Roundtable Discussion; The Future of Mineral Sands. Watch the video here.
On the face of it that looks a good move. At least it will cut out a lot of the overhead as we were/still in danger of running out of cash. Presumably one of our highly paid directors has gone, although I see no mention of it. Perhaps TOM may be used as an acquisitive vehicle for other investments/companies as this chap seems to be a bit of an entrepreneur . I and my parishioners may well see a £1 a share yet. Oh golly, I have just seen a pig fly over the vestry roof. every blessing Rev Shep.
I always thought that the board thought that digital was the way forward. Instead under the present leadership, they decided to buy a load of regional newspapers,presumably with the idea of making them digital. Against all of the odds they then launched a new newspaper. Surely this is utter madness at a time when newspapers are losing money and advertising revenues are down. I have never had much faith in Mr Fox, as in my opinion, he did not exactly set the world alight at HMV? Perhaps it is time for another boardroom shakeup as they appear to have lost the plot. Anyone of similar opinion? Every blessing Rev Shep
I would not think that there should be very much in the way of expenses, as the company is barely ticking over. Apart from general admin and book keeping what else is there? I would think that the whole operation could be run from an office the size of the one at my vicarage? It should only need skeleton staff, the rest can be put on zero hour contracts, including the directors. We keep praying that one day this will come good, or else I may be found drowned in the font! Every blessing.
I, and some of my parishioners, have held TOM shares for a number of years as you know, and it has been a somewhat turbulent ride. After watching the Red Leaf Video it would appear that we are in for another long wait before there is any chance of us getting our money back. We have plenty of oil in the ground, but it only becomes viable to extract I,t if oil goes above $60 a barrel. Let us hope that the cost per barrel may be significantly reduced with a more efficient eco capsule. Let us hope that we do not run out of money before then. every blessing Rev Shep
It is conceivable that M will be taken over. However I do not think that it will be Tesco as recently they have been reducing their store numbers, not adding to them. The logical tie up for me would be Aldi. They are planning another 800 stores in the UK and it will take them some time to get planning permission, build etc.If they take M over they have stores ready to trade and also now the useful link with Amazon. The next few months could be very interesting. Every blessing Rev Shep
This is turning into a typical AIM company. Jam tomorrow. Products are either out for testing or verification etc but this is never backed up in my opinion by hard sales. The company has a superb product but seems to lack ambition. I spoke to the Co Sec some months ago and expressed my concerns only to be told that "they were not worried by the lack of increase in the share price". The only thing to make this company fly is by a massive increase in sales and profitability. Perhaps a takeover may be good, when a more dynamic approach may be adopted. At these levels I feel a takeover cannot be ruled out. We may be in for a bumpy ride. every blessing Rev Shep
There have been a lot of fairly large sells recently- that is a concern. I think that we must accept the fact that if TOM is going anywhere, it will not be for another 2 years and/or when the oil price makes it viable for Red Leaf etc to put the ecoshale process in full operation. We may possibly run out of money before that, so in order to preserve the cash, would it not be sensible to suspend the shares and remove it from any quoted list and to only keep a minimum staff level. Accounts ,like it or not, have still to be produced for the various statutory bodies. I do hope that TOM will come good as some of my parishioners are banking on it!! Every blessing Rev Shep
This is becoming a typical AIM company ,in my opinion, it is jam tomorrow. I held shares in another AIM company Vialogy who had brilliant technology but didn't turn it into sales. Just like them, HD has been trialling their technology for ,in my opinion, too long. Their potential customers must know by now if the technology works and if they are going to buy. Come on HD let's get invoicing as this share is going precariously low for my liking. Their only saving grace is that they have a strong Balance Sheet, but if they start making large losses then that won't stay strong for long. Are there any other long suffering investors out there who are also getting impatient. Every blessing. Rev Shep
I am afraid that I could not follow Truro Trader's financial take on potential profitability of Hardide. Our company works in a specialist field. Therefore I would expect them to charge a premium price for their services which should improve profitability. I agree that the cost of R & D can be controlled, but without profits there could be no R & D. every blessing Rev Shep
This is turning into a typical AIM company. There are an awful lot of large sales at the moment which suggests something adverse is going on. The company seems to lack ambition. This was gleaned after a brief chat with the Co Sec who gave me the impression that making profits was not vitally important. Discussions with third parties have been going on for far too long for my liking without any tangible increase in revenue and profits. I have held these shares for a number of years and would not invest any more money until the board adopt a more aggressive stance to maximise shareholder value. Every blessing Rev Shep
Apart from the fall out being caused by the Chinese market, TOM is widely fluctuating and I feel that there is something going on that us poor PI's know nothing about? Any one got any ideas? every blessing Rev Shep.
