Member Info for bandit1

I do think that some are more than a little optimistic here. So, the ‘not so dynamic duo’ release the big news on getting the 100% back and yet the market shrugs and says, we’ll just wait for the raise as you are about run out of money. Predictable for most who have been around for more than a few minutes. I will acknowledge that the historic drill results will mean that some ( including me) will be keeping an eye on the raise RNS to decide whether the deal is attractive enough to risk more capital here especially with, IMO, a sub-standard management team. Look at their CV’s and you will know what I mean. A tricky one this as the potential is here with the historic results but sadly once again with small caps, the quality of management is such that it becomes difficult to believe that they can execute hence it becomes a trading stock. So, unless we see a decent cash injection from left field this will either go the same way as so many others. I will keep on my watchlist until the next raise which will come before the end of October .

I agree that quality management is everything especially in a company of this size. Good strategy and products can be killed by poor management as some folks will know only too well from their own investment experiences. My views are well known here, having called for a change in CEO and CFO for probably 2 years now. I can accept that not every CEO is an accomplished presenter but some address this by gritting their teeth and getting out in front of the investment community and promoting the company at every opportunity despite their inherent weaknesses. Last time I looked, one of the key competences of a CEO especially but also a CFO of a listed company is strong presentation and communication skills but what do I know?. Regular, clear and concise written comms would be great as a minimum but, shareholders are thrown a few crumbs and only if absolutely necessary - why? Doesn’t add up.

Take shareholders on the journey with you and you will be amazed what that does to build confidence, trust and loyalty, James. The most basic books on leadership will tell you that.

Due to my concerns about our management team I fear that the commercial deal with Haleon will be heavily weighted in their favour. They were selected over a year ago ( calling the shots) and still we wait for the launch which we are told will be next month. Lots riding on this now but it will take time for shareholders to really understand if the wait will be worthwhile and crucially what margin we will make from the US sales which will make or break FUM. Important to look through the $4m one-off payments as the real money is made from the volume products sales, provided that our margin is good enough.

None of the cheerleaders on here took up my invite a few weeks ago to explain to this board why the share price continues to languish despite this groundbreaking product which about to be distributed by one of the worlds top consumer goods companies in the worlds biggest market. For me, the market has no confidence in the ability of management to optimise the opportunity here, it is simple as that isn’t it?

I first invested here 7 years ago and have mentioned more times than I wish to remember that our weak management team will hold us back. The market has no belief or confidence in the BOD and their inability to present market updates enthusiastically, comprehensively, clearly and concisely comes back to bite time and time again. I have been calling for a new CEO and CFO and a professional PR for a couple of years with little support or interest hence why I sold out.

Repeat sales are clearly disappointing in UK and Belgium and management continue to be selective in the information they are giving out such is their inexperience, and even worse hiding behind confidentiality which IMO is disingenuous. There are ways to present data anonymously as most will be acutely aware.

This was a seminal moment for the company with maiden profits to announce, a decent cash balance with more to come yet shareholders have to endure a downbeat, uninspiring and curtailed presentation and Q&A which is becoming the norm, once again, which should not be a great surprise for those who have been here for a while. Indeed I strongly suspect that most of the Q&A included staged questions as none of mine were answered, they never are!

Perhaps cheerleaders who come on here and are close to Barder and our CFO would like to explain why the market has shrugged its shoulders once gain, why the announcement about the imminent US launch has done nothing to instil optimism about the future. Asking for a friend who remains a shareholder.

Most will know that we have , IMO, a weak CEO and indeed CFO whom I do not believe is a qualified Accountant ( asked around including our own management but no-one will confirm her qualifications) which, if correct beggars belief for a quoted company. Why does this matter some will say? Two reasons - one is credibility with financial professionals, brokers, bankers etc and the other is the ability to present and promote the company and its prospects to the investment community in a way which engenders confidence and optimism. We have failed miserably over the years to do this as those long standing shareholders will testify to. Secrecy around sales and margins is commonplace and we hide behind commercial confidentiality. What a load of tosh. We would rarely ever see detailed financials from any listed company if they played this card yet some people accept it as the norm which is far from reality.

The modest rise is not unexpected to me for the reasons I have outlined and indeed I expect the price to fall back pre the interims unless the BOD start to communicate properly with the market with less obfuscation and more detail and clarity. Not much to ask is it but I do not believe that we have the capability at BOD level to do so.

