Member Info for Toadhall1

I take that back. There is a 3rd NEW instruction to be given for the ordinary general meeting. So I have voted against on all. I have about 1.6m shares.

So basically it looks all fine from HL . Any original votes still stand. If you vote again, no harm done.

I'll vote no again to be sure. Obviously company is hoping that investors have changed their mind and revote in support.

That was for the EGM vote by the way.

There are also comments for the court meeting;

Comment:

22 MAR 2024: PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS A REVISION DUE TO CHANGE IN MEETING DATE FROM 28 MAR 2024 TO 04 APR 2024. IF YOU HAVE ALREADY SENT IN YOUR VOTES, PLEASE DO NOT VOTE AGAIN UNLESS YOU DECIDE TO AMEND YOUR ORIGINAL INSTRUCTIONS. THANK YOU

Just checked my HL account where I have previously voted. Yes it looks like I need to vote again, but HL has posted a comment below the resolution. I wonder if this means, that they recognise the original vote still stands, and the new meeting request is not valid?

Comment:

22 MAR 2024: PLEASE NOTE THAT JOB NUMBER 140039 NEEDS TO BE INACTIVATED DUE TO ACTUAL MEETING PROCESSING UNDER JOB 136206. PLEASE DO NOT ATTEMPT TO REGISTER VOTES OR MEETING ATTENDANCES IN THIS BALLOT, AS THEY WILL NOT BE COUNTED

As gold keeps going, their acquisition price is going to have to keep chasing.

I think we’re in a good place now in terms of outcomes. Worse case takeover succeeds at current offer price. Otherwise it’s either higher offer or they walk away, and either way we get a more realistic share price to reflect gold prices. I'm relaxed. Gold price rising has provided the safety net in terms of short term outcomes. There is an opportunity cost staying the course here but I think we’ve got a good chance of getting more.

Anyone attend the AGM?

part 2

bangladesh has not disclosed this net reserves figure, but local media reports suggested the number fell short in march. more than $8 billion needs to be subtracted from the gross tally -- which continues to trend downward -- to arrive at the imf's accepted count, officials have said.

ahsan h. mansur, executive director at the policy research institute, bangladesh, and a former imf official, said forex reserves are a major reason for apprehension about the second tranche, though not the only one. "since february last year, reserves fell every month and never increased, while there is no sign of making a turnaround," he said, arguing there is no chance of hitting the imf targets.

at the same time, mansur said the current "growth compressing" level of imports is unsustainable. "we have to raise imports as well as enhance reserves," he said.

citing a lack of tangible policy reforms, he warned of the risk of missing multiple imf objectives. a failure to meet one or two conditions might result in the fund issuing a warning but still releasing the second tranche. failure on four or five points might cause more complications, he suggested.

he pointed to ****stan's stalled review. "while ****stan is saying we have done everything, the imf is saying, 'no, conditions are not met,'" he said.

zahid hussain, a former lead economist at the world bank's dhaka office, emphasized that the central bank's next monetary policy statement in july should make clear what is being done to meet the imf's conditions.

"the introduction of [the] interest rate corridor [to guarantee rates in a certain range], calculation of forex reserves as per the imf's [formula], and unification of [the] exchange rate of taka, has to be mentioned" in the new statement, he said.

the government says it is actively working to open up new trade avenues, and many insist the imf support in itself was merely precautionary.

binayak sen, director general of the bangladesh institute of development studies, believes the government is steering the economy successfully. "the worst situation that was predicted due to the ukraine war crisis has not happened."

"i am not [anticipating] anything bad," he said. while he conceded that inflationary pressure would persist, he added, "had our remittances as a whole collapsed, or exports lowered 50%, or crops failed 10% to 20% from flooding, i could have become concerned."

Full article here:

https://asia.nikkei.com/Economy/Bangladesh-on-hot-seat-to-meet-IMF-loan-targets

part 1

DHAKA -- Bangladesh faces growing pressure to meet targets in its loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund, with key review dates looming.

Already the South Asian country is believed to have fallen short of the minimum foreign reserve criteria for March, set when the IMF approved a $4.7 billion loan in January. An IMF staff mission that visited from late April to early May checked on Bangladesh's progress but could not be assured that the June target would be met.

