Member Info for Valsen

For the record, the 2023 accounts were misrepresented in misleading RNSs long after they had been submitted to the management board. The real balance sheet showed serious difficulties and many accounting anomalies. And yet, there was still production, in decline, but limiting damage.

2024 financial year is nothing short of a dreadful calamity. The main shareholders siphoned off everything they could without investing to keep production facilities operational. CEO (Guido) dismissed competent people who could stem the tide of disaster. Everything was focused on sucking up money, ignoring reality, expenses, taxes, loans, leasing instalments, debts, employees, service providers and subcontractors. It's not for nothing that Guido ran off like a thief at the end of the year. Not to mention the severe tensions between the two main shareholders in summer 2024.

Take a close look at the RNS for the past year: there are no quantified results on wood production and sales. The only information is of a technical and financial nature, with nothing concrete on production. Just a few vague hints about orders or a desire to restructure. To this we can add the extreme dilution of the shareholder base, which only brings in a little money for the issuers, but curiously does not settle the debts.

It's clear that “managers” are stubbornly determined not to delist, but this is no sign of a return to profitability in long term, as the conditions have deteriorated so much that this is now impossible. I wonder whether they are not especially afraid of the legal action that could be taken against them by bodies such as Nykredit.

Knowing well the players in Gabon, I wonder if the person in charge in Libreville is telling them the truth about situation (I think not, nobody goes to check on the spot...), so as to continue to live off them through little local shenanigans he's so familiar with (subletting trucks, etc...). To broaden the subject, the timber industry in Gabon is moribund, as Asian market has collapsed. Few orders, and prices slashed by Indian middlemen who are virtually unavoidable. The outlook is gloomy, even for operators in a normal situation.

The conclusion is obvious: small shareholders are the lifeline of a beleaguered board. The prospect of a serious and lasting rebound is totally illusory. Woodbois in Gabon employs fewer than 100 people, has facilities that are virtually out of commission and is in a sea of debt. Good luck to those who put up with being fleeced again and again by speculators in perdition, capable of all kinds of malpractice.

You don't restart an activity of this nature with a few snaps of the fingers, especially after such a long interruption, the first consequence of which is to severely deteriorate the state of the equipment, especially that dedicated to processing.

So announcements to the effect that dozens of salaries are at work to produce (we don't know what) is just nonsense, not to say a gross lie if it's deliberate.

For the time being, WB's team in Mouila is trying to patch up one or two plating machines, with the help of a Moroccan technician. But that doesn't mean they're going to work quickly, because the machines are old and it's not easy to find the right parts, or to get them to the site.

But beyond that, in order to produce, you’ve to start by having stock, and to have stock, you’ve to cut wood, which is not really the case, either for stock or for forestry business.

In conclusion, beware of tempting advertisements, common sense is all you need to detect them.

Contrary to what Sarah tells us, WB will not be delisted for the time being, because the majority shareholders are hanging on (almost certainly because they are being squeezed by their creditors, particularly European ones: Nykredit... They will be more aggressive legally than the Gabonese, so they represent a real threat to some managers).

So the agony will continue for a long time to come, because the resources required to really relaunch a business are too great (financial, technical, human, not to mention tax arrears, etc.). To calm things down, the’ve paid some money to the Gabonese bank BGFI Bank, to avoid seizing vehicles.

In any case, this company can no longer be profitable. They siphoned off too much money in 2024 and waited too long to try and get their act together. By flooding the market with shares (at least 10 billion presently, which is insane for a company with fewer than 100 employees), managers are passing almost all current and future risk on to the small shareholders alone, i.e. you.

So at this stage, don't dream, they're giving the lie to protect themselves and make things last as long as possible. A rosy future is not really on the cards.

Good evening,

FYI, I've known this company for a long time cause my apartment is located in the same building as its former offices in Libreville. I personally know several former managers and employees. I've already visited their industrial site, as well as their forestry estate in Mouila's area.

I easily have access to precise information because I've many connections in various government departments, banks, and business circles due to my long presence and activities there. At the beginning of the year, I was even able to consult bills of lading for shipment of a handful of containers with veneer scraps.

