Cobus Loots, CEO of Pan African Resources, on delivering sector-leading returns for shareholders. Watch the video here.
So there we have it. At last there is at least one side of the story regarding the parting of the ways at board level. It would be interesting to hear the other side, but when it appears to boil down to a suggestion that MAGP sell all its assets when prices are near rock bottom in order to change direction and go into a line of business totally different from the one previously followed, I personally see very little to recommend it. On the other side, under Rita's stewardship we have secured a line of financing which seems likely to end if this action was approved. New proposals are still coming in offering us the chance to participate in proven fields which should consolidate our position as one of the companies who have seemingly survived the tough times the industry has just gone through. The plan for the company still seems to be to use the board's expertise in the industry to prove up an increasing acreage thus building the value of shares which if NTOG and SS were to gain control, could conceivably be written down to virtually no value at all. Each to their own but I'm solidly behind Rita & Co and will be voting accordingly. There may have been accusations of nepotism in the past with members of Rita's family coming on board but the alternative is to climb on to a company and business plan run by SS's family so I'll stick by what we know and hope for a brighter future. Steven Snead seems to have lost faith in the MAGP model and other posters have expressed similar sentiments but we are still alive and kicking and appear to have everything to play for. Don't let's sleepwalk into losing all we hoped to achieve. Make sure that every available vote counts. GLA
Fair comment about our current situation but I was really referring to the past two companies that Rita (and Stephen) had been involved with. In both cases the format that MAGP has been following reaped very favourable rewards. That seemed to be happening again with MAGP and then the wheels fell off big time. This may have been down to the drop in oil price, the rise in shale oil production or decisions taken by OPEC. Of course there may also have been an issue with the tried and tested format not being suited to modern day thinking. Perhaps that's what caused the rift at board level. All thoughts and opinions are welcome
Well I did say we needed solid news and should be careful what we wished for and look what happened! Long term holder and trusted crew mate Smidsy seems to be leaning towards accepting the new order, trusting them to shake the company up and lead it to a brighter future. I however have a number of questions about that. 1/ If it is just Rita that they are looking to dislodge, what happens with our recent two additions to the board? I put the point in an earlier post about if there would be a further rights issue to create shares to pay them or if they would draw cash. 2/ A similar question to be asked about the two new board members. Cash or more shares in issue? 3/ What will happen to the flow of proposals for new well participations?. Rita seems to be the person that other operators trust to link up with and we don't want to lose that good will. 4/ What happens to the policy of proving well sites to accumulate a portfolio of productive land for sale? Will NTOG just asset strip MAGP's existing interests to incorporate into their own holdings turning them into production only units. 5/ What value would be put on MAGP shares? Many already feel we are undervalued and in the event of a takeover any potential future rise would be dependent on the new company policy not the old, previously successful one. 6/ If the move to dislodge Rita is successful would there be a block on her starting up another company? How many shareholders would jump ship and follow her if she did? There seems to be an awful lot of information required to make a reasoned judgement on what is the best course of action for those of us who had a medium to long term plan for our investments. Going on past experience I do wonder if that info will be forthcoming. I appreciate that no-one may be able to provide definitive facts at this stage and people's opinions with invariably differ but this is way to important for us to sleepwalk into. The General Election turned into a bit of a maelstrom, the last thing we want is for this to follow suit.
It seems like the latest news has stopped us in our tracks. Very few buys/sells in the last few days and this board has gone ominously quiet as well. With the oil price relatively stagnant despite Trump's opting out of the Paris agreement, the ongoing situation in Qatar and the increase in productivity in the USA, we need something to trigger a reaction. Slightly disappointed that there has been no clarification from the company about the NTOG situation and if that has anything to do with the call for an EGM but I suppose we are waiting for the result of their legal consultation. Agreed, bakeoven's point about if the call has any validity or not is spot on and I suppose we should be careful what we wish for, but I do hope that we get some solid news soon and this current impasse can be put behind us.
Good to see some of the long termers on here reiterating their stance on the company. It's a definite red for me. Having spent the weekend mulling things over, I prefer to stick with the team who have done the business in the past and seem to have the industry's confidence regarding proposals for new wells and financing of them. Rita seems to have a plan which fits my hopes for the future, so I guess I'll have to check out how to register my vote from my brokers so I can do my bit to repel borders if and when the time comes. GLA
What with the initial NTOG acquisition last week then the reassuring SP rise and podcast this week followed by this latest issue, we seem to be in somewhat turbulent times at the moment. Having met Rita at one of the London presentations, I have been cautiously optimistic about the long term future of the company albeit with a niggling undercurrent of uncertainty as to whether we would emerge from this period with anything like the kind of return I had initially hoped for. I didn't go to any of the presentations that Stephen Snead did so would be grateful for any input someone who did meet him may be able to provide about how he came across and if anything was said that may provide a clue to the reasons behind the recent split. At the moment I am inclined to stay loyal to Rita and throw my 3.5m shares behind any vote to keep things as they are now, particularly as being swallowed up by NTOG with the attached risk of asset stripping by them as they integrate MAGP into their operating methods doesn't hold much attraction. Rita has done the business twice before and, although MAGP has been going 9 years now and the plan seems to be taking longer than planned to come good, that can at least in part be put down to outside influences (OPEC, Oil Price etc). I would definitely like to see what sort of recovery may happen with updated trading figures and a change in the global situation before we see any move to ditch our existing operating model. Fingers crossed that this proves to be less worrying than it initially seems and we come out unscathed. Perhaps we'll see some movement in respect of director dealings and Rita can strengthen her position in the days and weeks ahead.