focusIR May 2024 Investor Webinar: Blue Whale, Kavango, Taseko Mines & CQS Natural Resources. Catch up with the webinar here.
Stocko's figure will have been taken from tinybuild's own shareholders list web page which is months out of date. There is nowhere to find LB's current holding. The company is not obliged to disclose it for another two months.
Which brokers? Let me guess. Katie Cousins of Shore Capital, who called big BUY just before the last 40% day drop. Sorry to be cynical.
Liberum's latest report walks back the Total War comparator. They are now saying Dawn of War, The top conversation on Frontier's Steam forum is Frontier vehemently denying a player saying:
dawn of war 3 again
its looks it and it just has that moba combat feel i hope i am wrong
Dawn of War 3 was a widely derided flop.
So what's with the Share Options and Director/PDMR Dealing RNS today. Despite the headline, it details no director deals, just share option lapses.
Has FD left out director deals by mistake? Or put director deals in the headline by mistake?
The headcount spiel is simply bizarre. It is like they copy and pasted from the annual report of a profitable company with rising earnings and expanding output ... into the report of their loss-making company with falling earnings and shrinking output ... 'cos they want to be like that profitable company.
Sample below.
_____________________
During FY23 we grew our headcount through both the 800 and the 900 people milestones, finishing with 915 people as at 31 May 2023, across all of our teams. Organic growth is as strong as ever, with over 230 people choosing to join us during the period, and a further 18 people joining us from Complex Games through the acquisition we completed in November 2022.
Growing and investing in our people is a crucial element of our strategy, as we seek to both nurture and expand our game portfolio. For some of our development teams that means growth in terms of both headcount and capability, and over time we will look to increase the number of our development teams in order to grow the number of projects that we can support at any one time.
the Group has been able to continue with current headcount growth plans and has sustained a high level of recruitment to support the roadmap
Preorder? Ah, you're one of the gullibles who believed Frontier PR.
Yes Frontier claimed it would offer preorder on Steam but it failed to do so. Very few Steam publishers have the status required to be allowed preorders.
Frontier instead has been selling it on Steam for six weeks as prePURCHASE. If you don't know the difference, go do a little bit of research. While you are at it, see Steam warns publishers against prepurchase, especially for extended time, unless the title is heavily anticipated and heavily marketed.
Tbis is why Frontier are now offering REFUNDS. If you don't know what a refund is, again, research. This is because Frontier have actually been selling the game for 6 weeks, taking money for it. So them dropping the price now forces them to repay the difference from the money they've taken.
Do your research.
So this Warhammer price cut has had no meaningful effect on sales so far. Game is still not even in the Steam chart top 1000. Perhaps there'd be more sales if more players were hearing about it, but for some reason the game is getting very little press coverage.
Or more accurately, to its lack of customers.
Warhammer Realms of Ruin.
Following dismal sales performance and criticism that the game does not deliver enough to justify the high price, Frontier now announces discount and refunds for the game.
"10% discount for Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin will be available on Steam from October 9th until November 17th! Those who have already pre-ordered Realms of Ruin at full price will receive a partial refund of 10% of the value already paid via Steam."
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1844380/view/3738606975166981547
This is a major point some people have overlooked. F1 2023 was likely a bigger disaster than we see, Frontier concealing the sales numbers, and its model is one Frontier is now steering away from. But.... Warhammer, which has cost even more, is on the same model! It shows all the same blunders such as casual audience targetting, and with only a month before release, is much too late to steer away. Anyone expecting Warhammer to be a less of a disaster is simply not being realistic.
I see your point but then that £1.5m to pay plus the £1.6m already paid does not add up to the £3.3m total.
Anyway, the difference is just one month respite before cash runs out. Even including that, how do you come to the conclusion they have plenty cash and will not hit zero?
On headcount, they have declared growing the teams a major pillar of their recovery plan. I can't see why would you think they won't do it.
Where did you get £1.5m remaining payable for the aquisition? Financials explicitly state £3.3m, plus conditional £7.5m over five years.
I got £26.4m cash burn for this FY completely from the current financials' figures and declarations. Take Q1 burn from Current Trading add additional spends such as costs of the aqusition, EBF, staff increase to 1100+, etc.
This consevatively assumes the declared "headcount growth plans" do not exceed the current rate of 230 heads added per year.
Crypto, we have no need for the CFO's so-called proxy for cash flow because we have the actual cash flow.
£26.4m is the true cash burn for this FY, projected from the given figures including the next two payments for the Canadian aquisition which you left out, assuming unchanged rates of earnings and hiring.
From starting cash of £28.3m leaves year end cash at under £2m.
Looks like quite a problem.
"The adjusted EBITDA figure is the one that they look at" Yes and the one they want you to look at. The CFO's claim it measures cash profit is utter bull. EBITDA is fairytale accounting. Cash, not EBITDA, is what pays the bills.
Teddy yes I saw the investor webcast and heard the CFO say he's confortable wth the cash. Huge red flag. Because his figures show he should not be comfortable at all. If you think he won't go for a cash raising issue, then let us hear your theory on how the company will meet the cost of making the next game.
"agree much was spent on R&D for last 2 years but that's expected with 2 completely new games and genres outside of FDEV comfort zone, to create new market audiences"
Those two games completely failed to create new audiences and delivered a £15m loss. That is what we expect when a company wanders a mile outside its competance zone. The fact the board didn't expect it is one of the reasons they have to go.
Their mindset is even worse than that. They cannot even accept they are making mistakes. Years back on the Elite Dangerous Odyssey shambles Braben publicly apologised but F1M has been far bigger a disaster and Braben is completely silent. The company is blaming everyone else from the customers to Max Verstappen. No kidding.
"Issuing new shares and buying more studios, won’t help, if you’ve still got the same people that messed up over and over again in place."
Yes yes yes.
There needs to be a motion of no confidence at the AGM
If Braben and his team are being replaced, yes this cash rescue is prudent and could save the company.
If Braben and team are staying, well who in their right mind will give that bunch more money to p*ss away making garbage games. So yes this share issue will simply accelerate the SP drop.
From today's AGM agenda.
Resolution 13. That the Directors be and are hereby generally and unconditionally authorised to exercise all powers of the Company, pursuant to Section 551 of the Act, to allot equity securities (within the meaning of Section 560 of the Act) up to an aggregate nominal amount of £65,797.56, which represents one-third of the nominal value of the Company’s issued share capital at the date of this notice
There is a reason the SP is dropping. Big investors unloading following the flop of F1 Manager 2023, after three big flops before that. SP will not reverse direction until management reverses direction. Which will definely not happen before SP crosses 200p in a few days time.