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Surely the restated results must include some explanation of why Zenakine royalties not received and therefore some disclosure of the terms of the contract? That would need the ok from Sederma which will likely involve legal which always slows things down. In addition they may or may not need to comment on the suspension of the CEO (and subsequent resignation) in HY results - again likely to need legal sign-off if any possible legal action / Tribunal case is ongoing.

So this is not just about the FRP Advisory report which is why it is likely to drag on.

If the underlying businesses and Zenakine royalty contract are sound the company can come back ok, but it might take longer than some expect.

Hi shychap

Very interesting and it does lend some support to the idea that there is some basis for Ashman's figure in last year's Accounts, even if it was wrong to include it. You also make a good point about whether he can be believed. It does seem like Ashman was always keen to please and focused on the positive points rather than giving a "balanced" view. He doesn't specifically exclude there being a "milestone" prior to payment and of course he should not in any case disclose precise details of the contractual terms if it were true that there is an agreement not to disclose them.

Perhaps by late 2025 he was pushing the positive aspects of the deal to the extreme whereby he was crossing a line in terms of what is acceptable from a regulatory and accounting perspective.

It seems likely the Zenakine royalty deal is bona fide (somebody knows but I don't, I can only make a best assessment!). If so, the issue is likely around when royalties are due. It is quite common for there to be a "milestone" clause before any royalties are paid even if those royalties are paid on all sales made from the outset. This could mean there are no royalties paid even in the current company year depending on the level of sales so far (they could effectively be still "due" but not payable until the milestone quantum of sales is passed). That would explain the effective profit warning and explain why SA put a figure in last year's accounts even though it should not have been there since the milestone volume/value had not been reached. Whilst it is possible SA was simply inventing any old figure it seems more likely he based it on at least some plausible amount (otherwise how did it get past the Board and the Accountants? - if it is because of their complete dereliction of duty then they must all be fired).

So the balance of probabilities is there will be jam on its way but, as with most AIM shares, there is risk and uncertainty until news arrives.

Hello net, look at my post 26th Feb: (extract below)

"It's not just the audit. Any outcome would have to include some disclosure of what the terms of the licence contract is and Croda will have to agree the wording due to the likely terms in the contract about disclosure of contract terms (some clause in the contract would be fairly standard practice). Then there's the broader investigation of Ashman's conduct (remember he was suspended and resigned for some other reason PRIOR to the issue uncovered about the 2025 Accounts).

Expect this to drag on for some time."

But as I also said in Feb, one consolation/positive point is that SBTX have no involvement in manufacturing, marketing or sales of Zenakine so the disruption at SBTX makes no difference to this. For Sederma it will be business as usual - many of the staff there may not even know, let alone care, what is going on at SBTX.

Based on the RNS of 16th Feb I'm calculating the current NAV per share should be around 148p? Anyone any other views on this?

Last year the interims were 13th March. Not sure Friday 13th 2026 would be a good day to publish them 🤣. Anyone know when they are? Couldn't see on their website (maybe not looking hard enough).

Shychap, I see your point and she can of course pull out after 6 months if not before. In any case she can't fully understand the position until she has had a few days in the job. Nevertheless I suspect she will have tried to satisfy herself that this was a business with the ability to continue paying her over the short-term and not likely to need any emergency fundraising. She may even have got an idea as to what the nature of Ashman's suspension was. My thinking being she would be keen try to avoid a business where she could run the risk of any reputational damage because it went bust on her watch (you have to disclose this for all subsequent public company directorships) or was embroiled in seriously corrupt practices extending beyond one individual.

But that would be about it. She probably won't have been given the full story on the licensing contract but I would bet she will be going over that from Day 1!

Yes jansy, take your point and my emoji was saying this was partly in jest. But, to be honest (and having listened to the OPTI IMC where SOH got some of his younger Marketing Team to present) even OPTI seem to have a better idea how to do it than SBTX. And realistically this is a product that hasn't generated enough online sales after over 4 years of trying with the current team. Putting it into a bricks and mortar retailer just doesn't add up to my mind - I fear we will soon discover that has not worked out (but Martin Hunt will claim it is "early days"🤣). It's losing us money, it needs to go and OPTI may be the sort of business who might just take it on (can't see any of the big boys being interested).

The previous CEO was too wrapped up in empire building - the new management if/when it arrives needs to focus on bigger opportunities.

Hello WofE

I don't wish to question the management's competence in running the business from an operational perspective (and that is not a given in many AIM companies!). But running a public company requires additional skills that seem to be lacking and this has dampened my enthusiasm here:

I think this line from the Half Year Report is telling:

" I am pleased to say that Shore Capital has now been given a more extensive and proactive brief to reflect the increased investor interest in MS INTERNATIONAL plc."

