The latest Investing Matters Podcast episode with London Stock Exchange Group's Chris Mayo has just been released. Listen here.
Never good when you have to air the behind the scenes issues in public but it does put to bed the credibility of the requisition group. Optiva can't take on any new clients, burning through cash and most of their other companies they took to IPO either are in a similar SP position to TGR or no longer trading on markets
MR not a single person had anything good to say about his dealings in previous companies and his current co beacon energy looks in a dire position
The other side of the coin is if you read early RNS announcements for the company, it mentions the Patalganga project and TGMRC and both have now disappeared under PranaGraf - TGR shareholders should be benefitting from the revenue derived from the downstream applications, not only potentially benefitting in a much smaller way via cheaper back-end services
That being said, the current board have a vested interest with skin in the game so as I said earlier this week, my view is to stick as we are and keep lobbying for the downstream to be brought back into the TGR umbrella
I didn't catch the zoom but the FocusIR Q&A confirmed dilution would be first step to raising cash - not good.
I see Beacon Energy which Mark Rollins is chairman of is down -78% today and reading previous RNS they were happy to raise via a placing at a discounted price - the pranagraf figures are concerning but for shareholders the best option is to keep lobbying shishir to align the downstream with TGR and vote against the requisition group
Income: £4,244,018.11 (449209590 INR)
54% from the trading of natural and expandable flake graphite = £2,291,769.78
Customer A on FY23 report accounted for £895,809 which I think (would need to look back and verify) is Pranagraf
This needs clearing up - am I reading this as the private company buying graphite and making a 2.55x return selling them as end user products or is pranagraf also selling the graphite mined which should be TGR revenue
Similar to Apotheki who keeps popping up on here and Twitter writing the same time for change message! Seeing the account was also used to post on Beacon Energy I’m guessing it’s account used by one of the FTG group trying flood the board with negative sentiment
This looks like a really strong appointment so hopefully this is a corner turned and a step in the right direction
Curious letter - don’t doubt it’s authenticity however as co-founder, why is Hemant not part of the new proposed leadership team
This seems to be a family dispute being played out publicly now and it doesn’t feel like either outcome is leading to a good outcome for us shareholders
My point of contention is the requisition group, probably rightly, is pointing out the glaring failures over the past two years, but I’ve still not seen a concrete plan on how they’re going to fix them
My thoughts/suspicion is that you now have a large % of shares not being traded - the requisition group, current board, Waratah etc. etc. all holding their positions, so it didn't take a huge volume of sales to walk the price down and similarly the upwards trajectory *should* be sharp following a wave of buying
Without any news over the past few days my view is that the recent buys are people trading on momentum but I live in hope that we see a good news RNS next week that pushes the price up further
Croqman that part is completely understandable - that in isolation represents a fine agreement between TGR and Prana because there does appear to be a synergy between the two (not least that most of the TGR workforce are now listed as Pranagraf employees)
The issue comes with the downstream applications - at IPO and in subsequent months the downstream was highlighted as the key potential for the business, vertically integrated TGR would mine the graphite, sell the graphite and then turn it into a range of applications that would be "gamechanging". Shishir actually did a video interview a few years back where he stated the company would make "loads of cash" from the downstream
Whether or not Pranagraf is at that level yet is irrespective, the potential is there and I firmly believe resolving it would double/treble the current share price. Does Pranagraf make a high level of profit? Don't know - but what we can see is that is can afford to run a large workforce with TGR doesn't currently have the money to employ themselves full time
My question also answered - generally I thought Shishir tackled most pressing questions head on, still in limbo until solution on capital is found though so nothing new
The propaganda video was strange with the Murat & CD orchestrated interviews but the start was reassuring to see the work on the ground, the concern is still there on workforce though with a few employees posting “open to work” on LinkedIn a couple of months ago
How will the votes sway in the EGM - who knows, the Optiva letter won’t help Shishir but I still think there’s no expertise in the requisition group, how can they close deals with prospective big customers without the specialist knowledge of the graphite & quality
Just read through - doesn't make for great reading the note re: Shishir visited London and reiterated related party activity will continue as it has done, plus Optiva reaffirming the same concerns we've all held for a long time on the downstream business (the main reason most people initially invested back in 2021/22)
Q&A is certainly going to be interesting, let's hope these questions get answered
It'll be interesting to see the result of the GM, I've decided to vote against the requisition group. Objectively, had it been Murat & Isabel in isolation having served as NEDs, both resigned and having seen the inner workings of the company, I think the majority of shareholders, me included, based on share price and company performance would have voted for them.
