Member Info for oneiric

UPDATE OF EMAIL (BELOW) SENT TO NOMAD ON 28/1/14 : NO REPLY YET .. I am still here and looking for answers. Below is an email I sent to Allenby Capital (Paragon NOMAD) last Tuesday (28/1/14). If I hear back I will certainly post the reply. EMAIL START: I am a share holder in Paragon Resources, as a consequence of what occurred as a result of the collapse of Noventa, and am hoping for some positive increase in the remaining value of my holding. I have been thinking about the RNS of 30-10-13 concerning the investment in Greenstar Resources Limited and was wondering if you could help by advising how a value of £258,000 was derived for a company with a net worth of circa £50,000 that is made up of shareholder funds and no tangible assets? Also what value do Director Leo Beveridge and Secretary Hazel Beveridge add to the company other than being son and spouse, respectively, of now Paragon CEO Andrew Beveridge? Can the due diligence and valuation of Greenstar be shared so that I can understand the rationale, as at present I am struggling to get past the point of thinking that Paragon has vastly overpaid for a small family firm with little commercial strategy? With thanks, EMAIL END

I am still here and looking for answers. Below is an email I sent to Allenby Capital (Paragon NOMAD) last Tuesday (28/1/14). If I hear back I will certainly post the reply. EMAIL START: I am a share holder in Paragon Resources, as a consequence of what occurred as a result of the collapse of Noventa, and am hoping for some positive increase in the remaining value of my holding. I have been thinking about the RNS of 30-10-13 concerning the investment in Greenstar Resources Limited and was wondering if you could help by advising how a value of £258,000 was derived for a company with a net worth of circa £50,000 that is made up of shareholder funds and no tangible assets? Also what value do Director Leo Beveridge and Secretary Hazel Beveridge add to the company other than being son and spouse, respectively, of now Paragon CEO Andrew Beveridge? Can the due diligence and valuation of Greenstar be shared so that I can understand the rationale, as at present I am struggling to get past the point of thinking that Paragon has vastly overpaid for a small family firm with little commercial strategy? With thanks, EMAIL END

I’m still hoping that my shares don’t turn to dust. I’ve previously said my piece on what I think of the company’s governance and am leaving it at that. I wish all those with holdings in PAR well, but personally am not optimistic.

Seatrout, I know we have different views but I respect that you have a strategy and are sticking to it. Well done on achieving your initial goal and good luck moving forward.

I’ve just met someone who knows somebody who said that in the view of one of their friend’s cousins the ex-Noventa and now Paragon board are “….really nice blokes”. So based on that analysis the share price must be worth at least 40p undiluted. Think you’re under-egging it Seatrout.

Useful link provided by Trampsi over on iii - thanks. Explains how Darwin Funding works by short selling. I have not previously seen this article, but found it interesting and relevant. http://www.investorschronicle.co.uk/2013/04/11/comment/chronic-investor-blog/the-evolution-of-small-company-finance-Ob4BrFPPbZaQz8lzeN5F6L/article.html

I don’t agree with you about good guys. Luca Bechis forced Noventa into collapse and profited well from it at the expense of PIs. I am still unhappy at the chain of events (misfeasance????) that lead to the collapse. I think it looks like a pattern (when looking at Hunter Resources too) where those in the know look after their own interests and fret little about small stakeholders. Unlike you Seatrout I have a different opinion of the board of PAR, their transparency, motive and capability. You may choose to ramp up the share based on your personal relationship with the board but I am not going to plough more money into what for me (£14k) was a big loss. I offer no advice one way or the other, only express my feelings about my circumstances.

I am invested, in as much as the tiny remnants of £14k in Noventa are under the control of Paragon. I live in hope too that Paragon can turn it around. But I am sceptical that it has the capital to do that, is in the right industry to develop large returns and has the openness with private or institutional investors to instil confidence. I live in hope too of a large lottery win as I buy tickets each week, which now feels the same as what was an (ill) informed decision to invest in Noventa. What I wont be doing is averaging down by gambling more money with Paragon.

It appears the Directors are re-elected back to the trough with the ability to re-fill the trough through dilution. I understand nothing mentionned regarding an acquisition of a revenue generating enterprise (or even a prospect). Just an on-going frittering away of company cash in overheads, salaries, advisory fees, tea and biscuits. Was expecting a morsel of news, but dashed again. The prospect of recovering my losses (legacy Noventa) seem to be diminishing into the African sunset.

