Stephan Bernstein, CEO of GreenRoc, details the PFS results for the new graphite processing plant. Watch the video here.
I'm sure that Marcuspd can stand up for himself but the constant 'everything is good news' attitude has destroyed his credibility.
And that's the issue that GR has - it doesn't matter what he says now, his credibility is shot to pieces. He's not being entirely transparent and/or he has other motives for giving out info. This morning's RNS lacks any news of substance and one then wonders why he has given news which was already public. He really does hold shareholders in complete contempt - he must think we're idiots.
Placing incoming!
Radika - in the long run, Canmax will get their SC6. What happens between now and then will continue to be a roller coaster.
The Canmax relationship has removed one risk but has added more jeopardy if Prem don't deliver.
The main risk has not been de-risked and that is the delivery of enough SC6 by November and beyond.
The cash situation has not been de-risked until we have the next placement... looks like GR will use a good chunk of those 5bn shares.
And, of course, GR has undermined all the good work that he has done. Who knows what we're going to find out next?
Last week's drop was due to the deal, GR’s interview and resultant concerns… nothing to do with the expectation that GR was going to drop £2m worth of shares.
All we know for certain is that 1000T is due to be produced for November. We’ve not been given any other detail about production. However, full production may not be expected until June 2024 – that’s when the alternative cash settlement schedule to Canmax reaches it’s highest amount. One might assume that the cash settlement schedule has been based on the production schedule. That’s now a full 6 months after the last known timescale for full production.
This is hugely disappointing and raises some questions about whether we know the real extent of the issues at Zulu.
And one has to ask why he is now not publishing the production schedule.
It is now very clear that the Prem cash position is more uncertain than we might have assumed. GR has made it clear that they need more cash before they get through to production. His now reduced loan isn’t going to get us there.
Stark are quiet and GR seems to have changed his attitude towards them. Are Stark being sticky about what they will and won’t be responsible for and therefore what they will and won’t pay for? Does Prem owe Stark cash and has GR refused to pay them? Let’s hope that relationship is OK and that it doesn’t fall apart.
If the above wasn’t bad enough, GR has undermined his credibility once again with Friday’s RNS. I can’t see any satisfactory explanation for him instigating the sale of his shares near the start of July... whatever he was doing, there are big questions about his comms to the market.
One important point is that, whilst his loan is outstanding, GR’s ownership is reduced. I think it was important to him to be the largest individual shareholder and that he won't want to be in that position for too long.
However, I think his position is in more jeopardy now than it ever has been... this might be a good thing! SK, the Telegramp group and the Pandora group should put aside whatever misplaced loyalty they have to GR and ask themselves seriously whether they would be better off with GR continuing as CEO!
As for anyone else waiting to step in... that seems unlikely!
As someone, who has been investing in Prem for the last 5 or 6 years, I had hoped that we would have seen some still waters by now... things are going to be turbulent for the foreseeable future.
Placing coming, Acker.
He used certain phrasing in his interview - something along the lines that 'no decision on a placing had been made' - which he has used before. So he's not lied but he's probably then gone straight into a BOD meeting to decide on a placing! AIMHO, of course!!
Marcuspd - whether that is part of the explanation or not, he had the intent to sell down his holding on the 6th of July! How can there be any satisfactory explanation to what GR has been doing for the last 6 or 7 weeks?
He got virtually all of those shares free, go_ly_down... which actually means that the loan that he is providing hasn't actually cost him anything.
Something very underhand going on here- GR was selling all the way through July whilst apparently negotiating with Canmax.
He has stooped to a new low in my book.
He has got some explaining to do.
The NOMAD needs to explain too why two RNS's were issued about a loan funded by a sale of shares which had already taken place - why are we only being told now that GR reduced his holdings in July?
Been here since 2017/2018 and have the scars to prove it. GR is his own worst enemy and one does begin to wonder whether he messes it up consciously. I'm sure other lth's will agree that, in the current situation, things might get a whole lot worse before it gets better. I would only consider adding again in the high 0.2's or low 0.3's... it depends on what transpires. PREM is not for the novices!
Marcuspd, I agree... long term and if GR can get us through to production in the timescales set, it should multi-bag and produce a dividend on top. Meantime, it'll be another rollercoaster for a couple of months. Very frustrating that we have this mess (again!) from GR.
Aimisalaugh - I now believe that GR completed the sale of his shares prior to the interview, even as early as last week and that we'll get an RNS about using some of the headroom to immediately repay him. Say he sold his shares at an average of 0.5p, he would have sold 400m shares. He could get as many as 500m shares back... that's an extra 100m shares to GR!!!
I'd be very surprised if we don't get an after hours RNS today or one before opening on Monday.
AIMHO, of course!
Radika - it was a very unusual move and an odd coincidence. I ask myself what did GR know at that point in time and was he being completely transparent about the situation? Wasn't a huge amount either. I'd conclude that he had some ulterior motive... AIMHO!
Clueless-1 - GR had put himself in a strong negotiating position with the FM and protected Prem from any action on missing targets. None of us know for certain that the plant is going to produce SC6 and in enough quantity and it's dependent on a 2nd hand mill! He could have held off until the plant had actually produced and that would have included holding off the SGM. The SGM and the need to get Canmax to support it meant that he had to do a deal. He now gets to issue shares BUT he has opened the door to further disappointment because Prem/Stark may not get the plant producing in time.
He's gone from hero to zero, I'm afraid!
Watched the interview again this morning. GR's demeanour just wasn't good... constantly shifting in his chair and a bit irritated when asked some questions. From around the 25 min mark, it got worse. I ask myself why he wouldn't discuss anything about his loan and share sale. Those of us who have been around Prem for a few years were probably surprised that GR was going to cough up a loan to see Prem through to production and doing that by selling his shares. Now that he has the headroom to issue 5bn shares, I wouldn't be surprised if GR has now reneged on that offer and that he is now insisting that Prem simply issue shares to cover the amount to get us through to production... I reckon that's why he wouldn't discuss it and why there has been no RNS about his holding. And we now know, due to the interview, that Prem need more than the £2m that GR was prepared to lend. So, I think, if GR's gets his way, we'll see a dilution... after hours RNS today would be my guess. AIMHO.
The other concerns for me is that he has dropped the FM like a stone... there is still a great deal of uncertainty about production and GR's irritation about questions on the quality doesn't help. He should've held on to the FM longer... the result now is that he has provided further evidence that he's a shifty, not-to-be believed character.
Again, that sense of being shifty, was reinforced when he now says that the current targets are realistic... so the previous targets, which he said were realistic, were not actually realistic???
GR truly back to his worst - not surprised that the sp has dropped and could drop further. AIMHO!