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Saluc, you’re one to talk. I wouldn’t be very surprised if this is Shishir himself, trying to use a fake name to ramp up his position. You’re naive to believe a word from Shishir if you really do. You’re either Shishir himself or one of his yes men or yes daughter.
Shishir and his band of naive kids being out of the board is going to be the only way to restore the company. I am sure that there are other competent management teams to take over the management in case Shishir's fragile ego doesnt allow him to be a part of the company after he is removed from the board (which I believe is in the best long term interest of the company, even if he ends up selling all his shares). Management and skills can be solved, ethics cannot. I am sure that when it is time for a vote, none of the large holders would want to see him stay.
Tell me, does anyone remember the last time Shishir Poddar said the truth? Does anyone here still take his words to mean anything? I for one believe he is a pathological liar, a delusional fool and / or an absolute conman.
Every sensible adult who has ever worked with him (including his own brother btw), has left the company. Their tenures becoming shorter with every new member. Find me another listed company, anywhere in the world where two thirds of the board is under 30. Find be another company, where people straight out of college, with no real world experience are put into board positions.
Also, sharing the raw data with the new potential board. I am sure they will find it helpful when they are trying to see Shishir's fraud. Once again, this is what he has done - sold graphite to himself at a much cheaper price than the market, bought equipment from his own company (that was formed mearly to steal from TG), blocked an agreed acquisition, quashed every adult who pointed at his gross misdealings and outright misled and lied to shareholders.
I do not think tomorrowtoday is a part of this group, neither am I. I think he is just happy to jump on the bandwagon.
And done forget, he did end up diluting the shareholders far more cheaply after that. Worse still, somehow through this terrible performance, the Poddars remain the only shareholders who did not face any dilution, whatsoever. The shareholding of Shishir actually increased.
Andii, even if I take your prices to be it, TSG is still being sold much cheaper as compared to the others. $700 in the larger flake sizes, at 100 tonnes a month is still 70,000 per month and nearly $900,000 over the year. Look at the data! It becomes clear how TSG is looting TGR. And now, with the current board, who will keep things in check? Can we rely on Shishir and Puruvi to do the right thing? They have certainly not done that in the past.
Honestly, TG would have all the capital that it needs for its immediate needs if it did not have TSG To feed.
Anyway, really taxing to be on this board and follow this company. I cant remember the last time that this stock closed in green. Let us hope that today it does. This is incredibly low already. It is trading at a Shishir discount.
Part 3: Value Added Business
Based on the preceding findings in Parts 1 and 2, it's evident that TSG has reaped significant profits from its association with TG. The disparity in benefit between TG and TSG is glaring, with TG evidently on the disadvantaged side due to decisions made by the management team.
Over the past three years, TSG has channeled these profits into developing its own value-added business. Presently, this business appears to be predominantly research-oriented, with small revenues (
(Part 2/3: Employees)
Over the course of the last four years, TG has consistently remitted various "Service charges" to TSG, covering a spectrum of back-office functions such as Accounting, HR, and Travel. It's worth noting that TG has directly reimbursed TSG for any travel-related expenses, implying that the "Service charges" primarily pertain to only labor costs.
TSG, established post-TG's inception, has assembled an in-house team to handle these operations. However, TG has not pursued a parallel initiative, leaving only the CEO and a select few in management roles. This raises questions about TG's reliance on TSG. Why have the management hired a team at TSG to service TG and not hired them directly at TG? To me it seems clear that the aim was to pocket some additional funds by the virtue of their "Service charges".
Furthermore, given the shared leadership between the two entities, how do they decide which organisation are they working for on a day to day basis given the various conflicts that exist between these organisations.?
Additionally, there have been instances of TSG deploying its personnel to Madagascar. It is reasonable to assume that their salaries are encompassed within the service charges.
This prompts a pertinent question: If these individuals predominantly serve TG's needs, why aren't they directly employed by the company? Conversely, if their duties extend beyond TG's scope, why is TG assuming responsibility for their compensation?
