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I am old school Banzai and not convinced of the reliability, as yet, of generative AI. I recently asked my daughter for her thoughts (who has written a PHD thesis on this subject) and she remains somewhat sceptical so I take the lead from her. Oh well I will keep trying to find out whether Ms Hildreth is properly qualified to do this key job. By the way of anyone is interested, use Google to search Angela Hildreth, Perdu and you can see that she has been a finance manager in the hospitality industry in the past but nothing about her qualifications.
The Chat GPT BOT has scraped the media reports and told us what we already know. Perhaps you should ask it why we won’t turn a profit until 2025 despite signing multiple new deals and positive sales etc? I have asked the company if Ms Hidreth our Finance Director and COO is a qualified Chartered Accountant ( I suspect that she is not as I cannot find anything in my searches to confirm that she is, whereas with most listed plc’s it is quite easy to find references to an FD’s professional qualifications. They have failed to reply to this important question - why is that? The reason this is important is that we should have a CA in that role and crucially that we have made very serious gaffs in formal announcements to the market which should not and would not happen with the right calibre of senior people which IMO explains why we have dropped 40%. Can anyone help me out here that has better sources than I - perhaps you can ask Chat GBT Banzai and kindly share the response. Thanks and ATB.
The UK markets no longer accurately reflect fair value which is why more and more of our better companies are, and will continue to be snapped up by overseas predators especially as sterling is so weak. Once again our politicians have been too slow to react to the capital outflows and to introduce fiscal policy and regulatory enhancements to make UK equities more attractive for investors. Share buybacks are an obvious way to deploy excess capital to enhance EPS, and whilst it is difficult to be critical of this strategy due to undervaluation of equity, I would much prefer to see surplus cash being used for both organic and inorganic growth. Our management appear very competent which is a comfort and let’s hope we see their hard work and talent being rewarded in the fullness of time. I will be adding at these levels.
It is an undisputed fact that money has been leaving UK markets and small caps in particular for some years now and this has severely impacted the profits of market makers. This fact encourages spiv behaviour which we see constantly with smaller caps especially. This, coupled with almost non-existent regulation and the ability of hedge funds, often using Algo’s or private individuals using DMA in auction to manipulate prices day in, day out on days with lower volumes as we have seen for years with GGP. No action is taken by regulators and so it will continue unabated until GGP generate revenue in the near future and can move into other exchanges where the blatant manipulation is somewhat less. For those who refuse to buy into this and believe that markets are efficient and honest, ask yourself why would someone wait all day to sell shares at the end of day auction at the lowest price? Answer - to create a negative perception and to encourage weak sellers to offload so market makers can collect the cheap shares for an order or simply for the next leg up. Annoys the hell out of me too but I can deal with it as my target price is multiples above current levels but some will fall for it. Wouldn’t it be nice if we had a regulator that finally woke up to the most obvious fact that one of the many reasons why UK private investors are avoiding equities is that the cards are stacked too much in favour of those with the deepest pockets and with spurious morals.
I would like to see significantly more land sales in coming months ie. £50m + to reduce our debt burden. The company has more land than we need for the next decade or more and IMO we should have done so before now which is a strategic mistake by the Chairman/CEO as this would have allowed them to maintain the dividend which has hammered the share price. If you look at the major house builders in the UK, they have largely maintained or slightly reduced their dividend payouts but not cut them. More land sales along with new ‘ properly priced’ contracts will gradually lift the share price over the next year. I hope that the UK government may surprise the markets in the Autumn Statement by announcing fresh stimulus for housing in the form of a replacement to the Right to Buy scheme which may be wishful thinking but the national shortage of homes continues unabated and the Tories appear to be lacking ambition after Starmers plans for 300,000 new homes per annum. In a couple of years time this will return to 150p and above so a terrific entry price today.
The market reaction to today’s RNS has been telling in a positive way. Over the past 2 years each positive RNS has been met with very well placed, consistent selling by experienced shorting crews which has been incredibly frustrating for lth’s. The aggressive short covering over the past couple of weeks and crucially the fact that it appears as though the strategic sells have been absent this am sends a powerful message. No-one knows if they will return in an aggressive manner but this has all the hallmarks of a significant turning point for the share price which has been in a vice grip the likes of which I have rarely seen in my time in the markets. Of course it may also be true that some with deep pockets have been buying in such volume that the shorts have been ‘controlled’ but sentiment appears to shifting in favour of reflecting the potential which many here have believed in for some time. So, more regular drill results, updated MRE hopefully with Newmont’s blessing and perhaps we will see more institutional interest as the spectre of uncertainty is removed and as the runway for production with FS, DTM timings much less ambiguous.