If you doubt my information, look at my posts from over a year ago. I was the first to mention the bank debts in Denmark, which management was careful not to mention. Last year's management caused a lot of harm to some of my economic operator friends, as well as to small shareholders who have no indication of the situation there.

I know that my posts bother manipulators, but that's not serious. I'm just sharing information to open the eyes of a few reasonable people in the hope of sparing them further losses. This company is unfortunately completely materially incapable of recovering, because production tool's almost destroyed and the debts, even just in Gabon, are truly colossal, not to mention the resentment of Gabonese public authorities who were well and truly fooled by scammers, with the consequence of leaving behind dozens of employees and their families, in whom no one ever takes an interest.

Hello Beoptimistic,

What you're saying is sweet for shareholders who know nothing about the situation on the ground, cause they’ve just RNS.

However, what you're saying is worth commenting on, cause it in no way corresponds to the reality of a company in perdition, with no productive activity whatsoever, and which now exists only on our computer screens.

+ A massive market with a slight increase in orders.

Can you demonstrate this for WB? D’you have precise information? I seriously doubt it (I'm in Gabon, where I'm witnessing at first hand the downfall of this poor company, whose reputation is now disastrous and which no-one has trusted for a long time).

+ All payments to creditors have been postponed until the end of 2025.

This in no way solves the problem of massive debts (including a major tax reassessment in Gabon, to the tune of 15 million euros, which will have to be dealt with sooner or later). This just allows the big shareholders to continue to profit from your money. Your vision is purely theoretical. The reality is that you're financing people who produce nothing at all. It's phenomenal - I'd almost like to be in their shoes, making money simply by talking nonsense (which you don't attend).

+ Sale of additional warehouse inventory, generating additional income.

Stock of what? Logs? Processed wood? There is no stock in the warehouse. This is a huge lie! There's been no activity on site for many, many months now. And even less stock. The last 3 CTs shipped contained veneer offcuts (i.e. residues) from production dating back to 2023. Very low market value (and we'd need more than 30 a month quality wood to start making some money).

+ Resumption of large-scale production.

It's just not possible. The processing plant has been out of action for over 8 months. Machines are out of order or very dangerous due to lack of maintenance (we're in a humid tropical zone). What's more, there's been no logging for almost a year now. So don't talk nonsense.

+ New contracts and transactions planned.

It won't make any difference, since the industrial site is out of action. And customers aren't stupid, there are other reliable suppliers in Gabon.

+ Management reorganization.

Perhaps we should appoint real players in the forestry industry, not speculators sitting in an office in Europe who have never seen a log up close or set foot in a forest in Gabon.

So, to conclude, it's good to be optimistic, but it's much healthier to be realistic. And above all, not to talk nonsense. It's not a multibag that awaits small shareholders, but the multilosses we've been seeing for a very long time. Woodbois'll never again be a money-making machine.

I know some people will not appreciate my post, but doesn't matter, reality must be shared so that everyone can form an objective opinion.

Have a good weekend.

Dasch,

BreakingNew’s absolutely right concerning Sebaastian Riickaert’s profile.

''Standard" use of Google won't help you uncover scams and other malpractices. Open source information retrieval (or OSINT) requires a relatively complex methodology to unearth nuggets of confidential information.

What's more, it's sometimes difficult, if not impossible, to provide the source of certain perfectly accurate pieces of information, as you run the risk stopping possibility obtaining others. Personally, I've never given out wrong information. Everything I've posted is 99% reliable. So you can reject this information or not want to consider it, that's your choice.

But when you put it to the test over time, you'll see that it's true. Which will take time to realize, during which time you'll lose part of your stake.

From what I've read, I can confirm that information provided by BN is accurate. He knows exactly what he's talking about (and why he's posting it).

Two criteria are particularly underestimated in comments: the catastrophic situation of production facilities and the opaque posture of major shareholders. They let Guido siphon off the assets in 2024, without stopping him when it was time. It’s unlikely that they’ll suddenly become virtuous and look after shareholders' interests. The statements made in RNS call for the utmost caution.