It seems plausible that TG is overpaying TSG for these services. It is also unrealistically dependent on TSG which ultimately makes it a bigger red flag. I do not want to speculate on the figures but given the recent developments, I am sure that they would be appalling.
during the weekend, i meticulously examined the connections between tg and tsg and was utterly dismayed by what i uncovered. what i stumbled upon can only be described as fraudulent activities taking place within this arrangement. here are the disturbing findings:
material sales: tg predominantly sells two types of materials to tsg - -100 mesh with varying levels of purity and +50 mesh with different purities. sales of -100 mesh range from 100 to 300 tonnes per month, priced at $550 plus or minus $20. tg also sells these materials to other buyers within the range of $600 to $650, indicating a 10-15% discount given to tsg. however, this is merely scratching the surface. tg also supplies approximately 100 tonnes of +50 mesh to tsg at $1050 per tonne. this distorts the average per tonne sales between the two entities. yet, galloise, another player, sells this material at $2100 to $2500 per tonne, effectively meaning tg is selling at a 50% discount to tsg for the co****r grade. furthermore, there seems to be no direct shipment of +32 (super jumbo flakes), a material confirmed by shishir to be mined in madagascar and also sold by galloise at a range of $2500 to $3500. it's plausible to assume that the +50 mesh material from tg is not screened for +32, implying that tg's +50 mesh is much more valuable than the $2100 that galloise sells it for. it's reasonable to assume that tsg, acting as a 'reprocessor', further processes this material and sells it directly to customers at both +50 and +32 grades.
in summary, tg is losing revenues per month as follows:
$70 per tonne of fine material: average 200 tonnes: $14,000/month
$1000 per tonne of +50 material: average 75 tonnes: $75,000/month
$2500 per tonne of +32 material: average 25 tonnes: $62,500/month
total: ~$150,000/month
hence, if it weren't for the current (fraudulent) arrangement with tsg, tg would have easily generated the $2 million required for the pcus through additional revenues. instead, it has lost out on approx $3million over the past 18 months due to tsg's exploitation. additionally, tsg presents itself as a direct producer and falsely claims ownership of the two madagascar projects in various portals, meaning that all of the direct market relationship buildings have been done by tsg and not tg. it is important to remember, that tsg was formed after tg meaning that if the management had not decided to split its time, all of these capabilities could (and should) have been built in tg.
unfortunately, this is just the tip of the iceberg regarding the fraudulent activities.
Actually, they are currently at a 60% higher valuation. Given how miles, more like years ahead TG is at the moment, one can’t help but ask why is this the case. I agree that TG is hugely discounted but imho, there is a good reason for it. All the factors weighing TG down are self inflicted wounds and if the management determines itself to solve those, it would lead to huge value creation for the company. The fact however is that these will not be solved unless the shareholders demand for them to be solved. For clarity, I believe that there are 4 core interlinked issues here: corporate governance, production in Madagascar, unchecked related party transactions and the TSG matter. Solve them, and forget single digits, we’d be looking at triple digits.
IMHO this morning's RNS makes the Investor Communication Team look like absolutely novice and ultra desperate.
A few suggestions for the Management team from an investor's perspective. I deeply request you to take this seriously and act upon it.
1. Start giving out regular, quarterly production updates. We as investors deserve to know what is it that you have actually produced. We have not heard so in the last 6 months now. Sharing a production update right now, would be a lot more useful than sharing the glorious future of graphite ahead. Even if you have produced a few thousand tonnes, you need to get it out, especially when you are out there raising capital. At even 3000 Tonnes of quarterly production you are miles ahead of the competition, tell us more about that.
2. Schedule a fixed quarterly virtual investor meeting. Roll out the calendar for the next 12 months now. Given that the Management team has to re-win the confidence of the investor community from scratch, this will allow you to show that you will not be hiding and will make you accessible. You are at a critical moment in the company's journey. If you know that you are going to be sitting across your shareholders in a few weeks, I am sure that you will feel accountable yourself, especially given that now there is practically no board to hold the team accountable.
3. Clarify on TSG. 2 years ago, you gave us 3 possibilities, which you once again reinforced some 6 months back and since then, we have no clue what the progress has been, where do you stand on the issue. Uncertainty doesn't work in your favour.
I really hope that my advice doesnt fall on deaf ears.
