Member Info for fastduckharry

My bet is that Kromek will be the subject of a takeover offer within 18 months. They have the products, Covid hit them because of the reduced investment, in medical needs other than dealing with the pandemic. That is changing now. Also Covid has caused supply chain problems, which not only causes delays to orders but soaks up working capital until orders are shipped and payment received. Difficult for a small company, even with the right products to sell, that is attracting large orders.
My thinking is that they would be better off if they operated as part of a group of specialist companies, rather than being alone. Interesting that finnCap have been appointed as they advise such a company in SDI. Am not suggesting that it will be them that will make an offer, but would not rule out. More so, that finnCap will understand the problems that Kromek face and will be able to give them beneficial advice. Conveniently, should an offer emerge, say next spring, when the numbers are more appealing. Their Cavendish unit would be invaluable in negotiating the sale of the business. To a larger company that will retain the integrity of Kromek but will have control of the finance and able to smooth out short term capital needs.

If an offer is not received or accepted, no worries. As the numbers in terms of order values are moving upwards. The sp will recover somewhat in any case over the next twelve months.

A number of decent sized mid-market priced trades going through. Hopefully it is as a result of Crystal Amber shares changing hands. Whoever is disposing, it is still a good sign that there is the demand for EQLS shares right now at the current price.

Grateful to the board for issuing an update, if somewhat lacking in detail. Am sure all holders will be looking forward to K3C's more informative end year update, next month.

As a matter of interest, watched CNBC's market coverage from the US on Friday. A representative from JP Morgan stated they were pleased to have gotten the S&P500 down to current lower levels. Still seeing further declines yet with a bottom something like below 3740, (wasn't making notes). Market turbulence has a way to go yet it would seem. Especially bearing in mind that US gas prices, though inflated, are still a small fraction of what we are dealing with in Europe.

With regard to M&A everything changed in March. Prior to that most were forecasting another bumper year for deals. A great deal of the acquisition money was coming from the US, that has seemingly dried up because of the Ukraine war without doubt. Ironically the strength of the US dollar now means that UK businesses are even cheaper than usual.

With regard to TU's we have had a change of advisor, perhaps the breakdown in the relationship with finnCap was because of this. There was a strong start to H2 perhaps enough to limp over the end of year line. No numbers given for expectations that I have seen, therefore no need to update on that score.

The sp is falling as a result of market nervousness. If K3C does release decent numbers and more importantly can reassure with a positive outlook, there will be a bounce. We must remind ourselves though that the outlook for the UK economy is not favourable for the next couple of years. Money to be made from companies struggling financially but will this compensate for the downturn in M&A?
Everybody is entitled to their opinion, have given you mine. No more from me, I wish you all good fortune in your decision making.

Have a note that reads Strong start to H2 in the Interim Report of Feb 7. Last year K3C gave the markets on Apr 14, a follow up to a TU issued in March strong start, confirming that the trend had continued. Also giving us expected revenue numbers and EBITDA for the year ending May 31. If the trend has continued this year, I believe an Update would have been issued by now. What we have instead is fear and uncertainty along with a change of adviser. The share price continues to fall, if all is rosy, why not inform the market, as to how the Group is performing?

Ciesco a M&A company reported activity up 17% in their Q1 (Jan-Mar). However, they reported that the quarter started very well, up 48% in January, but has fallen in March. They are citing inflation and the war in Ukraine as the main reasons. Looking at their January number, activity in March must have been quite negative.
There are also worries regarding rising interest rates, not only with regard to taking on new debt but also how they and inflation could affect the businesses involved. The recent fall in sp is likely to be related. K3C might issue a TU with reasonable numbers. Though any mention of headwinds regarding the current worries going forward, is unlikely to boost the sp. One has to bear in mind, that last year was a record year for M&A activity, therefore the fact that the sp falling now is not unusual.

Another titbit of information from the InvestorMeet presentation was that Beeks will be expanding their coverage of global data centres in response to demand.
A client requires data services from Washington DC. Also partner IPC have requested data centre services from Amsterdam, Geneva, Zurich and Mexico, which are expected to be in place sometime during the second half of this year. In my view this is likely to lead to an expansion of current contracts or possibly new ones being signed.
Another data centre mentioned as a future possibility is Johannesburg. Which suggests that there might be initial contact from an existing or a potential new client regarding this.

