re AGM from the other bb1 Jul 2018 00:27
copied from a poster who attended
'As a 'long-term' shareholder (since 2016), with a substantial holding, I felt it was time to meet the board members and get a better feel for the people who are spending my money. The AGM had about eight PIs in attendance. Ervington was represented (Lisa) whom the board clearly recognised. I was the first PI to arrive. John Tunison introduced himself to me in the reception area and we chatted for a while before board members arrived and he went off for a pre-AGM meeting. The AGM meeting itself was friendly and 'informal', albeit within a 'formal' structure. Introductions by the Chairman (Pierre Jungels), then a summary of the last 12-18 months and where we are headed in the next period by the CEO (David Pummell). The COO (Paul Schubert) gave us his short update on Envia. There was no big song and dance by the PIs at the AGM over the Envia issue, nor was there by the BoD (understandably I think) given our relationship with Envia. It is Envia that needs to solve the problem and inform all parties when it has done so (IMHO). It will get sorted.
Red Rock Biofuels - The $6m received is being put to work on reactors and catalyst etc. No issues were identified.
US renewable fuels plant (Natchez, Mississippi) - Good progress is being made in line with what has already been published.
UK waste to jet fuel project - I found the update on this to be the most interesting part of the whole AGM. Why? Simple answer - Shell. DP and Neville Hargreaves (who had just flown in from the US yesterday morning to attend the AGM (as well as the post AGM management meeting I suspect) where both really excited at the involvement of Shell, confirming that they have been engaged for some time (in the background). It appears that Shell sent the main technical person from the Qatar operation to Envia to do due diligence (pre-leak I'm sure). Evidently, he was very impressed. Anyway, chatting with DP after the formal part of the meeting I could see he was really positive about Shell and was in fact off to meet with them later on.
The Q&A session was not overly lengthy or particularly challenging. There were a number of technical questions around fuel and catalyst. One question related to R&D, and whether we should be continuing to improve the offering. The chairman and CEO said that being a smaller company we need to take a balanced approach. We have a very good offering and should take this to market, which is exactly what they are doing. Improvements will come as appropriate further along the journey, as the company grows.
My apologies if this update is long. I am trying to give a sense of my impression of the meeting.
Now to Resolution 11 - Authority to purchase own shares. This was treated (by the Chairman) almost with a sense of questioning as to why this was on the agenda at all. There was a question raised on it to confirm if shares bought back would be held in treasury but this is all stated in the detailed notice of the AGM.