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5371 tonnes of CPO is good for a third quarter. They are using a bit of window dressing comparing to last years (bad Q3) number of 4734, but the 2016 Q3 numbers (which was a very good Q3) were 5823 - so this would indeed suggest a return to the somewhere around the norm.

Put it this way, last week we were saying 5000 would 'steady the ship' and 4734 should be the bare minimum!

Dibs61, re the sales. There was/is no stock left in the tanks which would account for some of that fall. They sold it all off earlier in the year - "CPO sales were down 24% as a result of less inventory on hand at the half year following this year's low high season production - the Company continues to sell all CPO produced".

Yes, they said they aim for the 10th-17th of the month following the end of the quarter for announcements.

The production in tonnes was 4,734 in 2017 and 5,823 2016 for Q3's.

On that basis, with the improved sentiment of late (forward guidance and interims announcements), I will go for a conservative 5000 tonnes which should steady the ship and hope for the upside.

At the very least, from what we have been led to believe, the minimum we should expect is 4734 tonnes to match last year. I would be very unhappy with anything less than this, as it has been suggested a normalisation has occurred in Q3 - and that was only a couple of weeks back!

Thanks rugs, I just type the highlights live as they go along and usually manage to catch everything of note.

Although they do rattle through the points at breakneck speed! Tend to catch up during the bits where they repeat what we already know.

Hoping that you/FK1/Philpot can repeat the favour with excellent service at the AGM!

Thanks guys, it's good that they appear to be taking feedback on board even though their hands are tied in certain aspects. I certainly see no reason for the dramatic decline in the SP based on what I've heard and so will continue to hold and buy back in with loose change at these levels. DYOR and all that.

The powerpoint presentation is on the DKL website now. It doesn't appear to offer anything new at first glance though.

It's also a positive step that they're going to be doing these conference calls every 4 months or so. Together with the AGM in amongst it all, there won't be that many companies especially on AIM with this level of openness from the board.

I still think more could be done to publicise these events though.

The first plant to have effluent treatment plant in Ivory Coast - I think that's what Shai Kol said. The last main component at Ayenouan.

Investor relations questions:
Can they do conference calls more regularly (my question!) - the answer is yes. They want to answer as many investor questions as possible. Should be 3 a year - annual results / interims / end of calendar year, mid January.

Monthly rather than quarterly results? Technically possible, but could make situation more volatile. Other companies are every six months. Monthly may give out too much information to competitors. More regular news flow will come from cashew project. Hence less touch points with the market. That will change with the cashew project.

Share price - talks to institutional investors. Not happy obviously, but they do understand the bigger plan. Volatility due to retail. Flip side, improved results, should improve quickly. Feedback taken on board, improved communication will be forthcoming for retail investors.

Board buying stock - it is discussed regularly. Very undervalued levels at the moment. Can't say much.

Financial calendars - not as easy for a small company. Auditors focus on blue chips, so can't control timing. This year slightly different, busy closing cashew transaction.

AGM announcement shortly, late this year because of trying to maintain dividend. AGM probably in October.

Hoping announcements 10th of each month, going out 11th - 18th.

More photos online? Short answer = yes. Don't want photos of huge piles of stock [which is understandable!!!].

Social media posts to increase. A lot more touch points in the near future.

Bernard Francois - well respected, holds gravitas amongst the community, background experience. Very beneficial, continues to offer very good advice. He lived through 2010, can learn lessons from him. Very positive.

Regional conflict, Liberia/Ghana - no impact on DKL. "Very clear, no impact whatsoever". We are at other side of Ivory Coast.

Will be posted online later.

Email any messages to Lincoln directly if any other questions.
They can work in weak pricing environments, but not weakness of fruit.
Quick bounce in SP with normalisation.

That's about it.

Thank you to Shai and Lincoln for another informative conference call.

Norpalm - in a holding pattern. It's "not dead", it's become secondary in terms of priority. Cashews "are much more attractive than Norpalm". It would of been a challenge, big turnaround needed. Extraction rate much lower.

How do they intend to finance cashew project? Driven by financial strength of DKL at that time. "Yes, debt is an option, equity is an option". Cashew company may choose to take equity in DKL. Possibly a combination of all of them. Long term bonds, etc. They need to get the balance right, it's too early to say. Any equity raised would be outweighed by returns from cashew business.

Cashew to start end of 2019, maximum production Feb - May 2020. More announcements to follow imminently.

Guitry - when will it start, development partner, etc? They've found a partner that they want. In the middle of due diligence now. 2 months - 6 months, but a broad range. Doesn't want to give a timeline. Fully operational, profitable nursery the first step. Guitry won't have the same level of smallholders as Ayenouan, but that's by choice. Possibly 5 years before production. Cashew business will be next in line in terms of priority, Guitry is more long term.

