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I haven't paid that much attention except to note that there has been a fair amount.
iWantThatOne. Were you around when they did the reverse split? That was about 5 years ago. Not long before the reverse split the sp was around 30p under the old valuation. That would be around 750p at current rates. There was a clear expectation of at least 100p equal to 2500p today. By the time the reverse split happened the sp had dropped to 8p. The split cut the number of shares to a 25th of the pre split number and increased the sp by a multiple of 25 from 8p to 400p overnight. The new sp quickly dropped to 8p. That equated to 0.32p under the pre split valuation. the present sp of 26p still only equates to just over 1p at pre split values.
The PER target price of 225p still only equates to 9p under the pre split valuation. Peanuts in comparison to what the BoD led us to expect at that time.
You had to be around in those days and experience the enormity of the damage done to shareholder's investments in AVO to understand the lasting mistrust of the BoD. They lied to us about the progress they were making on developing LIGHT. The same directors are still on the BoD.
I never owned at the peak and got out with most of my cash intact before the final plunge. I have recently bought back in at a fraction of the original price.
Having witnessed the amateurish management over the years I have no great faith in the ability of the BoD to realise the full commercial value of LIGHT.
The only thing that has kept me interested, albeit at a much lower level of investment, has been the CERN provenance and the fact that CERN owns the licence to LIGHT.
Hi PM44. I was lucky I got out before the big drop and kept my shirt. I still have a few shares in AVO. Only as a small gamble on the outside chance that they might come good some day. I don't trust the BoD and I'm in because of the technology and CERN's ownership of the licence for LIGHT. There is so much that could go wrong. The Chinese connection is a concern given their reputation for taking ownership of Western companies and technology.
The BoD has always been unreliable. Back in the day they kept insisting that they were on track to treat their first patient in 2018 and held to that story long after they had obviously missed multiple targets on their development schedule and were being bombarded by loyal shareholders for answers. The BoD lied and kept on lying. Then, out of the blue, they published a new schedule with completion pushed to 2020/21, The share price collapsed from £8 and a lot of loyal shareholders got their fingers badly burned.
They had a well publicised grand signing event in China of contracts for 7 Chinese hospitals. The PM, David Cameron, was there along with senior members of the Chinese Government. They were paid a hefty advance by their agents Synophi.
The contracts vanished into thin air when the Chinese realised that AVO could not keep their promises. AVO had to refund the advance under threat of being sued after AVO at first refused to pay up. all references to those contracts were quickly deleted from the AVO website.
We recently had a reprise of that story with multiple new Chinese contracts awarded and millions raised. I cannot find any references to those new contracts on the AVO website. They seem to have been deleted in the same way as all references to the old contracts were.
I accept that it must be difficult to develop a complex system such as LIGHT but even so it would help shareholders if the BoD were more honest.
so very much of 2016. I don't have position and won't have until I am satisfied that there is not going to be a repeat of past events.
ceremony in China, attended by senior Chinese and British Government Ministers. They had signed up Sinophi as their Chinese and Asian representatives and received large sums of money to complete everything. They lost the lot because they couldn't deliver. There is now no record that it ever happened.
In 2016, AVO said they were on track to treat the first patient in Harley Street by the end of 2017, they had just been awarded about 7 Chinese contracts signed at a big public ceremo
It seems to be a completely new start up
I got out at 57.5p and was very glad I did.
In the meantime I've dipped my toe back in to get the benefit of any sudden surge but don't lose too much if it falls apart through lack of finance. I'm keeping cash available to buy if the picture improves. I'm also invested in IQE which appears to have a promising future. Some people think it could be the next ARM. It has certainly done me well so far. I just hope that both AVO and IQE fulfil their promises.
A great deal more actually. Not all of it positive. The technology might be great but AVO isn't well run. The company is very vulnerable to take over. And for a song.
The confidence or the desperation of knowing that if it goes tits up he will have lost his fortune. As for the future, have you compared the 2014 investor presentation with this year's presentation. The 2014 presentation told us that AVO was three years from commercialisation and so does this one. Why is that? Both presentations contained much the same information about proton therapy, the size of the market and AVO's rivals and include mentions of London, Geneva and Syracuse as AVO operating bases with no mention of what Syracuse does. The main changes that have occurred over the last three years are that the sp has dropped from 400p to less than 20p, there are fewer contracts and no new ones since 2014, AVO is in a far worse financial state than it was then and the number of machines that Thales are due to build seems to have halved, if not quartered. I am keeping an eye on AVO and might buy back in if they start to show evidence of being a commercially viable business. Until then I am investing my money in better prospects.
