember, we should have already been at 5000mtv! Hopefully the Q1 update will show this beginning. But they seriously need to grasp the concept of momentum. It's mind-numbingly frustrating seeing these huge silences and promises that drift and drift.
It is 2.5 years now. It is absolutely time Fortune stopped the rot. There are so many decent people invested here and it really does gall seeing them all fight so hard for a business that as yet is not delivering for them, but is actually costing them money, whilst the BoD enjoy huge returns. And I am fine with those, as long as they deliver for everyone else too.
As an example, Pdub and I often don't agree, (I think and hope overall we do!) but my goodness I respect him and as someone who has been through the big C, I want to see him enjoy some rewards from his support and investment. He just deserves it! And yes maybe this should be an email, but when they take circa 3 weeks to reply, (another fail), who even wants to write one.
'We hear you'
So prove it.
Lionel, you would also need to take into account VM Investments as they have benefited greatly from services supplied to Bushveld, although it would be impossible to attribute this at an individual level.
http://vmic.co.za/leadership.html
@Sanchez: commented "The only person who seems to be doing really well out of Bushveld at present seems to be Fortune."
I consider Sanchez as one of the most respected and committed supporters of BMN on this board, and his comment prompted me to look into the relevant numbers.
So I have just gone to the Annual Report & Financial Results 2019 (dated 23 June 2020, on their www site) to quantify this. The relevant numbers are given on p92. I cannot claim to understand the details (which cover guaranteed pay, as well as STI and LTI, and unvested awards). But it looks to me as if FM's total remuneration was 2,872,440 US$ in 2018. In 2019 it was 816,550 US$ + a substantial figure in unvested awards (which I will not give here in case I have misinterpreted).
If anyone who has more familiarity with company accounts could look at these and summarise the annual figures, I would certainly appreciate it.
My provisional reading is that these are big numbers, perhaps justifiable when the shareholders are also benefitting. For the past two years we have not.
Again, there are those on this board far more familiar with annual accounts, and company salaries, and I would value their views.
Cordially
Lionel
Halespur-agree regarding TGR: I wanted to invest in graphite space and chose them precisely because their approach to vertical integration mirrors BMN'S: Their RNS's are excellently judged, just the right balance of publicity and meaningful and substantive news.
GLA.
I agree Sanchez, I'm not here to cross ramp but if somebody wants to look at Tirupathi Graphite whom IPO'd in December as vertically integrated graphite miner in Madagascar they would get a good idea of marketing. They can look at their twitter and RNS tab to see what proper comms is like with a smaller budget.
This for me is a similar vertical story, in a similar jurisdiction but they are just better at getting an exciting message across. BMN for me has far more potential but I wouldn't be surprised if TGR has a stronger valuation at the end of the year.
For clarity BMN is 65% of my PF so I'd rather its BMN multi-bagging.
If the business has any sense they will pay attention to the fact so many continually agree on these points. Even BBN agreed that they would benefit from staggered iterative telling of their story. (Sorry for name checking). The majority of the investment community is in agreement on this fundamental point and still it hasn't been actioned.
The reason I am adopting more caution in my posts is simply that I feel that until the business starts promoting itself in a more consistent and effective manner, why should its shareholders do all the legwork.
When they step up and deliver upon phrases like 'we hear you' and 'there is something we can do about the share price', and suggested items like the JSE listing and the endless suggestion of supply and leasing contracts coming, and they start putting actions to their words, then I will respond in kind.
However you look at it the SP is in the doldrums and that is juxtaposed with Mikhail bragging about amazing returns, without acknowledging they have been custodians of a 65% drop in their share price with no comeback. That to me stunk of complacency, inexperience as a CEO and arrogance and showed a lack of understanding of the experiences of their shareholders. That makes me concerned because it shows they aren't in touch with their investors.
The only person who seems to be doing really well out of Bushveld at present seems to be Fortune. Until that changes, why should anyone ramp blindly and not question the status quo?
And for clarity I believe this will be a multi-billion pound business if management are able to really deliver what they have suggested.
I prefer Sanchez's posts the way they are now personally, very balanced and down the line.
In the past I feel he has perhaps been guilty of the very subject he brings to the table today. My opinion only and no offence intended.
Regarding the company;
It's a bottom drawer job, isn't it? - Face facts - It's not making anybody rich tomorrow, but it might in 2,3,5,x years.
If you don't bottom drawer it you make the cardinal sin (talking from experience) of holding through the s&%t times and eventually selling for a 5%-10% profit because you're sick of the sight of it and relieved not to have made a loss. You then watch as it soars to new highs and regret your decision.
BMN's SP for over 2 years has faded away like an AIM dog that'd been pumped to the stars. Truth is; it's a growing company which is quite the opposite. They will make monster money again in it will reflect in the mcap. Dunno when of course! That's why tucking it away and having a few other irons in the fire is a good bet.
Good day all.
The general nature of posts shows that many are frustrated by the lack of speed of development. I have no doubt that Fortune himself is frustrated that things on the Be side can't get into gear quicker. Factually I agree with BBN's opinion that BMN is actually in the strongest position it has ever been, and ultimately as I have said before the fundamentals will be recognised.
On the comms side it is fair to say that AIM shares and in particular oilies and miners thrive on RNS's. BMN has latterly been deficient in this regard. Save for the short lived strike issues, there have only been 2 RNS's of substance since the final results in February, both relating to Enerox as opposed to the BMN business. AIM shareholders need reassurance that all is going o.k., even if there is a degree of repetition. It is not legally necessary BUT regular RNS's do make a difference.