Completely agreed mhow. Bud sadly now, given the composition of the board, there is no oversight to this. Shishir has a free hand to do as he pleases, not that the board could effectively do anything anyway. I guess all that this news go onto show, is what is the real situation of the company. How horrible it’s actual corporate governance is.
Where to even start? Utterly disappointing.
Now, the ship's been abandoned by all adults. It's not the company's health that's driving them away, but Shishir's refusal to heed advice. And now, we're left with the inexperienced Puruvi and newcomer Alaistar on the Board, both barely out of their 20s and no experience for such a role. The only requirement to be on the board of TG is how easily will you agree with the CEO.
What's going on with Production? The last update we got was nearly six months ago. We're in the dark about what's been produced and sold since then. Surely if you are trying to raise from DFIs and banks, you ought to be shouting from the roof about your production (given that there are so few currently). And yet, the company is simply not talking about it at all. Makes me wonder if they have actually produced anything in the last 6 months, barring for the photographer to post on X.
What's the plan with TSG? Why the complete silence on that? Who's keeping an eye on Shishir's dealings now? He was abusing his authority with a qualified board overseeing him—imagine now, with no oversight at all.
We've heard promises of working capital from banks and DFIs for almost a year, but nothing's materialised. Why? It's obvious to any lender that the company is using public entities to fuel growth of his private company. That's why no one's willing to invest. If not for this, TG should have plenty of options given its advanced status and the urgent need for graphite. Instead, it's trapped in a cycle of stagnation.
Every day, with every announcement, it becomes clearer: a promising opportunity spoiled by a greedy, unethical CEO.
With how coy and unreliable the management has been, how can you take their word to mean anything anymore?
Do note that they also had a large amount of outstanding bills. It is safe to assume that a potentially (large) portion of the raise went towards those.
Outright horrible that Shishir hasn’t prioritised updating the markets first thing today morning. With the events of last week, I genuinely believed that he would drop an update first thing today. He is probably just busy with TSG and Haritmay - his too ‘extremely valuable firms’. Dissapointed yet again (by now, we should be used to it).
Actually Chris, I believe that this is all an optimistic assumption. The truth is that if Shishir wanted to make the company professional, he would have first split the role of Chairman and MD (and he would have done this years ago), and then, he would have gotten better financial controls in place. Plus, he would have also not engaged in so much conflict of interests, all of which has placed the company in such a disappointing position. TG today, trades at a huge discount to its true value. This discount is simply because the market doesn't trust Shishir and TG. If this trust was there, all the pathways for growth that TG needed would be open to it. Today, seemingly none are (which is why they raised 1 Million at such low prices).
Looks like Ms Isabelle too got tired of Shishir stealing from the company. I agree, she probably left because she knows what is going on and is tired of her reputation being tarnished. The way it is going, by next week, the Board will just be Shishir.
Glad to know you got a response mhow (I still havent, despite, sending multiple follow ups). However, it is very important that this is an open Q&A and not the selective one that Shishir usually does where he chooses which questions to answer and leaves out the difficult ones. We the shareholders deserve to be heard and answered.
HC, thats not true. When the current owners bought Galloise, it was at a nameplate of 10K, but doing, something like 2-3K per year. Today, they have a name plate of 120K and they did 100K last year. Check the export data of Galloise over the last decade and you will see the facts for yourself.
I think this business needs expertise and that is why I put my money in TG. However, I believe that all businesses also need morals and ethical governance. Unfortunately, TG has not just failed in that, they also do not seem to care about their failure.
Galloise information is based on the import export data of graphite. Any portal that provides international trade data can be used to find this information. And the current raise is outright horrible. The fact that they did this, after finding 30p too low to raise, shows that either they do not know what they are doing (at all) or tomorrowtoday is right, this company is being built to be taken private.
As far as the other graphite companies are concerned, I am not invested in them because I wanted to invest in a producer and not an explorer at this point. The problem is, when I was investing (much like probably everyone else), I took the messaging of the company on face value. Instead, turns out, I was lied to and there exists no checks to ensure that this doesnt happen. The more time I have spent on this company, the more it is clear, that it has extremely poor corporate governance (if there is any at all).
