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I wonder if enthusiasm for this news will reinflate the price?
'A surprise either way would have a dramatic impact on the sp.'
Also totally agree with this. I feel it is a positive to have the product already and the race to profit depends on driving sales and training. Things can go very wrong or right depending on whether milestones are met. The company still has a fairly decent market cap though, the real worry comes when a company is worth buttons but still needs to raise. Which CREO clearly doesn't unless they splash cash on a an acquisition.
Agree. Critical that they demonstrate strong sales growth for core products. A surprise either way would have a dramatic impact on the sp.
@ Theorist. Well had I put my shirt on SO4 I would be half naked now which is not a good thought!. I actually thought they might get potash process over the line but in keeping with many AIM stocks ran out of money and the well of share issues had run dry. Still that is history and I’m back in the fun zone.. Would not have bought in to CREO if the story did not make some sense. I tend to use these boards occasionally but not as an investment aid. If you have seen my SO4 posts hopefully it’s pretty clear that although I like to be positive (otherwise why buy the share) I don’t have blind faith when the writing is on the wall that a company is falling over. Hopefully not something we will experience in this case :).
1eye, whatever you lost on SO4 you will make it back on Creo. The circumstances that crashed Creo’s sp were unusual and have given an incredible opportunity to people like you. If you take the time to read what the Creo instruments can do, maybe start with the most recent publications, annual report, it is amazing. Han**** is an absolute genius. Of that there is no doubt.
I decided to burden this share with a small investment after becoming interested on the back of a MF article. Buying after a successful placing seemed as good a time as any in the hope there wont be another one for a while!. This seems like another race to profit before running out of money (sorry to state the obvious!) but I do like a gamble.
Good luck to us!
It’s certainly a thought. What could be the potential damage to CMR or Intuitive if they were shut out of the Creo technology? Does the suite of Creo products genuinely provide a significant competitive advantage? Creo has been around a while now, both CMR and Intuitive must have taken a very close look but not much has happened. Plus the valuation of Creo is so, so low yet that hasn’t attracted their attention. $20m would give either CMR or Intuitive a blocking stake in Creo, so even if they didn’t want to acquire it at least they could stop their competitor from having a free run at it. Or do they see the robotic market as so vast that they don’t care? I certainly don’t have the knowledge to be able to answer any of these questions but it is certainly intriguing.
"wedded"? Not much of a marriage if they are cheating with another company. CMR surely have a huge incentive to bid IF the tools offer an advantage, it's an obvious way to target market share, which is surely their main objective? To dismiss it out of hand seems illogical
CMR has less than 5% of the market plus Creo is already wedded to Intuitive. So no bidding war. The hope some time back was that either Olympus or J & J would have a tilt at Creo.
That's an interesting thought Theorist, and you can see the temptation for either Intuitive or CMR to buy them out and gain an advantage over the other, if they offer a significant enough advantage. They are kind of in an arms race now to integrate the tools with their systems, it could conceivably lead to a bidding war, but I wouldn't bank on it. Robotic "arms", of course ( :
BBD 100% agree with your observations. Obviously if the Intuitive business takes off the break even point could come forward. I asked the directors very recently if there were any emerging threats to the Creo technology and they were adamant there is nothing whatsoever out there or in the pipeline. To me this is absolutely crucial because there is no doubt at all that the Creo instruments are at the leading edge. This company will reach its destination. The rewards for shareholders will come, it’s just timing. I was surprised that Intuitive hasn’t taken the opportunity to buy Creo for nothing but many companies like Intuitive have a fairly rigid business model and resist temptations to diversify. Hopefully over the coming months we will see Intuitive really rubber stamp the Creo technologies and effectively eliminate any doubt about the company’s prospects.
Turning a profit is years away, and an elusive moving target. Some analysts estimate 3 years, but that's a recent revision from late 2025, and I'd guess a later date rather than an earlier one, based on what generally happens - hype tends towards the positive rather than the realistic. Having said that, the products continue to look world leading, indeed world changing, and deals with both leading robotic surgery companies supports that. If the post Covid boom can be sustained, the recent acceleration in uptake might go into overdrive. Logistically, CREO now seems well set up to facilitate that. Fingers crossed (unless you're a surgeon)
Agree, £2.1m is a significant sum. The directors are very confident that they can make this work, couple this with Intuitive I think at 25p or so this is an extraordinary opportunity.