There’s no real recovery plan. The production tool is virtually destroyed and totally unusable. Getting back to the point where you start generating revenue (= exporting more than 30 TC per month) requires at least two years and a very, very large budget (including clearance of tax, social security and banking debts in Gabon and Denmark, not forgetting service providers, maintenance, etc.). During this period of no revenue, you’ll continue to bear the cost of a process with no guarantee of success.

Woodbois is a gutted ship lying at the bottom of an ocean of debt, far greater than the funds obtained by issuing an insane number of shares. The bailout is a legitimate hope, but an illusory one. All that's left is room for the looters of the wreckage. For it’s the same people who remain at the helm, with a purely speculative approach: extreme dilution to earn enough not to disappear, calming shareholders with small signs of hope. The same methods for over a year.

The gap between real activity (which doesn't exist) and stock market has become so wide that reconnecting these two universes is impossible. We can continue to lull you to sleep with commitments of all kinds, but they’ll only serve to prolong an agony that will only benefit the small core that feeds at your expense.

Ilovesushi is absolutely right.

What happened to carbon capture and offsetting?

The only capture that has occurred in over a year is not carbon capture, but the investment of small shareholders.

WBI management has known for a long time that there’ll never be carbon dividends, because company has never honored its commitments in this regard.

Some refer to the forestry areas as the company's "assets". This is totally false, it only had logging permits, subject to paying the "area taxes" (a process that was superbly ignored, as well as paying social security contributions, taxes, duties and workers' salaries, not to mention the mountain of debts owed to service providers, subcontractors and banks, in Denmark and Gabon).

Today, all of this is just a virtual financial bubble that has deflated so much that the price of stocks can now be compared to that of toilet paper.

Under these conditions, hoping for a revival or compensation for shareholders who dont belong to the core of crooks who led this company to bankruptcy is totally illusory. It's dead (and has been for a long time already).

Hi Dash,

In the end, you’re victim of your stubbornness, considering the presence of a nomad as a reassuring criterion, despite the multiplication of alarms materializing the disaster in progress. Bankruptcy was just obvious. The big investors have been taking their profits for 4 months already, before diluting themselves into the atmosphere.

Reality on the ground cant lie, contrary to unverifiable RNS and suppositions on AIM site.

Today, Henriquet is trying to sell equipment belonging to Woodbois, to divert the poor sums obtained for his own profit. He rents the rare trucks that are still running, also to pocket the amounts.

Employees wanted to go on strike from Monday, I don't know if that will be effective, but in any case, here on the ground, it’s indeed the end of the game, and has been for a long time already.

What a terrible waste, both for small shareholders and for employees, who nobody cares about.

For some whom WB’s trying to lull to sleep with "recovery signs", here are some details from field (Libreville).

Still no activity in the forest. No logs to process. Becoming impossible to get out some with the big rainy season. Machines and equipment (peeling, veneering, sawing) are damaged or out of order.

Salaries are 4 months late. To avoid social explosion, management gives employees an advance from time to time. That doesnt solve the problem : a debt in an ocean of debts.

It seems Management is announcing upcoming shipment of several TC from Owendo’s port (Libreville) to customers. So be it. But it’s not specified what these TCs are filled with and what’s the expected market value...

Would be correct for WBI publishing an honest RNS detailing specifications and market value of those products... (I know these parrot merchants too well). You might be surprised (rather disappointed). But it’ll not change anything. It’ll just allow to painfully give back small advances to employees.

I suggest giving a couple of days to the Management to clarify. After that, I think It’ll be possible gathering the real information, maybe even documents relating to this shipment.

If we summarize the current situation, we’ve on one hand more than 5 billion shares scattered on AIM and of which we dont really know what they’ll be able to produce in terms of added value for their holders. Indeed, we’ve no visibility on who really runs the company (assuming that it’s managed, cause it looks more like a phantom entity, a simple financial arrangement).

On the other hand, we have an industrial tool curled up on itself in the depths of Central Africa: a maximum of 85 employees, nothing works anymore, creditors everywhere, a helpless local director (he knows nothing about logging and was excluded from his previous job) and no income from activity, which amounts to saying that the debt (enormous) continues to grow on its own.

