Member Info for Scampthedog

This might sound all rather overly optimistic...but is something starting to stir here? Believe it or not...I am rather quite intrigued.

As far as IQE is concerned, Jaggers, the only metric I would apply today is its past performance over the last couple of years when attempting to deliver....which is abysmal. The truth of the matter is: it is not the only "Semi-conductor Cluster" around, there being at least 4 more in Europe alone. Remember this: semi-conductors are not an end product in their own right but are expected to be part of the next great technological advance in many differing fields...for example -- robotics, driverless cars (several generations away in my opinion) and the much touted "5G"...will it ever arrive? The main problem for IQE is that this "future" is not quite with us yet. Remember this also: IQE was bolstered up considerably by at least 62 million pounds worth of aid injected into this semi-conductor cluster by the English and Welsh governments...unfortunately, for us investors, and as Gotrader so rightly shows, it makes little of anything worthwhile concerning a true year on year profit. IQE: something for the future? Hopefully. But there is a real danger that this great enterprise initiated to help the South Wales economy re-invigorate and flourish might actually fail. There will be no in-between with IQE. It will ultimately prosper...or eventually fall slowly and surely into terminal decline. In other words: a straight win or lose. Simple as that! Oh, and one other thing. I myself am a long-term investor...but I might still come to regret that I was.

Hello! And welcome to the board, Kondratiev. In answer to some of your questions. Ray Gibbs: ex director who cashed in most of his shares around 30 pence as we loyal, long-term holders (the gullible idiots like me!) all watched as the s.p dropped down, over several weeks, to about 12 pence a share -- it then fell off a cliff down to 2 pence! Eventually Mr Gibbs decided to move on...I believe he is still linked to the company, in a business interest, by way of his latest job. Hell of a guy!!
As for your comment about graphene being difficult to commercialize: then yes there is a lot of truth in the fact that, generally, it is indeed still being researched. See "National Graphene Institute" based at Manchester University.
Do I personally think Haydale Graphene is still a viable company? As long as it starts to become self-sustaining (a very tall order!) in the very near future then perhaps it will; It certainly is not in a position to undertake another cash raise...not at any price I would imagine.
Is Haydale capable of scaling its operations up to a reasonable industrial capacity? No idea on that one, Kondratiev...but I would have severe reservations about it all.
So there you go...some small thoughts for you. Cheers!

Not trying to spook anybody, Jaggers (as if my ramblings could - lol) I am just simply stating facts: the most pertinent being that IQE generates very little free cash (for instance - no dividend) and guzzles the aforementioned at an increasingly alarming rate! I am a long term holder...but would I buy at these prices? Maybe not the worst of decisions...but could the s.p go even lower? You bet your sweet boots it could! And as for the medium term growth and prospects of the business? Well, I would'nt be overly optimistic in that appraisal either. Cheers!

I want to buy again here, just like many others I suspect...but just cannot bring myself to do it quite yet. If it cannot hold here then 3.5 pence beckons horribly. It is a real quandary this one. Think I will sleep on it......

T'was but a dream...but on a far grander scale than most AIM schemes. It was full of promise...and it could have come off...it really could have! In all fairness, even the best, most far-sighted analyst might have struggled to envision some of the pitfalls which lay ahead...and not foreseen some of the hidden bear-traps also. As you say, Ajok: "supposed to be a world beater". I have to agree with you on this one, Ajok: most certainly not a world beater. Just a company who have put all the necessary industrial structures in place and then pushed themselves to the front, at, I might add, the acquisition of too much debt, and are stood there trumpeting their own lofty status; and without actually selling enough of what they manufacture to make this enterprise a commercially viable proposition of course. And I most heartily agree with you again, Ajok: the only people getting rich here are the directors with their self awarded share options. Based on what? Performance and execution? A success story? My fat backside!! If they don't start finding sustainable markets (ie - buyers!) for their products they will go the way of the dinosaurs: redundant and extinct due to the emergence of newer better technologies -- just like the once mighty Kodak!!!!