Management bought an aggregate total of roughly £2.1m worth of the new shares. Pretty big vote of confidence from the Fat Cats, keeping the SP lively
As well as world leaders, Intuitive Surgical, CREO are working with their rivals, the British company CMR surgical, in Cambridge who claim to have a more flexible and efficient solution, and which is introducing robots to NHS hospitals imminently. A deal was signed just 5 months ago to integrate certain aspects of Creo's technology with their system. Royalties and licensing agreed but not disclosed
"If these instruments can be used in conventional surgery then they must also be ideal for robotic surgery and you don’t have to train the robot. And almost all the robotic surgery in the world is controlled by one company so only one door to kick down. "
The company signed a deal with Intuitive Surgical 10 months ago. Their system is really robot-assisted surgery, meaning a robot is operated by a surgeon from a console. It is already in the field with approval granted for a few procedures. Revenue from the deal will initially come in milestone payments, assuming they can be reached. Presumably these are based on successfully combining the CREO tools and the robot for a specific new procedure and ultimately gaining FDA approval
Just been announced that the total fundraising was £33.7 million, probably enough to reach profitability if growth assumptions are realistic. Presumably impending dilution was the main drag on the SP, so we potentially enter a new trend. Trading in the massive volume of new shares starts tomorrow. An initial downward movement might be expected, but who knows in this market
Institutions won’t be forward selling their placing shares, there isn’t a market for high volumes anyhow. There will be some smaller investors looking for an arbitrage and so we will see the shares zigzagging around in the 20’s. My guess it will settle around mid 20’s. If the company cranks the speedboat sales say from £ 9m to £18m over the next 12 months or so then that will put a rocket under the sp because the inference will be that 18 becomes 36 etc etc. I think that is exactly what will happen. Furthermore there are other routes to faster sales growth. If these instruments can be used in conventional surgery then they must also be ideal for robotic surgery and you don’t have to train the robot. And almost all the robotic surgery in the world is controlled by one company so only one door to kick down. The fact that the sp fell 90% and the company was able to raise £25m just like that should tell you everything you need to know.
Makes sense Theorist, unlike some of the recent glib comments. There must be a suspicion they over-egged the recent good-news blitz in order to get the funding round away, but hopefully underlying growth really is gearing up and the improved financial footing will allow the SP to gain some traction. Having said that, it's all over the place at the moment!
I think the fall in the share price was a bit of a shock to everyone but the circumstances were exceptional. A stock like this where the company has pretty much established its technology but then has the slow grind of getting traction with sales is always going to be thinly traded. Which is fine unless your register is dominated by a couple of institutions who have liquidity problems, eg baillie gifford. They have endured a really torrid time and have had to sell down their holdings across the board to fund redemptions. So a couple of big sellers of a thinly traded stock and guess what happens? I don't think the company have exactly helped the situation. I don't believe in their acquisitions. All that mattered was getting traction with sales and with 300 plus staff it seems amazing they have been able to achieve so little but there are signs that progress is at last being made. Paying max directors bonuses in the middle of Covid (and in cash not shares...funny that) was ridiculous. The justification was brilliant acquisitions. LOL. The company should imo gone down a different route, lean and mean, yes carry on refining the technology but focus on developing a sales team or if you cannot do it yourself outsource. Then they took their eye off the ball (where was the Chairman) and landed up having to do a massive raise at 20p. You pay a £100,000 per annum to Mr Spicer not sure you're getting great value. Still I think all of this has been a bit of a salutary lesson and hopefully there will be a bit more back to basics. You cannot feed 300 people with £9m of sales. If you are a technology company you probably cannot also be a manufacturer, sales outfit, electronics company, property company etc etc. Does Apple make anything? Isn't their brilliance technology and design? Maybe that should have been Creo's business model? I still think the company will get there but will have burned £100m unnecessarily.
An a year ago it was 140p and two years ago it was 220p.
It has lost 80-85% of its share value in two years. Let's not pretend an 80% rise from 20p is somehow amazing. Most investors will be extremely down still, including myself.
On 16th share price was 24.5p it is now 34p , best to put all the posters below on this thread on ignore IMHO