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Well, there seemed no neccessity for a fundraise & by dangling it before the market with no figures attached this apology of a company has managed, as I write, this to have destroyed £55m of market cap in the pursuit of £100 of inflow.
Fully underwritten fundraising to raise c£100m. Presumably a rights but on what terms? If underwritten then presumably the terms have been agreed but I do not see what they are? Am I missing something? Seems weird to me - what a way to run a company.
This is my report on Kier's Progress this term:
Kier has made solid progress in the last 6 months but resolutely refuses to varnish his achievements. If he had a light & a bushel within reach I am sure that he would, instinctively, hide the one beneath the other. His success will be measured by the realisation of his projects. On a personal level I believe that his student debt is still too high & this may weigh on him somewhat. He has his critics in class, the Shorter brothers but, I believe, he is determined to prove their criticism misplaced.
Looking forward he has a solid body of work in progress, not least his majot HS2 project which should now start bearing fruit. Having said that he prefers collaborative projects within his "framework" efforts which will, I am sure, be of considerable long-term benefit.
As to his debt I know that he plans to reduce this by passing on responsibility for his "Living" project to another. This will, I am sure, be a considerable weight off his mind & will enable others to view his overall achievements more positively.
Finally, Kier is one of those understated boys who does not shout his progress from the rooftops but allows it to speak for itself. I will follow his future progress with interest & believe that he may surprise many.
The market shake-out has let the shorters off the hook. Uncertainty & panic are meat & drink to them. But results are just two days away. Let's see how it pans out but, for the shorters, their own uncertainty is the actuality & tone of the results announcement. I would expect covering to recommence from today pm. Only my assessment of course.
Drawdown - my personal opinion is that there is little doubt that recessionary trends are now firmly established. For the UK I think thsat we were heading for recession in any case & are probably now to all intents & purposes, in recession. But governments are there to manage the situation as they find it. FDR dragged America out of the depression with an infrastructure blitz & the temptation will be to do the same. Governments can borrow in circumstances where individuals can not. What is more they can borrow long-dated at low coupon. Companies benefitting from infrastructure may well be one of the few places to prosper if serious recessionary conditions take hold.
I eo not think that investors should panic [although panic is not necssarily irrational], but nor should investors be complacent.
The point about coronavirus is that it is new, it derives from the animal world, there is no immmunity within populations from previous infections & there is no certainty that it will not mutate.
The big problem for the world economy is that this is happening at a point when a long standing bull market is long in the tooth. And there will undoubtedly be an economic impact - quite how large remains to be seen.
But the question here is whether this in unduly negative for Kier. The time hounoured policy response in times of steep economic stress is infrastrucure spending - particularly when governments are able to borrow low &long. So, in my opinion, the prospects for Kier remain positive over the short & medium term.
Today's RNS is like opening a box of expensive chocolates & each one you taste is another delight.
Seriously, an excellent announcement, well presented & well argued. Opportunity knocks & this could be the year when opportunity is seized. AFC is at the forefront of a nascent market with the potential to seize leadership in niche sectors.
Yes, funding will be required along the way, this is inevitable, but the essential point to consider is:
Fossil fuels; Institutions disinvesting - Clean fuels: Institutions investing.
This proves a theory of mine. Good news can cause shares to fall as it provides an opportunity for weak holders to exit.
Honour, in the sense of doing the honourable thing, is a rare commodity on AIM. Brian McMaster has demonstrated that it can exist & sets a shining example to other companies. Also it generates trust within the companies PI's. So it works both ways. OK - so we now have a full mining licence & profitability forecast for the current year. There is a lot to like in HMI & I anticipate a gradual re-rating. It has been a long wait but the future looks promising.
There are obviously willing sellers around & a positive announcement gives them the opportunity to offload. Results around the corner so i will rest my case, ie that this stock is cheap, until then.
This is my Budgie's favourite stock. Having read this morning's RNS it is jumping up & down in its cage, going "Cheap - Cheap - Cheap"
Delivery of the undoubted potential of Ethernity is deferred but certainly not cancelled. All of the building blocks are now in place & the market is ready. Major telcos have been tardy with 5G & China is stealing a march. This will not, cannot, continue.
We are on the verge of major investment which means major opportunities for Ethernity. Current market cap is £16m which is derisory. Once this company is on the radar & receives the oxygen of some publicity then it will quickly start to rerate. I see a cap of north of £200M within two years which, assuming no cash raise, means a potential tenbagger for the patient.
Thank you Sycric - I stand corrected. So shall we say "Any battlehardened small company investor ...
Quertyii - don't believe everything that you read in newspapers.
Any battle hardened AIM investor will know that the biggest asset that a PI can desire is a board that is on their side. This is the acid test. Too many BOD's are only on their own side, often aided and abetted by a cabal of self-serving advisers. Much has been made of the fact that Unilad built a significant business with minimum dilution - this proud boast underlining that dilution is the enemy of PI's. Quite what level of funding Iconic requires i do not know - nor on what terms & of what nature. But i do hope that John Quinlan & his team live up to the implications of their publicised backstory. An important element of any quoted business journey is the trust and approval of your core PI's - not self-serving & Johnny-come-lately placees who hang around only long enough to turn a quick buck. Also i hope that JQ keeps an eye on this and other forums & realises that PI's should be his solid foundation & beware building a shareholder base built on shifting sands.
And, of course, I shall give the Daily Telegraph the benefit of the doubt & conclude that their role is simply as the "Useful Fools"
Typical Daily Telegraph, it seems to me. Is there anything new about the Governement's review of the contracting sector - NO. Is there anything specific about Kier - I doubt it. And interesting timing with just 11 days to go until Kier publish their results.
"Fears are growing ...", trumpets the article, quoting anonymous "City Sources". Now, whisper it quietly - not a chance that these sources either derive from shorters or persons / firms close to or associated with shorters? Of course not - thoroughly honourable & respectable persons are shorters & the persons that assist them, are they not??
The last DT knocking copy was a few months ago. I would suggest that it is reasonable to doubt the content, inferences & most particularly the motives of this article.
The last Trading Statement was reassuring - the results announcement was brought forward by 2 weeks. I am content to ignore the news and wait for that announcement.
For a long time dealings in this stock were sporadic at best on Nasdaq. Now Nasdaq is taking the lead. Given that an alliance on the brittle bone disease product [potentially blockbuster status] has a decent chance of being with an American major then maybe, just maybe, there is something in the wind.
It is worth rembering that only when all of the short sells have been unwound do we have a level playing field. Shorts play on fear: of misreporting - bad management - excess debt - poor macro conditions. Remove the fears & there is nothing for them to feed on.
Another excellent business development update.