Not really no. The only positive slant you could possibly put on this lamentable state of affairs is to take the long term view of buying all the way down to consistently lower your average share price; or wait until it hits the "bottom" and buy them in one nice big chunk...although personally, not being omnipotent, I have never actually managed to foresee the true bottom of any share slide. Apart from the ones that have fell off a cliff of course...and there is plenty of time here for that.

This share price is absolutely screwed from here on in.......

The problems with the present board of IQE Directors have already been well documented here. But, as Ajok so rightly points out, the main problem, inherent to all the AIM I might add, is the outrageous share options directors award themselves; which at some opportune time they sell (thus sucking more and more life blood out of the company) when adding hundreds of thousands of extra pounds to their already swollen personal coffers. And that sums up the AIM perfectly!! Most directors (ALL!) on the AIM see it as an opportunity to do just that: line their own pockets at the expense of the small shareholder. The AIM, in my opinion, is just an unregulated casino where, in the greater majority of cases, the little investor gets screwed right over by the big players and the directors. It is time the regulators took a long hard look at the AIM -- it is a complete shambles!!!!!

From the Motley Fool (28th May 2019): IQE’s president and chief executive, Dr Drew Nelson, founded a company called EPI in 1988, which became IQE in 1999, and listed on the stock market in 2000. It billed itself as “the world’s largest ‘pureplay’ outsource supplier of customised epitaxial wafers to the compound semiconductor industry.”
A real step-change in earnings and free cash flow (FCF) has yet to materialise. Despite spending a total of £166m on capex and £59m on acquisitions over the last 10 years, cumulative FCF for the period stands at minus £33m. Periods of elevated investment and heavily negative FCF have been followed by little meaningful FCF advance in subsequent years. Given two decades as “the leading global supplier” of epi-wafers, I’m sceptical about whether we’ll ever see a step-change in FCF and earnings.
In view of this, I see little value in the shares at a current price of 74p, which represents over 33 times consensus forecast earnings of 2.2p for 2019. Finally, I’m conscious IQE is another grievously shorted stock, with four institutions having disclosable positions totalling 8%.

Motley Fool(3rd September 2019): Finally, let’s turn from revenue and EBITDA (what Warren Buffett’s partner Charlie Munger calls “bull**** earnings”) to cash. IQE burnt through £21.6m in the first half of the year, as it continued to invest for future growth. It moved from net cash of £20.8m to net debt of £0.8m (excluding £49.3m lease liabilities, albeit only £3m due within one year).
I’ve previously noted that after 20 years, IQE’s periods of elevated investment and heavily negative free cash flow have been followed by little meaningful advance in free cash flow in subsequent years. The bottom line for me is that unless this changes, I’m perfectly happy to continue avoiding the stock.

Whether you are a fan of the Motley Fool crew or no...these two statements, three months apart, are, for me, a fair summing up of IQE.

A great idea -- badly executed! ...and time is now fast running out: for us -- the poor suffering long-term shareholders!!

Time is fast running out for this tired old goose...it always did struggle to get off the ground and make it up into the air. If this does not hold above 47 pence then it is going to be a long, long, long way down...and a long, long, long time down at that. At the end of the day what is IQE all about? The only people who have ever made money from IQE are the people who trade it or the greedy directors. How can you have faith in the directors of a company who periodically award themselves massive amounts of options and sell them at opportune times thus making massive profits? What about the honest, faithful, hardworking, small, long-term investor who buys into their, supposedly, grand plan which, purportedly, is to build a sustainable and profitable company with its much enviable and sought after products that are going to enhance, among other much touted things, 5G technology? Or is it just all about the directors? I have a good idea: at the next AGM why don't we, the small investors, vote them all out? After all: have they not had enough time already? An absolute shower of incompetents as far as I am concerned.

