The latest Investing Matters Podcast episode featuring Jeremy Skillington, CEO of Poolbeg Pharma has just been released. Listen here.
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The more I look at Biotalys the more I see similarities for instance their Evoca product has many of the features of Saori including the fermentation process to extract peptides, or as Biotalys refer to them 'Polypeptides.
Biotalys’ AGROBODY Foundry™ could arguably be similar to Plant Health Cares PreTec platform, lots of superlatives being used but from a lay persons point of view many characteristics are the same.
There is however one big difference, and that's the valuation:
'Biotalys Nv is listed on the Euronext Brussels trading with ticker code BTLS.BR. It has a market capitalisation of €152.45m'
..meanwhile Biotalys continues its run, up 40% in two days, more than doubling this month.
I would agree, also year end (see earlier post)
From this mornings RNS James is stepping down also which may mean an end to Griffiths involvement.
As of 15th Dec remaining 18,931,000
Nice gesture by management on pay too, helps stretch out the runway past delayed registrations.
Still selling...........I wouldn't be surprised if he sells his entire holding, which means we will experience subdued SP for some time to come
Interesting Bloomberg article about India depleting it's ground water; clearly they will need treatments that help with drought stress in the future:
https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2023-feeding-india-water-crisis/
London South East (this web site) also has delayed price information
Biotalys Nv is listed on the Euronext Brussels trading with ticker code BTLS.BR. It has a market capitalisation of €121.96m, with approximately 32.09m shares in issue.
https://www.lse.co.uk/SharePrice.html?shareprice=BTLS.BR&share=Biotalys-Nv
Both Eden and Biotalys having a good day, Biotalys up 17% on US developments
Biotalys Announces Results of Independent Field Trials in the U.S.
https://tinyurl.com/348c4575
If funds have a small rump left will likely sell before year end, start afresh for New Year.
Done the same but buying to round up ISA account, few more should take me to 1%
In the email response I received from JT last week, many London investors have told them that the AIM market is broken. I agree, there seems to be a disconnect with reality.
Sales may be affected in the US, but Brazil has a worse economy and we get the following posted on Linkedin from the Brazil team.
-------------------------------
CELEBRATING IS NECESSARY
Between 12/13 and 14, we gathered the entire PHC Brasil team to celebrate the achievements of 2023 and align our priorities for 2024.
In a year in which the input sector faced high levels of inventory in distribution channels and low availability of credit and financing, we, at PHC Brasil, have a lot to celebrate:
🍀 Increased sales of H2COPLA in sugarcane and other crops such as coffee, soybeans and corn in Brazil;
🍀 Expansion of sales to Argentina in wheat and soybeans;
🍀 Registration of MOSHY,™ the 1st fungicide of PREtec technology for the control of coffee rust and orange rust of sugarcane, scheduled for launch in 2024;
🍀 Approval by MAPA and Anvisa for the WP PHC68949, the 1st nematicide with PREtec technology in soybean seed treatment and foliar application in perennial crops, with registration expected in early 2024 in soybean;
🍀 Strengthening partnerships with , H2COPLA, and , for SAORI, the first fungicide with PREtec technology for the management of foliar diseases,® applied in seed treatment.
Thus, we would like to thank all those who have accompanied us this year and wish you a Merry Christmas and a new year full of achievements.
Eden is another more local example, already put the figures up before but with todays increase it puts Eden at over twice PHC's market cap with 1/5th of revenue.
Biotalys AR for last year is quite interesting, its similar in some ways to Plant Heaslthcare in presentation and layout, it's very much still an R & D company with asperations to commercialise product in 2026 subject to registrations.
Its easy to forget the time and effort PHC has taken along this path, reading Biotalys progress so far is a good reminder.
Quick glance at figures for 22 from Yahoo (EUR)
Total Revenue 0
Net income -22.7m (21 -17m)
Market cap (not current) 38m
This might have been one of the considerations during recent consultation, relist on Euronext to access a larger investor pool.
Biotalys is often mentioned as a benchmark for PHC, indeed it has more or less tracked the downward drift similar to PHC, where it differs is the recent rally following a strategy update.
These guys are well behind PHC in terms of actual product yet command a much higher valuation.
https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/BTLS.BR/financials?p=BTLS.BR
Their US office s only a short drive from PHC in NC.
