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From what I see in the project RNS, there is no doom and gloom scenario as reflected in the last many posts. JW has had a game plan in the past and everyone praised him when his H&W acquisition came through. Clearly the board have a game plan now too - how is it that LTHS can’t see this and stick with this board’s commitment to the company?
JW promised first revenues in 2019 and he’s delivered on that. We are likely on track to being a fully functioning company next year. I’m sure there has been a sensible discussion amongst the board members before this major decision of the delay to FID was taken. This may well be to our advantage guys - JW and team have delivered in the past and there is no reason why they shouldn’t now.
I have belief in the projects. What I don’t feel comfortable about is the way the news flow has been handled. I am sure JW knew before this morning that he would delay FID - or was it the vote in parliament that changed his mind - must have been fast typists if that was the case. How long can one hold on to pertinent information before RNSing? It still sticks in my throat that 18 months ago we were told all licenses and permits we in place. 12 months ago we were told there was a better equity deal on the table and he was passing over the first 3. I believe in the projects and it is the handling of information that gets me. It is as pure and simple as that.
In hindsight this tweet was a clue
https://twitter.com/JohnWoo64494325/status/1205258659804176384?s=19
The large working majority must be the potential game changer
I agree loosegoose that not sticking to the planned timetable is unpalatable to all shareholders including me. And yet as professionals we come across roadblocks and obstacles sometimes and at others we change long-standing plans upon seeing new opportunities, as they did when they saw H&W and grabbed it with both hands. Why not offer the same consideration to this board? S*** happens, best-laid plans and all that. Equally, the tone of the RNS gives me confidence that they know what they are doing.
On how long they can hold on to info before releasing RNS - your guess is as good as mine. But I would assume that if we are relying on the professionalism of this team (and I suppose we are since all of us have our hard earned monies invested here) then we must have confidence that they are abiding by the regulations governing news release. They need this to succeed as much as we do. All project related decisions so far have been well calculated - they have managed what few others have. Let’s give them some time.
Couldn’t agree more. There appears to be a lot going on behind the scenes that we aren’t privy to. I repeat myself, they need this to succeed as much as we do. Let’s hang in there.
Apologies, the ‘couldn’t agree more’ was in response to the tweet you shared Spud.
But the Tories were predicted to win by circa 30 seats by pretty much all pollsters, so why would a few dozen more make such a difference.
The polls can be wrong, exit polls have been more accurate.
I'm just pointing out the tweet
Tony, there’s many a slip between predictions and actual election outcomes and I for one am glad that JW and team didn’t do anything in haste and waited for the results, probably weighed their options in broad daylight and took the bold decision.
Based on the response to the two RNSes today, this makes me wonder who the adults are in the room.
Let us take it case by case. FID has been delayed by 3-6 months. The fact that JW and team inherited a basket project and have taken it to a bankable stage seems to have been all but forgotten. I am seeing a lot of links to the ML project website that DAERA have set up but I don't see any positive comments on the reports, the detail to which JW has gone into and the immense amount of data collected and presented to get the ML. If we think all this magically happened with zero effort, let us not make fools of ourselves.
FID has been delayed. So what I am reading is that where there is potential to retain a much larger equity stake in the project, certain LTHs would much rather we give up a massive majority and live with a tiny one for the plc. Is this even rational thinking? Would you rather have X% of a project or X minus 20%?
The comment that JW and team are behaving like cowboys is frankly derisory. They have also put money into the company and this is their full time job. They have no other assignment. They are invested in this company as much as we are. JW has lost his TR1 status and has been diluted down consistently. But clearly, he is doing this because he and the team love losing their own money - I haven't seen such an irrational economic argument.
On the issue of 20 million shares to a professional advisor, every company is bound by non-disclosure clauses for sensitive matters. If JW paid cash for services, we would complain, if he pays shares, we are complaining but wait - we still expect work to be done but for free.
Suddenly logic, good sense and belief have been chucked out of the window.
Can I ask all of us to take a breather over the next few days and reflect on the achievements over the past year? Let's not get hung up over one missed deadline when so much good has been achieved and so much good is yet to come.
Trying to put all this into some sort of perspective I've had a re-read of the July 4th Strategy Update and find that maybe I was focusing on IM a little bit too much. And if I'd kept in mind JW's stated, "wider strategy", I may not have been as supprised at the direction we have taken. He sets out quite clearly that the company was looking further afield than just IM as a sole project and was already in talks with potential partners and asset owners for new projects meeting certain criteria. Namely:
· UK mainland gas storage projects to complement the Islandmagee Gas Storage Project.
· Floating Storage and Regasification Unit ("FSRU") projects in the UK.
· Existing operational and revenue generating gas storage facilities within the EU.
With projects already having been found for all of the above and were even then, in discussions and doing their due diligence.
Obviously, no mention of buying a bloody ship yard at that point. :) But, that may turn out of be a good move in project savings and further income. Along side the stated objective of receiving income from construction and operational management and a return on retained equity in any of the projects.
Although, at that time, he was expecting to fund initial costs of these projects with a mix of the expected, "cough", EU grant money and back costs on IM being reimbursed on completion of FID. No FID = placings galore, meanwhile.
So, we are here. Stick, Twist or cash in....
You are right si_derman about the placing, but undoubtedly placings are nobody’s top choice. If JW and team had zero shares in the company one would assume this is the easiest route for them. As that is not the case, and they stand to loose equally, it is fair to assume that they have valid and strong reasons for their decisions. On the bloody shipyard, I agree that it might be a very good move indeed. Someone said in an earlier post that they expect it to be back in administration by 2021 - most unhelpful speculation unfortunately.