Just watched the webinar and was so disinterested in the latest vanity project, I skipped it forward to Q&A’s. Will keep it short. My questions were not answered again and Turner Pope were a joke as the staged questions were so ‘staged’ it was as expected and a total waste of time. Flagstaff, as someone else said probably have a brief to talk this up for a raise in 2024. Good luck with that. Brad, the principal clown, spent most of his time justifying the latest roll of the dice describing Nigeria as a ‘great place to do business’. I wonder who was convinced with that line. Perhaps he thought we would be comforted that he has inked a deal with his ex-business partner, yes that’s correct, his ex-business partner.
He also has the afront to suggest that any pleb shareholders who dare question why a small cap should raise money, don’t know what they are stalking about and should not invest in this sector! Most of us are probably more successful and knowledgable than he will ever be yet he dismisses these concerns whilst we face the miserable prospect of raising more funds at this paultry level with the prospect of severe dilution which is the real issue at play here as if they give a damn. We, or at least I, invested in an exciting JV with 2 majors but OMI is turning into a crap shoot IMO. Sadly, I can see what is coming which is a fund raise in early 2024 either to drill ANZA best case or to fund the crap shoot which will wipe out most of us with an average of 10p and above. I will not invest another penny in Billy Smart’s Circus. As for the main clowns, it is, as you were, as they will simply award themselves new options and that is why, when directors don’t put their hand in their pockets and buy a significant amount of shares with taxed income, they can do what they want with impunity, especially when you can’t even fire them at an AGM. So, they will continue to take their over-inflated salary and bonus for delivering less than nothing which, in other words, is a huge destruction of shareholder value. What a shambles this is.
I should have finished by saying that the same happened at IQE ( semiconductor design and manufacturers) where scientists developed a great product but had no idea how to interact with the investment community so IMO failed to take advantage of the potential.
PSV - Yes I have written to Barder highlighting the glaring deficiencies in the skill set of senior management ( him and FD in particular) and he simply passed my note to his external PR to reply which said nothing. I have seen this situation play out in many small caps where you have inventor/ scientist/ chemist types creating an exciting new product yet they fail to optimise the potential as they don’t have the courage or awareness to bring in people who possess the skills required for the next chapter in the development of the business. This is when the Chairman/ NED’s should step in. I can only hope that something changes here before it is too late.
I suspect that the quote in the Nigerian rag was a misquote or a mistruth from a third rate journalist or that Castro was playing Billy Big Balls throwing around big numbers of what might be as the Chairman of a “leading” - see what I mean about third-rate journalist - Canadian mining company. We are “leading” the way to the bottom of the Niger Delta at this rate.
The Clowns will pass on Anza with nothing of substance to say, duck all the tough questions with platitudes and obfuscation and as no one else is interested in the 3 vanity projects it will be deemed a complete waste of time but they can tick off shareholder comms for another few months. That is a prediction as to what we have come to expect from the Clowns which we have running this company as evidenced by their complete incompetence with the JV negotiations and destruction of shareholder value. That is a fact. One thing that I am sure about is that neither will be appointed into a position of any substance in a quoted company going forward but that is no consolation to shareholders here and now.
DandD - it was a very inexperienced, some might say, amateur comment which experienced FD’s and CEO’s would not make. This is one of the reasons why some short termer’s have sold down, as well as a larger seller. It was a completely unnecessary and damaging statement and indeed why can they be so sure when so little sales data has been made available for them to see through and assess profitability that far out!. Anyone would think they wanted the price down to award nil cost options! They are signing new contracts each month so what about the sales from those relationships in new jurisdictions in 2024 and UK/Europe for this year and next?. I have a large investment here and when I read this pronouncement I should have sold down as others clearly have, but decided I would tough it out. I wonder what our Chairman is doing to reign Barder and the FD in from making inane statements like that going forward. Hire someone savvy enough to deal with the markets for goodness sake. To the poster who asked for justification as to why senior management are not doing a good job perhaps you should reflect upon what I have said and the collapse of the share price thereafter! Private investors are ignored by Barder ( at least I have been) but I do hope that the Portfolio Manager at Lombard Odier has picked up the phone and explained that Barder and the FD should apply for an Investors relations course tout de suite otherwise they will be voted out quicker that you can say Eroxon.
