Ben Richardson, CEO at SulNOx, confident they can cost-effectively decarbonise commercial shipping. Watch the video here.
RELLIM,
Have you got any sources you can share that detail how Mercuria's investment team operates?
As far as I'm aware, they're a relatively new team (i.e. practically no track record) and keep an extremely low profile. I don't understand where all the suggestions that they're a bit of a vampire have come from - there's virtually no information available about them, as far as I've ever been able to see.
Upomega,
I'm in agreement with you: I don't think it was in the best interests of long-term holders for MF to suddenly depart.
There were a lot of question marks around the Tailwind transaction but otherwise I'm a very big fan of Serica's operational abilities. It's the key reason I own Serica shares and not KIST or HBR - their success with the low capex, short-cycle investments is unparalleled by any E&P company I'm aware of in the UK. And in fact, it was this ability to maximise free cash flow so effectively that I felt (and continue to feel) that Serica could do very well to stay fixated on the UK, contrary to what everyone else here has stated. They're one of the best positioned listed players to benefit from current capital allowances and cheap deals in the UK, assuming Labour doesn't blow the joint apart if (when) they win the elections this year.
My point was not that MF has done a bad job. Rather, I'm surprised he's decided to jet off so suddenly given he appeared to be preparing to make some big corporate moves (M&A). And the reason I'm unhappy is that he should've organised his successor prior to leaving the rest of us holding our breath about the stability and future of our company.
C'est la vie...
QC, your point about MF needing to move on in order for a deal to take place does have a lot of merit. What other reason is there for a reasonably well entrenched CEO to suddenly move following these last three events at the company:
1. settlement of an enormous new debt facility with an accordion option (inevitably to support the acquisition of one or two smaller rivals - say Kistos and/or OKEA ASA). This was not prompted by an upcoming maturity of the incumbent debt facility, nor was it to secure lower funding costs;
2. the recent signing of ex-investment banker and M&A advisor Martin Copeland as CFO. Note he was a partner at the firm that provided the advisory for the new debt facility, Kirkland Lovegrove; and
3. the recent departure of the CIO Steve Edwards who last year was heralded by many as a likely successor to MF. This one suggested to me that there's been some personality or "strategic vision" clashes going on within Serica.
It looked to me like MF was gearing up for a big move. It's a big surprise to me to see him suddenly depart, and frankly, leave minority shareholders in the lurch without a new CEO in place. I'm not happy about this.
Upomega, what is your source for the information regarding the hedging please? I'd like to look into this.
I'm sensing that there's some confusion here. Blackrock is not the same as Blackstone. The former is predominantly a custodian/manager of passive investment funds (though they do have comparatively small active investment teams), the latter is the famed leverage buyout group.
A Blackrock ownership position is generally nothing to get excited about. It's equivalent to Vanguard buying a position - they're passive investors most of the time.
How did you come to your estimate of $203m for expenses for the half year? That seems outrageously high, even as an estimate of annual expenses.
EGPC*
Furthering LOTM-13's posts: we know GS has recently accrued a 10.2% stake in CNE and, as of today, BoA have a 9.5% stake.
It's not clear who the beneficial owner of the swaps/shares are, but is anyone else getting the distinct impression that a potential buyout is in the works here?
CNE strikes me as a good play for a private equity firm that has the ability to wait out a few years for the ECPG to start paying for the Egyptian oil again, and to dispose of all the remaining assets. By my calculations of the intrinsic value, there's ~100% upside from CNE's current market cap - a very healthy return.