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From a Croda email newsletter.
“Join us at in-cosmetics Global 2023 on stand J50
We look forward to welcoming you to our stand to discover our latest ingredient and formulation innovation, designed to meet evolving consumer needs…”
Could it, just could it…
Things go up and down Ody, just the nature of the beast. After the 9p IPO it had been at 28p and then down to 5p before making its way onwards to 75p. That will have been a 15 bagger for someone and someone else who sold low probably lost the 23p a share. It went to 75p on hope and tailwinds around the time of the BRIGHT study. That study is still valid, thus theoretically capable of a 75p SP with the right sentiment (minus slight adjustment for placing), plus we have experience around the difficulties of sales, the Croda clock has run down to ‘imminent’ status and we are soon to be expecting news on an Acne development which I believe if it works and is sold as a chewing gum it will be 100x as successful as the badly designed and marketed PS. Of course before launch we didn’t know it was badly designed and marketed, but now we do which makes us further down the road to meaningful revenue from it. In the background the board is working on an acquisition which will lead to another profitable revenue stream and could be packaged into a whole pillar deal turning us back into the strong IP-owning, multi-royalty collecting business most of us invested in.
That’s what there is to be hopeful about.
On the flip side of that the company’s communication to shareholders has been absolutely abysmal since a few months after the launch of Axis and for that reason concerns are germinating, including my own, and that is a risk to all shareholders.
This company is still one of the most potentially exciting on AIM currently in my opinion. For that reason it could also become one of the biggest let downs. That’s up to Mr. Ashman who has talked a lot and so far delivered little revenue, but the upcoming months will show exactly what he is or is not doing with the exciting potential. However, excitement means sentiment and that is important for SP and therefore for shareholder value.
I understand ‘it is what it is’ when dealing with Croda. I’d certainly rather be dealing with them on these slightly secretive terms than trying to manufacture and sell the lysate alone a lá Axis.
We’ve just got to hope Stuart is pushing them for information as I refuse to agree the right thing to do is to leave our own SP to languish due to Croda’s standard policy of secrecy. As TC says, all we need is an indication of revenue, nothing that destroys client confidentiality. I will be forgiving to the current stance if the situation is dealt with head on in this months trading update but to leave it unaddressed would be poor form on Stuart’s part in my opinion.
Elrico,
I agree with every word you’ve said.
But my point of discussion was not what Croda or SA would be willing to discuss with you or I, it was more of a technical point about what information Stuart himself can realistically access from Croda to give to us if he used his position as leverage. We are led to believe the answer to that is ‘none’, but I believe it should be ‘some’.
It’s largely a moot point anyway as I’m sure if Stuart was able to push for information he would have done it by now, and I take your point about Croda not destroying the collaboration. For the record I never thought that was the case, I was just pondering the possibility. If Croda did keep us strangled of information and then made any noises about a takeover I think it would tell us all we needed to know and the SP would rise dramatically anyway.
Whilst the conversation is being had about Croda news, SA and the current distressed SP, I have a point I’d like to discuss with some of the more sensible members on here which has been on my mind for a while. That point of wonder I have is regarding how much sway SA realistically has on Croda to be able to lever information in order to do his job as CEO of SBTX and as such to act in the best interests of the shareholders. I know it’s said over and over that Croda play their cards close to their chests, there are NDA’s etc and there is nothing we or SA can do about it. However, I have my doubts it’s that simple. I mean, if Croda held all the controls, surely they could sign deals with small IP firms like ours, and then just delay revenue until that company is bust, or even just distressed like SBTX is now, that the IP company ends up with a raw deal. The contract is a 3 year agreement, that agreement length is up. SA has investors losing faith left, right and centre which is then hurting his loyal shareholders. Do we really think he doesn’t hold the sway to do as Bel points out below, which is to say: 1.) They are still developing but the reason is xxx. 2.) Croda customers like it and the feedback is xxx. Or 3.) There are no sales.
I surely can’t believe that we as a company have signed an agreement which puts the development of our technology in the hands of another company who can then take any amount of time to do as they see fit with no clauses designed to challenge that to ensure the good health of Skinbiotherapeutics. That is not something I would have expected of Dr.Cath or Stuart Ashman. I do believe that if SA really wished to, he could converse with his counterparts at Croda about the best outcome in the interests of both companies, and find a suitable way to tell shareholders what we need to know without revealing anything that would damage the competitive edge of any cosmetic house’s developments.
