Member Info for Silverblade

Looks like donmac and cliveas have gone big on their purchasing programme! At least there is some appetite even at these depressed levels which cant be a bad thing. SB

I'm pretty sure the phrase 'shareholder value' will feature - its a firm favourite whilst never actually achieving the aspiration. Aside from me being a bit petty - years of frustration - the key issue to be addressed imo is growth. EKF has shown it can generate decent cash, has good product margins and a core diagnostics business which trundles along. But year on year revenue decline - and yes there are plenty of 'reasons' (Covid bubble, acquisition fiasco, product realignment, state of the art enzyme facility with no customers, Russia etc) - is simply not going to get the company anywhere. There needs to be a proper plan for growth - and the strategic leadership tasked with delivering. I struggle to see how that is achievable with the status quo given recent history. SB

I wonder how the FD at CRH feels at the moment. They sold 171m at 67p - decent exit based on original placing - but one month later......even the big boys can get their timing wrong. SB

Buyback volume took a major hit as soon as Deutsche were appointed to manage prior to results end of march. Prior to that it was slowly eating away - but agree 40k a day is not having any impact. That said the previous 250-500K a day wasn't exactly lighting any fires either. Will be interesting to see next moves - pretty clear they will continue programme "The Board will provide an update on or prior to the upcoming Annual Results announcement on measures to be implemented during the next year to help reduce the discount and enhance shareholder value". Could see further price pressure as the financial year ends. Sector interest has just fallen off a cliff. SB.

1m sells in 25k,50k,100K chunks in last five trading sessions. Perhaps it is Amati. SB

Donmac - Amati last announced their holding on 14th Jan - 5.38%. I think if they went below 5% they would have to put out another holdings announcement - so not so sure they are continuing to offload. And my point still stands - what if medicare doesn't happen. Given the pitiful valuation attributed to the business you must admit there isn't exactly a lot of optimism here. I would expect a CEO earning $500K+ to be a bit more hands on with shareholders. FWIW I hold here but the current binary position does cause me concern. SB

Pretty relentless selling now. Back to all time low. No communication from company and no idea what's going on. I wonder if those that are leaving are of a mind that medicare coverage will not be secured - in which case its all over here. The price would seem to reflect that - perhaps there would be some value to Thermo in picking up the pieces if that transpires. SB

If there was ever a more cautionary tale not to invest in early stage bio-technology stocks......the five year share price history (accepting there has been significant dilution on the road) tells a very sober story. March 2021 £10; March 2022 £3; March 2023 90p; March 2024 50p; March 2025 10p. If only we could predict March 2026 eh....SB

Me too. Quite a morning at TIG. Looks like potential buyer due diligence threw up some big issues. Not a great start to 2025 all over the place really. SB

I think we are all hoping they can exceed those targets Jatw - be interesting to see if there is any update on test sales trajectory in 2025 when we get the H1 results - and specifically the onboarding of more doctor groups. I think the following one liner was one of the most important statements that came from the medicare announcement "The LCD specifies coverage for use of kidneyintelX.dkd for patients with diagnosed Type 2 diabetes and Stage 1-3b Chronic Kidney Disease is reasonable and necessary." If that doesn't open up the market then goodness knows what it would take - and likely deals with your point on litigation. SB

I guess using the word delisting was probably incorrect unhooked. I was thinking more of the company being taken private given its low valuation - either by existing shareholders (Harwood) or Private Equity taking a punt they can sort the business out and bring it back in 5 years for an exit. I would agree a delisting would have a negative impact - I don't think we are anywhere near that situation at present - but there are more negatives than positives here and that's reflected in the current valuation - which is now trading on an ebitda multiple of 9 and that includes a decent cash balance. You would like to think there is some strategic thinking going on prior to the results later this month but that would be a first. SB

Quite sobering Dartron.....lots of good points in that conversation. EKF isn't as grim as the Zytroic outcome - but there again I'm sure that's what shareholders felt there a few years ago. Shows the importance of NED's in challenging business strategy. Another red flag for EKF. As for your 'slightly underused' comment oogle.......good one. I certainly don't think cash should find its way into executive bonus payments given the current declining revenue, zero growth strategy that's for sure. Dividend should be reinstated as a minimum imo. SB