So we have a few introductions and Hunt and Beveridge allocate themselves £210K worth of shares by selling themselves their own company. Nothing in this for shareholders only for Hunt and Beveridge. Once it gets back to the Noventa values of 40p which the board destroyed (an 8000% increase) I will have some admiration for them. How AIM regulations can allow speculators to feather their own nests at investors expense is beyond me – and how Allenby can think this is value for a £50k hobbyist consultancy with no assets demonstrates they’ll say anything for cash. Happy to be proven wrong – but still sceptical of where the value is. Also note that Paragon is now subject to the Takeover Code and Hunt is incentivised by Hunter Resources to perform a takeover of another firm – wonder if it will be this???

A large element of a share’s value are the tangible assets it owns (PAR= nil). Then this is supplemented by the implementation of a clearly defined strategy (PAR=nil), commitment of the board to back the company (PAR = only £38 of stock held by Directors) and investor confidence. My confidence is very low. I fear this company is effectively dead, being used as a private vehicle to benefit board members and friends in associated companies rather than those investors who have been duped by earlier promises (NVTA and PAR). I do not think that averaging down would achieve a great deal now as should you hold a significant number they will be particularly difficult to divest, even if good news should come. This is not investment advice – just my own perception based on experience of holding shares since the 40p NVTA days.

The top ranked agribusiness in Africa alone (source African Agriculture: From Meeting Needs To Creating Wealth) is the South African ‘Tiger Brands’ with an annual t/over of US$ 2.8bn (Note: US dollars not Zimbabwean!!!). 20th ranked is Oceana Group with an annual t/over of US$500m. That is the scale of the competition. To grow Paragon into a ‘major player’ generating these sorts of numbers is going to be one hell of an achievement given that the t/over is currently US$ 0 and there are no tangible assets in the target acquisition. What is the strategy that will lead to creation of shareholder value?

Would not be surprised if it was a Darwin shorting exercise - similar to their relentless undermining of NVTA. I would appreciate a statement of intent from the board, in either words or deeds (director buys???), that demonstrated a strategy being implemented other than the frittering away of working capital in directors salaries and fees. I've tagged this as a 'Hold' as at this level there is little point in selling and I certainly won't be 'catching the falling knife' of buying more.

Totally agree olip. It is difficult to see what the strategy is other than to empty Paragon of what little cash remains. Why else would a director buy into a company (Greenstar Associates LLP) that owns a subsidiary (Greenstar Resources PLC ) providing management consultancy services to Agribusiness? Its Net Worth is £50K (source: Companycheck) so it will be interesting to see what numbers materialise when the deal is done. Directors could instead be actively demonstrating the potential of Paragon through a few weighty ‘Director Buys’? SEATROUT717 – I hope your optimism yields results, as I would like to recoup some of the loss I’m sitting on. I just have less faith than you that the share-holders interests have been well served to date and when looking at the track record of other companies in a similar position (like Hunter Resources) I see little to convince me I will get much of my investment back

Not sure if ironic but I hear they call Hunter Resources (HUNT Early Retirement Resources) and Paragon (Pounds And Rand All Gone). Where did those names come from??? The only people being served by the activities in this company are the board who will allocate shares to themselves. The result will be massive dilution and all our funds will have disappeared to self-interested directors whose inside knowledge has one purpose and I don’t think that is to benefit existing shareholders. PS: I’m 14K down or about 99.24% from the Noventa scam and have lost hope.

Extract from Final Results (David Paterson for and on behalf of Deloitte LLP) Matters on which we are required to report by exception : In respect solely of the limitations on our work relating to discontinued operations referred to above: •we were unable to determine whether adequate accounting records have been kept; •we have not obtained all the information and explanations that we require for our audit; and •adequate returns for our audit have not been received from HAMCM group, which has not been visited by us. This is a serious indictment of record keeping and indication of potential misfeasance, yet Daniel Cassiano-Silva, BSc, MSc, ACA is now appointed Paragon Director. The same person as was Noventa Group controller and compliance officer and Chief Financial Officer. Why didn’t Deloitte ask him about accounting standards and where the money went?