Member Info for Rokerpark68

When they issue and RNS saying that they have actually filed a listing application with NASDAQ then I'd expect things to really move forward. As per yesterday's RNS they are still just "intending" to:

NEW YORK and LONDON, April 13, 2021 - Tiziana Life Sciences plc (NASDAQ: TLSA; LSE: TILS), today announced that its former subsidiary, Accustem Sciences Limited ("Accustem"), intends to file a listing application with the Nasdaq Stock Market shortly after completion of the distribution of shares in Accustem to Tiziana Life Sciences plc shareholders.

This is from yesterday's RNS.

"The board of directors of Accustem has resolved that the Nasdaq listing venue is more appropriate to the nature of Accustem's business."

When they say "more appropriate" they must mean more appropriate than the LSE, which was the initial choice.
On timing, they only ever used words like "expect" or "intend" about the listing - they could never actually make a binding commitment to timing, only give an indication. Listing a pre-revenue companies with US and UK shareholders was never going to be easy - they should never have created timing expectations.

I always thought that the likelihood was that they were just carving Accustem out to make it easier to value and sell separately - the listing was always likely to take a lot of work.

So NASDAQ it is then (hopefully) for Accustem. To me the wording of the RNS clearly implies that the UK listing has been dropped. The joint listing of TILS has been fraught with difficulties, so it's probably better just to have Accustem listed on one exchange for now. However, for those of you who have found the shorting activities of US investors on TILS's stock rather frustrating, it looks like we might be vulnerable to more of the same with Accustem.

Interesting it took six months for the Accustem board, and no doubt its advisers, to "resolve" that NASDAQ was "more appropriate". I hope there are going to be some new competent and heavy-hitting financial advisers / brokers on board for the NASDAQ listing - they are going to be needed.

Anyway, at least there seems to be some sort of clear listing strategy now, at least in terms of which exchange is going to be used. Looking forward to seeing how things progress from here.

More good news today - this business is building momentum all the time. Very impressive.

I'm a bit disappointed.... I bought these a few months ago around 38p and I thought it was a really interesting long-term growth story. Never mind, a profit's a profit and very many congratulations to those who have been patient LTHs and have done well.

Hi Chas Brown,

I can fully understand your frustration about Accustem. As I have mentioned before, I managed two UK listed investment funds during my career and not delivering on public statements and timelines was an absolute "no no" as far as I, and my fund manager peer group, were concerned, and will probably be one of the reasons a couple of significant TILS institutional shareholders made a break for the border at the turn of the year.

What I would say is that the board did actually deliver up to 30 October with the actual demerger process. What they have failed to do is make the Accustem listing happen. My own experience is that listings are not straightforward, especially for a pre-revenue company with one product under development which has both UK and US shareholders. I'm not saying it won't happen, but promising it by the end of Q4 2020 was just a hostage to fortune. In the shareholder demerger document I would have told the advisers to draft something along the lines of:

"It is the board's intention to obtain a listing for Accustem at the earliest opportunity in a manner and at a time which the board believes will maximise value for Accustem shareholders ".

You know I do not think everything is fine with TILS's governance, but I have just come to accept that (a) it isn't going to change while GC is in control and (b) it has become part of my ongoing risk/return analysis of my TILS shareholding. You have to "price" the governance risk along with everything else within TILS. I don't like having to do that, but I will as long as I need to.

I continue to hold TILS because I think there is a decent chance TILS and Accustem will both be acquired by bigger pharma companies over the next few years. That's down to the apparent quality of the science/pipeline. But I would never bet the ranch on this type of holding.

Dreamchaser1.

Cheers and regards.

Sorry that came twice.

Hi Dreamchaser1

I've just turned 59 and my first game at Roker when was 21 December 1968 v WHU when I was six. I feel your pain as Sunderland are serial under-achievers as well and we have both suffered as a generation.
My Dad's family were mainly Sunderland as they were from Quaking Houses at the top of South Moor which was generally Red and White, but we did have a few Mags amongst us. My Uncle Robson in particular used to drive us nuts.
Such a strong rivalry! Can't wait for the next Derby match!

Hi Dreamchaser1

I've just turned 59 and my first game at Roker when was 21 December 1968 v WHU when I was six. I feel your pain as Sunderland are serial under-achievers as well and we have both suffered as a generation.
My Dad's family were mainly Sunderland as they were from Quaking Houses at the top of South Moor which was generally Red and White, but we did have a few Mags amongst us. My Uncle Robson in particular used to drive us nuts.
Such a strong rivalry! Can't wait for the next Derby match!