Whilst I personally am still positively hopeful about the background goings on and think both the Croda news and acquisition news will come good eventually, I can see that interest in and expectations of the company are reducing as time passes and this does reduce the upside. If we have the Croda news in say 1 month and it’s brilliant and the share price doubles, we’re much better off if it doubles from 25p as opposed to 12p.
Sensible discussion welcomed.
Elrico,
Yes very helpful, thanks.
Let’s see what happens in the coming weeks and (hopefully not many) months. I do hope that SA addresses the acquisition and Croda in the trading update. I totally understand he can’t announce anything or really give much meaningful information if they are not ready, but I think it’s obvious the market is crying out for reassurance. It would be great if they could say that if ‘xxx’ is going ahead, we should know by ‘yyy’.
Elrico, never mind, the sentence can be understood in two ways and typically I read it the wrong way round first time. You mean the acquisition is much further down the road to completion, as opposed to much further down the road in terms of time until completion.
Elrico, the reason for the next trading update being significant to me is a personal timescale one, rather than a reason I need or expect anyone else to agree with. I don’t want to see brilliance, but I just want to see we are moving in the right direction rather than grounded. My investment here is significant, and was purchased with a timescale in mind and is subject to regular reviews to ensure it performs or is offloaded, that’s all. You understand this bears no relevance to my opinion on if the company will be successful in general, that’s a different path to walk down.
What do you mean by: “If the company's house alert for one of the possible targets is any clue to go by, I would suggest it is much further down the road than we have been led to believe.”
What was the companies house alert? I haven’t seen anything. Does the statement made above not directly contradict the bold paragraph in your newsletter released this afternoon?
If I had to try apply reasoning to the drop today I’d suggest the market has thought “bloody heck is that all you’ve got”.
However, there should still be a trading update in March, that will be the real make or break for me. If it’s lacklustre I wouldn’t blame people for deciding to have their money elsewhere, but it doesn’t make an awful lot of sense to sell on the Spain news to me. I just can’t see why that makes sense at all.
There would be no need for any kind of apology whatsoever Toyin. I suppose it sounds ironic now to say that wanting to support all opinions should include ALL opinions. But, it doesn’t mean I have to like them all. Because I brought your name up to Bel, and because I’m doing little else for a while, I’ll follow my point through and see where it goes.
Having looked back through some post history and finding the exchange I had remembered, in which I was suggesting ‘bigpunt’ had been treated in an unfriendly manner, I must concede that you had a differing opinion and put it across respectfully on the whole, although I’m sure I wouldn’t have appreciated being told to ‘have a word with myself’, or words to that effect. Looking back on the post the words ‘shouted down’ and ‘attack’ sound a bit strong, but I have to admit it’s how I felt, and clearly how others feel.
You are a poster that very much toes the company line. (I concede there have been many times when something I’ve found clearly ridiculous has been posted and appreciated you being there to shut it down before potential new investors read it.) In your position on that company line, you benefit from the evidence of RNS’s and Stuart’s words with Elric. Those that are presenting alternative views to the company or CEO are floating ideas, suggesting that things may not be as it seems. Using the company provided literature and CEO quotations which are mostly the only tangible evidence available, it’s quite easy for posters like yourself, Elric etc to disprove alternative suggestions and as such the alternative posters seem to feel ‘shouted down’. They only want to discuss their point, but it’s been shut down before any real conversation has taken place which doesn’t allow them to explore it.
Now, i’m into this conversation way deeper than I would have ever expected, but it wouldn’t have been fair to throw an accusation and run so wanted to explore my reasoning. However, I think I genuinely now do need to ‘have a word with myself’ about my Saturday evenings and involvement on this board, so I’m going to duck out for a couple of weeks myself, unless there is an RNS! (Or the SP doubles in the run up to one!) Take care.