It tells me that, up until now, the Broker had no remit to promote the company to Institutional Shareholders - what sort of company does that in a UK Stock Market where capital is in short supply? (probably one where major shareholders are fat and happy). It says they would never contemplate raising capital for, say, an acquisition. But you never know when an opportunity might arise where that capital might be needed. Managing the shareholder base and seeking active interest and trading in the shares is a part of managing a public company.

In addition, the fact that age 57 is regarded as a selling point for a new Board member tells me the Board is too old. As far as I can see David Hansell is 81 years old - how much longer can we expect him to contribute? And he is not the only octogenarian on the Board. By my calculation the average age of the Board is now 66 (from 67.5 before John Meldrum was moved up to the Board). If it weren't for Shelley it would be a Board consisting of old, or very old, men.

And why are the new Board members all insiders? Runs the risk of too much groupthink. Is all the best talent available just sitting there inside this company?

From my experience of institutional investors these are factors they take into account when considering to invest (not a complete no to invest, but certainly considered a downside).

I suspect I may not be the only one giving this message to MSi - it wouldn't be surprising if Shore Capital told them they needed some younger Board members so they promoted John and Shelley (the latter already Company Secretary). And someone at Shore Capital held their head in their hands...No disrespect to John and Shelley but a mix of insiders and outsiders would be better.

Thanks martinu. The trouble is we are making a loss on these Axis-Biotix products and I don't see a path to profitability, and especially not via a bricks and mortar retailer. We don't have the marketing clout or expertise to build this brand and it doesn't fit with Dermatonics brand or distribution of topical skincare. It is also a big distraction when better opportunities remain within the company's grasp.

I would like to cut the overheads on this and see it chopped back to an online-only direct offering, or maybe even better pull it altogether and licence it out to another company where it can fit in to a portfolio of gut-based products. Maybe even OPTI is a better home for it?🤣

The MSi management are not promoting their business to potential shareholders in a proactive way (and they never have done!). Whether on AIM or the Main Market, they need to develop a more dynamic image for the company if they are to attract the bigger institutional investors. In some ways, they just don't look or sound like the future...

Whilst the results suggest the management has been competent in running the business, it is more doubtful they have the skills to take this forward in the more faster-moving defence market of today. I would like to see the old guard relinquishing more control and bringing in some talent from outside to mix in with the internal talent they have promoted.

By SBTX own analysis, the Total Addressable Market (TAM) in the Cosmetic Skin Care market is $100bn, dwarfing the potential in the Psoriasis/Acne market:

https://www.skinbiotherapeutics.com/applications/

Yet the (now) previous management was obsessed with their first product "Axis-Biotix" which was for the Psoriasis market and were devoting most of their time and money on this. I suspect this will be a disappointment, partly because the TAM is far smaller than Cosmetic Skin Care, and partly because they have no expertise in the sort of digital marketing required to reach this target audience in a cost-effective manner (clue: an article in the "Sunderland Echo" is not the answer 🤣).

If/when SBTX get through the current crisis, the new management need to focus on the biggest opportunity rather than swimming in shallow waters. They have a deal with Croda, but there is scope for example, for a further deal on sunscreen ingredient with Croda or another partner. In addition they own a business, Dermatonics, with experience and distribution capability in retail for Cosmetic Skin Care products. As I see it there is nothing to stop them developing and marketing Day and Night Creams containing Zenakine (sourced from Croda) under the "Dermatonics" brand and sold through the existing Dermatonics established distribution. So much easier and cheaper than developing new brand/distribution/marketing for a product with a much smaller TAM!

It's not just the audit. Any outcome would have to include some disclosure of what the terms of the licence contract is and Croda will have to agree the wording due to the likely terms in the contract about disclosure of contract terms (some clause in the contract would be fairly standard practice). Then there's the broader investigation of Ashman's conduct (remember he was suspended and resigned for some other reason PRIOR to the issue uncovered about the 2025 Accounts).

Expect this to drag on for some time.

It's fortunate that SBTX has no active involvement in manufacture, marketing or sales of Zenakine so the ongoing uncertainty and hence management distraction has no impact on Zenakine. Indeed, some posters here may well view the fact that, for now, SBTX management will not be launching new initiatives or acquiring further businesses is a POSITIVE as they won't be wasting any more of our shareholders' money - even the investigation is likely cheaper than the cost of acquisitions and new product launches 🤣

Net, Ashman resigned on Friday 13th and, THAT VERY SAME DAY, somehow Martin Hunt was told that, in addition to some as yet unspecified misconduct, Ashman had been cooking the books. It seems a bit too quick for Croda to have provided any information. It seems far more likely that Bertram knew about this but had been overruled by Ashman. Once he resigned she would have felt emboldened to speak up (and likely had no choice but to say something to try to protect her position).

In my experience in these sort of circumstances you are asked by the investigation team if there are any issues you wish to raise in relation to the investigation of your (former) boss...😂

Hi net,

There are no "Zenakine rights" to sell. Zenakine is Croda's brand.