It seems after the positive news of the permits, that TOM would at least hold its gains. However looking at the sizeable selling over the last few days, some may have taken a "punt" expecting it to have risen further. Indeed it would have been difficult to have made a short term gain because of the "spread" on the shares. The share price has fallen back nearly to where it was before the permit news. Does this present a good buying opportunity? I for one think that it does, although I shall not be investing as I already own several mill. I think that we are in for a long wait before our original investment can be returned. The price, in my opinion, will not substantially improve unless we get a bid, red leaf are successful in their eco capsule, and the oil price improves. Until then we can only wait and hope. Every blessing Rev Shep
The permits were good news so hence a good rise in the share price.. However some sizeable buys recently may indicate stake building? I hope so. Perhaps we may get a bid before Red Leaf complete their capsule testing. I have held these for a number of years and an exit price of 3p would keep my parishioners happy. Every blessing Rev Shep.
I have held my shares for a number of years and am still waiting for the company to fulfil its full potential. The concept if good, the company has cash, all it needs are sales and profits. Until then the share price will not move a lot. I would think that the company could be rife for a takeover as it would fit nicely into a big player in the field. Every blessing Rev Shep
I have held my shares now for a number of years and have done very well out of them. However this week's bombshell, I think, took us all by surprise. The company must have known of the problems for some time, but the share price never reflected it. Hence the massive drop. Elementis is a sound run company with plenty of cash which could be used for acquisitions. Paradoxically they could appear cheap to a predator. I, for one, will continue to hold. It will take some time, I feel, for the share price to fully recover as the "city" has never been very forgiving, when companies do not come up with the goods. There have always been past rumours of a bid so let us hope that one materialises. Every blessing. Rev Shep.
I agree it is going to be a long wait. Having held the shares for a number of years another 2 won't make much difference. Has anyone yet calculated the potential value of the oil divided by the share capital. This may give some indication as to what our exit price will be, as I do not think that we will get to production. At present, apart from work done on permits, the company should have very little expenditure. However had Mr Rankine continued on full salary TOM would have run out of money and it may have been difficult to raise more even via a placing. It will still be a bumpy ride but an exit price of 3p personally now will be a result. I do not expect the share price to go anywhere until the full permits are obtained. If anyone thinks that the exit price will be in the region of 3p and are patient, then at current levels TOM may well be worth buying and tucking away. Interested to hear others' views. Every blessing. Rev Shep
The video was extremely interesting and threw up a lot of points for discussion. It would appear that our new "exit price" is about 1.8p. This is a far cry from the 10p a share mooted by Mr Rankine some time ago. It is fairly obvious to me that Tom will soon run out of money, which will mean another dilution of equity, hence the lower exit price. Tom cannot easily sell its stake in Red Leaf to raise money, as RL is a private company. I for one, am very dispointed, as are many others, (hence the low share price) as we have held these shares for a number of years and will see little reward for our pateince. I hope that I am wrong. I think the BOD should justify their salaries by trying to maximise shareholder value. It is possible that an exit strategy has already been agreed with an oil major as I cannot see us getting to production. The directors will not make much money from their shareholdings (unless they hold another tranche in trust) but have possibly been granted a "golden thank you" for brokering a deal. I am only making an assumtion here as AIM companies seem to be a law unto themselves. What are other's thoughts. I think that a fair exit price would be 3p and I,for one, would be happy with that and breathe a sigh of releif. Indeed my prayers are for an exit price that will give all of those patient investors some reward.
I cannot understand our share price at the moment. Prior to the discounted placing we were trading at over 1p. In my opinion, apart from the possibility of running out of cash again, our fundamentals have improved. We are a step nearer to securing our permits, so surely we should be trading at 1p at least. I still feel that Mr Rankine's view of a buy out at 10p is a tad optimistic, given the reaction to the share price, after receiving fairly comforting news! Let us hope that I am wrong as I too would like a "nice little earner" in the new year which could be partly shared with my congregation.
I have held these shares for a number of years and am getting a bit twitchy. First of all we had a discounted placing where the share price promptly collapsed from .8p to .5p. We now have the problem with the fall in the price ofoil which may make oil extracted by the ecoshale process not commercially viable. That will make our oil in the ground lose its value very quickly. My other concern is that we shall run out of money on admin, director's salaries etc before the ecoshale technology is proved. I don't know why we are spending all this money on admin (although typical AIM company) as the only relevancy being worked on, are the permits. I feel that Mr Rankine's sell out at 10p from these current levels is pie in the sky. I hope that I am wrong, but a figure north of 3p,I feel, is more realistic. If all goes well in our wildest dreams we have a two pronged investment. 1. Our shareholding in Red Leaf. 2. Our own oil reserves. Let us hope that moving on into 2015 will bring us good cheer. May I wish all of the faithful PIs a happy Xmas and a potentially profitable new Year.