Well, there are some very active new posters who have clearly bought in @ 4p or 3p and are fighting very hard to justify their investments to themselves and others with little real understanding of the history of our not so dynamic Chmn/CEO combo. I have steadily sold over many months, a fairly large position in this penny stock at a hefty loss such is my dismay at the behaviour and messaging of BG and LC. Thankfully, I can take the hit on the chin.

I took a punt some years ago based on the presence of Newmont ( on the share register) and Agnico despite my reservations about the lack of skin in the game by our top 2! I will never make that mistake again. The vanity projects have come and gone but let’s face it they were just a distraction to justify their salaries and despite what Brad said about the modest cost involved they would have cost money that we could barely afford to waste with no return whatsoever.

Some weeks ago I suggested that with the cash burn run rate we would have no option but to raise at a similar discount to last time with warrants attached, of course. I was wrong about the price of the raise so I will now suggest that 2p is looking like the new figure IMO.

After a career with more lowlights than highlights ( Brad’s own words) and as someone with a few grey hairs it is frankly absurd that our Chairman and CEO combo have so little assets or conviction ( or both) to invest in the company which they are running, which says it all, but they need others to do so to keep the gravy train moving along the tracks.

So, despite the obvious upside should a miracle happen and they find a resolution, giving us control again allowing us to drill, drill, drill, I am prepared to sit with just a modest residual holding which I will exit fully on any spike. More likely, a 2p raise with warrants and more flaky promises will be just around the corner given recent history. Another AIM case study in why poor management and poor execution of management responsibilities can kill great potential.

MaisieMoo12 - you joined LSE in June this year apparently, you act like an 18-year old, you have no knowledge of the history and failings of the ‘not so dynamic duo, you are a fraud IMO. I suspect either, that you have recently bought in here with limited research so are trying to talk up your £500 investment or you are one of the juniors working on the next fund raise so trying to keep people interested before it all goes Pete Tong. You bring nothing to the party so you are filtered.

Difficult to be precise about how much cash we have left in the Bank but assuming a run rate of USD200k per month which is modest compared to last few years, by my calculations we could have less than USD1m now. Whilst there has been minimal spend on the vanity projects the legal fees will be very high given the time taken to sort out this mess with MMA and of course the over-generous remuneration for our not so dynamic, duo along with costs to mobilise the drill rigs, people etc as we were led to believe that we are poised to drill, drill, drill.

Next week will be 6 months since we raised the paultry USD650k and no warrant monies have come in otherwise we would be notified. This leads me to the conclusion that Brad and Louis have limited options and are now back in the same corner as they found themselves at the start of the year. Either raise a small amount again with TPI or someone else at a similar discount as Feb with more warrants attached so let’s say raise at 2.55p ( 3.35- 0.80) to tide us over for another few months or convince a JV partner to come in with a more substantial position ( if they are brought inside with absolute certainty on taking back 100%) and they will take a chunk of equity say, $2m for 20% with additional stage payments to allow a comprehensive drilling programme to help to prove up our most attractive prospects. As much as I would like to dream that Newmont may get more involved they are realising $2bn of cash from asset sales atm so will have no interest in us at this stage as we are just too insignificant for them to even think about us IMO. Struggling to see what else may happen in the short term but welcome other reasonable scenarios.

Understandably, high levels of frustration and anger here. Those who have been patient and have been hanging on hoping that the ‘ not so dynamic duo’ would do something right for once feel let down once again and feel silly for believing that this time would be different. Those who are defending Brad are clearly new to OMI, probably naive and with an entry price which is much lower than most of us.

I have said previously and I will say again, that Brad and his faceless Chairman pal have no background of merit and no track record to speak of hence have no real grasp of the commercial realities at play here otherwise why are we so wide of the mark in forecasting delivery dates. What I find galling is that our ‘ not so dynamic duo’ had a year doing next to nothing when they could have been all over the commercials and legals. What were they doing? Many of us invested here way back due to the powerful partners (who sadly now have bigger fish to fry) and we were comforted that they would do the heavy lifting and we would ride along on their coat tails. Trouble we have now is that all shareholders have to rely on two directors who have barely delivered a pizza in their business careers. Others here have succinctly outlined the failed promises time and time again and the pursuance of vanity projects across the globe some of which have vaporized as quickly as they appeared but they kept the air miles clocking up for a year or so. Sadly, many are trapped here at a high entry and it is always difficult to cut and run from experience.