Recent award of nil cost ( no risk or ambition) options, vague financials, poor PR, consistent seller and limited buyers, inexperienced and out of depth management team. So, great product and terrific potential but the bottom line is that you require really good management who understand commercial business and how to communicate to stakeholders to optimise success.
Yes it is pretty obvious that this character has an agenda as he pops up just when momentum is moving in this right direction for those of us who are long investors. Unless there is a delay with Ortex data it looks as though the 10m+ plus bought this week in big chunks were not shorts covering and in fact ‘proper’ buys which perhaps explains why some are becoming a little edgy. Market makers have had a decent week buying from those who bailed at 5.8p level and selling to others at 6.2, 6.4, 6.6 and 7p yesterday. Truth however is that those shorting have made a lot of money here and therefore can risk having their profits shaved somewhat. At some point there will be a big move upwards here and I suspect that will be when our new owners make some sort of public announcement about their intentions. In the meantime keep an eye on the daily auctions folks as they tell a story.
There is no doubt that the clowns would be voted out in a heartbeat if we were in a position to vote. I sincerely hope that Breaktwister can make some headway with FCA complaint. I will be penning numerous questions to the clowns but sadly they are usually ignored. If we all ask why AIM investors are unable to vote and that we should be allowed to going forward, surely he must provide an answer otherwise he is bang to rights. I accept that he will know that Clown 1 and Clown 2 would most likely be voted out but what else can we do to exercise our shareholder rights. This is a complete s***hole and most people are not remotely interested in the 3 vanity projects but Clown 2 is attempting to normalize OMI with a new business model focussed on no-hope early stage pipe dreams rather than a JV with 2 majors in a highly prospective region. If the clowns get their way his company may not exist in a few years time.
It is rare to come across a company that appears to be completely devoid of imagination, self-promotion and positivity. JB is extremely dour as a personality and this comes across in communication. My 5-year granddaughter could have written a more exciting RNS than this one. Anyone would think that they don’t want anyone to know about Eroxon. I will say it again, this comes across as amateur and that they are not savvy enough to communicate to the market which is very irritating indeed. The irony is that most companies without much to shout about over-exaggerate, but we do the opposite!! Hire someone smart with a marketing bent who understand the value of effective communication before you miss the boat!!
Jackbal - the clowns IMO are clearly out of their depth and I suspect had a plan to milk the USD2m which is most likely why they accepted the cash for giving up control of the JV and so they have another year delivering diddly squat. Less than £3k of trades today on the back of this joke of an RNS which is all it deserves. Sadly, I cannot see any way now that we will see new investors coming in here even on dilution which is inevitable and at these prices we will all be wiped out anyway. The reputation of our 2 clowns will go before them given this debacle so unlikely to be able to convince others to part with their money on early stage pipe dreams in far flung, high risk jurisdictions. How can these clowns sleep at night?
I wrote to James Barder last week making some suggestions as to why the market has punished our share price at a time that most would reasonably expect it to be flying with new investors coming onboard. I suggested that they also need a more experience Finance Director who can develop strong relationships with institutions and brokers and that the company need to up their game in getting the message out as well as more clarity on financials within the bounds of what is allowed under forward looking statements etc. Barder appears to have simply passed my email to Optimum Cumminications who provided a totally anodyne reply and referred me to the company’s website and future RNS’s. This is what I mean about amateur. At some point this will move ahead probably with US launch and more granular sales data whenever that is announced but I am starting to question whether we have the people with the requisite skills to make the most of what they have created so far. That will limit my investment to what is a decent sum already invested but without the CEO and CFO of the right calibre Futura may not deliver its full potential which would be a travesty IMO.
Just about every shareholder would expect that the clowns spend every moment of their time and energy sorting out the JV mess as that is where the value is yet they swan around the world and create yet another pointless vanity project. This company will go down in my long investing history as the most farcical by a very long way.
Just when you think it can’t get any worse these 2 clowns peg out some vacant land in one of the most corrupt countries on the planet expecting to find lithium. More flights, more corporate expenses, more nonsense from our clowns. You could not make this up.