The latest Investing Matters Podcast episode featuring financial educator and author Jared Dillian has been released. Listen here.
Ah, only just seen the latest RNS. Evidence that BVT won't let DFX fail.
Where did they say "that the last placing wouldn’t last long" and "that they are struggling to convert opportunities into cash generation this FY"?
Very pleasing RNS from my point of view. Old school are now all gone apart from Reeves. Boccardo is now Executive (i.e. executive, actionable authority) Deputy Chairman. Reeves is Chairman but we all know Boccardo is in charge as a successful executive owner who totally controls BVT would want to be. He answers to no-one. Boccardo’s appointment to this role is what I hoped and expected. Interim appointments mean that they are focused on the tactical tasks in hand of publishing the 2017 results and resume trading on AIM. That is exactly what they should be doing and employing interim staff to achieve those tactical, mechanical necessities is to be expected. Strategically, it is clear that their objective is to restore Defenx to health with new permanent appointments that will be made “shortly”. Exactly what one would expect for BVT who have invested almost £3m into this venture. I would expect an orderly publication of accounts to avoid suspension, the prize achieved of remaining an AIM-listed company and resuming trading, permanent appointments to the Board of Boccardo’s choosing, and Defenx’s fortunes being restored by Boccardo who has done it all before. At current prices, resumption of trading would be a very strong buy for me. I suspect a takeover is less likely now but either way investors are in a good position. Comments that this is knackered are unhelpful. If you’re not an investor, i don’t know what your motive would be to make such remarks; if you are then wishing ill on your own investment is bizarre.
The Directors' holdings are quite modest except for Steconni's (the Founder) who has left now anyway.
Their online help is active and immediately responsive so they're operational. My assistant's name was Marco so Italian, I suspect.
You're suggesting that the scenario that is most advantageous to BVT won't occur because it is so easy to work out and implement?
That's good to know, CaptJack, especially the 6 month deadline they now have. I wasn't aware of that.
That means that they now must publish their 2017 accounts by 31/12/18 to avoid expulsion. I'm not sure why you think the accounts will appear on 27/10 though - they would have to pay 51p if they enact a takeover at that time. If they take this down to the wire again then December 8 is the anniversary of the lowest share price of 35p.
I would think they would put themselves in a very challenging predicament with the LSE if they do any of this obvious manipulation though. It's surely criminal manipulation of the business to gain financial advantage at the expense of honest investors, especially as BVT have been effectively running Defenx since April as majority shareholder and were granted a Whitewash Resolution when they became so, avoiding them having to make a compulsory offer that would have been far more expensive to them than these figures. I don't think Prince would be party to such shenanigans. He is the outgoing CFO and wouldn't want to face prosecution for such conduct especially when he has nothing to gain.
I can't find my references at the moment but I am sure there are several institutional investors in Defenx who would not tolerate their investments being manipulated in this way either.
I don'Philipp Prince
My reading is that the 2017 accounts have been deliberately delayed to avoid a collapse in share value. They do not have any good news to report yet, such as Board successors, to offset the bad accounts news, so getting their house in order before releasing the accounts is the news management strategy. If so, that points to resuming operations as DFX.
The only operational data we have is what was in the RNS in April and since then Defenx’s suspension on AIM. None of which is healthy. I’d like to talk it up but we have to be honest and objective that there is nothing to cheer from an operational point of view. It’s about as bad as it gets.
Not filing accounts to the extended deadline is pretty ridiculous, especially given the obvious intellect of Phillip Prince, the current but outgoing CFO.
The only positive news is Friday’s RNS stating that they are at an advanced stage of appointing a new CFO and an intent to publish the accounts that will enable the resumption of trading. (That will need careful management though to avoid a wholesale share dump for pennies.) However, that is consistent with maintaining operations.
