Charles Jillings, CEO of Utilico, energized by strong economic momentum across Latin America. Watch the video here.
Martinelick - simple question for you. Do you think a public company CFO should be a qualified Chartered Accountant? I only discovered that she was not after I invested and as 90% or more listed CFO’s are properly qualified CA’s I assumed incorrectly, which is my bad and I have managed my investment risk accordingly. My own experience of listed companies is that most Board's would consider it to be non-negotiable requirement. The CFO is accountable for all things financial and her role is to brief the CEO and Board on all things financial including what to say but I assume that you know that. Furthermore, I suspect that many institutions in doing their due diligence will red flag this issue in assessing management capabilities so it may be a challenge to attract more institutions rather ironically! . It as a fairly common issue when a small cap in the scientific or pharma space grows rapidly after a successful discovery and needs to backfill with more experienced executives to successfully monetize the new product . We are no different IMO and our new NED is a start but we need to do more.
Indeed this early extension is good news although there is so little information in the public domain we are all ‘mushrooms in the dark’. I have exchanged correspondence with Barder since the ‘Gerald Ratner’ moment suggesting that he should hire a properly qualified CA to replace Hildreth and that the inexperience in communicating financial forecasts to the market is damaging the share price.
I was pleased to see the new NED hire which is better than nothing but still falls short for me. On the rise last week I decided to sell down 50% of my substantial holding until I see a change in FD and/or a properly detailed set of financial forecasts supported by granular ‘actual’ data that allows me to put a fair value on the company. Broker forecasts should be ignored as they rarely can be trusted. Perhaps if we are lucky we will hear more in March/ April about the US launch by Haleon ie. specifics and not vague statements. A strong and experienced CEO/CFO combine are adept at communicating the right information at the right time. Our duo don’t have that experience so let’s hope the new NED gives them the direction that we are currently lacking. So much potential here but not enough talent to optimise it IMO.
I must confess that I did not see a £2m short bet being taken out last week AFTER we dropped so much from the 11.5p we reached on 4th Dec. Yes the MRE was published on 21 Dec so perhaps this Hong Kong based hedge fund was waiting to see the numbers and have reacted to the fact that no reserves were published. Not convinced by this as it was unlikely to be much better than what was published given that GGP were leading and would be naturally cautious. The reserves will be published in the fullness of time when NEM engage with the process. Perhaps they are working with other actors whose interest it is to see our share price continually depressed such that the churn from PI’s to Institutions is accelerated due to the fact that we are within 12 months of first production. We have seen some of that churn recently but there is a long way to go. Perhaps a cheap buy-out is the objective. Again not convinced as still far too many shares in PI hands so it would be a big risk and unlikely to succeed.
All conjecture but I would be surprised if Wyloo or those in their wide network of contacts in Asia didn’t know this fund. If they did not before, they will know them now and will be keen to understand this MO at this crucial time ahead of any strategic pronouncements from NEM as to their intentions with their 70% stake in Havieron. Some may say I am reading too much into this and that it could just be a punt on forcing the price back down to 6p to collect £0.5m but I would argue that the timing leaves them open to news at any time from NEM or indeed news on our many tenements so smart folk would take the punt after a sharp rise not a sharp drop! I really want to ask Shaun for his take on it but understandably it would be an unfair question and he would not be able to comment.
My best guess is that this fund are working with others with a clear objective to keep the price suppressed as we have seen for some time now. In many ways if you can handle the subterfuge and frustration it makes may even more determined to tough this out for a lucrative pay day over the next year or two. There are so many twists and turns here but this is what happens when you discover an ore body which is worth fighting for.
A Rule 9 mandatory offer is required when a ‘potential offeror’ buys through 30%. The Panel will be consulted by the advisers to the party who triggers the 30% threshold if that has been achieved as a result of the total shares in issue reducing. In practice the Panel executive will ask the advisers if their client has an intention to make an offer in the foreseeable future and have the powers to hold them to whatever they say ie. if they say they have no intention to make an offer and buy more they could get their knuckles rapped and be forced to sell down. As a non-statutory body The Takeover Panel have extraordinary powers. In this case with some of the shares, Royde may not be able to control voting rights entirely so adding to the complexity. The main test here is intent. If the Panel had any inkling that Royde was intending to creep up to a significant level above 30% to acquire the shares in the market ‘cheaply’ ahead of a formal offer at a significant premium, they would act. I can say this with some certainty having been involved with cases in my youth. Pleased that someone is buying shares here as the market still does not appreciate the potential with TIG.