The success of a company on stock market depends closely on its results on economic market. In other words, WBI managed in one year to completely destroy the mechanism allowing it to prosper.

One can turn the problem in all directions, but it’s very difficult to imagine a favorable outcome to this process of disintegration, almost inexplicable because so stupid, but very real nonetheless, coz reality has caught up once and for all with the deception of stock market manipulation. And the most optimistic incantations will have no effect on this reality, which is now imposed.

Hi Dash,

I’m not forcing you to believe me in any way. Furthermore, I’m not trying to sink the company, this work was already masterfully carried out by its own managers.

If you reread my posts, you’ll see I’m just providing you with situational information, obtained on the ground, where shareholders dont have the possibility of going. And if you’re objective, you’ll see I often decipher falsified information, disseminated by the board so as not to sink the SP. And if you’re objective again, you’ll recognize that this same board has fooled you for almost a year with deliberately twisted truth.

So now, what do we do and what do we say to each other?

I dont know precisely all issues that put this or that big investor in competition. I’m simply presenting you with verifiable facts and accept the debate on factual bases. The rest is blah blah or hypotheses put forward by some.

Even if you’ve doubts about it, I would have loved for this company to start again, because I’ve known it for several years, well before this disaster.

That being said, we must face a reality. Let’s call a spade a spade: weight of debts, which I repeat is abysmal compared to the size of the company (which has a maximum of 85 employees), constitutes an almost insurmountable obstacle, even by mobilizing large capital. We can always hope that a large operator will put his hand in his pocket for this, but he’ll want to recover his investment, if possible fairly quickly and not in 5 years or more. However, the state of equipment’s degradation constitutes an additional obstacle and a major brake on any resumption of activities (exceeding export of 50 TC per month, to start earning something without even having started to repay a cent).

So yes, it’s legitimate to wonder why big shareholders are continuing their approach, they may be hoping that things will start up again, etc. This can therefore legitimately be considered as encouraging signals for investing.

For my part, I’m deeply doubtful about the chances of fixing this mess. It is just too late, too expensive, too complicated and much too slow to achieve.

So, even if they sent 3 TCs in January instead of just one (which you cannot verify, I can), it’ll not change anything. I inquired at Libreville : only one TC arrived there in January. But it does not seem been shipped, cause there’s no bill of loading. I therefore suggest you asking Mr. Henriquet to produce BLs in order to reassure you...

As for trajectory and current price of the shares, you’re not going to say that it’s because of my posts that we’ve arrived at this point. Tell that to a wooden horse, it’ll kick you.

I wish you all the success in the world, but here, allow me to have some doubts about your chances. But again, if things start up again correctly, bravo, standing ovation! I would be the first to be delighted. Because believe me, employees here are less confident than you, and there’s no signal to reassure them, not even of Mr. Henriquet’s smiles who does what he can (that’s to say not much), due to lack of means.

And please, consider that : promises are not eaten!

Henriquet perfectly knows the absolutely disastrous financial situation of WBI. He was hired because he's a former employee of Bolloré, freight forwarder and export carrier. He can reassure maritime carriers (I am not sure about this personally...).

He knows that it'll not last long, but each month of salary taken is no longer to be taken. Assuming that he is paid, which I am not sure about either.

This kind of person is called a "useful idiot".

Management finally reveals what’s been known for months, even before summer 2024 (watch my previous posts), but which the two main investors carefully concealed to save their massive bump and dump operation intended to recover as much money as possible and then settle differences between them (before suspending operations in October).

And this of course on the backs of shareholders. What’s lamentable is shareholders and employees are despised in the name of lure of gain of those who claim to lead and share profits.

Don't think that those investors have disappeared, they’re progress by designating a CEO who came out of nowhere. Guido (BreakingNew), the champion of disorganization and therefore of failure, was finally fired. But that’ll not solve anything, cause problems he helped to amplify have remained: debts everywhere (Denmark, Gabon in particular) whose cumulative amount is abysmal.

