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HarChris going back to your emotion rant, where you blame missed targets and the Madagascan tax refund on Shishir personally. Surely you cannot blame market trends on Shishir also? I bet if you had an afternoon with Tomorrowyesterday you’d find a way!
The list below is 4 random Graphite mining companies at their all time high to todays price.
TGR. £1.45 - £0.05
Graphite 1. $4.60 - $0.93
Northern Graphite Corp. $2.74 - $0.13
Syrah. Aud$5.94 - $0.49
Focus graphite $15.50 - $0.14 then taken private.
Give the guy a break, understand this is a long term play, let the man cook he’s already built this isn’t something enviable.
Corporate governance must change, I’m sure he has no choice but to address this now. CFO imperative.
Funding is desperately needed, he hasn’t failed yet and I trust he won’t now.
That’s in response to several posters.
I have voted against all the resolutions as while frustrated I don’t see the proposed directors possessing the mettle or know how to move the dial here unfortunately so have backed the horse I see with the most to genuinely lose and the most aligned to come out with something to build and able to build in such a niche space ie the current board. Suppose it’s all a risk now. Just don’t see anything to suggest the proposed group can or would do anything, even from their histories that gives me confidence in what happens here long term if they are successful.
Good points
The opposite in fact. Gamblers never accept losses, they bet til they are back in the green or wiped out. In terms of shares they double down until they are back to break even or their money goes to zero. They struggle to accept that it's anythng but bad luck that they are down.
I sold for a hefty loss and take full responsibility for it. It didn't help that I had constant correspondence with Shishir reassuring me that we were close to a turning point at every juncture but it was my money and my instincts that let me down for too long. I should have been out at the first or second red flag, not the ninth or tenth.
Must of got lucky with his other successful company’s then I guess. All startup companies run into issues, not the first company to miss targets and it won’t be the last.
Your mind is made up that is evident lol not sure why you’re getting so hot and bothered about a stock you’re not financially involved with.
I’ve worked with gamblers before, you sound like an armchair jockey when your horse gets beat. Just remember, when the fun stops, Stop.
Incompetent and he’ll learn his lesson when they take his company away from him
20th Feb - 6100-6500T target announced for April-June, reiterated in early April - actual 2371T
8th August - 'expects to reach c.50% capacity utilisation in the current quarter and c.75% in Q3 FY24' also 'The Company remains focussed on reaching monthly production and sales minimum target of 2,000 tons and expects to achieve this important milestone in Q3 FY24 having focused this year on:'
Q2 actual 2130T
19th Oct, lesson learnt, new target for H2: 'In H2 FY 24, the Company estimates base case production of 7,500 tons though working towards reaching 10,000 tons, given the limitations of head grade. '
Actual... wait for it... 2600T
Of course none of this is the CEOs fault though, he isn't expected to correctly understand his company's capital position throughout the year and raise when he can just, no of course not, it's normal to instead just wait on tax rebates from one of the poorest countries in the world, it's normal to sit tight for that, it'll come, imminently. No none of it is his fault, all these missed targets are totally out of his control, the NEDs resigning all have an agenda, the broker has an agenda. Poor Shishir is doing absolutely everything right time and time again and luck just isn't on his side.
But it's okay, the lenders understand this so are going to give him the capital he's after. I mean, this was in the works on March 7th Corporate Update. And the company is down to virtually no money but of course it's coming, and on good terms to Shishir. They know he's been unlucky and has everyone unfairly against him. They want his company, they are using all these misfortunes and twisting them into some warped reality when really the company is absolutely thriving and has investors queuing up to get involved in the business. Money will come, debt at low interest rates, equity at significant premiums, it's all coming we just need to be a bit more patient.
... and breathe. Rant over, i'm too exasperated and flabbergasted by the frankly weird defence of a ceo that has absolutely tanked everyone's investment through sheer incompetence.
Saluc could it be Shishir is an unlucky man? Unable to raise funds, losing Auditors, Losing Brokers, the list goes on.
On the other hand the Action Group are making statements that funders will come in if and when they ( action group) get feet under the table. Those are just words which mean very little until Firm proposals are put on the table. Until then Shareholders are faced with a choice between the Devil and the Deep Blue sea. Not a good choice for any confirmed Investor.
This isn’t the only company that has been over ambitious in its targets and who knows, if the VAT refunds hadn’t stopped around 16 months ago and the company had the £2.5Mil owed to them it could of been profitable by now.
Can that be blamed on management, no of course not but these things happen. You heard how impressed the ex NED and Broker were at the growth of the company and bar staying afloat, growth at this point is the most important thing.
HarChris you say near term profits were bringing investors in, take a look at GreenRoc who just secured funding from US EXIM Bank for up to £3.5Mil. Are they predicting near term profits? No is the answer. Please stop presenting your opinions as facts.
Failure to reach production targets was primarily due to working capital constraints as has been explained many times. The working capital shortfall stems from the lack of payment of VAT since early 2023 and interest rate rises generally making capital raising more difficult generally. These factors cannot be blamed on Shishir or is he expected to be party to the Madagascan governments budgetary constraints and future worldwide inflation trends. I believe what Shishir has achieve with the limited capital at his disposal is quite remarkable and he should be given the opportunity to remedy the situation. There is nothing the new group can offer which will improve the current situation in the short term in fact the whole takeover attempt is just diverting management time and adding to costs.
100% HarChris. Couldn't agree more.