Mills and Baines are very tight. In 2021, Mills supported a bonus payment of £2.5m each to the CEO (Baines) and CFO with some made up nonsense relating to value creation when the bonuses were actually tied to an exit. Valuation peaked around that time with covid test sales generating lots of revenue and profit which was subsequently squandered. Company now worth 25% of that valuation - which was admittedly OTT. Mills 30% shareholding peaked at £120m, now £30m. Ouch. SB

Yes a delisting could be something under consideration - offer a slight premium to current price to get it over the line - and II's keep their holdings in the private vehicle in the hope/expectation they can bring it back in a few years when market turns and the company is actually growing. I looked as ASTO a couple of years back but every Mills stock I looked at was being hammered - although i did focus on bio-tech stuff which turns out to be a real error. That said I don't really class ekf as bio tech - its a simple diagnostics business which has just lurched from one disaster to another in the last four years. The fact no one has tried to pick it up at these prices says it all - although Mills would probably bloc unless there was a decent price on offer and that ain't going to happen any time soon......SB

I'm not so sure about being more knowledgeable Ian67 - I have been in ekf for 4 years+ and quite frankly wish I had never invested - or had the b**ls to sell up and move on like a number of posters here have done. They have managed to extract some of the Russian subsidiary cash but that's not the problem here - its doing the opposite of all positive company benchmarks Dartron noted which is the problem. To talk of delivering further value to shareholders as they watch the market cap capitulate is atrocious. The days of Mills as a leader in small caps are in the past - both his funds (NAS and OIG) have been hammered and trading at massive NAV discounts. My big fear is they try and take this private as a final insult to PI's hence the downward spiral. As for AIM Dartron - its difficult to see a future for the whole index such is the current malaise - which in turn impacts on the whole emerging market sector and UK economic growth in years to come. Building new runways is not the answer to UK growth problems. SB

To say somethings not right here would be an understatement. About to test the 5 year c.20p low which occurred during peak covid market panic. Lots of trades appear to be algo based - but in the absence of any buying interest the price just gets a daily hammering. A month to go until audited results - the way things are I would not be surprised if there is a sting in the tail on its way. II's must be looking at situation and asking some serious questions about the way the company is being run - although who knows who they direct questions to. SB

Another 2.58m buyback shares picked up last week - c.76p average - just under £2m spent. Look like they are having a serious go at this. If this continues at this pace - real savings to be made in dividend payments (accepting income from investments will also decline) and a potential increase in NAV; which alongside the reduced interest payments on the debt facility and further risk weighted asset sales in H1 should start to flow into increased positive sentiment. Can't influence the ongoing financial issues (Inflation; debt, budget, interest rates, yields) at UK government level. SB

2.3m shares purchased this week under the buyback programme - c.£1.7m. A noticeable increase in scale. Will be interesting to see if this pace continues - the company still has significant funds to deploy based on its £50m commitment - accepting it does not have all that in cash yet. SB

Share price bouncing off multi year lows. Valuation now reflecting a company with minimal growth prospects despite a decent free cash flow and £15m+ cash balance growing by c.£750K per month. Market confidence in the business clearly shot to pieces. Executive Chairman currently juggling several demanding leadership positions at struggling bio-tech ventures. No visible management team. None of which makes me feel good at being invested here. SB

If only we had the benefit of hindsight investing would be a lot easier Dartron! Whilst it continues to be a disappointing story here, the BoD do own stock - Exec Chairman Julian Baines has 1.6m shares, and his long term investor pal and Director Christopher Mills at Harwood Capital holds 133m which essentially provides Harwood with a controlling stake. As for innovation - they have made moves into electronic data management to bring healthcare into the digital world, continue to develop and upgrade existing tests and of course the Multi million $$ South Bend enzyme investment facility was meant to be the next big thing. Don't get me wrong - I'm not defending the current low growth (albeit decent cash generation) outlook here - but I am trying to justify why I'm still invested here. And I agree hiding away on AIM when it no longer needs growth capital doesn't seem so smart - but that's more likely a Harwood influence. SB