Impossible to straighten out, even by adding more and more money. Production has stopped for too long to be able to become a source of rebalancing with any profit. It's dead.

Don't believe what new RNS says: there is no stock of wood and even less activity in Mouila. There are still a few containers at the port of Libreville, but these are goods already sold and paid for, so it won't produce a single penny.

I just checked information on current delivery to Libreville. There was 1 TC in January (50 are needed for the company not to lose money). Currently 2 trucks, (about 2 TC maximum) are on their way to LBV. This wood constitutes the rest of the remaining sawn wood from 2024. There’s not even a cubic meter left in stock. And no logs to process. The market value of those 3 TC is at most €45,000. This amount corresponds to the price of diesel for the sawmill for one month, nothing more. The peeling or other equipment will not work with this amount (but it doesnt matter, cause machines are out of service or dangerous).

Management's asking shareholders to be patient and make effort to continue to trust it, which is just crazy! Get out your calculators and try to figure out how many years it’ll take to get back to balance if no one comes along to disrupt the process by claiming back bills, back charges and taxes etc.

For those still affected by Stockholm syndrom, good luck. If you still believe those liers, your ordeal’s not over.

They will end up having their operating permits withdrawn, because Gabonese are losing money, a lot of money with this kind of lousy partner. And they’re particularly angry with attitude of this company towards its Gabonese employees.

Ilovesuhi’s right, welcome to crooksland.

There was an audit in early 2024. The content was embarrassing and the board took a long time to tinker with it to publish elements that would not panic investors.

2024’ "results" are catastrophic, it’s nothing but a descent to hell materialized by a pile of debts and a declining activity until a total shutdown in Q3. SP's trajectory materializes this nightmare.

They’ll not be able to publish results, because there are none, apart from a pile of debts, a small visible part of which (almost impossible to hide) is cancellation of facility and request for reimbursement by Nykredit, an impossible objective for WBI.

One can always ask them how many containers they exported from Gabon in January (maximum 1 or 2, according to my information). The deficit continues to widen... With no one to fill it.

No logging activities, no wages, flat electrocardiogram for a now ghost company. Mr Henriquet must be wondering what he came to do in this mess and when he will get a salary.

Ite missa est

When reality catches up with speculative fiction, result is unsurprising.

The problem of investors is so human: reality resulting from facts has difficulty penetrating brain’s areas occupied by beliefs or simple opinions...

Certainly, there is a "game" part in stock market investments, but it’s not relevant to add risks to the risk by ignoring what’s happening on the ground and at the level of real activities of a company.

The warning signals for Woodbois were nevertheless strong, of a high level and above all incontestable for at least 6 months now, which gave time to small investors to understand that the rare possible profits would only go into the pockets of those who manipulate prices by leverage and bump and dump.

It is also interesting to note that almost no one is interested by employees’s situation, cowardly abandoned by a management composed of people without any morality.

Welcome to crooksland.

Correction: oukoumé is authorized for sale but it's not a precious wood.

FYI

Okoumé is banned from sale in Gabon…

There has been no more logging in the exploitation area since April 2024. Processing equipment is in an advanced state of disrepair and especially dangerous to use for some, the risk of serious or even fatal accidents is very high.

Regarding exports:

A 40-foot TC contains 43 m3 of wood.

It’s sold for around €20K, which brings the company around €4 to €5,000.

For the company to break even, it must sell around 50 TC per month.

At this stage, it earns nothing and loses nothing.

Now, one must take into account the stage of disintegration reached under Guido's rule:

Accumulation of financial losses for 10 months now.

Accumulation of debts to the State (at least €10 million) in taxes, duties and social security contributions.

Accumulation of debts to suppliers, service providers and subcontractors.

Furthermore, this same Guido embezzled around €800,000 from a subcontractor in January 2024, on a forest road rehabilitation contract awarded in 2023. This contract was subsequently withdrawn by public authorities.

I talked about Nykredit at least 6 months ago, this is not new, except that management ignored reminders from this bank.

A leasing subsidiary of a Gabonese bank has launched a procedure to seize log transport trucks, because monthly payments have not been paid for a long time. There’re theoretically 14 of them, but only 6 are still roadworthy...