I dislike the attacks too Bel, people should be able to have their say and like you, I’ve never filtered anyone. I’ve said it before and been shouted down myself my various people including Toyin, but we’ve got over it and have respected each others opinions since. I do think you went a bit far on the conspiracy theories if I’m to have my opinion, but I can understand why you go there in place of real answers from the company. Have a good weekend.
Emotions are running high. It’s bound to happen when most of us LTH’s are down serious money. Take a break from the board guys. Come back when there is an RNS. You both make sense, but you’ll never agree a stance with someone who has a completely different set of circumstances to you. Repeating arguments and reporting each other isn’t going to make the company settle the scores. Sooner or later we’ll get that communication we need. Hopefully sooner!
Although significant, the downsides here are limited in comparison to the potential rewards which may come soon. Lots of us are underwater because we decided this share was a good investment at a much higher price and lots of us were excited for the potential. It might not have been the road we expected but it was the road ahead of us nonetheless and we are now much further down the road to the business we could all foresee.
A nice end to the day and week which is hopefully a sign of things to come. I don’t blame people for their frustrations but let’s give Stuart a few weeks of March to join all the dots for us. Personally I don’t want to see hints and implications, I’d like blunt information on the deals we have in the air. The market seems to be thinking we can pull it off and our team have had plenty of time since the launch of the first Axis product. Thanks for playing the week out with your positive tunes Mol.
Some serious frustration being shown on here today, taken out on the company, other peoples views and on lucky Elric.
Having missed the mornings fun I have too much to say, so will condense into saying that almost everyone that has posted has a good point, in one way or another, but I feel many of the same people have gone a bit too far with attacking others positions or wild unfounded accusations.
In reality everyone is just frustrated at a compressed SP.
Let’s hope the company’s pledge to communicate better with investors is taken with the seriousness it should be and we hear something soon. If things are going as well behind the scenes as has been implied, I’m hoping we can resign these 20p days to being a thing of the past. Be assured, that’s what SA is trying his best to do. We all have the same goal here.
Elrico, I totally agree with what you have said in your post. I wasn’t intending to imply that you had not asked, just that the questions have not been addressed or answered by SA. Bel is right to want to know how many registrations of interest we had pre launch, it’s very relevant now because it’s a parameter that can be used to make an informed decision on if we should believe Stuart when he tells you Croda feedback has been very good etc. and we need to make that decision because we are not getting the RNS’s.
I understand that you, as a journalist who’s specialism in SBTX relies somewhat on your relationship with SA, can only go so far on asking these questions. If you pushed and pushed Stuart on a question he doesn’t want to answer or that made him look a bit daft, I imagine you wouldn’t get the interview next time you want one, and that negatively affects us all.
I am looking forward to finding out what the current plan is, assuming they are forthcoming about it within a reasonable amount of time. It is for the reasons set out in my first paragraph that I agree when you say these questions will be confined to history if we get some good news that brings us out of this tough period. I believe in SA and MSR and think now could potentially be an amazing time to buy shares, but like many I am also becoming wary and weary. I look forward to your next podcast when there is new ground to cover! The point at which you step in and ask ‘why’ there is no new ground, is entirely up to you.
Personally I’d suggest that whilst Bel’s questions have certainly been discussed and regurgitated many times, they’ve never been addressed or answered by the company, possibly with the exception of Q6.
I think the relevance of IF these questions need answering will be determined by the success of the coming couple of months. If we continue to be told things are going well and to plan yet see no tangible results or even updates then I think the company should have to answer the questions directly, investors have a right to know if they are being treated like mushrooms. I think some good results and questions like those will be forgotten about pretty quickly as nobody will have any reason to press the matters.
Yes I’m done with clues now, and not counting them on my timeline in terms of investment decisions. My thoughts at the moment are, how much longer can it really be until we get a trading update? I would say not much longer and as such it’s certainly worth hanging around for.
Bel, in response to your earlier post about Croda moving directly into our sphere of expertise, I agree and they are clearly confident about it. We can tell this by their use of the term ‘megatrend’ multiple times in their RNS. I’d say it is fairly outspoken for such a large and conservative organisation to use this word, the meaning of which is described as
“ a major movement, pattern or trend emerging in the macroenvironment; an emerging force likely to have a significant impact on the kinds of products consumers will wish to buy in the foreseeable future. ”