As we wait for another deal to present itself from our Irish Walter Mitty I do wonder if the company will receive some heavy handed litigation from creditors who have been waiting patiently for payment for many months. Perhaps Tosca will have to extend another $5m just to keep the wolves at bay? This is IMO is the most immediate challenge facing OF whilst he dreams up a new deal to rescue what is left of this debacle.
Tosca received a waiver from the Takeover Panel in 2015 when they participated in a Placing which increased their stake from low-20’s to low 40’s. Ordinarily moving through 30% would require a Rule 9 mandatory offer to be made but the waiver precluded that. Nothing to do with AIM rules but Takeover Code rules. Since then we all know that they have continue to build their stake with participation in various raises. I do wonder if they are ruing their unstinting belief in OF. Thought we would have had the RNS today but must be tomorrow now or after close of play.
On 3rd January 2024 we reach the 6-month anniversary of the most latest suspension. Has OF ran out of blarney with the AIM regulators or will they be amenable to an extension? With a missing pile of cash still unaccounted for and with no proper explanation from the company to update the minority of insignificant PI’s and no Accounts etc it does not look good from where I am sitting but I am sure there will those who think it is just dandy!
The fact that Haleon are totally in control here makes the detail within the commercial agreement crucial but we are not privy to that of course. Given the inexperience of our CEO/CFO it is clear that investors are nervous that we have not negotiated a particularly favourable deal hence why we have so many sellers and so few buyers. I hope that is wrong. For some just wait until later in 2024 seems to be a sensible course of action unless the company start to produce granular data which allows the market to put a more favourable value on future cash flows. And so we wait……
Yes it seems that the bottom has come and gone thankfully and the integration of Precise will now generate value going forward. Like so many small caps in the UK markets they are priced to fail but it is a long old back to fair value so patience will be required. More capital needs to find its way into risk assets and small caps in particular before we see a decent return here IMO.
Well the Gerald Ratner moment on 16th September webinar when we were told that despite the terrific launch of Eroxon and the inking on US deal with Haleon, we will only break-even in 2024 and then move into profit in 2025, has literally decimated the share price. The share price was 50p on that day and despite extending the patent life we are 27p on the bid almost 50% down and the chart looks like a downhill ski run. What have the Board done about it publicly? Nothing, as they have gone to ground no doubt realising that they have screwed up and are acting like rabbits in headlights. What I cannot fathom out, as we are not provided with much information, is why the US is apparently so unattractive commercially? Are the assumptions that we will not launch until the end of 2024. If so, why? If not, why did we sign a deal which gives us so little value? One thing is certain and that is if there are no significant management changes here in the short term I will lose patience and head for the exit as it is as clear as night follows day that our CEO and CFO are not the calibre we deserve to monetise Eroxon. I am hoping that we are bought out but even a 100% premium from here would be disappointing so we can be relived that Lombard will have a major say in any corporate action. If you are reading this Mr Barder come out from your shell and tell shareholders what you are doing to deal with this slide and to justify your remuneration otherwise you will not survive at the next AGM.
Gwm121. - I don’t think you understand what we have been talking about. GDXJ is an ETF which is a basket of junior gold mining companies > $150m in size or revenue generating. These funds buy the shares of the constituents including GGP based on specific criteria and every quarter they will either buy or sell shares of the constituents depending on the flow of funds into or out of the ETF which has nothing to do with the gold price although this may influence the flows. There is some correlation between the price of gold and the value of the ETF but let’s not go there, so I think you have picked up the wrong end of the stick but nevertheless, hope this helps.
There are 2 funds , the large US fund which MH01 provides the link for below and the smaller fund which follows European investment law which TT highlights both of which rebalance this month and with more cash going in than withdrawals since last rebalance there could be more purchases of GGP.
It is clear as night follows day or should I say Shaun Day that we are building up a nice head of steam into the end of the year and on the back of a rising gold price and some more positive news today on some of our many tenements. One of our pillars is to continually explore and report findings from our vast portfolio of opportunities and in time this will provide a regular stream of exciting news which will make it more difficult for those who have had a field day manipulating the share price, to do so going forward. After hours today 10m was printed which was more volume than the sum total of transactions printed during the trading day. Of course not all of these were nefarious but it does raise eyebrows all the same as to why these can’t be printed during trading hours for full transparency. News from the updated MRE and hopefully some insight as to how our relationship with Newmont may develop going forward will set up up nicely into a new year which could be truly transformational for GGP.