To restart production, it would be necessary to start by being able to cut wood. Rainy season is about to start again, so things are looking rather bad. The processing equipment should already be repaired, so one need very good specialists, because these machines are complex to adjust. There aren't really any in Libreville. The transport equipment is a big issue to resolve, because to transport the processed wood to Libreville, the road is very long by truck.

I'll stop here the description, but what one need to understand is that with the best intentions and the best speculative finance artists, we won't resolve much, because reality is on the ground, it's the starting point for potential gains. And it's on the ground that we should put the package rather than gargling with this or that shareholder or financial expert. The forest is a very hard and very demanding job.

And the current system on the ground is absolutely not convincing. Not to mention the absolutely lamentable image that this company now drags around.

To conclude, no need to be an expert to understand that a recovery towards equilibrium (we’re no longer losing but we’re not yet winning) will not happen within a year.

Hi Dashboom,

To enlighten you more about me and reassure you about my ethics, I inform you that:

I’m in no way a former member of Woodbois. I’m a long-time friend of this company, which I’ve seen develop in Gabon and of which I’ve rubbed shoulders with several former directors (Danish, etc.). I know its production site perfectly, as well as its forest plots where I’ve already visited. I know or have known a couple of middle managers and employees of a more modest level.

Furthermore, Libreville is a small universe where operators and actors of forestry activity are not numerous and know everything about each other. The same goes for their service providers and suppliers. With more than 20 years of working there, I personally know a significant number of these actors, with whom I maintain the best relations. Same in the administrations...

As for me, I am an economic operator who has worked for more than 20 years in Africa and for 15 years for companies that encounter serious problems, for various reasons but with consequence of losing control of the activity and a lot of money. I help managers to regain control of their company thanks to a range of approaches in terms of strategic information, legal assistance and corporate diagnostics.

As for the information relating to Guido, which you think is personal, this is not at all the case and I would be careful not to mention it on a chat like this one. The information that I share is verifiable. Look on the net and you’ll find even more information than what I’ve indicated, in particular about his 4-star campsite in France. He presents it himself in the company of his wife.

Regarding Mr. Theuns' motivations for publishing his document (I can't imagine a French policeman throwing it out here, or even a friend of Guido), my experience of economic cases alongside business leaders (with whom I share a lot of confidential information) has taught me a lot about the behavior of some and others when the ship’s sinking. My approach is therefore not hateful and I’m in no way seeking to influence anyone to sell or buy. That is not my job.

Again, I sincerely hope that you’ll recover some of your losses, perhaps also that the company will start up again, but I am very pessimistic given what I see on the ground.

Good luck to you in any case.

For a few months, I’ve been warning about the inevitable explosion of WBI, by simply observing the situation directly in Gabon (where it’s easy to obtain the right information). Here we are, despite all obstacles carefully placed on the path of truth by the businessmen of whom Guido was the unscrupulous representative. His audacity and remarkable talent as a communicator were effective in distorting reality for a short year (biased information and mirage of carbon credits).

And now then? Reading the last posts could be amusing if small shareholders who sincerely supported WBI had not been cheated in such a cynical and contemptible way, not to mention employees who’re almost negligible in the equation.

To decipher Guido's deposition to the French Gendarmerie (real in my eyes, but which is a masquerade), we can usefully return to some factual elements.

Let's go back a little. The departure of the previous Nomad coincides with the "incident" reported by Guido in his deposition. This moment seemed to mark the end of a period of deep divergences between the two largest shareholders. This period (summer 2024) was used by these guys to collect what they could through bump and dump, to settle their disputes and secure their assets.

Furthermore, XLife was introduced to Gabon in early 2024 by Guido, through a small donation of products, with prospect of doing business there later, an approach that was not followed up.

It can also be noted that the mysterious "BreakingNew" (who rarely intervenes, but with arguments that leave no doubt about his identity), is very curiously in possession of Guido's deposition realized at Caussade’s Gendarmerie, located 10 km from the campsite he manages with his wife in France (Landgoed Domaine de Merlanes, not far from Toulouse).