The latest Investing Matters Podcast episode featuring financial educator and author Jared Dillian has been released. Listen here.
Good spot Knight - I find it comforting to know that something has been going on, and the addition of a credible CFO with responsibility for improving investor relations is good news. The Essar deal is potentially good news, but not worth getting excited about. Essar definitely weren't flush with cash when we were taken on to do their drilling, and that issue ought to be resolved, but I can't imagine the recent wobbles (or rumours thereof) are as simple as cashflow. It would be very nice to learn otherwise. Omedome, good to hear RG is still reaching out to PIs, that is one of the things that has impressed me about him. Agreed, he is charming, believable and very slick - just wish we'd had a bit more walk to back up all the talk.
Thanks bjorn - I like the way you put it. The investment case here depends very much where RG falls on the delusion spectrum! It's easy to forget the success he's had in his business career, and it's fair to say it sets him apart from the average AIM CEO. It took a while for Robin and I to click, but we got there. I think of myself as fairly calm and measured, whereas he was an incredible force of chaos! Very genuine though and a great loss to this board. Very few people put in the sort of effort he did when it came to researching GDL. Fingers crossed he's making his losses back elsewhere!
To be fair I don't think the stuff RG says is deliberately meant to mislead the market. I know I've been one of his critics, but if forced to be objective I'd say his misguided statements were more naïve than they are malicious. I got to see him first hand at the AGM last year and he put on a good, believable show. I think that he genuinely thought things would all fall GDL's way in the last 12 months, and they just haven't. The test for me will be how he acts this year. With the SP at all time lows and very little in the way of good news since the last AGM it would be highly inappropriate for him to be self-satisfied and full of confidence. I'd want to see a certain amount of contrition and a full and frank appraisal of where things went wrong and how we intend to avoid the pitfalls in future. Only then will I sit and listen to talk of new clients across three regions and backlogs of hundreds of millions of dollars.
Good to see some old respected names still hanging in there! My holding is about 20% of the size it once was, but I've held throughout the latest downturn. I may well make the AGM, but I'll see a little nearer the time. I'm not sure I'd gain much from hearing Rampdeep's latest 'transformational' presentation, but it would be good to catch up with other board members. Somewhat encouraging to see further support and buying at 7p. With 8p falling things could have gotten uglier than they have. Perhaps the discount to NTAV and the $45M GDG contract are offering some protection while we scrabble around for new customers.
Broker research notes J-cakes, they all seem to agree that the GDG 30 well contract is under way. No reason why it wouldn't be, they have the cash on hand, the rigs ready to go and the weather is fine. Ops update wouldn't hurt though...
Guilty :) Decided I had slightly over reduced my holding so took a bigger position while the market was flaccid. Got them back slightly cheaper than I sold them for so let's call it a shrewd bit of trading.
Good write-up in Paul Scott's value report today. Xaar had escaped my attention but looks a solid investment case. Great to see a tech company with big upside potential and a very strong balance sheet. Took a 2K share starter position earlier this afternoon - look forward to seeing how this one progresses.
Sorry folks, I'm out for now - that's my 25K sell at 11:43. There's a lot I like about DQE, but I can't see any immediate catalyst for this to re-rate. The share has looked super cheap since I first bought 18 months ago, but it seems to be a bit of a value trap. Until I see signs of improvement in their underlying business and clearer financial reporting, I'm staying on the sidelines. Good luck to those with the patience to stick it out.
I won't delve into the gory details, but Paul Scott savaged DQE in his daily article yesterday on Stockopedia. He reviews companies based on their balance sheet, and to be fair, DQE's is poor. That said, he's also judging a book by its cover because he has a strong dislike of foreign companies listed on AIM, having been burned before. I think he crossed a line in speculating that DQE is a fake company and its animations are a work of fiction. If you take the time to look at the investment story, clearly neither of those things are true. They're very damaging allegations though. I've said before that I agree the PE here is a work of fiction, and I think it's still the case. I maintain a holding here because I think DQE have a great strategy and the market cap is simply too low for a business with their back catalogue and potential. They also have some strong deals with genuine blue chip organisations that I feel will deliver in time. For now, we're on a downswing and it could be a nasty one. There's a lot of room for improvement in the next RNS.
I could be wrong, but I think we're owed a large legacy payment by the South Sudan government. The unrest in that part of the world must be jeopardising the likelihood of collecting on the debt.
I wouldn't pay too much attention to the PE of this company, because the declared profits never transpire as cash on the balance sheet. I've been in since 38p (and many times at lower amounts since) and it's always seemed cheap - it's impossible to stay. I remain a holder regardless because they feel cheap, and because I really like their strategy. Using open IP to create easily sold kids TV content at a low cost, then farming out merchandising rights for a small cut. It's ingenius. But if this company is going to ever properly re-rate, they need a half decent adviser/publicist in the UK. The last RNS was mostly incomprehensible figures, and the use of crores as a measurement for a UK audience was moronic.
I completely agree Tailender - it all sounds very positive, but I have no idea how this will translate to future revenue. It's probably safe to assume that a large number of holders aren't familiar with the average cocoa yield per hectare, or the current market price for the product. Agta must be, and it wouldn't hurt to spell it out in financial terms. If it has the potential to add £1M a year in revenue then I'm sure the market would respond more warmly to it. Given I have enough invested to buy myself a new Yaris I should probably have the inclination to look it up myself, but I don't and neither will most others.
It's good that we're getting news of this deal - DQE aren't always very forthcoming with updates. A network deal in the US for one of our major products, albeit just in Spanish, is encouraging. However it would be nice to get some guidance on the potential financial impact. I'd much rather have seen an update on the progress of the movie. The last I heard was that the script is up to its 7th iteration, but this was months ago. A high profile funding/distribution deal could have a serious impact on the SP. On a different note, I was just reviewing the forecasts on my holdings and it seems the inaugural dividend for next year is currently expected to be around 3.5%, covered 9 times. Again, official guidance in this regard would be well received. This stock isn't on the radar of income investors, but if that projection holds up then it soon will be.
Hi all, After months of loitering on the LSE BBs I finally decided to sign up and contribute. This company came to my attention from reading Paul Scott's small cap report on Stockopedia. It was just an off hand mention in the comments section pertaining to micro exploration companies that his trusted sources are currently excited about. Coming at it with a fresh pair of eyes this looks like a company with excellent upside and limited downside. I've taken an initial holding of around £6K and will likely top up on future SP weakness. -Ron