Member Info for lordloadsoflolly

surface - not sure why you "fear MW has his hands all over this". I'd say hands on involvement from him can only be good, given his track record. And yes he will be underwater currently. But then a lot of shareholders are in the red on a lot of shares right now.

I'd say the one thing your "pre-pandemic trend line" ignores is that the pandemic changed things forever. People already work differently, making communications tech (amongst other things) more relevant. And that won't ever change IMHO. Whilst, with hindsight, the tech sector had got ahead of itself, it's always been a volatile & cyclical sector. Tech may well go much further out of favour before eventually bouncing back. But rest assured, its time willl come again. For the patient.

SonofYoda - you might be right, but by getting out now (at almost half LY's peak) you've done a bit of a firesale. Things could well get worse short term. But unless you need the capital now (or can't afford to lose it), I'd suggest sitting on your hands. Today's price could well look very attractive in 5 years' time. But nobody knows for sure of course.

laughton - could you tell us as soon as you've stopped buying, so we can then get in at the bottom. Ta.

surface - as I said before, time will tell. Turnarounds require patience & there HAS already been fundamental change in the company's strategy (prioritising profit over sales, increased focus on ST & Charles + Lee brands, ceasing loss-making promotional activity, reducing Facebook ad spend, collaborating with social media influencers, commencing - & now growing - sales volume via Amazon, initiating a JV for Prolong) What more do you want! To date, Ward has bought over 5 million IDP shares (most, if not all, above the current market price) and I don't see him giving up on this commitment any time soon.

aspex - agreed, though I think SBTX's current £72M market cap takes an awful lot on trust still and is therefore highly vulnerable to donward pressure. Particularly given the current nervous investment climate, where clear earnings visiblity is ever more important. So Opti's stake in SBTX could easily become less valuable - in the short term at least. But it'll still be more than enough to keep the lights on at Opti. Even if that means we may never see the special dividend we were originally enticed with.

Turnarounds never happen overnight. Let's wait & see what the peak tanning season brings.

surface - I very much doubt it, given how much he's invested.

My take is that Opti has sweated its assets for some time now. No bad thing initially, as limited funding were available before the SBTX spin-off, so it HAD to be run frugally. Problem is, it has become increasingly over-stretched as a result. The recent new appointments are indicative of this and look promising on paper, but even if successful they'll also significantly increase admin costs. To me, Opti is increasingly coming across as yet another British company with huge potential, limited only by the clever scientists/accountants running it (instead of being driven by sales & marketing experts alongside the science). SOH is undoubtedly hugely gifted & I think reasonably genuine & trustworthy. But IMHO he's in danger of losing more & more investor confidence, as he continues over-promising whilst failing to deliver the goods (& the desired share price) in the timescales he originally suggested. 2022 may be the year when this all changes (I sincerely hope so as a LTH). Trouble is, we've been fed the "jam tomorrow" scenario for a bit too long already, which is why I won't be adding. It's just too risky.

I disagree. Shareholder dissent can make a difference.

anon3 - don't think Opti's share price mirrors SBTX. SBTX is still about 20% UP on its 1 January 2022 level. Opti is over 20% DOWN. And when SBTX was hovering just above the 70p mark in May & Oct last year (as opposed to 48p currently), Opti didn't mirror the rise, despite its significant holding. Quite surprising really, as Opti does at least generate some sales & profits already, whilst SBTX's valuation is still all founded on future hope.

No offence to you, as I know you spend a lot of time on all the research, some of which isn't tucked behind a paywall. But I also don't like the way SOH channels much of his communication through a few "chosen ones", when RNSs would - IMHO - be more professional, democratic & equitable.

The new appointments sound good on paper. There again, they always do. Proof of the pudding and all that. One thing they WILL ensure is that admin expenses remain high. Elrico - you say "the company has not set the expectations". I beg to differ with you there. SOH has done several interviews over the past few years, trotting out ranges of values for each new partner acquired. Added together, these would have represented £ tens of millions. The big partners alone were meant to bring in £0.5M+ each annually. Yet here we are, already a few years into commercialisation, with turnover still in the low single digit £ millions and barely covering admin costs. He also did an interview a year or more back, implying the then share price might well represent a good buying opportunity. I'm sorry, but O'Hara HAS largely been responsible for setting investors' expectations. And whilst I generally like what I've seen of him - and believe Opti could still come good - he must shoulder at least some of the blame .

Here we go again. Yet more free share options granted despite abysmal company performance. This is a win win for Lemos & Pullen, since "No consideration is payable for the grant or exercise of the Awards". What PRECISELY has Pullen done to deserve 1,478,306 free share options? And, for that matter, Lemos - 3,065,591 free share options, even though he's only been in post 5 minutes. Admittedly, they won't be rewarded unless certain performance criteria are met over the next 3 years. And options are designed to help retain key personnel. But Pullen hardly falls into that category, And Lemos remains an unknown quantity at this stage. He could turn out to be more Lemon than Lemos. Unless shareholders are told exactly what the performance criteria are, how can IQE possibly claim "Awards are granted under the LTIP previously approved by shareholders". Especially given that these options - if granted - would presumably be dilutive for all other long-suffering PIs.

Andrew7 - I agree with your comments, except regarding another investor presentation required from SOH. The numbers rarely lie. He's either over-promised on sales/profit potential or under-estimated on timescale. Either way, IMHO another presentation is unlikely to tell us much he hasn't already said and would lack credibility for the time being.

larus - I can't see any posts suggesting what you claim? Perhaps you'd elaborate.

I'd describe this update as somewhat underwhelming. Not disastrous by any means. But - given the soft comparatives in view of Covid-related launch delays last year - it fails to demonstrate Opti is a truly dynamic growth company. On the plus side, plenty of cash in the bank, so dilution risk has been lowered. I guess Sweetbiotix launch might turbo-charge things. But it seems to be taking forever.

spikeyj - I'd second that (though I guess there may not be too many Ukrainian posters here). Whatever happens to any of our investments is completely irrelevant, compared to any attack on democracy & basic human freedoms. I think we should all take a moment to appreciate just how fortunate we are to live in the UK (even if doesn't always seem that way!). Whatever our differences & disagreements - providing we express them peacefully - at least we aren't bundled into the back of a van & "silenced" just for expressing them.

DorsetLSE - that old adage certainly held true today. At the opening, (earliest opportunity to react to cannon fire), SMT hovered between about £8.80 and £9.00. And by this afternoon's closing bell, somewhere above £9.50. Another of my SMT limit buy orders was triggered this morning just below £9.09. Whilst I'm tempted to bank a quick profit, I still believe in the long term potential of this IT, so will hold (and hope!)

Here you go (latest available from 31 12 21): hTTps://www.bailliegifford.com/en/uk/intermediaries/literature-library/funds/investment-trusts/portfolio-valuations/scottish-mortgage-valuation-31-december-2021/