Yes - it's looking promising. Johnson has got them going and we have a knew Swiss owner whose family have a lot of experience in football. I'd love to see Newcastle go down again - there's no north east solidarity with them - as someone once said, "working class solidarity is a bourgeois delusion". Perhaps it was me.

Hi Greend100,

Good summary as usual from you. Thanks.

I haven't posted for a while, but for what it's worth my view continues to be that this is a LTH for me, properly sized (i.e. limited exposure) across my family members' portfolios which I manage. If the science/pipeline really comes through we'll make exciting returns - probably through a takeover at some point over the next year or two. In the meantime, the SP will go up and down based on good or bad news flow or just the lack of it. As I have said before, I just can't be bothered to try and trade TILS, which is not really my style anyway. I'll just wait and see if it is one of my handful of high risk/high potential return investment which delivers over the next few years.

In terms of governance, "it is what it is" as they say. Nothing will change with the current management structure in place - a number of us have said before what is needed to improve this so I won't repeat it. It's obvious and straightforward but there is no meaningful institutional investor base to force the changes through and GC is in control. So this just becomes part of an investor's overall risk analysis for TILS. Fine. Done the analysis. Science/pipeline quality currently trumps governance issues.

Accustem is hopefully on the way in some form or other. I agree it's probably going to be a while before it comes through, but as shareholders this was always a risk once we agreed to the demerger process which ran the risk of locking us in an unquoted stock for as long as it took for management to sort a listing out. The delay is irritating but it was always a risk and it has actually crystallised. So be it. Accustem may still turn out to be very valuable, but we just won't know until it finally comes to market and we have price discovery. If you read the key parts of the registration form for Accustem in the US which came out a couple of weeks ago, which I have, you get a real sense of how much work is still required to take StemPrinter forward. More patience required I think - unless someone takes it out for its potential.

Finally, I thought last night's Bloomberg interview was a wasted opportunity. It didn't really matter what they asked GC, he should have just had three killer points he was going to make concisely about the RNS announcements and make them. Disappointing, but I'm not complaining because we all knew it was likely to happen and it's all part of being an investor in TILS!

All the best

I thought that was a good presentation, but it was a shame they ran out of time for questions at the end (Rivaldo - I did ask why they didn't use Adjusted EPS but they hadn't time to answer anything).

The CFO focused on the operational gearing in the business during his section, and I thought he gave a clear steer that both gross and operating margins were both likely to expand further this year.

The way they have secured raw materials and kept the main production facility working in Italy was reassuring. They seemed to be operationally savvy. They have also extended their lease on the Italian facility so they have occupation for at least 10 years.

I am not too concerned about the M&A taking more time than the market may have hoped. They are right to be selective and they will be being offered a lot of opportunities. No need to rush. They are also waiting for a debt facility to be put in place very soon to add firepower for acquisitions. They plan to finance purchases 50/50 debt/equity.

I thought Sharon Collins, the Commercial Director, was very convincing - especially on Dentyl.

Overall, IMO there's still a good amount of growth to go for across the business and the senior management (and founders) seemed to have their feet firmly on the ground.

Dentyl was being promoted in my local Boots the other week on a separate stand. I assumed it was just part of a marketing push agreed with the retailer.

Certainly no shortage in store over the last few months.

Hi Rivaldo

Great, thanks (btw it is Note 5).

Hi Rivaldo,

Yes, solid results this morning. Hopefully we should see some support for the share price.

Could you point me to where you saw the EPS figure of 4.46p please? I can only see 2.74p for FYE 31 December 2020 in the RNS.

Thanks

I have just bought some as well for the first time. I have followed IXI for a year now and recently just thought they were looking a bit pricey - never thought I would get an entry point like this. I agree the fall looks overdone. They have gone in the bottom drawer!

Have added to my holding in Kape - I don't mind the hefty increase in my average price - there is good momentum and I think Simon Thompson will be writing it up again soon at the IC. I also watched the Piworld video - very positive on all fronts.

Yes, really excellent results. Can't fault them. All the important metrics are heading strongly in the right direction.

Holding Kape over the last couple of years has required some patience, but the company is now exceeding my expectations in terms of organic growth, its ability to acquire and integrate successfully and to build a sustainable business with attractive financial returns.

I think a significant re-rating is likely.

No-one has been added to the Accustem board since 6 October 2020 - the 4 March 2021 date is just the date that Companies House picked up the appointment filing.

These people are four of the most senior and important people on the Tiziana board, so it's not surprising they joined the Accustem board when it was demerged last year.