And HC, I think you are being too optimistic about the company if you think they are going to be able to achieve production ramp ups, in their current state. At best, TG will buy equipments from Haritmay Ventures and then, report after 12 months that the production has not been ramped up because they need more equipment. The fact that they raised right now, is proof that the company is running on fumes. And, in the way things are going, they will simply not be able raise anymore. So, bottom line is - you are not making money from operations, no one is ready to finance you and you have debt coming due.
I find it rather surprising that both TSG and Haritmay, started after TG, are suddenly "tremendously valuable" partners. Why has the same management not focused on creating these "capabilities" in TG, instead, spent that time building these personal companies? Was there any independent evaluation or oversight. I have asked this from Shishir (and Purvi) atleast 10 times but, I havent yet received a single response.
Actually, I think he is right. The company does have debt, equivalent of 20% of its market cap at the moment and ~2X of funds raised in the last round. When these CLNs come due in the next year (and I am sure that no one in their right mind will convert at the given situation) , the company will not have enough funds to cover these payments (because all the money has been diverted to TSG). And with the way the production is going ( I am assuming that since Shishir hasnt updated about the last quarter, it is definitely poor), the company will not have enough money at the end of the Financial Year. All of this means, that very soon, TG is going to be bankrupt and shareholders would have nothing to show for their hard earned money.
Also, the Chinese export bans are not doing the company any good. Have a look at the import data of graphite in India and US. The major supplier is now another Madagascar company (Galloise), who have ramped up production to a staggering 100KTPA, in the time that TG has gotten to 12KTPA (if even that), so, clearly, TG is not making use of this once in a generation opportunity of the ban and all because the management is not focused on TG, but instead in TSG.
I wonder what Hemant, Christian and Rajesh - the original founders of the company have to say about its current status and the activities of Shishir. Considering that they have all since resigned their posts, I am assuming that they too do not agree with the current path.
While I typically avoid engaging in online forums, circumstances demand that I express my concerns here regarding TG. It's evident that the management is obscuring vital information from the markets, leaving investors in the dark. Their conduct raises serious doubts about their competence and integrity.
Trying to get any sense out of management is like talking to a brick wall. Emails go unanswered for ages, and when they do respond, it's like they're speaking a different language. And don't even get me started on the CEO's daughter – zero qualifications, straight out of some third tier college, and suddenly she's number 2. She has got to be the most unqualified person running comms and business dev. at an LSE company. I dare you to find me another.
And as for the big boss himself, Shishir? Either he's in way over his head or he's running a scam. Nothing promised in the IPO prospectus has materialised, and it looks like he's lining his pockets while TG goes down the drain. We have given him the benefit of the doubt, however, given that he has exclaimed himself as a graphite messiah, isn't it horrible that even after nearly 2 years, the company is unable to produce more than 30-40% (if even that) of its nameplate capacity. He is definitely not the expert that he has portrayed himself to be.
Board members say that the whole setup is a mess. Anyone who dares to disagree with Shishir gets the boot, and decisions are made behind closed doors without a care for any opinion. It's like a dictatorship in there, with Shishir pulling all the strings. From what I've gathered, dissenting voices are quickly silenced, and those who speak up for what's right end up out the door faster than you can say "conflict of interest." It's a real shame because a diverse board with different perspectives could really help steer TG in the right direction. But as it stands, it's more like a one-man show than a collaborative effort.
I've noticed some members expressing their curiosity about the inner workings of TSG (now Pranagraf). Well, the good news is that you can access the financials straight from the Indian government's website. After taking a deep dive into them and comparing them with TG's figures from previous years, a few glaring patterns emerged. Firstly, it's evident that TG is footing the bill for TSG's development, not through equity, but via service charges and material margins. Secondly, it seems like Shishir Poddar is strategically utilizing TG's resources to boost TSG's value, only to turn around and cite valuation discrepancies as a reason to not sell it to TG. And finally, there's a troubling lack of oversight from the board, who either turn a blind eye to these practices or are simply incapable of putting a stop to them.
Either which way, if there is anyone who is suing these fraudsters, count me in. Share an email where we can connect. It is consequently time to call an EGM and get honest and competant management to run this company.