See you next Tuesday, Roderick.
That is all .
Speedy, I get your views on trust but it’s a bit of a stretch to say that trust has been broken suddenly. I think the bod have been fairly transparent and to have pulled off H&W within a few short months must have taken everything from this very small board. There’s a reason why we are on this side of the company and they are on the other side- the kind of work and dedication required to pull that kind of thing off is astounding and something I for sure don’t have the skills for but that’s why I’m sticking with my investment because I want the reward in time. But the sentiment here appears to make them sound like maverick risk-takers unconcerned with our hard earned money’s value and how it’s spent. Someone even said that they are using it to fund their lifestyle. Come on guys, no one is here out of the goodness of their hearts, not us, not them. This is their day job after all. We all want money and clearly this one is a long haul but I don’t see it de-railing, there are absolutely no indications of that except our projection of historic losses on to this new team who have, frankly, done more in the last year than this project has seen since its inception. People still want to come in at the bottom but continue to criticise the team. How does that work? I find that very strange - why come in when you think this is a loser? I am sitting on huge losses myself but I think this team has a practical vision and I’m prepared to give them time to materialise it. H&W is a game changer- no small shipyard as someone said earlier, its historic and political significance is immense. It will be the key if my senile reading of the situation is correct and will lift IM out of the hole it finds itself in.
Dear Speedy,
For the sake of transparency, I am also sitting on substantial paper losses today. At these levels no one is in the money, even the IIs who invested last month. When I talk of the "good" that has been achieved, I do not refer to morals, principles etc. I don't think anyone here has invested for altruistic purposes. We want to make money. Period.
I am talking about the progress made till date to achieve that objective. That is what I want all of us to reflect upon.
I don't agree with your assessment that things were going very well and now the wheels are coming off. If that indeed were the case, why did all of us vote to remove the BoD in 2017? If things were going swimmingly well, there was zero reason to remove them. The fact is Infa was in deep trouble at that point with very little to look forward to.
The company has been in existence since 2007. Except for the one-off revenues, there have been zero operating revenues for 12 years. That is not the definition of doing well. If things were actually going well, IM should have been built and operational by now. It doesn't take 10 years to build a gas store.
We showed great confidence in AP and PW. Upon reflection, what exactly did AP achieve from June 2017 till October 2018?
I am not being sarcastic, I really want to know. Maybe I am missing something here that all of you are aware of.
JW became the CEO in Aug/Sept 2018 and Arun the CFO in March 2019. Whilst JW has completed slightly over a year, Arun has been CFO for 9 months. If every single jigsaw piece of IM was ready to go, I don't think the two of them would be sitting around waiting and looking at value destruction with any pride. They have also lost their own money through the year. The fact is the project was nowhere near construction ready and they had to pick up the pieces, put them to together and rebuild the whole thing.
So in 15 months and 9 months respectively, the two of them have taken the project to bankable status, have acquired Harland and brought in the company's FIRST EVER OPERATING REVENUES.
I can't answer the question "what do we do going forward" for you. I know what I am going to do. I am going to keep supporting the team. This is a good team with a vision to make money. They are dealing with a long and painful legacy yet they are ploughing on and making sure the company can stand on its own feet. They are balancing the company's risk by diversifying because there is a huge risk with only one project.
There will be disappointments and missed deadlines. Even the biggest companies with all the resources in the world miss deadlines.
But ultimately, they will succeed and we will succeed.
There is a lot of “bring and share” emotion and long life sharing essays on this board. Sounds like people are viewing INFA as pension asset or “money people can’t afford to lose” asset rather than what it really is - a punt, a risky AIM list stock where the share price goes down (and sometimes up a little). Right from the beginning oil exploration days, the BODs played a risky game with shareholders money and abused communities. Let’s hope this next chapter is a more positive one for everyone because the history isn’t pretty.
NerdyOwl,
"Transparent" is certainly not an accusation that can be levelled at the INFA board!
BlairPeach, not sure how much transparency we want as shareholders - the expectation here appears to be that every single detail is made publicly available for all of us to scrutinise over. They have a business to run and not everything is or should be public knowledge. That the first vessel is in the yard itself speaks volumes for their competence and drive to make this a success I should think.
When a CEO decides to set himself a series of milestones, which are subsequently missed, is it unreasonable for shareholders to want to know why?
Absolutely not unreasonable. And the reason is there in the RNS. Clearly he’s got other options that he’s exploring and he’s not going to and shouldn’t make all of those bits public knowledge. If absolutely nothing we’re happening in the meantime our outbursts would be justified, but evidently a whole lot is happening they are just not minute-by-minute tweeting it, they are getting on with the job.
You are quite right Speedy, time will indeed tell all. And of course no two people see one outcome in the same light. What looks like a golden opportunity with H&W to me appears to be confusing and muddying the waters to others. This confusion is what the protestors are picking on and feeding off and using as feedstock to create further doubt and ambiguity. A few good months with some solid good news as a result of the hard work of the Infa team and investor sentiments will be calmed no doubt. Very much hoping it will be with the ML but H&W may well trump it to begin with, seeing as work is already happening there. Whichever comes first, it looks like we can expect strings of positive news in the coming weeks and months.
Speedy, my views, and I’m confident those of all other serious shareholders here, precisely. And repelling invaders of hard earned money is every honest person’s right. The team appears to be doing new and exciting things now, let’s hope they deliver quickly and decidedly.