The latest Investing Matters Podcast episode featuring Jeremy Skillington, CEO of Poolbeg Pharma has just been released. Listen here.
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On Tuesday the Environment Committee adopted its position on measures to ensure sustainable pesticides use and reduce the use and risk of all chemical pesticides by at least 50 % by 2030.
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20231023IPR08130/pesticides-meps-want-a-drastic-cut-in-use-of-chemical-pesticides
Https://news.agropages.com/News/Detail-47996.htm?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
A web site dedicated to the humble potato !
Pinched this from Eden thread, use of Biologicals in Brazil - reaffirms perhaps what we already know.
Interview: FMC Reveals Insights on Biologicals Market Growth in Latin America
PREtec technology and Agrii foliar micronutrient combination sales forthcoming.
PLANT Health Care, a provider of peptides used by growers to improve crop production and quality within global agriculture markets, has signed a distribution agreement with Agrii UK, which provides crop inputs, agronomy advice and services to growers in the UK.
The agreement will support commercial sales of PREtec technology and Agrii foliar micronutrient combinations. The first Agrii foliar fertiliser product to be launched containing PREtec technology will be sold under the brand Innocul8 and is expected to be widely available to growers in the UK for use in 2024.
https://www.potatoreview.com/industry-updates/peptides-distribution-announced-for-uk/
Brazil are world leaders for Soybean production, watched a long video on how the crop came from nowhere in the US to being second largest producer, only likely to continue as people look for alternatives to animal protein.
Useful resource below, mentions Mato Grosso where Bom Futuro operate.
https://ipad.fas.usda.gov/cropexplorer/cropview/commodityView.aspx?cropid=2222000
1st *go Scobie!
That must be about 3m shares bought.
Like where is that on the trade sheet?
Where is that reflected in the SP?
AIM seems like a broken market at the moment.
Schroders the latest fund to suffer withdrawals, also Lion Trust, both heavy weights here in UK fund market.
I remember a few years ago one of the Jeff's answering an Investor Meet question that one of their compounds was having a good reduction in citrus crop loss where the trees had become infected with Citrus Greening (Huanglongbing (HLB). This Bloomberg article hammers home just how diseased California's citrus trees have become:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-10-16/florida-real-estate-boom-leads-some-orange-growers-to-sell-land
JT is currently in Brazil to negotiate distribution of the new products, review the field trials and meet the team there.
Sounds like an interesting visit. I'd love to have been a fly on the wall at the dinner in Campinas. It was attended by some interesting 'like-minded' company leaders (wonder if any speed dating took place *nudge*). Seems they concluded that the current headwinds in agtech will be short lived.
Hope so...
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PHC – Plant Health Care do Brasil receives Global CEO
This week we received our Global CEO, Jeff Tweedy, who came to meet with our business partners and check the preparations for the launch of the new PHC technologies for the 2024/25 harvest.
The week started with a planning meeting for the 2024/25 harvest with Nutrien, our Saori® distributor in Brazil, for the soybean seed treatment market. Saori is the first peptide® with PREtec technology registered in Brazil for the control of foliar diseases in soybean, applied in seed treatment, enabling crop protection from germination.
The meetings continued with the board of directors of Coplacana, which is celebrating its 75 years of history and the 5 years of partnership with PHC Brasil in the exclusive distribution of H2COPLA for the sugarcane market, #rompendoasbarreirasdaprodutividade. With Marcos Farhat, Roberto Rossi and José Neto
We also had the opportunity to share a current view of the input market in Brazil, with the participation of Jeff Tweedy and our Director for South America, Flavio Enor Prezzi, at a dinner in Campinas that was attended by important agribusiness executives: Marcelo Gardel - ISK Biosciencias do Brasil, Ari Gitz - BioControle, Fernando Gallina - Syntech, Vitor Cunha - AMVAC do Brasil
It is no secret to anyone the difficulties that the agricultural input industry is facing this harvest, with the flow of stocks. However, according to estimates by the National Supply Company (CONAB), Brazil's soybean harvest for the 2023/24 period is expected to reach a record of 162.4 million tons, with an increase of 2.9% in area, and 2.2% in productivity, indicating that the producer continues to believe and invest in technology and that this situation is temporary.