The only positive facts are BVT’s £multi-million investment in DFX, Boccardo now being omnipotent on the DFX Board, as he is with BVT, and that he must have known the poor state of the 2017 accounts when he decided to invest further in DFX in April. To me, that means he values DFX’s assets and will either resume operations with a new slimmed down Board else enact a takeover and absorb DFX into BVT.
The worst case scenario though is obviously administration.
The worst case scenario is Defenx going into administration and the assets (the software) being sold to the highest bidder and creditors losing everything.
The vast majority of trades on the LSE are automatic, via algorithms, not retail. I expect most of those trades late this afternoon were auto-buys and -sells creating their own turbulence and the respective wacky prices.
The only Director on the Board after Prince and Seelig have gone will be Boccardo, the owner of BV Tech. Plus Reeves who is make-do Exec Chairman. Boccardo is also the only real Director of BV Tech plus two “Advisors”.
Mineral & Financial Investments Ltd were also suspended today for the same reason as DFX and have committed to publishing their accounts by end-July. DFX can make no such commitment. They’re in real trouble else a takeover is imminent.
Suspension and delisting are entirely different things. I would have thought the accounts up to end 2017 were completed some time ago as they are also subject to audit and any transactions since will be for this accounting year. They have until 30/06 to lodge so fine. They cannot be accounting at transaction level at this late stage.
Strange that you can’t sell. I was wrong on the suspension. Maybe that’s imminent. Will be buying more on Thursday.
A penalty fee is levied for late accounts, companies aren't suspended. And the penalty fees are trivial:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/late-filing-penalties/late-filing-penalties
Unsurprising a week before results are published. Weak holders and remaining 8p share holders selling off. Conversely, several volume purchases of 10,000 and 25,000 in quick succession by someone interested in buying volume.
Indeed, I'm bullish. Hardly any shares, an apparent bottom price of 17p, 8p-profit-taking weak holders apparently sold out, imminent results and decision-making by BVT/Defenx. Letting go now would be foolish.
The Whitewash Resolution in April allowed BVT to participate in the open offer at 8p without having to comply with Rule 9, i.e. buy out independent shareholders because BVT would have 50+% of the shares. It wasn't to prevent BVT buying out; it was to enable them to participate without having to. If there is a further open offer, or BVT offer a buyout, then a buyout is back on the table. Else there is a recovery plan for Defenx and the shares carry on being traded.
Definite hold. Don't feed those who are desperate for cheap shares for the wrong reasons. BVT have invested circa £3m in cash in the past year. They need a return on that investment. The 2017 results in 2 weeks time plus BVT or Defenx making their necessary statements in July or August will determine whether there will be a Defenx recovery programme or BVT enact a buyout.
Not sure where you think the improved revenue/profit is coming from. The company has several serious operational issues that are directly affecting revenue and profit. A yet-to-be quantified 2017 loss; no visibility of this year's business and we're already half way through the year; performance issues with the technology leading to unpaid invoices so severe in volume and value that £1.2m funds had to be raised via a new share issue as recently as April to keep the company trading; loss of the Rome-based staff and all of their technical know-how; litigation that presumably includes compensation claims from customers who have suffered from the technical performance issues; a crippled executive team; a 2020 strategy that is principally based on cloud backup which is an extremely competitive market with many players - MemoPal's reviews and pricing are so-so. Defenx needs a CTO. It's problems are all technical, the effects are all commercial. Defenx has just 15 employees. I can only see technical solutions coming from BV Tech. BVT taking the technology and business in-house seems the best way forward, hence a takeover. That would also present a genuine new, solid business to the market to repair the legacy damage. But as I've said many times: all this is just opinion and guesswork until the accounts are published at the end of this month and people in the company far better informed than us actually start communicating.
Unilever was subject to a hostile takeover attempt last year. It's share behaviour had nothing to do with the takeover. This share's behaviour is peculiar. From a buy of a single share for 17p to a sell of £12.42k to a seemingly controlled SP of around 17p. It's not normal.