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"That change is settling a dispute, being paid for it and validating the IP so we can monetise elsewhere over time."
The dispute was supposed to be about infringements of patents. That is what it was presented as, for years. Most of the money from the settlement came from a sale of assets, not compensation for infringement. The amount obtained for infringement was below even the low-ball expectations, which themselves were only conveniently announced after the settlement. Why settle for such a tiny amount? It seems, rather than validating the IP, they have sold a substantial chunk of it for peanuts. Why else have they given absolutely no information about why it was necessary, or what it consists of?
"Monetising elsewhere over time" is a vague hope, rejected by the market, and equating it with a transformational inflection point is plainly silly - it's a cynical attempt to justify failure by kicking the can down the road, yet again.
Noticeable how Pru got marked down dramatically more than other insurers, despite virtually no exposure. MMs must know roughly what the exposure is - over the last few years they seem to have actively looked for excuses to drop the SP, presumably to encourage churn?
Still waiting for those promised benefits from the strategic Asian focus... any minute now...
"wedded"? Not much of a marriage if they are cheating with another company. CMR surely have a huge incentive to bid IF the tools offer an advantage, it's an obvious way to target market share, which is surely their main objective? To dismiss it out of hand seems illogical
Credit Suisse cuts Prudential price target to 1,480 (1,540) pence - 'outperform'
That's an interesting thought Theorist, and you can see the temptation for either Intuitive or CMR to buy them out and gain an advantage over the other, if they offer a significant enough advantage. They are kind of in an arms race now to integrate the tools with their systems, it could conceivably lead to a bidding war, but I wouldn't bank on it. Robotic "arms", of course ( :
More likely due to the likelihood that the European Central Bank will probably accelerate interest rate rises to help out Credit Suisse. This started with US regulation cancellation under the previous administration, which eventually lead to the SVB bank failure, and now looks likely to cause a hike in the cost of borrowing worldwide, and possibly some flight of capital from stocks to interest bearing investments. AAF may be affected in terms of the cost of borrowing, but I don't think it's a major concern
Turning a profit is years away, and an elusive moving target. Some analysts estimate 3 years, but that's a recent revision from late 2025, and I'd guess a later date rather than an earlier one, based on what generally happens - hype tends towards the positive rather than the realistic. Having said that, the products continue to look world leading, indeed world changing, and deals with both leading robotic surgery companies supports that. If the post Covid boom can be sustained, the recent acceleration in uptake might go into overdrive. Logistically, CREO now seems well set up to facilitate that. Fingers crossed (unless you're a surgeon)
Management bought an aggregate total of roughly £2.1m worth of the new shares. Pretty big vote of confidence from the Fat Cats, keeping the SP lively
As well as world leaders, Intuitive Surgical, CREO are working with their rivals, the British company CMR surgical, in Cambridge who claim to have a more flexible and efficient solution, and which is introducing robots to NHS hospitals imminently. A deal was signed just 5 months ago to integrate certain aspects of Creo's technology with their system. Royalties and licensing agreed but not disclosed
"If these instruments can be used in conventional surgery then they must also be ideal for robotic surgery and you don’t have to train the robot. And almost all the robotic surgery in the world is controlled by one company so only one door to kick down. "
The company signed a deal with Intuitive Surgical 10 months ago. Their system is really robot-assisted surgery, meaning a robot is operated by a surgeon from a console. It is already in the field with approval granted for a few procedures. Revenue from the deal will initially come in milestone payments, assuming they can be reached. Presumably these are based on successfully combining the CREO tools and the robot for a specific new procedure and ultimately gaining FDA approval
Just been announced that the total fundraising was £33.7 million, probably enough to reach profitability if growth assumptions are realistic. Presumably impending dilution was the main drag on the SP, so we potentially enter a new trend. Trading in the massive volume of new shares starts tomorrow. An initial downward movement might be expected, but who knows in this market
Makes sense Theorist, unlike some of the recent glib comments. There must be a suspicion they over-egged the recent good-news blitz in order to get the funding round away, but hopefully underlying growth really is gearing up and the improved financial footing will allow the SP to gain some traction. Having said that, it's all over the place at the moment!
with yesterdays news. Not the loss, that was expected. Not the CFO leaving, which was unexpected. It was the lack of any sort of information about the ongoing court case beyond the cost so far. We know it was the sole cause of last years loss. We need to have some idea of the impact it will have on this year and the long term future, and we got nothing
"they probably agree $150m and made the numbers work."
If that was the case, there would be no need for a transfer of IP, they could simply have waffled about an unfortunate misunderstanding and a partial unintentional infringement to the tune of $150m. Instead they specifically (i.e. forensically) stated which part was for the asset sale. If you assume this was just playing with numbers, and they really got $150m for infringement (still less than BT was guiding) then you have to value the transferred IP at zero, or something extremely low, which seems unreasonable.
@Henry Your disappointment with a "USD 150 million" settlement is understated, I think. Since more than half of that figure was for a SALE OF ASSETS, i.e. completely separate from infringement, the true amount is FAR lower. I believe this part of the deal was included purely to make the figure look higher than it actually is.
Heads up that the SP will possibly experience some volatility in reaction to a new president to replace Buhari, and the expected currency devaluation which is likely to follow, as mentioned by Joberalo a couple of weeks ago
So minimum fundraise of £25m and open offer of £5m at 20p = at least 150m new shares, on top of about 180m currently in issue. Can see this falling below the offer price once the dust has settled, given the "jam" is still estimated at 3 years away, and quite possibly more?
True Shear, the scale-up has been consistent, but worth noting that Edison estimate that, despite this, breakeven has slipped slightly further into the future. Takeover makes a lot of speculative sense - bigger pockets and more powerful management could probably accelerate profitability here.
"woefully incorrect analysis"
They haven't settled for a few hundred million, the settlement includes an unexpected sale of assets, that's the only significant revenue from it. The rewards from the litigation which relate to the actual dispute, after costs, are financially negligible, the main value being the validation of the remaining IP.
Yeah, but also remember CF's timescales for disposal at the time, long since miseed. I wouldn't place too much reliance on his specific hints and promises, but the underlying business is genuinely good