Now, we continue the tour of Brazil to follow the results of our newest technologies with renowned researchers, in order to closely observe the performance of the innovative technologies that PHC will bring to Brazilian agribusiness in 2024: MOSHY™ for the control of coffee rust and orange rust in sugarcane and TEIKKO™ for the innovative control of nematodes in soybeans. In the next posts, we will talk about them.
Don't rely on spell chequer lol
'comparisons'
Had a chance to watch the full video this morning, some general points of interest, overall ver informative about current issues/benefits and length of time getting to this point.
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Productiveity increase (14 min) between 21% - 25%
Areas passed drought 2018 (14.30 min), good comprasons with/without use of H2COPLA
Sugar cane, the more stess plant receive the better it responds (14.55)
Acompany article in Coplacana magazine pages 38/39
https://www.coplacana.com.br/revista-coplacana/revista-ano-6-no-34/
Bit of volume yesterday, market makers switched positions as a result, it could be the overhang has been taken up.
Markets for small caps very tough, bouncing along the bottom but expect things to change once rates start to fall.
I suppose I take some comfort from the fact that in 2020, the shares went from 15p to 5p to 18p.
I just love a game of buckaroo.
Occam - over $25m has been invested in the R&D side, which is now being scaled back as focus turns to commercialisation. They still employ 8 lab scientists who carry out R&D, assist with ongoing support. The executive team have a good handle on operating expenses and margins, which gives me real confidence and they've indicated already that H2 sales are strong
Detailed presentation with interesting acknowledgement of shareholder support, mentions London and profitability.
The general tone of comms has gone up a notch imo, building momentum into 2024 with further partnerships and registrations.
Use the translator on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om2NeHsMulM
Many funds, in fact most small caps have had consistent outflows/redemptions leaving managers no choice but to sell part of their holdings, this is what Marlborough said in their recent update (PHC shareholder)
"As history repeats itself, a vast £11.9 billion was paid into cash ISAs in April, the largest ever
recorded, on top of £5.8 billion paid in during March."
High interest rates are luring investors away.
I pencil.
I agree; the interview puts your mind at ease. Like when JT mentions that the market for agro is down 20% and yet PHC ‘grew’ their revenue. The stock price fall on what amounts to tiny sells is dumb. Since nothing has really changed with the company, who are continuing to do well, I’m not selling; but I regret the SP doldrums.
If not done so already, have a listen to the excellent IMC interview as it touches on many of the points below.
@1Pencil : Surely this is an IP company... how big is the fixed cost base? Salaries and operational real estate? I should probably do my homework a bit more to understand the elements of the fixed cost base, and try to do a rough calculation on what level of sales are needed for the gross margin to cover the fixed costs. R&D presumably is all expensed, and at some point it becomes a cash cow. I wish the management would focus more on targeting profitability than sales. In a free-money world, nobody cares about the cost of money to finance a business that at some point will become profitable, but those days are gone.
Increasing sales by 3 x fold would increase profit whilst retaining an almost (not quite) fixed cost base.
In rough terms, most of the costs have been absorbed in R & D over a long period, registrations have been another hurdle - all of these factors are now diminishing whilst sales are increasing.
Some investors understandably have run out of patience, hopefully these will be replaced with new holders such as Newlands.
Yup, looks to be the case - couple of good posts on a d v f n on this.
PHC is so illiquid that any such automated AT selling knocks it for six.
I'm frustrated that the business isn't making a profit. I understand the huge growth forecasts, but personally the current environment wants to see companies make money. The gross margin seems pretty stable: PHC give a contract to manufacture to another supplier, and then sell the finished product that cost 80c for $1. They should be making money regardless of the volume. There aren't economies of manufacturing scale, when it is outsourced (at least to a degree that a factory needs to make volume to cover fixed costs). PHC should be "asset light" owning the technology and the relationships to deliver to the market... so why isn't the company making money now? Why would increasing sales 2 or 3x suddenly change that?
Destocking in the chemicals industry and general economic fears are creating considerable headwinds for small caps.
FTSE AIM all share index is close to the Covid lows of 2020 - so we are not suffering alone.
Nevertheless - nothing wrong with the company as such, still growing; albeit slowly.