Member Info for vigneron53

Interestingly it was the CFO who interjected when the chairman was asked if he was staying on as CEO. He said something like "that's a very good question"

That was not usual , in front an audience of shareholders.

Perhaps there was some dissatisfaction brewing then.

The need to fill both positions quickly.!

Thanks Silver. Good to know it's factual. You never know these days.

I am not surprised BlackRock are heading their bets. Fink is is deeply involved in the WEF and their agenda in respect of Ukraine is probably fluid.

I have hear rumours, that I am not able to verify that BlackRock have negotiated an agreement to manage the reconstruction of Ukraine when the hostilities cease.

If this is true, my supposition is that SRC may well benefit significantly on any such activity.

I am not encouraging anyone to act on this information, but just to be aware of something that may evolve and be verified.

Silver, I agree. The last year and a half has been a case study in BoD ineptitude.

It all started with buy back of share to buy what we know now was a dud. The pricing of the buy back was well below market value sending a message to the market that EKF did not value their stock as high as the market did and the downward correction happened as most predicted.

From then on we saw a number of gaffs in execution, that see the share price where it is today.

Today's chairman's statement lacked any inspiration.

If he can't summon up any enthusiasm, the little wonder the markets marked it down again.

I was on the call when Baines was asked about taking the CEO job. His CFO jumped in and said we would all like to know that.

Baines' response was pretty much no fekin way.

He might at least have said something like, I am staying in control until we steer through this phase of development and until a suitable CEO can be found.

Just writing this now, makes me think Baines needs to get a feel for investor sentiment. I will write to him.

On Investor Meet platform

SIGMAROC PLC will be holding a Trading Update meeting on 25th Apr 2023 at 9:00am BST

Should you have any questions, please cont
support@investormeetcompany.com

Further to my previous update from the company.
They are also pursuing further analyst coverage.
Numis have now issued a buy recommendation with target of 95p. Not as optimistic as the existing analyst, but I am sure we would all settle for that.
I have the note and can share if anyone's interested.

We know Pershing Sq have a stake in SRC and they are very careful about the resilience of the companies they invest in. I.e ability to withstand turbulence and long term growth prospects.

Having read the latest letter, I noted the following.
1. 26% of public shares are held by Pershing affiliates
2. As of 30.04 11.1% shares are held in treasury and increasing. Pershing state they will continue buying as long as the discount to NAV persists.
3. Pershing SPARC Holdings looks interesting. It is an acquisition vehicle, where you chose to invest at the point when there is total transparency of the transaction. This is now waiting final SEC approval.
4. A US listing whilst retaining the existing London listing is being sought. The vehicle would be an acquisition.

I see Pershing as somewhat of a safe haven in the current uncertain macro economic climate, especially the risk of a deteriorating banking crisis.

I got a very detailed response from Max Vermoken to my question on shareholder value decline.
It seems this is on their radar as something that needs attention.
I will summarise below.
Three major funds (top 5 holders of SRC) ceased to be investors as they shut their funds and liquidated all stock.
A further fund in top 5 sold out to avoid exposure to UK housing, even thought that sector is only 7% of SRC group turnover.
On the back of this there was other selling. This was no doubt compounded by nervousness in the markets over the macro economic climate.
How to resolve was discussed by the board and strategy agreed
1. Deliver good results and ensure our communications for Full Year Numbers was high quality. We worked endlessly with our brokers to deliver this
2. Get on the front foot strategically by executing on a series of transactions which further enhance earnings in order to give potential shareholders both the certainty of further expansion and also a reason not to stay passive: buy the shares today and take part in the uplift of this activity
3. Focus on new non-holders both in the UK and in Europe through roadshows and meetings.
On top of the above we are currently looking at IHT funds which might have to sell their Breedon holding as they move to the main market. If we can convince them to invest in our stock, we should through that stimulate further buying.

Personally I am reassured that they are trying to address the matter.
There is also an offer of a phone call to discuss. If a number of people on this forum wanted this, it may be worth arranging.

Agree that BlackRock is not responsible for current share price. My comment is more general and related to my distrust of that organisation.
On the point of funding acquisitions, this was a question raised at the institutional investor call.
The CFO said plainly that there would be no need for further funding and that the 5yr acquisition plan was self funding going forward.
I have also been burnt on aim due to dilution due to such funding.
My view is that due to their good cash generation, that they won't need further funding. Just my personal opinion.
I have emailed SRC IR on the question of shareholder value as was suggested on the call. I await the reply with interest.

BlackRock investment is seldom good. They always have alternative agendas.
I was hoping Pershing would up their stake, but I guess as activist investors this may not be welcome, at least at this point in time.
I am happy to hold, but unfortunately at a paper loss for now.

As usual the call was positive and upbeat. It always is.
They see no surprises this year in terms of material exceptional costs.
They are confident that the new enzyme capacity will be on stream by August and generating some commercial income in 2023. I believe the significant increase in revenue from this will be next year, with forecast of 50% capacity being sold at roughly 10M revenue.
They seem to be back to their core , so now we wait and see whether they can deliver.

The call was conducted in the usual confident way
It ap po ears they are doing everything right, but still the shareprice remains depressed.
The broker has 120 target with 100% possible upside.
Hard to understand.
Their acquisition trail continues, with 10 projects in the pipeline.

There better be some better news about the enzyme business on Monday.
Trust in their competence is very low now.
I also want to know how confident they are in their cash position.

Consideration of sale.
Return of 1.2 mil shares
Capital equipment at book 0.44 mil
Inter company loan repayment of 0.65 mil over 3 years

Shares in treasury now over 10% after recent buy backs
I thought management held circa 30%. Can anyone verify the management holding.
Thanks, Vig

EKF DIAGNOSTICS HOLDINGS PLC will be holding a Preliminary Results meeting on 28th Mar 2023 at 4:30pm BST.

I am beginning to despair of the abuse of inside information on the LSE. First EKF and now SRC.
Investor value destroyed in both cases. Seems private investors are not valued.
Question for the March investor call ..Investor value creation, is it on the company agenda ?

I think that sums up investor feelings today.
The two failures were on what I would expect to be managed under project/program governance.
Time, cost, quality and risk management.
If this was so then there should have been no surprises.
If the company do fron up and have an investor meet, then I would be looking for reassurance that they have competent project management in place to avoid more surprises.

The CEO gave an upbeat update in late September. It looks like he was not totally transparent on the outlook. For this he has rightly been removed.
Optimism is fine, but as investors we need realism, and is clear the board have the same view.
The results disappoint, but only compared to what we know know were over optimistic projections.
The disappointment is that inside information not available to private investors has made them the short term losers.
The business potential is still there and they need to kick on from here and deliver.