Member Info for Dartron

Alex Hoctor-Duncan - 425,377 @ £0.376 = £159,941

https://www.lse.co.uk/rns/ASTO/directorpdmr-shareholding-25km8txiy97o9bh.html

Christopher Mills / Harwood capital - 850,000 @ 0.35 = £297,500

https://www.lse.co.uk/rns/ASTO/directorpdmr-shareholding-fxrerosg2pffhpm.html

Bought a few back @37.5, which after selling at 41p shaved 3.5p off. It all helps. Hopefully we see asset managers start to turn as the market picks up. Also bought PMI.

Cant recall where may have been investors chronical, but also read that great consolidation is expected in the industry. Either could be taken out IMO.

It is possible the placing could be at 2p or more, if they find the right investor. Seems there could be positives coming due to todays buying.

FRAN market cap - £285.83m

Recent purchase of Pirtek for £212.2m

Does this value the other parts of the business at ~ £70M

For that you get:

ChipsAway, Ovenclean and Barking Mad (proposed sale of the B2C division expected to raise a minimum of £25m)

Metro Rod, Metro Plumb and Kemac (Metro Rod purchase price £28M)

Willow Pumps (price around 10M)

Azura (1M software company)

Filta Group (purchased at £49M)

I would have thought the sum of parts valuation is way higher than the current mcap. The EPS has increased year on year reflecting that the purchases above have all added value and grown in their own right. This looks like a great opportunity for investors and private equity. PE could buy this and split it up, probably make 20 - 30% ?

More likely it was to do with what was available at that price. Now the ask is above 3p. No brainer buying below the placing, especially if you are close to the biz.

Last time they did a raise, they said they had identified £1M cost saving measures. Last update they said this had been fully implemented. I was not impressed to see that they have now identified further cost savings. Was it not done properly last time?

I would like to see them put themselves up for sale. Let a business with some synergies and extra cash take over the reins. Especially if this was a bolt on for the buyer, then a lot of the management and admin expenses would be greatly reduced. I wonder if the 2p options might have something to do with that?

With Intangible assets of £3.5M and no hard assets to speak off. 122.55M shares buy out would look like:

2.2p = £2.7M

2.3p = £2.8M

2.4p = £2.9M

2.5p = £ 3M

Add on £2M for working capital and debt reduction.

£5M buys you a functioning company with ARR of circa £2M, that with the right management and synergies could trim the opex down a lot more. This would afford another 18 months to grow revenue and profitability for the buyer. The next decade would probably be very lucrative. I dont think it will work with financing the current management on AIM, clearly it isnt working. Having been here for about 3 years, (I recall the 6p placing, then the 3p, then the 2p), I have not seen any noticeable difference in strategy during that time - or performance. Going private would also save the costs associated with AIM. I am holding on to my shares in the hope that this is the scenario (or the pump and dump crew hit it one more time). I don't think another small placing will solve the fundamental issues here, but I do think there is a viable business that could be salvaged under the right circumstances.

Just watched the v markets interview - I was very impressed with both Sandy and particularly Suzanne the CFO. Will look to add more here. Do you think this could be a take over target due to the share price not reflecting the intrinsic value here?

Dividend to 10.50p per share, bringing the total for the year to 14.20p, an increase of 36.5% compared with the 10.40p paid in respect of FY 22, in line with the Group's dividend policy. Subject to shareholder approval at the Annual General Meeting ("AGM"), to be held on 6 September 2023, the final dividend will be paid on 19 September 2023 to shareholders on the register at close of business on 8 September 2023.

Very easy buy for me at 110 or there abouts. I think this is one of those strong stocks they say is first to show strength at the beginning of a bull run, and goes on to become a market leader. We only just hit the 200MA, we only just getting started here..

Interesting post, been interested in the technical side and how it stacks up. One thing I will say is that they also use channel partners to sell. Im not sure how many in house sales people they have after the recent cost saving measures.

Our marketing strategy in 2023 will continue to focus on digital and in-person marketing to drive up the volume and quality of new customer leads. There will be an increased focus on joint marketing activities with sales partners, reinforcing the "channel-first" approach.

We collaborate with our global network of partners to provide them with the tools and knowledge necessary to sell our products into their local networks. This approach provides Osirium with a broad reach beyond its direct sales arm via a collection of experienced sales professionals across five continents. Over the course of the year, we have continued to fortify our partner and reseller network globally.

An interesting post Alas. I have held these shares around 1 year and still at my entry price. You would think BEG is a buy, but I cant justify it, when FTSE stocks are climbing. I really think there are many better stocks to buy. On Aim there are many far more beaten down than this, offering higher yields and growth potential. On the FTSE, that seems to be where the recovery is. Will BEG be an 'also ran'? As the economy improves, the investment case reduces. I still hold as it is also quite stable and pays a yield.

APH half year trading update reads well. On track to meet FY guidance. This really is the bottom for APH, which historically has been a far stronger business. Possible short squeeze on as well (2.16% short), but up 10% so far this morning.

Grabbed a few this week in the lows of the short. Dbay hold about 16% from memory.

Well done guys.

Tony, Re loan notes: so they have a history of conducting poor financial deals that screw over shareholders.