Maybe they could sell the "SkinBiotix" technology platform but even that might be tricky. I would expect the licence contract has some clause about change of ownership (Croda would not have wanted a competitor to buy SBTX's technology platform and receive royalties, and therefore volume data, from Croda). Croda might be the only feasible buyer, which doesn't often make for the best price.

So shareholders might see a sale as superficially attractive, but carrying on as an independent business for now might be a better option. I'm assuming of course the licence contract has value as we all hope and have been led to believe. Croda/Sederma certainly appear to be committed to the product big time (and that means big volumes and big money). If the licence contract does have value, it is regrettable the management have not been working harder on finding and making more such deals in the other identified "pillars", especially given the time it takes to achieve this. Instead they wasted time and money on Axis-Biotix.

In many ways, on reflection, the problem here has been that the poor management many could see has impacted the quality of the underlying businesses. I guess we hoped the royalties would flow regardless of any management weakness (given SBTX has no role in the manufacture, marketing or sale of Zenakine). Maybe they still can but we desperately need a new, stronger management.

Belgrano, yes LTHs here may well be happy to take cash and move on 🤣 But it would have to be at a massive premium to the current joke of a share price following the Ashman fiasco...If there is no fundamental issue here with the licence contract, then I think we need to see the share price back at a much higher level before we consider a sale (which must still be at a premium...).

I was really just trying to point out that "selling Zenakine" is not an option...

The Zenakine brand belongs to Croda so any suggestions SBTX can sell rights to this product are mistaken. Croda licensed use of the SkinBiotix platform which enables the production of Zenakine. SBTX selling the ownership of the technology platform would be tantamount to selling the Crown Jewels! All the "pillars" would be gone. There would be virtually nothing left of SBTX (just a couple of sub-scale businesses at breakeven and one product with tiny sales making a loss).

If SBTX got an offer for Axis-Biotix on the other hand...Almost worth taking any offer since the management has shown no expertise whatsoever in how to market the product 😂

Two issues here some posters seem to be forgetting about:

Ashman wasn't suspended, nor did he resign, due to the Royalty Accounting issue. That issue surfaced AFTER he resigned. So why was he suspended?? We don't know, and until we do, the uncertainty likely contributes to a lower share price than would otherwise be the case.

Croda (Sederma) will have negotiations with other small biotechs whose technology they may wish to licence. This is part of reason for NDA of contract terms (otherwise every other potential partner will take the SBTX deal as the starting point for negotiations). So I expect SBTX will need to get sign-off from Croda before they RNS the FRP Advisory findings. This will mean it takes longer to get the information out to shareholders and, when it arrives, it will provide the absolute minimum of clarity 🤣.

p.s. In my experience, a licensing contract can include a "threshold" before any royalties are paid (even if they are then paid on all sales made, including those made prior to the "threshold" being reached). I agree therefore with Aquae's comments from 06.17 this morning (clearly a hard worker!).

I am reading this reference to Zenakine in Croda's results as customers having launched products containing Zenakine to the retail market, much as some of us suspected. It may not say "Zenakine" on the jar, but the base ingredients listed would include the base ingredients of Zenakine. Sederma will be carrying on "business as usual" since the turmoil at SBTX really has no relevance to them.

So this is positive, but I still want to know whether the reason Ashman was suspended (and resigned) has any financial implication for the company, bearing in mind the Accounts fiasco was discovered AFTER the suspension and resignation so we haven't yet been given the whole story behind the suspension of Ashman. Of course, there may have been no specific FINANCIAL implication or wrongdoing in the initial suspension and resignation, albeit the Accounts issue came to light afterwards. The uncertainty is what has depressed the share price so far.

The Havieron base case in the Feasibility Study and repeated in H1 Results is for processing only Havieron ore through Telfer mill. I'm guessing this is conservative and there is an upside in operational efficiency if they can extend the life of Telfer mine.

Whilst this share has done very well, if you factor in they got Telfer on the cheap, gold has spiked and there remain significant operational upsides (albeit there is always potential downside risk on resource estimates) in some ways it is surprising the shares have not done even better. I'm guessing it is probably the level of uncertainty in developing a new mine (albeit near to the existing mine and with processing mill in place!). If the Havieron mine development progresses to plan and Telfer gets extended life it would be reasonable to assume there is significant more potential here as the milestones are passed.

Thanks Howard - I guess "Spades" lives up to his/her name so I won't take it personally 🤣. In my defence I researched as far as realising there could be an issue if Telfer mine life was running out but from the replies on this Board it's not likely to be a major issue. I once worked for a supplier to a gold mine (they had open pit and underground operations) and the working conditions can be quite tough - if you have good people you want to keep them so keeping the mill operating is quite important for continuity I think.

Thanks to all those taking the trouble to reply.