People might like to reflect on what AVO originally promised us and why it is unwise to invest in AVO until it is very clear that they have met all targets. I have a copy of the original development schedule issued by AVO at their presentation on the 21st November 2014: I tried to copy and paste it on here for everyone to see but the lse website won't accept it. The schedule states that integration and testing of LIGHT would take place during the period August to December 2016 with the facility in Harley Street ready by the end of Q2 2017 and the first patient treated before the end of 2017 AVO were still insisting in January/ February 2017 that the development of LIGHT was on track before they finally admitted that it was far from the case. That delay in owning up to the truth, despite being asked for the facts many times by investors growing concerned by obvious delays, led to loss of investor confidence, contributed to the drop in the sp and cost many loyal, long term, investors a lot of money. I suggest that current investors bear that track record in mind before accepting AVO's current statements uncritically. I would also seek clarification about what LIGHT machine is going into Harley Street. It was originally going to be the development model but that changed to being the first production model coming out of Thales with the development model being retained in Geneva as a test bed for further research and development. It now seems that AVO has changed their minds and it is the original development machine that will go into Harley Street after all.and Thales will not commence commercial production until after the development machine has been installed at Harley Street. The analysis paper produced by Hardman&Co on the 15th March 2017 states that to be the case but without referring to the original intention. If I were still an AVO investor I would be tempted to ask AVO why they have changed their minds. Why isn't the first production model out of Thales going into Harley Street?
Not cheap money but there might be hope yet. I'll keep an eye on it.
I and other old AVO hands have had previous discussions down the years about the fact that AVO holds a licence from CERN to develop, manufacture and market LIGHT. We even discussed the possibility that CERN might come to AVO's rescue. It is not new information and is widely known except, it seems, to relative newbies. I felt it information worth repeating, especially as AVO is in such dire straits. What I have not investigated is CERN's legal position should AVO simply collapse and leave CERN with no one to complete the project. I hope that the licence makes provision for CERN to do something. It would be a pity if AVO's collapse meant the end of LIGHT.
I would agree that the LIGHT machine could be a wonderful success if it ever gets to market but I very much doubt if AVO will still own it or that any AVO shareholders will get any benefit. There are a few possibly scenarios and the most likely is that AVO will go into administration and its assets, including LIGHT, will be sold off. Whatever cash is raised will go to paying off some of AVO's debts, leaving the shareholders with nothing. It is possible that whoever gets their hands on LIGHT will might complete the development and bring it to market. Another possibility is that CERN will take back the licence and award it to some other company. There is still the possibility that AVO might survive long enough to complete the development. At that point there could well be a hostile takeover. That might return you some of your money. I am an ex shareholder and an eternal optimist. I am keeping an eye on AVO and I might buy back in when the sp drops to around 1p or less if it looks as if I might benefit from whatever comes next.
RMFatGB. Were any of those companies carrying as much debt and in such dire financial straits as AVO is? From my perspective, the problem is not the technology. It is AVO and the sheer lack of finance. I am not alone in my opinion. There are a substantial number of experienced investors who would not touch AVO except for its scrap value.
2208ham. My mistake. On reflection I realise that I should have chosen some other form of words to get the reality of Harley street across more clearly. I suggest you read this. It gives a clearer idea of what Howard de Walden think of Harley Street and what their plans are. It was a while since I read it.. http://www.hdwe.co.uk/about-us-strategy.aspx With respect, you seem to be assuming that I am some sort of naive newbie to investing who is guided by my emotions. You may fall into that category but I left all that behind me years ago. I retain an interest in AVO because I know so much about it and it is not dead yet. I am keeping an eye on it but I am not invested at this time because it is in such desperate straights and its future is so uncertain. I think that the sp could fall a lot further before it recovers and it might never. There is a very real danger that AVO might not be around to benefit from LIGHT if it ever comes to market. I might buy back in once it is out of the woods, if it ever is. If AVO survives and I do buy back in I hope to do so at a lot less than the present sp.
I beg to differ with you. You should read the planning application documents and AVO's description of how LIGHT is constructed and installed. Howard de Walden have a long term plan to develop Harley Street as a significant international centre of medical excellence. They wanted to adapt the building to house a clinic. Any major work could only be done via the Mews. Because of the nature of the Mews they needed a company like AVO to get any application approved. Even then, the opposition from the local residents of the Mews led by Dame Barbara Windsor and her high profile friends almost sunk it. In order to get planning permission, Howard de Walden had to give a number of undertakings that included that at the end of the lease the original rooms could be restored to their original state. AVO have made it clear that all aspects of LIGHT, including the shielding can be installed and removed by hand without interfering with the structure of the building. it is very common in London for deep construction work to be undertaken under all manner of buildings, especially listed buildings so Howard de Walden are doing nothing that is not generic, nor anything that could not be put to the use of another leaseholder if AVO folded. It would be amazing if it were otherwise, considering that the Howard de Walden Estate have owned most of the Harley Street area for centuries, are planning to own it for many centuries more and the AVO lease is for just 50 years.
Ian. The building work is not really about AVO. It is all about Howard de Walden and the investment they are putting into developing the site to increase its value for their own benefit. They couldn't do it without the planning permission that AVO got for them.There was to much opposition to it otherwise. Thanks to AVO Howard de Walden are going to end up with a vastly improve building that they will be able to let for loads more money than they could get before AVO came on the scene. If AVO survives then I am sure Howard de Walden will be happy but they will be equally happy if AVO fails.