Member Info for Fevertreeman

Couldn't agree more with you re Atome. At the moment Levine has no incentive to take this private, as he is doing extraordinarily well out of whereas his shareholders are being repeatedly dumped to the canvas, whilst he moans about shareholders giving him a hard time whilst he has delivered absolutely no value to his shareholders and presided over massive shareholder destruction. Those are the facts. One of the more depressing aspects of AIM is the whole
corporate governance piece......

I agree with you that should be doing better, that said they are deliberately investing in the business as Milverton said in the webcast. Margins on contracts should be much, much higher. What I hope and believe is that the ongoing shift to a Saas model will start to improve the margins and provide much better quality earnings and visibility. For an international business with expertise in this space, it is woefully under the radar. I dont see that lasting.... as this area becomes more important ( governments and states pushing net zero and green agendas for all their worth) this company and its IP will look increasingly attractive as an investment

Absolutely correct, that said I did have a good chortle with the mention of 'weak management' as I don't think you can talk about management, weak or otherwise, in the same breath as Angostura Bitters. The only thing he has 'managed' is an epic loss of share value (whilst of course ensuring his lucrative consultancy arrangements moves in tandem with can kicking)

This has started its run into results. Could well move back to 80p if the outlook is positive

Well if you look at the level of value destruction any institutional investors would be breathing down his collar.

"Will be forgotten once we get some momentum on the drills and farm out...." Have'nt we been told momentum building for years?

Glad to know you normally dismiss me!

I'd happily hold up GHAA's private jet and/or demand a toll to let him into his luxury Cyriot villa!

The results were very disappointing, and proves what Michael Spencer and others have known for ages (and why he is the billionaire ) that voice broking is a dying business hence the reason he did the deal of the century retaining the electronic trading arm and flogging the voice business to Tullett. At the time the merger values the combined business at £1.3bn, since then Breteau has splashed out on various small acquisitions and Liquidnet cost $525 million cash (with a possible further $125m to pay).....the current market cap is now £1.16 bn.......Breteau will come under pressure if he cannot turn this around

Despite the trading statement flagging up the tough comparator with last year and revs in line, as s/o who knows the company intimately, the core business continues to lose momentum, and cost cutting is coming from the front desks, and Liquidnet increasingly looks like an acquisition that they overpaid for. Margins look under pressure too, despite the 15pc fig at constant currency....I see this coming under further pressure as the income yield isn't anything special, and the fundamental business remains under pressure not helped by the Fed and other central banks monetising debt, crushing volatility and destroying price discovery. This is heading back to 140-50p

Agreed - enjoy the Old Course !

Indeed ! A cautionary tale - many years ago my former fund once invested in a west coast biotech business, an industry which was the place to be in the mid 90s which had IPO'd on Nasdaq. Glossy R&D brochure, lots of talk of what they were doing in that particular biotech space and how the funds would help build a new R&D centre etc....for various reasons we became concerned over the Theranos type lack of detail etc, so an analyst was despatched from the East Coast to drive out to new R&D facility that was being built (photos supplied) conveniently a long way from anywhere to find that it was an empty building on an industrial site, the building was locked and that the only sign of life were a bunch of rabbits in cages spied through the window. We quietly exited our position and the company needless to say went bust. So exercise caution in these far flung places

All above may be true but they can rescind the license and hand it over to a more competent player. They arent stupid they can read a share price chart, company accounts, and rns statemetns as well as the next Harvard educated Ethiopian graduate

Well for my part, I got burned by Adams and feel he should never have been allowed to combine Executive chair with CEo role. The man has destroyed value for others whilst lining his pockets. I have sod all interest in lowering the sp, Adams has accomplished that fine on his own. I am angry that other s/holders are too stupid or too lazy to actually read the annual reports, to check the litany of broken promises and timelines, to think hard about the governance of this company and to ask themselves why he insisted on grabbing 500k in cash not share as a 'reward' for failure. Airy comments about how great the assets are, how Hawaih is worth x, how gold is worth y, how we believe in HAA, show just how inept a lot of retail punters (I hesitate to call them investors actually are). I deal in facts - as an ex fund manager I really should have not cut corners here and done proper due diligence so I blame myself for my losses but at least I got out with my shirt intact.
Having done that due diligence I quickly came to the view that HAA cannot be trusted with s/holders money, that he doesnt have the skills sets needed here, that the financials are disastrous, and that this is now uninvestable. If the facts change then so will my opinion.

I think AN probably wishes he had listed there first given the Americans far greater risk appetite and the fact that AGL would have attracted a higher multiple and had access to a bigger capital pool etc. But hopefully we are nearing the end game with
the FDA and he can look forward to plotting the next part of the journey.

Meaning back down at the level where he has to launch another smash n grab from shareholders purses...oh yes we are! Only a matter of time

The lack of material share price progress vs backdrop of massive global energy shortage is galling to say the least. PL 's private interests are so enmeshed with the plc vehicle, it's a wonder he doesn't just take President private after all he owns 29.95%. But why would he? A trawl through the R&A shows how beneficial we are to him:

- "To support its operations the Group is dependent on ongoing finance through a loan facility of US$20.5 million available until December 2024 provided by IYA Global Limited (Note 32). " IYA Global Limited, is a subsid of PLLG Investments Ltd owned by Levine. Loan is for US$20m, on which PL earns in interest on the first US16.5m charged at 10.5% - $1.735m plus another US$500 k for 2nd tranche at 12.5% + 6m Libor ....Facility due to be repaid in Dec 24. So over US$2m received in interest payments a year.

- meantime he currently pays himself a handsome salary of US$591k salary per year admittedly down from prior year but then we find part of salary is deferred and that the cumulative deferred amount owing to him stands at just under US1m
( US$991,867)
- Then there is the charge for company secretarial services provided by guess who PLLG Investments Ltd. for which Levine charges us all another US$81,589. You can see how this all adds up.
- Then there is his other ventures - for example with Atome a 15% stake was allotted to Alpha Oil Invest GmbH of Zug, Switzerland for cash at par value. Alpha is of course owned by Levine...and cryptically the R&A notes " Since its inception Alpha Oil Invest GmbH has made a wide range of investments in a variety of sectors. It has developed an interest and expertise in renewable energy at its own cost and has certain business opportunities which it is now introducing to Atome Limited rather than pursuing them itself."
- Then we have Nikita Levine, a family member, who provides President with IR services as a consultant "employed through a third-party supplier"...and he's been made a director of Atome to fulfil IR duties

which was at 140p. This is currently friendless despite a decent yield and p/e of c5x ....

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Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's forces are preparing new engagements with the Tigray Liberation Front, as thousands train on gravel roads off the A2 highway, near to the front line of the conflict.

By then the share promoter will have retired comfortably to Cyprus blaming every one else for the end of the pier show.

So let's assume Pinocchio is forced into a fund raise before Xmas. Who's in? I very much doubt he has any credibility left to dangle prospect of anything being dug out of the ground in his lifetime......this only ends badly for shareholders as the shenanigans with the share price shows.