Earlier this year, PHC consulted shareholders about the company’s listing on AIM. This was due to frustrations following the feeble market impact of positive price sensitive news. The company decided to commit to AIM, but were aware that many London investors felt that the AIM market was broken. Despite the current share price, the company believes it has the right strategy for the business. The issue this year is related to overall inventory at the distribution level (for crop protection and fertilizer) which is causing greater issues than in past years. Also, interest rates are impacting grower buying decisions which is causing issues with distribution. It’s worth noting that Mexico, Europe and Brazil businesses are up double digits’ year over year. The Brazil market is in much worse shape than the US market related to inventories and impacts on the market. Nevertheless, PHC’s working capital remains in very good shape in Brazil.
Concerning new distributer agreements, there have been three new agreements this year and the company expect to announce new agreements in 2024 to expand their global footprint. Importantly there are no problems securing deals. Furthermore, there may be a need to diversify distribution partners in the US, but the company will need to be careful. If the company bring on a new customer, they need to make sure there is PHC field support for them and with limited resources they need to be careful not to add OPEX.
There are obvious current headwinds, but PHC is very well placed in this space with proven technology and broad market access which separates PHC from other companies in the biological space. Once the new registrations are approved in several markets, we should see further expansion globally (e.g.: India).
This is my personal (but objective) take on PHC following a communication with the company today.
Worth read, Agro-K will be become part of this group.
https://www.rovensanext.com/en/news/press-releases/rovensa-group-launches-rovensa-next-a-new-global-biosolutions-business-unit-to-shape-a-sustainable-future-for-agriculture/
Rovensa Acquires U.S. Biostimulant Company Agro-K
By Rovensa
|December 5, 2023
https://www.croplife.com/crop-inputs/rovensa-acquires-u-s-biostimulant-company-agro-k/
Hope I’m not cheering too soon.
I also hope this rise coincides with a big product order.
Doing the same 2p, PHC has to be vulnerable down here. Market cap is hoovering around this years revenue which seems a bit too cheap even in the current climate.
Its hard to calculate the exact cash position but using various scenarios they should be good to around mid 2024 by which time market conditions should have improved, key registrations for India and US should help also assuming approval.
Scobie , Newlands seem supportive but perhaps too they recognise just how vulnerable PHC is at the moment - interested to see if Ospraie AG Science join the fray.
Bring their averages down a bit from Griffiths loss
Thank you bots for your very detailed response to my question .As you state there is no reason for the sp to be so low other than the economic situation which has hit the AIm market hard. I agree there are some sound companies in there whose sp is wrongly suffering. We both it seems agree that we are sticking with a company that has a bright future not reflected in its current valuation.
Had a feeling he might be the background seller. Hopefully he's now done
Griffiths sold a big chunk around 4%, question is who is the buyer?
If you look back you’ll find that the company itself were querying the AIM listing. Several companies have delisted from AIM recently. In one case a CEO described being listed on AIM as like trying to grow a plant in a desert. Nevertheless, following a shareholder consultation, PHC decided to commit to AIM. Meanwhile other companies have gone private or floated on the US (not always successfully).
For the last two years good news from PHC (and there’s been a fair amount) has been totally ignored. Now the company have been hit by macro market conditions and the SP has been trashed (and yet to company is still predicted to grow this year!).
Normally when one of my stocks crashes like this I’m out like a badger with it’s a*** on fire. I have no problem taking a loss, but this is different. The research is done, the results are excellent, registrations have been applied for and many secured. There is a desperate need for fertilizer alternatives given the weather induced crop stresses we are seeing. They have distribution deals in place and are selling to farmers across the world who are delighted with PHC products. The business has huge scalability - CR often says he wants a PHC product on every field in the world. The big expenses are behind us and we haven’t even started with PHC949 (nematode defence) which is a game changing product (regulatory approval pending). None of this enormous potential is priced in. Absolutely none.
This is a bump in the road, unprecedented destocking; it can’t go on forever ‘cos farmers still using the products.
As for AIM, there are some very good cheap stocks in the index now and investors are starting to come for them. It would help if some of the underlying causes of the destocking were sorted, namely high inflation and interest rates. Aside from that, the sooner the company makes first profits - the faster the SP recovery. They also need to confirm distribution tie-ups for new products in Brazil and Poland. Proact approval in India is pending and will be a massive boost once received. We’re close with all of these aims I believe.
I wouldn’t want PHC to go private, but would prefer a main listing on LSE at some point.
All IMO - DYOR
I ask again is the Aim market the correct place for this company. I keep reading here nothing but positive comments ,yet the sp has lost two thirds of its value in the last few weeks, and that from a historically bottom price. The sp suggests a junk stock
Hi BillB
I've also started buying in. This has been on my watch list for a long time - and the current price seems seriously good value (coming down 50% on nothing more than tough market conditions seems massively overdone to me).
The director buys have given me added confidence.