Well done you, Manlord! Keep us all posted on any developments. Personally I resolved myself to losing all of the very small investment I made here long ago...but I do feel for those who were caught up in all this unfortunate intrigue. It is totally unacceptable that the people connected to this company should be allowed to remain silent for so long without any detailed updates being released to the share holders; and bearing in mind that this company undertook another fund raising in the midst of it all makes it doubly unacceptable -- disgraceful behaviour!! Let us all hope that someone somewhere, very soon, in a position of authority starts demanding of them pertinent answers. This is almost beyond belief even for AIM standards... and they in themselves are not particularly high.

Hhmmmm...my interest has been re-prodded. But can it hold? Dogs always sleep with one eye open don't you know. I will keep that one eye opened firmly glued on this.

Here is a simple little doggies way of investing in punts on the AIM: a; search around until I find something that draws my attention, b; research it a while (obviously not being a trader or analyst I can only do a very limited amount of research myself), c; ask myself all the pertinent questions...try to find answers...of a sort, d; invest a very small amount (very small...what I can comfortably afford to lose (not much - lol), e; only adding further shares on what I consider factual and positive news...occasionally buying on the dips to lower my average (always under estimating and getting it completely wrong where the bottom actually is of course), f; and trust the rest to the most important factor -- jolly old luck!! Which on the AIM is sadly lacking...no surprises there then. If anyone has a superior more informed strategy then please feel free to go into print...I am all ears. In short: I am quite prepared to have less shares at a higher average than most as long as I think the company is both sustainable and commercially viable. There you go, chum...sums it all up for me. Ta-ra! P.s Quote by Mark Twain: "A goldmine is just a hole in the ground...with a liar at the top". :)

zzz - Z! Wh..whose oil man jim? ZZ zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Just read your provided link, Ultrainvestor...not surprised at this in the slightest. As for "muddy waters" (Mr Carson Block) I think his initial claims, a little while back, about IQE's accounting were quite legitimate claims. After all, you cannot "short" a company without being able to point to some obvious and glaring concerns. If IQE does not start producing very soon then another fund-raising may well be completely unavoidable. God help the s.p then!

Hello, Domtaz. I have not been invested in IQE anywhere near the length of time seadoc has, but, just like him, the only way I have ever made any small profit from IQE... is to do just that -- trade it! It is a great shame because looking at the business flat on it would appear to be the perfect long term investment: something to invest in that slowly but surely, over several years, gives you a reasonable return on your money. But, sadly - no! They purport to represent the cutting edge of their scientific field: "a world leader"...as they insist on labeling themselves. Perhaps? but be that or may the s.p certainly does not seem to reflect this grand boast. They like to think that the "entry level" into their business is set far too high for other would be competitors to break into. This is a complete nonsense of course. What you need to ask yourself is this: at some point in the near future does IQE come through on all its heralded potential...or does it fall by the wayside overtaken by newer, more fiercer and determined competitors with more market savvy and with the greatly added advantage of lower production and labor costs? Time is running out for IQE in my opinion. Yes I am still invested here. And yes at some point I think the s.p will recover. But as for IQE's long term future? Who knows? Not I. But one thing I do know: the future waits for no man; so if IQE want a future they had better hurry up and grab it now -- before its gone!! Good luck to us all.

zz...zz..zz..zz -- Z!! YAWNNNN! Think somebody just, er, tripped over my chain - what! Hhmmm...letsss seeee...whats all this? I need to read this again. Well, well, well...some informative commenting. Very well done, SimonT...someone with a bit of commonsense it would appear. Congratulations! Now back to sleeppp...zz...zzz...zzzzz...zzzZZZZZ.

Yank my chain when the price hits 9p again...I would rather reinvest as it slowly moves up on moderate results than invest right now and watch it slump all the way back down to 3 pence. Cheers!

This is supposed to be a board for discussion...not a mutual back-slapping society. And regarding Boooombastic, at least he was a bit of light relief...and whats more -- he could well have had a valid point!!