Had to rise as revenues for this year could have been higher than the market cap (am expecting £4.5m @ 50%+ operating margin)

Share Price: 26.50
Bid: 25.00
Ask: 28.00
Change: 7.00 (39.47%)

Good Afternoon, a promising rns, with hope for the future. The debt already reducing thanks to cashflow. Pleasing to see the sp rising on the back of this. We will have a much clearer idea, of the impact the acquisitions are having, later this year. The 'we are generating a strong pipeline of cross-selling opportunities' is most welcome.
Just done a quick approximate calculation on the dividend prospects, should there be one. Assuming the same level as last year's 3.4p. Then adjusting for the increased number of shares, gives approximately 2.65p.

Keep well

Watched the presentation yesterday evening. For me the most revealing bit of info to come out of it was that H2 revenues will be greater than H1. This is a growing company, likely to be doing so for years to come.

The latest holdings rns out today, has given us the probable identity of yesterday's sale. It was more likely Pendal Group in Australia. Can't be certain as the holdings notification merely states below 5%.

Almost certainly institutional buying yesterday. Many large buys @83p. Then there was a 500k sale, could well be CA, at just over 83p later in the afternoon. The market maker won't want the price to shoot up too quickly, encourage buys, get more blocks sold, without affecting the market. Could well be another one today as available shares seem to be drying up. A good time to accumulate EQLS now, in my honest opinion.

I got the impression that CFO Richard Cooper was a busy person, it turns out busier than thought. He's already Chairman and a Non Exec Director of Engage XR (EXR) which is on a my watchlist for potential. Also just been appointed to InsigAI (INSG) as a Non Exec Director. These jobs usually don't take up too much time.

https://www.lse.co.uk/rns/INSG/directorate-change-4mibqn7zipfphd9.html

News out today might have caused some EQLS selling over concerns on his focus with Equals. Though it needs to be pointed out that Richard Cooper currently (Equals website) holds 150k EQLS. Perhaps as well as needing to be busy, he would like some extra funds to buy more.

The timing looks good, as three large trades have just gone through involving nearly 5.7m shares @82p. Likely the largest 3m is the sell and the other two are picking up stock. Should be a holdings rns out next week.

No doubt this company is expanding, looking for more growth. Over 20 jobs seeking applications, listed here:

https://jobs.lever.co/equals

Very good news. Firstly am pleased for Gordon McArthur and Beeks. A lot of work and clear thinking has been done to put them in the tremendous position that they are in today. He is receiving the rewards of his success, which hopefully will be shared by the many shareholders that have put their faith in him.

With regard to the placing, fantastic for it to be oversubscribed. It has given the opportunity for new investors to get on board at a reasonable price but also fair to existing shareholders. The placing still has to be voted through. Though in reality that should be a formality.

The size of the placing took me by surprise. However the planning is far thinking. There is a large pipeline of potential contracts. The money will be there to fund the work required. Significantly the materials to assemble these Cloud units is going to be stocked in sufficient quantities to allay worries over any supply chain issues.

Not too fussed about the share price, that will look after itself over the next few years. Have no intention of selling mine for a long while.

Good luck to all shareholders.

apologies for omitted word:

by saying I can't tell you

Share placing and Primary Bid offer looking to raise c£15m. No price for the shares issued yet.
The size of the placing and the proposed prudent use of £8m to build up the stock of items required to build their Cloud system units suggests that Beeks are expecting many more contracts, including for The Exchange Cloud system over the course of the next year. That is, as well as avoiding supply chain issues and inflated prices.
Gordon McArthur in the recent InvestorMeet meeting responded to a question regarding the future share price, by I can't tell you that but I would expect it be many multiples more than now.

No doubt that Richard Cooper is a more than competent CFO. For example, when asked about how much Equals had spent on investment in their platforms he came out with the number £20m since 2018, then added will be £3.6m in 23 and £3m in 24. Which shows that he has a keen knowledge of the business. He also appears to be one of those people used to always doing something, rather than sitting still doing nothing. That makes him very distracting when the CEO is talking. Have learnt today, that putting oneself on mute during an InvestorMeet presentation is not a handicap. Also wondering if a live video feed can be temporarily replaced with a graphic, when an individual bows out of the presentation for a while. Just a minor quibble from myself but believe that these presentations are important for attracting potential investors to the company.

Today's rns once again highlights how effectively strategic Brickability are. The brick production joint-venture in Germany, announced earlier this month, will guarantee them 22m roof tiles annually from end of this year. This deal will almost certainly benefit from the joint-venture output.