Money will be running out pretty swiftly and unless a JV partner is found as part of the closure of this deal who will pony up some cash to pay over-inflated salaries and drill, we will have to raise soon and I think it will happen at a big discount once again. Discussions will be ongoing with brokers now, that I have no doubt. I have shifted some more shares over the last 48 hours in anticipation and will simply wait in the vain hope that I can exit my remaining pile fully on a spike if we ever get this thing over the line. Others will no doubt be waiting to do the same which tells me that the risk remains firmly to the downside here. Much better management teams elsewhere worth backing. All IMHO.

Bhargav - I am afraid that you are incorrect again re your persistent reference to warrant holders flogging. I offloaded 500k shares today which was a portion of my holding none of which were acquired in the heavily discounted, and some may say dumb, raise. These were acquired in the market at 2.5p so no drama. Why offload now you may ask? Well, our bumbler in chief Brad continues to over-promise and under-deliver. Will he ever learn - I very much doubt it? As someone who posts rarely these days but has followed the last couple of years with raised eyebrows and gritted teeth I am convinced that we will see another heavily discounted raise to coincide with the announcement to resume full ownership. When will this happen - absolutely no idea as Louis our hapless Chairman is still struggling to deal with the other sides lawyers and regulator who will have no incentive to move this along quickly.

Despite a low market cap and some terrific prospects you need talent and cash ( for drilling) to deliver value both of which are, sadly, in short supply here. I wonder what Rick Rule thought! So, I will hang onto my remaining holding in the vain hope that we have found an investor/partner who sees the potential but I fear that in meetings with Brad, who openly admits that his CV is on the thin side, they will drive a hard bargain and we will have to take less than what our prospects should dictate. Of course, if we see a late July RNS with a terrific deal and cash to boot with modest dilution I will have to doff my cap to our dynamic duo and eat my words. Let’s see, but history suggest otherwise. You may hear from me again if we have any reason to jump up and down…….

Been a member here for 6 years yet you only post on FUM. Perhaps you work for the company or you are an inexperienced investor who cannot see the wood for the trees? Doesn’t matter to me but you don’t appear to know a great deal about how companies and markets should function. I have been consistent in my view here that James has developed a terrific product yet the ‘ not so dynamic duo’ don’t have the requisite skills to monetise it. Pity.

Just looked in briefly after selling out completely after the last webinar when Barder spent most of his time looking out of the window. It seems that others are slowly catching on that Barder and Hildreth are IMO out of their depth. That can be evidenced by the fact that they hid behind ‘ commercial sensitivity’ yet could provide much more granular data on sales to date yet choose not to do so. You may wish to ask yourself why. Now, our CFO, who is a rare breed in the UK stock market in that she is not a qualified accountant, may be struggling to put together the data or perhaps it is just not very good so they are holding off for the US launch. I sold out due to a complete lack of confidence in our ‘not so dynamic’ duo evidenced by signing up Haleon despite the fact that will take well over a year to launch in US. Either they signed the deal before they knew how long it would take otherwise just hold off or choose another partner with greater urgency. In the meantime they take salaries and bonuses and options so no hardship for them protem. Now, I will unable to vote against Barder and Hildreth at the AGM but I sincerely hope that LO put the pressure on behind the scenes. I retain this on my watchlist in the hope that we see a change in top management at which time I may invest again.

I wondered how long it would take for some to realise that we have a very weak CEO/CFO in this company. The R&D success was down to Ken James and the real weakness is that we don’ t have the brainpower at operating executive level to make the most of this opportunity. I have been beating this drum for longer than I care to remember so having sold out fully after 7 years I will continue to watch from the sidelines in the hope that our relatively new Chairman has had long enough in situ to figure this out for himself and bring in some quality people. Sadly, it may be too late as the key commercial deals have already been done! Another small business that promises much yet fails to deliver whilst the average managers make sure they are rewarded generously. Main Directors, hopefully, will be up for re-election at the AGM so that is the time to express your dissatisfaction with their performance.

Zak - is this a statement of known fact or a total guess? If the former you are an insider and should not be making others insiders, if the latter you are just as clueless as everyone else the difference being that others don’t posts opinion as facts. Best to ignore you I think.

Outlook is what will get noticed today IMO as the f/y was already out there, with performance ytd looking very positive indeed. Revenue up 30% y/y up to 12th April. Management will be negotiating with prospective buyers over 2024 and 2025 numbers and any price agreed will be based on how likely these forecasts can be delivered.