Fortune please note.
That is all I and many others have ever asked for Sanchez.
The story is very complicated, the market does not get it, the BOD has not done anything meaningful about it. There can only be three reasons:
They do not understand the problem
They are unable to address it
They do not care.
Or my personal view that is it a bit of all three combined with too much promise so long ago.
If the SP had been nurtured there would be less dilution and CLN overhang to drag us down so harshly. It is getting hard not tin that there is in reality very little happening with BE and batteries, happy to be very wrong on this but where is the evidence to the contrary?
Sanchez. You seem intent on creating the idea that there are just two schools of thought about BMN ... that you are one or the other. That simply isn’t the case. Take this statement:
“This binary discussion that says if you aren't blowing smoke up Fortunes backside then you are being negative is absurd.”
The truth is there are a great range of opinions about BMN’s progress as a company and the performance of its share price (two related but separate issues.
I always read your views with interest but recently you seem to want to divide this bb into two camps. That to me is an unnecessary representation of opinions on the bb.
You could change tack and focus on what I believe most would agree on. For instance:
FM is a very good strategist.
The company’s achievements to date have been impressive.
The plans for expansion and diversification are both exciting and achievable.
Progress to becoming a producer was rapid and achieved at modest cost through excellent purchases of Vametco and Vanchem.
Other developments have not happened as quickly as expected or are seemingly on hold.
The share price is disappointing to a lot of contributors to this bb.
PR is not great, may have contributed to the disappointing share price (though there are other factors beyond the control of the company eg V price, Covid, institutional selling, manipulation, SA Govt. etc) and the BoD seem slow to react to this.
No one that I have read says Fortune is perfect ... he is only human. However to use the phrase “... if you aren't blowing smoke up Fortunes backside then you are being negative ...” is rather simplistic and perhaps a little insulting to the intelligence of your fellow shareholders. I certainly find it offensive if aimed at people like me.
I do understand why some major contributors have restricted their contributions to this bb. And that is to the detriment of us all. Those that have targeted them must accept some of the blame.
If less than perfect PR is not helping to improve sentiment then by the same token targeting those with a more positive view on BMN must surely contribute to negative sentiments.
I look forward to the day when share prices rise and the fickle critics either turn positive or disappear altogether.
Have a nice weekend all and maybe have a think about what I have said. You don’t have to agree with everything ... just think.
All just my opinion.
Daisy dog, have been in this share about the same length of time, with a small amount of shares compared to most. Agree wholeheartedly with Sanchez’s comments this morning.
In my own thoughts I am unsure whether I am being unfair with FM or not. I am aware of his strengths, excellent strategist, but want more comms/openness from the company. Don’t want to rely on BBN and others for my understanding. Is this unfair, are the two items mutually exclusive?
I am hopeful that the SP will start to reflect its true value in Q3/4. If not I think the frustration may be just to much and will need to accept I got it wrong.
People also need to separate the idea of being negative from frustration at underperformance. It is perfectly possible to fully back this business and also think things could be being done better. This binary discussion that says if you aren't blowing smoke up Fortunes backside then you are being negative is absurd. This business is not perfect. It is very good and strategically very strong, but it isn't fully realising its potential and there are things that could be much, much better.
Nice story of a pre-production, pre-revenue $18bn valued battery company doing the rounds on Twitter...
It's not just Comms. It's the whole market positioning of the company. Some seem insistent that the valuation can't come before all the pieces are in place and that's fine - I disagree. There are countless examples of green stocks absolutely flying when they capture the markets attention and are in a hot sector. Everyone knows a few examples.
Fortune could transform our market positioning, bring the battery story to life, fix our green credentials, get rid of Lemur, get some green funds on board and tell that story... Anyone seriously think we would still be at 16.5p if that was done? Currently, where would an investor excited about our green/battery/electrolyte story go to find out more or get enthused by what we are doing in that space? How would they even know we were tendering for Eskom? How would they find out what that means for the company?
It's all just shrouded in layers and layers of unnecessary opacity. South Africa itself might get behind the story if the public could see what it could do for them! Which might make it even harder for the government not to fully back it.
Some of the folks here need to realise that the stock markets are evolving. Fundamentals play much less of a role than they ever have. And that is not to diminish their value before the usual old-fashioned views flood in, it's to emphasise the importance of being clear, telling a great story, being dynamic, bold and aiming high. Bushveld is a rare example of a brilliant company that could simply have the best of both worlds.
Clearly the current approach isn't exactly delivering great returns or capturing the attention of the markets. That is an unavoidable truth.
Pretty much summarises my position too Somtam. Except 8 years . And at break even having bought all the way up.
It’s a bit of a painful time at the moment with a consistent seller that has stalled the price but I myself wouldn’t sell now as we are approaching a production increase in a climate of rising vanadium prices. The gloomsters voices always sound louder when the price is under pressure.
Morning all.
Ive always been uber positive about BMN but the lack of comms is beginning to do my head in.
Been here approx 3 years and at pretty much break even point but over that time always loaded up buying BMN shares and missed so many opportunities elsewhere.
So overexposed here which is never a good thing but Im torn between selling some of my BMN shares to invest elsewhere in order to diversify my portfolio and keeping the faith a little longer.
After 3 years I expect some financial gains by now.
Aaargh!!
Frustration beginning to show!!!