Just to help folks understand the predicament we are in. Let’s assume that they need to raise £2m as cash is being swallowed up quickly. That would require the BOD to issue 100m shares say at 2.5p, so when you deduct all the professional fees net £2m. Now, with 188m shares currently in issue that would be over 50% dilution and £2m will not last too long with 3 vanity projects around the globe so more will be required which always puts a brake on the share price. Some have said that we should not raise new money at these levels so perhaps they can explain how salaries, air fares other operating costs can be met when there is no money left. Sure there is a £1.5m buffer but that is going very quickly. These vanity projects are all in their infancy and it takes a long time to generate any interest such as JV partners as many will appreciate. So, the smart thing to have done would be to focus all resources and energies on sorting out the JV debacle but our clowns have other ideas involving confetti and pipe dreams. Just pray that the JV starts again pretty quickly otherwise this will be ugly.
Impecunious your comment about Brad, the clown is hilarious. He has shown that he is one of the weakest CEO’s on AIM and has wrecked the share price along with Castro the other clown in mismanaging the JV agreement. His communication skills are beyond poor and he is not equipped to be a CEO. His forays into Brazil, Argentina and Nigeria smacks at desperation when he should be spending 100% of his time and the modest cash resources remaining on sorting out Anza.
For those who are new investors I can fully understand why you may punt a few £ here but for most with a much higher average and who have watched in horror the s**t show which has emerged here we now know how bad management are but sadly we are trapped especially so as we cannot vote them out. I did not invest in these new vanity projects, like many others, I invested with Newmont and Agnico. The clowns have bought virtually no shares with their own cash such that they can easily raise a few million at current levels, dilute heavily then simply issue a shedload of options at 2p or whatever price we have dropped to. I am pretty certain this will happen in early 2024. Makes no difference to them. My worst investment in over 40 years investing but I will just hope that we get something out of Anza as the other vanity projects are a complete waste of money but gives the clowns something to do.
Well allow me to say a few words. This is what happens to a share price when the Board gift themselves nil costs options whilst making an inane statement to the market that the company will only break even in 2024 before making a profit on 2025. I have asked this question before with no takers but will ask again. With a multitude of commercial deals being inked, some recently and more to come, why would you make such a negative statement which will most likely be proved wrong? Utter madness so Barder and Hildreth have gone to ground! Pity there is no AGM soon as they would struggle to retain their position as directors of a public company.
Decent performance but not good news about AL. I am expecting that the Chairman may offload another chunk of shares shortly. Some on here will know that his large disposal circa 12 months ago initiated the drop from 2500p to the current range. I will wait to see if he does before I buy some more.
A nice reminder TT although just a little bit scary that this was 6 years ago! It is a pity that GH decided to dupe shareholders a little time after that by secretly selling when he was announcing further purchases but he will have to live with that. More importantly, this is our most exciting prospect IMO given that there is proven mineralisation and crucially we own 100%. Of course, patience is required as it will take some time to assess the initial wave of drilling but in the interim there is no shortage of news to come between now and Q1/Q2 ’24 which may allow us to break out in a major way. Looking forward I am curious as to what may happen if we did identify a significant ore body in terms of who we may partner with ie. Would it be RIO or perhaps Newmont may want to partner with us as they know this land and they may be keen to re-build bridges after Newcrest blew them up, or perhaps Wyloo will want even greater involvement. All speculation at this stage I know but just highlights what is possible here.
Banzai - perhaps you could outline what they are as there is very little by the way of achievements which I was able to find in a senior role? Being appointed a NED of a start up does not mean a great deal. Bottom line is that I have a significant amount invested here as I can see that the work Ken James did in obtaining the relevant approvals was first class and we have the potential with Eroxon to do very well indeed.
That potential will only be optimised with a team of experienced, astute and professional executives. As a small company we rely principally on Barder and Hildreth for commercial and financial matters. Can you understand why I am so keen that we employ the correct calibre of people to turn this opportunity into a successful one as many companies at our stage of development, fail due to an inability to identify the right people to unlock value? I just hope that Lombard Odier are all over this and exerting pressure as they have the most skin in this game.