"Persistent inflationary pressures, elevated volatility of global financial conditions, and [a] slowdown in major advanced trading partners continue to weigh on growth, foreign currency reserves, and the taka," Rahul Anand, IMF mission chief for Bangladesh, said in a statement.

Another IMF visit is scheduled for October to further assess Bangladesh's compliance with the loan conditions before disbursing a second tranche, to follow the earlier disbursement of $476 million.

Some officials and experts worry Bangladesh could fail to meet a number of objectives by the fall. Others downplay the concerns. Either way, there is little question that dollars remain in short supply, and that Dhaka will be tested over the coming months.

After signs of improvement, starting around the end of last year, export earnings have fallen for two consecutive months -- 2.49% on the year in March and 16.52% in April -- according to the Export Promotion Bureau.

Now, amid scorching weather, much of the country remains without power for long stretches, as electricity generation is squeezed by a lack of dollars needed to import fuel oil, gas and coal.

The central bank strictly controls letters of credit for imports. Such letters for capital machinery were down by 54% in the July to February period, and down 30% for raw materials. Some economists fear this belt-tightening may strangle industrial development and job creation, and limit production at existing factories.

The curb on foreign exchange outflows has also left foreign companies struggling to repatriate earnings. An agent of Meta, the parent company of Facebook, late last month announced that advertising by Bangladeshi companies would be limited due to the difficulty of transferring payments. International airlines and shipping agents have repeatedly lamented difficulties in channeling payments to parent organizations, as banks are unable to provide the required dollars.

None of this bodes well for meeting the IMF targets.

The deal with the fund set a floor for net foreign currency reserves at $22.94 billion in March, $24.46 billion in June, $25.31 billion in September, and $26.41 billion in December. Officially, Bangladesh Bank still reports around $30 billion in gross reserves, but the IMF has insisted on a far stricter calculation formula that shows how much the country has available for immediate use.

And this:

DHAKA -- Bangladesh faces growing pressure to meet targets in its loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund, with key review dates looming.

Already the South Asian country is believed to have fallen short of the minimum foreign reserve criteria for March, set when the IMF approved a $4.7 billion loan in January. An IMF staff mission that visited from late April to early May checked on Bangladesh's progress but could not be assured that the June target would be met.

As I've commented before, I think the material risks are those faced by the country rather than the company itself. Bangladesh remains under pressure from availability of USD in country, high energy costs, weak BDT vs USD, imported inflation etc etc.

This is a good article to summarise the latest woes impacting the country.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Environment/Climate-Change/Bangladesh-blackouts-magnify-heat-wave-linked-to-climate-change?utm_source=cbnewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=2023-06-12&utm_campaign=Daily+Briefing+12+06+2023

Agreed, there was a lack of vision, belief and strategy and for driving the business forward. Jens will need to be heavily involved to drive sales. Wonder what his plans are. I think Jens knew the business well and was looking to impart responsibility to the finance and marketing directors. But they felt new to the business . He was hands off when Lionel was involved. How does he go forward from here - a new CEO, or does he sell up?

Agreed results fair and in line with expectations. Reassuring to see other competitors were impacted by market conditions.

Then take away the $9mm debt, meaning the equity is worth zero at current levels.
Good luck.

Results in April. Slumped a long way. What do people think of outcome? Too many red flags for results to be good? Both CFO and CEO leaving. ..

Yes good news dividend is coming through.

Outlook for usd reserves in country remains a little pressured at moment.

https://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/views/opinions/pressure-on-forex-reserve-increases

I’m afraid that is what I thought was the risk here. As soon as the country eases usd payments, there will be an unsuppressed rush to get money out of the country regardless of what further usd funding is secured.

The issue also is that businesses are struggling to pay for imports, meaning businesses cannot get raw materials and inflation increases as a result.

Please share other views.

Yes very odd the price hasn’t moved in weeks.

I’m afraid I’ve sold out the last few days. The new financial crisis is probably not going to help matters for the country in terms of USD liquidity. As I posted earlier, hopefully at some point the USD IMF loan feeds through and eases liquidity, but my view has become more negative as I think the country is in a difficult situation. I’ll watch now.

Bangladesh has just received a $5bn loan from IMF in order to alleviate the USD shortage in country caused by the Ukraine conflict such as high fuel costs last year. Once this cash works through the system it should allow USD restrictions to ease. Additionally fuel costs are lower so hopefully the country can resume its recovery.