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Hello there Aled, I'm glad you didn't exit at a loss. Thats always a good thing. regarding the sivec lease(the original, 25% proceeds one, not the most recent purchase) here is the following on this. "The existing Sivec quarry in Macedonia was secured under a joint venture agreement in July 2013 with the investment funded by the joint venture partner Gulf Marble Investments Limited and Fox Marble retaining 25 per cent. of gross revenues in return for operating the quarry." From 2010 to March this year Gulf Marble was indeed wholly owned by Chris Gilbert and Fiona Hadfield; they were the sole director/secretaries. So I can only assume based upon that, that upon the resignation of C Gilbert and F Hadfield and the appointment of Mr C R Lascell, that Lascell is now the sole beneficiary and will get the 75% royalty. The new quarry, owned by the "new world" malta company, in which we'll get 60% of the proceeds I can't be sure yet who owns. Because being in Malta, there is simply no transparency. I was also wrong in that, rather than 32.5% average per sivec quarry it'll be 42.5% as it was 60 rather than 40% retained by us, which further increases our value. out of personal curiosity I'll dig about and see what I can find on New World , and hopefully if I can't find much the company/directors themselves will answer the emails sent in regarding this matter.
Looks to be sold stc...again. Seems to be the one we are having difficulty finding a buyer that can complete for. Not much of a surprise though; banks have become very arsey about lending more than 4x annual income in the past few months; which means even with help to buy and the 5% deposit, only those earning~100k are eligible.
Cheers for that dibs. Thats the main reason I'm not too concerned about potential conflicts of interests by directors, past or present, in regard sivec; while our average cut of total sales will be 32.5%, it means little when its a limited/rare marble which is sought after world-wide. The quicker we lift it, the faster the supply decreases and the price increases. All we need now is the factory rns. The minute thats up and running - which I'd estimate will be 2 months after its been erected - our margins sky rocket, and the market wont ignore that fact.
hello there aled41, Sorry to hear you were one of the many Nadir robbed. That thief is yet another of the many reasons I too have often thought twice when investing in companies on AIM in particular. The original lease, which we get 25% of the proceeds from was definitely the one owned by Gulf Marble. The new sivec lease I'm unsure about. I will look into it, whether or not that is also owned by gulf marble ie; was once owned by C. Gilbert too. Personally, I think its merely an asset shift, and not any dodgy under-the-table dealings by C Gilbert or Hadfield whereby they get a backhander off-books, and a big upfront payment for transferring their ownership to him. I still hold my shares, but hope you managed to sell for a premium to your purchase, so you havent relived the experience by Nadir where you ended up losing most/all of your money. I look forward to reading any reply by fox and/or comments by anyone that manages to ask C Gilbert anything in person/on the phone.
Raised a valid point, so I looked into it. The other sivec quarry was once owned by a "gulf marble" which had 2 directors as the sole shareholders; Christopher Gilbert and Fiona hadfield. Then a Mr Christopher Richard Lascelles was appointed as director, around the time they resigned. They resigned in March, so its Mr Christopher Richard Lascelles currently getting the 75% royalty, which until March this year was going straight to one of our directors; Chris Gilbert. thus, there was a time when 2 directors would have materially gained from the 75% royalty, but that no longer is the case. Its a little disappointing, as we could have increased our royalty significantly had Chris Gilbert sold out to us, rather than whoever that man is. Either way, 25% is better than 1%. Having looked through the directors other appointments, I can currently see none of our directors working for New World Holdings. That being said, its Malta. The transparency rules there are completely different. I'll keep digging though, and hopefully find out who is behind this mysterious company.
Hi, I think we may do it by air. Reason I think this is that, upon announcing the factory lands lease, they stated the distance by road to the airport.
Tunbridge wells planning database now finally has this listed! Ive been checking on/off for a while, and the database was ofline more times than on. The planning reference is; 14/500658/FULL for anyone interested in reading. I haven't had time to read it all yet, however the Policy officer seems to think its acceptable to build there, but we knew that anyway. Her comment is "The site’s location within the LBD and in a predominantly residential area gives weight to accepting the principle of development in this location" So basically, the green belt objections are over-ruled. This development we should hear back on by months end. It was submitted on the 25th of July, and its usually 2 months max.