However, the other two proposed directors, Rollins & Koot, their past activity does not signal a good outcome for investors. As it is, I (and likely many other long-term posters) are sitting on a significant loss - currently, no outcome looks like a good one. But when I weigh it up, what gives the better chance of keeping the business afloat - the requisition group have given no indication on how they will plug the working capital gap, or how they propose to solve the fundraising issue. It's all well and good getting the governance sorted, but it's a lot of salaries to be paid and still without the cash to do so
Hopefully the investor meet next week will see Shishir tackle every question head on and not cherry pick as has been the case with previous IMs
One thing I've noticed on the BB recently is there is obviously people from both sides posting to try and influence and sway opinion. The black and white for me was I felt the requisition response was pretty fair and it's a case now to back whichever group can deliver on the funding.
I spent a bit of time looking at all the companies on the Optiva website that they did the ipo for, can’t see a single one which has delivered shareholders a positive return + a few are suspended / delisted. Is that how a risk here? Yes, but not a lot of data to suggest Optiva have a positive influence on the company
Battery Minerals (now Waratah) still hold their tranche 2 shares plus a few left over from tranche 1 as of their latest trading update (think late April)
Based on dummy quotes I've seen over past few days I am pretty confident the 200k at 4.20 is a buy - the SP continues to sink and is now in beyond atrocious territory, but someone over past few days has picked up some decent chunks, I've seen a 400k purchase and some 100k / 200ks over the past few days
Have noticed a Twitter handle pop up "Tirupati Holders", bit of digging into the followers and recurring theme is they are either based in India or have liked company tweets in the past - if this has been setup by the company or someone affiliated it's extremely embarrassing and needs to be taken down immediately, hope that's not the case.
I agree with this - there is certainly issues that have happened behind the scenes which have caused Isabel & Murat to resign, which will undoubtedly be reasons for shareholders to be concerned - but having found Leo Koot on Twitter he looks to be one of the CLN holders who wasn't paid interest on time last year. Both himself & Mark Rollins connected via Beacon Energy and as you point out - I can't see how they bring true independent governance, not least taking the key points that neither have demonstrable experience in running a graphite operation.
Hopefully, though, this requisition letter has given the company a push in the right direction to a) be more transparent in terms of the related party transactions which have long held concern in terms of who's actually benefitting and b) get the right appointments in place to drive the company forward
As HarChris mentions the cash burn rate since the £1m raise is the key concern at the moment, that working capital agreement is crucial
The £189k cash looks very worrying especially considering loans payable in next few months + production only running intermittently I.e. when some cash comes in, but I would say the shares purchased by Alistair 20th March must have been done with some confidence that there’s some light at the end of the tunnel in respects to the cash constraint
Faint hope, but something I’m clinging onto
Last six months revenue = £1,757.229, using the £660 avg. basket price it looks like only 2,662 tons sold, averaging 444 a month. Very much feels like the entire company is on life support until new capital injection comes through - I read the £30m DFI note, seems a long shot considering the struggles in the past year to raise any working capital funding
I've welcomed the acknowledgement of a few concerns e.g. pranagraf - however - progress dependent on new independent additions reads and means that clarity there is a long way off yet
In short - we need new appointments and cash, no change from the last six months and if anything, the need for both has compounded in that time. Concerned holder.
Obviously a lot of behind the scenes issues with NEDs but strangest has been Murat Erden:
"The establishment of an advisory board of which Mr Erden will be the inaugural member."
So, despite resigning for whatever reason, relationship with co was strong enough that he agreed to stay on as an advisor, also when Shishir visited operations in madagascar in Feb he was on the trip - between then and early-May relations appear to have soured greatly if he hasn't maintained commitment to his share subscription + has his name against the recommended new board
Presuming this advisory board is another thing which has failed to materialise - strange.
Just as the SP begun to stabilise we could do without more uncertainty. But as has been the way over the past few months it circles back to Shishir - no trading update and no promised investor meet, RNS virtually promising the VAT refund which still hasn’t materialised
I don’t think ousting a chief executive who has so many shares is a good idea, however, the larger concern is why the NEDs who left are looking to do this - what do they know / have seen which we aren’t privy to - it’s worrying