Yes 9.5 is better than 11, but if they had paid off that debt there would be no interest on it all. Not all O&G companies have debt, and if the goal is throw off free cash flow, then debt is bad.

You know as well as I do, that part of the loan was to pay off the loan notes.

"have an opportunity to invest in wells that have internal rates of return of 100% - 300%." your back to ramping again.

This 300% has not made it to share holders has it, possibly warrant holders who sold out at 30p, but not PI's who read your posts on this board. Its been a bad year how ever you slice it. Maybe its a good entry now, but how come you ignored some parts of my post, like CFO not buying shares? and Majid tiny purchase, can you roast me over that please?

I changed my tune, after I3 changed their tune. I still hold those shares but not happy with a 5p loss.

I dont think my post is that inaccurate. Tony has not really pointed out any inaccuracies, Stas, yes ok I got the currency wrong. So its worse than I portrayed, more of the loan facility used to pay the old loan. The rest is splitting hairs. If you wish to ignore the points I was making about managing debt then fine. Ok you could value the company differently now as the cash has not been spent, again not my point. My point is once it is spent, then I3 will have 100M debt at 10% pa interest. I think a lot of people are overlooking that. Anyway, that is my opinion and it hasn't changed reading the posts this morning. I replied due to Pete's post. I was pleased with some at 17p, but not now they are 12 heading to 11.

Ill leave you to it, I3 whoop whoop. 30p down to 11p, yes its a fantastic investment. Big up Tony.

Wow, those directors are doing ok. Why does ST never mention stuff like that.

I know its a cliché but a more steady rise, would be easier to hold. Obviously it depends on what the news is. Cant rule out an offer either - some of the headwinds against TXP seem a little orchestrated. If it increased 40%, this would be my largest holding.

Knights have been saying this for over 12 months:-

Full year outlook underpinned by increased interest income on client account monies driven by interest rates returning to normal levels..

This from recent results:

"with a noticeable increase in the interest income earned on client monies, net of interest paid out to clients which we expect to continue with interest rates having reverted to higher historic norms. "

"Other operating income

Here is the figure:

Other operating income has increased to £6.7m from £1.3m, primarily due to increased interest income earned on client monies held as a result of higher interest rates, net of interest paid out to clients."

However, it is also fair to pint out that high interest rates have also curtailed some of the business.

"Given the sharp rises in interest rates as we started the current financial year, we are seeing a softening of work in some transactional and debt-reliant activity such as Residential Property,"

Firstly, it is not a CAD $75 loan facility, they HAD to negotiate a $100M facility as they already had $22M of debt in the form of loan notes that matured in May. "The Facility has a three-year term, with interest payable monthly at 9.521% per annum," Jeeeesus. They have done a clever trick of drawing $75, to pay off the loan notes, leaving $25 undrawn. This can be drawn when the asset is bought as it will need to be surely. We will actually be lucky if that is the only extra debt from the new asset purchase.

I said previously that they should have paid the loan note off, or at least put the money aside for when it matured. That loan note had a 4 year term, which also incurred interest each year, has in reality cost more than $22M. Instead of paying this down, or preparing for it, they dished out most of their money to the market, but that has not helped the share price. Now O&G prices are more 'normal' I3 is not the cash machine many thought it was. By not preparing for the loan, they had to take finance on poorer terms (see interest rate above), which results in more debt, which ultimately resulted in the lender imposing the dividend affordability check. I mean it looks a bit poor when you have to borrow money to repay an existing debt that you had 4 years to sort out, including a golden period of O&G prices. I really think in that time the balance sheet should have strengthened, especially in the last 2 years, but I3E now have more debt than they did at the beginning of that period - fact. I think that is why institutions have been selling since 30p. As for the new borrowing facility, the asset acquisition makes a good cover up for the ineptitude I have highlighted above. Im sure they will spend it fairly soon, and yes hopefully put the $75M to work. But as I have said before, I can not see them finding something at an amazing price this time when oil assets are in demand. Also bear in mind that any purchase is costing 10% interest on $100M per anum, so this will eat in to profits.

I3 have the fortunate position of looking like master deal makers, when in reality they just got very lucky that prices spiked off the back of a war. Majid makes a tiny £25k purchase, which doesn't show much confidence to me, and the CFO has not bought any, I am wondering why this is. I remember telling you in January I3E was not a growth share, when you also shouted me down. You are welcome to your opinion, but lets just state for the record that it has been wrong over the last 12 months. I3E is probably fairly valued given everything I write, including the $100M of debt at 9%, and the poor mix of assets (Gas). I wont be replying, so please do not put any more words in my mouth.

Tony, your not sure of the accuracy of the graph? It is the one year performance of 'ITE TSX' Share price. Type that in to google, and click on 1 year, and you will see that it is down 41%. I am assuming that you are not arguing over some other accuracy, like whether we came last or second last? Its not a kids sports day where every one gets a medal. In this case some people lose a lot of money.

Law firms thrive on attracting talent. - Do they? The times I needed a solicitor, I wasn't able to verify their talent. Not being a legal expert. I expect this type of set up probably thrives on being competitive to their customers. I dont really read ROF, except if it is RBGP, and I want something really seedy.