Another sale has fallen through. Can't remember which as the sites down - usually means its being updated - so we're back to 7 sold and one sold stc, if I remember correctly.
obviously meant rail network.
Seems this time around the application is going better. We have supporting letters from a number of people, nhs/warer company/highways agency emailing stating it wont have a major impact if improvements are made. The biggest excuse by the local toffs who wish to see George St remain a cosy little cottage community is that; parking/road users increase, and that is addressed by the highways agency themselves. The water/flood concerns also constantly raised are also addressed in the flood risk document. I think this time, unless Maidstone Council can be bribed as well as the Parish council seemingly can be by the selfish toffs, it should be accepted. The costs for compensating the NHS/local services seem to be combined roughly 50k, so not a major fee. Now all we need is a supporting email from the rain network...which I'm assuming is due any day.
hello there, as others have said I can't see you having any trouble myself neither. day in/day out there are a fair amount traded both buying/selling, so others have no issue. I think you'll be happy to have bought in the minute the rns is released announcing the factory is complete. That I believe will be the main turning point, pre-major-sales announcements.
Yep, a few strange sentences indeed. The sales mentioned there were up until 31st of march, and those that have been sold since were all in may onward, so I think that explains that part. The bit that worries me the most is the loan/debt situation. It seems the Johnsons have no issue with "lending money", even the daughter has hopped on board now for a 9k/year interest payment. If the Johnson family really have faith in this company, and REALLY expect it to grow then why hasn't his daughter entered into an agreement to purchase shares instead? Is it because its less risky than their current business model? Which is hit and miss. And will be backed by further share issues, if the repayment of principle or interest is ever at risk? Also why havent they repaid the loan which is costing 3k a month back, owed to the director who is also gainfully employed by us? This is a property company, not daisy the cow. Which is exactly how Mr Dubois is treating it expecting 12% a year interest. Minority shareholders are well and truly being shafted, for the benefit of the Johnson family first and foremost, and frankly thats unacceptable. They need to pull their socks up, and do so very promptly before the company ends up with a market cap of zero.
Hello Dibs, Hopefully so! they seem to be a known company too, going by the contracts they are selected for in North America. A hospital/various up-scale buildings in manhattan etc.
Our U.S. distributor, Royal Stone and Tile have posted on their twiitter regarding their visit. They mention visiting the quarries AND factory. https://twitter.com/RoyalStoneTile
The listings have been updated, and both John Kingston and Savills have removed all but the remaining 3 'for sale' properties. On zoopla, under "Oakhurst Park Gardens, Hildenborough, Tonbridge TN11" #12 is confirmed as selling for 629k, not the 650k listing price, so we sold for a few percent discount. Given the margin was around 85-100% at full price, its no big deal.
Hello there, not a problem. I agree, we need to invest in larger sites, ie; 1 acre plus. A couple houses here and there aren't bad, its still a margin of at least 75% in kent after tax, but a nice 1acre development here and there would be nicer. On an acre we could be building between 8-12 houses, which would secure us a steady source of revenue year on year since the demand isn't going to do anything but increase. Especially in the North and South of England.
Nice find. The details on the new sivec quarry is also interesting. 120mn euros, over 5-10 years. 12-24mn a year, just from that single quarry. impressive return on the couple million investment.
Factory was due for completion in Q3, so we should be hearing about it soon. Hopefully the flooding/heavy rain last month didn't delay it.
No problem Tobias, Think I may start billing them for PR work! Might make them more inclined to keep us up to date with events.
Was the one who bought in at the beginning. Sold 1.5mn shares when it peaked at 22p or so, and hasn't been mentioned/heard of since. Its possible he was one of the big sellers at around 19-20p, but didn't notify until after fully unloading. Hes no loss though, if he has sold all. The way he sold at the 22p mark shows he was never in this for the long term. His aim, from that quick sale, indicates he only wanted a quick earner.