And herein lies the issue. There is absolutely no doubting the fact that Tirupati was deemed an extremely exciting prospect upon listing and right up to mid 2023. Initial interest focused around the downstream and specialist graphene production but even as that failed to come to fruition the sheer numbers that Shishir was projecting this time last year were eye-watering. Here's the rns from just over one year ago, scroll to 'guidance of production'
https://www.lse.co.uk/rns/TGR/tg-commences-production-at-18000tpa-plant-q1nv3odeg52zfcg.html
Of course you're going to be able to raise funds when you are projecting big profit imminently, in the very nearing term. Back last year Shishir was projecting production of over 2000Tpm with cheap and swift plans to expand rapidly against a break even production level of 1100-1200Tpm, of course that was going to attract investment.
The question is has his ability to attract investment now faded away due to such a chasm between what was being touted and what actually came to pass? That 2000Tpm and beyond has ended up more like 400Tpm and probably falling due to lack of cash to actually operate... In just one year they've gone from a near term highly profitable miner to needing £1m just to pay their staff and cover a CLN coupon. That is mismanagement and why it doesn't matter what he claims at this point, the chances of delivering on those claims is low and largely out of his hands now.
The main thing the new group have going for them is that they don't come with a litany of false promises and amateurish delivery. It's that baggage that makes TGR uninvestable under current management.
They’ve shared nothing, so you won’t be able to find any plans for FT.
Their claim, “We have connections and we believe they’ll be happy to put in money once they see us seated at the table.”
What I’m trying to find is the plans this new group have to raise funds? Without funding nothing else matters and a lot of this discussion is futile
Most people here (except few bogus accounts) are well intentioned shareholders. There’s a lot of comment about how the company cannot raise money, no one will fund them, etc.
I really want to know how many of us have raised capital for a public market company to be able to offer this opinion? Because if not, then it’s merely speculation. I mean the guy who’s raised >£20M so far, is saying he is working on getting in more. I know there’s a chance he might fail, but can we atleast not be demoralising?
It doesn’t help to call yourself a realist when you truly don’t understand the topic and have very limited experience with it
Cigam - I agree and disagree. Would you rather finance a company that is up and running and virtually debt free while pulling in £4.9mil revenue , or finance a company that is in a lot earlier stage because they wouldn’t dilute shares and potentially years away from being profitable.
If a raise is the price to pay for staying afloat for the mean time so be it, providing they can off course.
Saluc - I think he did a good job in building the mine but he's done a terrible job at actually running it.
Why would a lender provide funding to a business which is run by a management team with a poor operational track record? Financiers don't take punts and they need evidence that a borrower can repay a loan.
So the only option is a dilutive equity raise, which again isn't a sure thing given the struggles they're having in the capital markets. Plus they now don't have Optiva who were largely successful for them in the past.
Fairdealer I didn’t realise you weren’t up to date my bad, a lot of people are hung up on pranagraf because it should have been part of the company by now. I believe it fell through because of an out of date valuation of pranagraf. A poor excuse if you ask me but I do fully believe claims of wrongdoing just to be noise.
I imagine integration to be out of TGR’s reach now, I also believe there were certain NED’s that put a stop to negotiations or didn’t approve Shishir’s plans anyway, all the info is out there it just takes some digging.
Mhow,
That's a fair point in respect of the downstream applications and one that does need clarification
Trust me I’m doing my best to avoid commenting on here because I know it’s not nice to have sold out and still be posting but most of my posts are in response to direct messages to me.
As for regretting selling out… no definitely not. Without a change in management I am as near as certain TGR ends up in administration within twelve months.
Cigam so what you’re saying is Shishir’s strategy for building the company has worked up until this very moment?
No one will invest in the company? More speculation.. he seemed pretty confident if you ask me. Looking forward to the rest of the questions from QnA being posted
Croqman that part is completely understandable - that in isolation represents a fine agreement between TGR and Prana because there does appear to be a synergy between the two (not least that most of the TGR workforce are now listed as Pranagraf employees)
The issue comes with the downstream applications - at IPO and in subsequent months the downstream was highlighted as the key potential for the business, vertically integrated TGR would mine the graphite, sell the graphite and then turn it into a range of applications that would be "gamechanging". Shishir actually did a video interview a few years back where he stated the company would make "loads of cash" from the downstream
Whether or not Pranagraf is at that level yet is irrespective, the potential is there and I firmly believe resolving it would double/treble the current share price. Does Pranagraf make a high level of profit? Don't know - but what we can see is that is can afford to run a large workforce with TGR doesn't currently have the money to employ themselves full time
Plaza - most people with a negative view don't have any agenda's.
For me, I simply believe that the company needs new management given the dire state it's currently in - which is a direct result of the decisions made by Shishir over the last 12-18 months. There's nothing controversial about that and it happens in most companies which are struggling.
Fundamentally, the business desperately needs cash and no one is going to invest in/lend to the company while the current board remains. If they can't raise cash then the business will be in administration within the year. It really is as simple as that.
I am still a shareholder.
The current composition of the BOD, Shishir Poddar, Puruvi Poddar and Alistair Poddar should tell you all you need to know about it's competence.
Dear God.
Crocman, have done research. Suggest interested shareholders view the latest unaudited accounts where under Corporate Developments, it is clear the Indian Authorities are not pepared to approve the Commercial agreements that currently exist. There have been changes within Pranagraph businesses since 2018.
The Corporate statement goes on to state negotiations since 2022, between the 2 companys have failed to agree a commercial contract. Further negotiations are ongoing.
Can it be assumed Shishir is talking to himself.
It seems the Indian Authorities are also "nit-picking"