Social elements / smallholder relations / community initiatives (back to Shai Kol)
315 employees coming from local area in Ayenouan.
Liaising with the village on projects like renovating the school, added classes. Built clinic, doctor coming twice a week to service the village. Paid for bus to transport schools from neighbouring villages. Built infrastructure to provide fresh water to the school. Next step is to create a market.

95%+ of the FFB's are from smallholders.
Paid on time, very happy they know they will get paid on time.
More initiatives to come re smallholder relations, can't disclose because of competition.
Are smallholders sustainable? - already proven business model.
Still planting and replanting, no doubt it is sustainable.
Number of smallholder plantations is increasing, thanks to nursery.
Talking about world bank now, can't understand, poor line.

Recording of conference call will be added to the website later.
New presentation on website later today.
70 questions, broken down into key groups - Current production / Financials, Dividends / Expansion / Social & Environmenal / PR & Investor Relations / Other

Poor line again to Deputy CEO, Shai Kol - Nothing to do with rainfall and sunlight main issues.
No clear understanding for reason for poor years, last seen in 2010. Board and every economist believes occasions of spreads of trees the following year is bouncing back to normal levels or even better than that. Appears to be temporary issue, out of control of board.
Trying to control costs, started purchasing more expensive external kernels to alleviate.
Q3 data, in the next 3 weeks. Q3 starting to stabilise and yields improving to date. "It's coming back".
All evidence showing FFB will come back, it will come back to at "standard levels" or "even higher", "we will enjoy it".

Next section, financials
Not paying dividend, what are you doing with cash? "Working capital."
When will divi start again? "Hopefully just a hiccup and back to paying divi next year."
Share buyback - they want to keep this option available just in case.

Continued...

13. This has been raised numerous times at the AGM and through other means, but there is a continuing impression that the tea lady, window cleaner and newspaper delivery boy are all being issued shares in lieu for services rendered. Why does the board continue to do so?

14. The recent appointment of Mr Bernard Francois was very welcome. What impact has he had on the business so far and how does he see the company moving forward?

15. Can you please post some more up-to-date photos/videos online of the mill, the nurseries, etc?

16. In the last presentation in June, it stated that the company owned estates were now approaching maturity and would shortly come in to service. What timescale is there for this please?

17. Can this conference call please be posted online like last time so that those unable to listen live can listen again?

Questions for Dekeloil Conference Call for the attention of Lincoln Moore, Tuesday 18 September at 11:00am.

Lincoln, thank you for another conference call, the last one provided a lot of clarity and hopefully more again today.

My questions:

1. Can these conference calls become a more regular occurence? Say, once every 3 months?

2. The share price drifts downwards towards the end of each quarter on lack of newsflow. Would consideration be given to changing to a monthly production update, even if this has to be on a 4 week delay, i.e. a month behind? Having to wait more than 3 months to see if progress is, in fact, being made in Q3 does not help investor confidence. For example, we could have seen record production in July, but nobody gets to know until the latter half of October.

3. What exactly has been the cause of the poor H1 2018? Is it weather related or a cyclical tree issue, etc.?

4. What processes, if any, have the board put in place in light of the poor first half of 2018? Or, is it just one of those things that happens from time to time in this industry? Why has the eastern side of Cote d'Ivoire been affected more than the western side of the country.

5. We are now almost at the end of Q3. The statements released in the Interim Results, and associated 'puff pieces', pointed towards a much better Q3. I note you have to be careful in what you say, but can you please elaborate on this?

6. There has obviously been a large collapse in the share price of late, has this surprised the board and what are you doing about it?

7. It appears to be mainly retail investors selling off, have the institutional investors and the board had discussions to allay any fears?

8. Why have the board not bought more shares at these prices to stem the flow and to show the market they have confidence in the business?

9. Announcements seem to be made on an ad-hoc basis. Larger companies have a financial calendar of announcements that are rigidly stuck to. Why can't Dekeloil do the same? The lack of an AGM announcement is a perfect example.

10. There is also a perception that good news is released earlier in the month, with bad news put off until a good day to bury bad news. The market wants to see a true reflection - not window dressing - and sometimes will react positively. Note last Thursday in the Interim Results, the dividend was dropped and the share price rose. The market just wanted clarity on what on earth was happening.

11. What is the latest situation with Norpalm? If there is no chance of it going ahead, please say so. If it is still progressing, what sort of timescale do you envisage?

12. You previous promised no further dilution for existing shareholders regarding Norpalm, etc. - will the same apply re the cashew business?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nChDeH6JvU

Certainly seems to be talking up Q3. Also addresses retail investors concerns.

