Charles Jillings, CEO of Utilico, energized by strong economic momentum across Latin America. Watch the video here.
Well something has to change because the level of management incompetence is truly shocking given this business has been listed for ages, it has on face of it is a heavyweight set of NEDs (ex Bundred), and we were assured countless times that all was on track even as recently as this month.
But look at the size of rhe deals ffs....one trial for a piffling £150k. Newland has been talking multi million pound deals for years and still cant get past the ground floor
Not clear that having shattered investor confidence that Johnson & Maddocks can rely on investor support. The utter chaos of the last few months is directly due to dreadful, dreadful management. That is what needs to change, and fast! Why would anyone in their right mind give cash to Johnson who is clearly not up to the role? And therin lies the issue. A board reshuffle is desperately needed; Johnson needs to step down as CEO and be given another role; the CFO and COO need a proper plc experienced leader to restore their confidence and that of investors. The quickest and best solution has to be to sound out appointing a credible plc executive chair, rather than replace both Bundred and Johnson. The ship needs steadying and quickly.
Exactly on point:
1. Newland has to deliver some meaningful sales, and stop hyping the ones he's got. Eisei being a case in pouint where he trailed it ad nauseam and result was 250k pilot .....
2. So we get a patent filing but no update on the Solaris prostate clinical study agreement. Newland promised the results would be ready by end of "023....and 4 months later absolute silence. it is this sort of behaviour that has cost investors huge sums, cratered confidence, and led a number of institutions to the conclusion that he cannot be trusted to tell the truth
What investor visit? Who was visiting the company yesterday?
Looks like Brandon Hire not preforming well, plus ca change. Am mildly reassured by HSS update with sale of power unit - trading in line. Am also mildly reassured that the team's work over last 3 years to radically reshape the business, become capital-lite digitally driven platform business may actually be working. Would like to know more about why they chose to sell Power albeit it improves debt profile and capex requirement dramatically. lets hope the outlook statemetn isnt too dire
VP COMMENTARY:
" General construction remains challenging, which has impacted the performance of Brandon Hire Station in particular. An operational review of this division is well advanced and the new management team is focused on actions to drive margin improvements alongside medium term strategic objectives."
If its Sneller then all hope is lost
We know there is value here because of the product , the order book & the queue of OEMS that want it. At issue is the competency of the Board and management and cash burn -both interlinked! Cunningham jumped ship last year, Bundred has been pushed out by popular demand, leaving just Holly Johnson. If I were the Board, forget engaging h/hunters for new chair, what's needed is a new CEO who can restore confidence and grip this business. Holly best off taking a sideways move to head up customer relations etc....
Hit send by accident...you get the drift!
Johnson's statements on operations since June last year bsolutely damning - he seems incapable of giving a realistic assessment of the state of the business, and is not a credible CEO.
27 June 2023 AGM RNS: .. Kevin Johnson will advise that manufacturing output continues to improve BUT HAS NOT YET REACHED TARGET LEVELS".............
- The PRODUCTION DIFFICULTIES described in the first quarter trading update HAVE NOT RECURRED but the Company has CONTINUED TO EXPERIENCE INDIVIDUALLY SMALL PRODUCTION DISRUPTIONS THAT HAVE SLOWED THE RAMP UP IN OUTPUT
- REITERATES PREVIOUS GUIDANCE FOR 2023 & 2024
31 July 2023, Pre-Close Trading Statement/Ops Update
Outlook: THE REVENUE EXPECTATIONS FOR 2023 &2024 ARE UNCHANGED. The PROUDCTION PROBLEMS OF LAST 6 MONTHS have inevitably had COST & CASH IMPLICATIONS. . Reflecting the Board's expectation of continuing operational performance, GROSS CASH at 31 December 2023 is now expected to be NO WORSE THAN £1M LOWER than previous estimates. The Board still expects the Company TO BE PROFITABLE IN THE SECOND HALF OF 2023
What is extraordinary (and reprehensible) is Johnson's refusal to give proper explanations about what is going wrong/on. Whilst I get the commercial sensitivity issues, the vague nonsense in that dreadfully worded RNS that appears to caveat everything except the £23m revs forecast (ffs) doesn't cut it.
Newland’s “hype & hope” strategy is wearing thin.
Apparently so......
Johnson exhibits the worst traits of the over-promoted CEO: blind faith in his own infallibility ; inability to accept when he’s wrong ; failure to consult/ share thinking ; distrust of outsiders esp advisers & investors;
Totally agree - I know that the general level of literacy in Liverpool is lower than the rest of the country , but this was yet another dreadful RNS that, given the general antipathy displayed by Holly Johnson towards the City, might sugggest advisers couldn’t give a toss
That is some performance by Bundred and Johnson isn't it....move along nothing to worry about in November has the sp stable c25p followed a few weeks later by panic stations and 10p raise, followed by today's omnishambles...
Johnson lacks honesty , detail and clarity.....he has never set out the scale-up problems clearly, he pretends all is well when it isnt, he feigns surprise when things dont go to plan, he missies his own forecasts, then refuses to budge on what appear olympian forecasts based on current performane, and views s/holders with barely disguised contempt.
You are so right about the process change! They develop a great much-needed product that has OEMs
queuing up and giving orders, and then Johnson can't manage the scale up. The lack of planning appears breathtaking: COO appointed far too late; no articulation of HR talent programme, a lack of proper QC.etc
Completely agree ! Johnson has to go - no hiding place for him now. The Board should be contacting h/hunters - if s/hing isn’t done then Easton and Maddocks may well throw in towel, as he and Bundred have totally legged them over. Johnson has comprehensively failed as CEO, and clearly doesn’t have the management skill set to manage the expansion as the multiple mess ups have shown. What’s worse Imb is that he seems to utterly clueless about how to manage shareholders . The RNs is another car crash!
Bundred should have been fired a while back! Proved an utter disaster as Chair the moment the business moved in the key scale stage: incompetent, arrogant and out of his depth as a listed company chair! Todays’s RNS show the only competent person appears to be Easton; shareholders have been absolutely skewered by Johnson and Bundred. The RNS is hopeless!