Dumped the rest of my holding today. The presentation on Wednesday was embarrassing. It seems evident watching that Barder and Hildreth are both out of their depth, and whilst I was prepared to accept the management shortcomings given that we received FDA approval, I have serious reservations about the commercial deal that has been struck. Gross profit of 57% doesn’t mean anything without knowing what the commercial deals will deliver to the bottom line. The Haleon team would have driven a very hard bargain and our less than impressive duo would IMO have struggled in negotiations when sitting across the table with Haleon negotiators. It could take 18 months from announcing the Haleon deal last June, to launching. Let that sink in. Sure, the launch may come sooner but we seem to be entirely at the mercy of our distributors who are clearly calling the shots and all Barder does is to hide behind NDA’s. I remain a bit surprised that LO have not put more pressure on them to strengthen the management team. Sadly I think this will disappoint and even after launch in US it will take an age to get any meaningful data.

Well, our out of depth ‘lite’ management team never fails to disappoint. We have a media shy CEO and a CFO who is not a qualified accountant so this was always going to be a high risk play. Great product, poor execution. My fear is that our weak CFO has given too much away on the margins but it is impossible to tell as we receive little or no financial data with which to calculate. Despite urging Barder to strengthen the team we bring in a NED who works one day a week. Who would sign a commercial deal for US in June 2023 and allow it to drift for so long leaving the uncertainty to hang over the share price? Again, inexperience has caught them out. I will say it again, we need commercially savvy, proven commercial executives with experience of FMCG. IMO Barder does not have the courage to bring others in who will make him and CFO weak. So much potential but the market can see the weakness. I sold half of my holding months ago when I did not receive satisfactory answers from Barder. See you next year!

Having studied the daily trades over the last couple of weeks it seems to me that someone ( potential acquirer ?) has been/is using a VWAP ALGO to acquire as much as they can under the radar hence we are steadily drifting up. Has anyone else noticed this? My evidence would be at the higher vol parts of the day so, on open, 11am, 2pm and close we have a buyer steadily acquiring stock at mid. Hopefully this will continue and increase the closer we get to the results and the latest offer period backstop date.

As is often the case on here I think people are getting ahead of themselves and are so ‘desperate ‘for news ( understandable up to a point given the last couple of years) that they are setting themselves up for disappointment. As some have said, Shaun is en route back from US and I expect that he will say little more than he said on Sunday Roast. Perhaps there will be something to be gained from body language at the TH but we know he should be excited at the opportunity which faces him but IMO we should think months rather than days or weeks for material news. Not long ago Shaun stated that he expected NEM to stick with their 70% stake so I think he was as surprised as the rest of us and only found out when the NEM announcement was made. Just perhaps he received a heads up before the market opened in AUS out of courtesy but large corporates don’t have time nor the inclination to tell all partners ahead of the market of their strategic intent. Yes the future is exciting but it remains uncertain until such time as we know whether we are successful in exercising our final right of refusal and at what cost. I have my feet firmly planted on the ground albeit that I continue to believe that we have a better chance than most small explorers to make the move to mid-cap producer.

Well the shorters will have a field day here until we issue an announcement. I have recently asked Shaun what has happened to Chris Toon and why no RNS and still waiting for a reply. There is a great opportunity here and I fully agree with others here that our rock star board have now to step up to the plate. Over to you guys.

Jackbal - you are correct in your assumption that it would have been a frustrating and somewhat pointless exercise for you to watch more hot air from within Billy Smarts Circus. I did, as I wanted my daughter ( currently doing an MBA) to watch with me and to understand what should go down as an unfortunate case study of how not to do it! Our GEO ( not a CEO in my book) Brad likes to pontificate at length about what they are ‘hoping for’ and ‘expecting to’ do whilst at the end of every sentence he provides a disclaimer or cautionary note as to why this may not be possible, to cover his backside. As for going to a conference with a ‘goody bag’ as justification for raising diddly squat at a large discount along with cheap warrants, well that leaves me convinced that they take us PI’s all for mugs and will happily keep doing what they are doing as we can’t stop them ( this is the thing that really gets me as they know they would have been booted out if we could vote). Why don’t you sell out I hear some wags say? Don’t worry as soon as this tortuous Anza situation is resolved one way or another and the price spikes, as it will bit probably not by that much as we have no credibility any more, I will gladly exit and save you all from my ramblings about this most dreadful management team.