Buys now at 4.25, this stock continues to entertain, excite, frustrate, disappoint and surprise in equal measure.

Further on in the directors statement, two paragraphs of note:

"We have experienced some relief in Q3 2018 in terms of FFB volumes, however, the extended effect of traditionally lower volumes in the high season has continued to keep FFB costs higher than normal at this time of the year and CPO pricing has continued to worsen with current prices at close to the lowest levels seen in the last 10 years. In some cases, we are achieving a sales premium on our CPO sales prices which is partly mitigating the higher FFB costs."

"Today, DekelOil has a portfolio of projects in Cote d'Ivoire that are at various stages of development: a 100% owned producing palm oil operation at Ayenouan; an option to acquire 58% ownership of a cashew processing project at Tiebissou, which is due to commence a 12 month construction phase shortly; and a second palm oil project in Guitry where we are in discussions with potential funding partners at the asset level to build a vertically integrated operation."

(No mention of Norpalm)

I note some pragmatism in the RNS which has been lacking in the past.

We want to hear the bad news as well as the good, and as FK1 would put it, we don't need Gok Wan to be involved with window dressing.

Surprisingly, there has been some buying in to this news after the initial drop, so some of it had already been priced in.

This bit was of particular interest - "The normalisation of fruit volumes delivered to our mill during Q3 when compared to the equivalent period in 2017 is therefore encouraging and bodes well for the year ahead...." - but on recent form, the proof of the pudding will be when the Q3 figures are released in a months time - so counting no chickens.

I will be compiling a long list of questions for the conference call next week. They appeared to answer all those raised last time, so worth asking everything you want to know, even if there is duplication.

Peterson, thanks for the analysis. Very good.

It's worth noting the vast majority of the capital expenditure at Ayenouan is now (apparently) complete.

Last year expenditure would have been the backup boiler (shame it wasn't ready by Q2 2017, but at least it was on order/being installed) / the empty fruit press / the upgrade of the mill from 60 to 75 tonnes per hour, etc.

More nonsense from fundraiser222 as the second dividend was confirmed in the RNS (2017 Final Results) of 28th June 2018.

"But there simply hasn’t been anything material to say over the last 8 weeks." Well, on the one hand, no news is good news. On the other, there has been 2 months of production and we have to wait (more than) another month to find out what that production was. I say, release monthly production updates (even on a one month delay if need be).

"But interims, Agm, q3 production all imminent now" No mention of the divi, which I think is probably related to the recent downturn as private investors wondering why it hasn't been forthcoming?

"I will do full audios on each providing a full explaination of the status and future goals." The puff pieces are most welcome, but the board really needed to roll their sleeves up after what happened in 2017 and have, so far, failed to do so.

"the palm oil in production which really relies on the quarterlies." See earlier point about releasing monthly updates.

As someone mentioned the other day, this is a bottom drawer stock at present to come back to in 2/3/5/10 years time and see how it's doing. I am continuing to invest loose change at these prices on the drops. There's certainly no point in selling at these levels, unless desperate for funds. Might as well wait and see - while all this is going on (tree stress/weather), in the background the new crops will be continuing to mature very nicely thank you very much.

If the AGM/divi delay is in any way related to Norpalm, then this needs to be made public. The AGM should take place as normal regardless, an EGM can easily be called if necessary. I know troublingtimes/fundraiser (who both have a strange obsession with a company they apparently hate) appeared to put the brakes on Norpalm, but no company needs 4/5 meetings in as many months without good reason, so there's something still afoot there.

These other projects have been a distraction, unless they come to pass very quickly indeed - on positive terms and without any dilution whatsoever. The further issuing of shares in lieu, despite repeated warnings, is also a source of annoyance.

fundraiser, stop scaremongering, we know you are a pumper/dumper from your reaction after the Q1 figures.

Miton own 48 million shares, that trade today is a small fry investor.

Another EGM for Norpalm scheduled. That's the third this calendar year plus their AGM, so four I believe in total in the past 5 months.

Rugs, possibly due to people wondering why no dividend (news) has been forthcoming?

Paid 4th September 2017, we haven't even been given a date for this years yet.

Thanks both, the fact we had record months just 7 and 8 months ago respectively leads me to think this has been oversold. That, on the back of a record Q1 2017 and what would have been very close to, or in fact, a record Q2 2017 had it not been for the mechanical issues.

I am just sitting on my hands and waiting, topping up a few at a time at these levels, but not on a large scale as I am in very deep here already.

Regarding Norpalm, the recent conference call (available to download on the DKL website) mentioned it as still being in the pipeline. The late AGM may be related to this? Norpalm have had 3 meetings (2 x EGM, 1 x AGM) in the past couple of months.