Cobra Bio-manufacturing Share Discussion Threads

[pegasus59] 07/4/2009 07:11

Hyper we have a third party involved

The Board of Cobra notes the recent rise in the Company's share
price and confirms that it is in talks with a third party, but that the talks
still remain at a preliminary stage. It is therefore too early to say whether
the talks will result in an offer for the Company or, in the event that one is
made, on what terms


peg

[hyper al] 06/4/2009 08:06

50% spread does not encourage buying, on what is only currently some research news.

[alibongo612] 31/3/2009 13:09

Are you suggesting that a powerfull exec has no influence over his non execs !

LOL

Fred the shred would surely disagree.

The fact that the Cobra non execs are paid a similarly relatively lucrative £23k pa by this tiny co might indicate they all travel on the same train.

[the_doctor] 31/3/2009 12:07

£139k for this tiny and poorly performing co!

Hardly his fault though, it is the fault of the remunerations committee, bod and large shareholders.

[alibongo612] 31/3/2009 11:42

Well at least the Chairman has been rumbled.

After years of me banging on he has finally lost his lucrative Exec package of £139k pa that he was paid (in spite of the co having a full time CEO ! ) as he has 'stepped down' to non exec.

Still ,great (for him) whilst it lasted.

Gravy train or what ?

[c2b] 31/3/2009 10:01

Well it all starts at the top doesn't it..

The Directors' salaries and remuneration are huge relative to the remaining cash in this business, and the amount of money raised in the last disgraceful fund raising. The report may claim all sorts of wonderful things about the relationship with shareholders, but the people running this company do not pay any attention to what is said - THEY JUST PAY THEMSELVES

YOU NEED TO RUN THIS COMAPANY FOR PROFIT - AND THAT EXAMPLE NEEDS TO COME FROM THE TOP...........

[boadicea] 25/3/2009 10:16

"At 30 September 2008, the Group had trading tax losses carried forward of
£19.0m ...."

Next to plant and equipment, these are potentially its most valuable (but unrecognisable) asset, which could be worth up to £5.4M to a potential predator. They could make the company reasonably attractive to someone in the same line of business who is currently making foreseeable profits and who could therefore give the asset immediate recognition.
There is little chance of the company giving early recognition to any significant proportion of it; in fact it barely has a foreseeable independent existence, never mind profit!

[boadicea] 25/3/2009 09:16

The "going concern" comments sound contradictory to me as there appears to be significant doubt expressed in them. I think that it probably rests heavily on customers honouring contracts promptly and in full as any default would be the final straw.
Against that they have the advantage of some foreign income at an advantageous exchange rate which looks set to continue.
Shares likely to remain priced on an 'option money' basis imho.

Hyper Al - I have a few more than that but fortunately sold the majority some time ago around 45p.

[hyper al] 19/3/2009 00:18

real shame.

Still have one share in error

[boll] 19/3/2009 00:14

I think this one is about to go under.

[boadicea] 17/3/2009 08:49

A bit of buying this morning.
At this price it's really only option money based on survival risk with the odds stacked heavily against from an equity viewpoint.
Anyone wishing to take it on would probably press for an early administration and take it from there imho.

[alibongo612] 14/3/2009 18:15

I've said it many times before but in my opinion the chairman continues to get away with murder -consequently how he continues in post is beyond me.

He cannot have any personal pride - cleary he has not heard of doing the honourable thing.

I suspect that he is not the sort of captain that will go down with his ship but will be sure to have reserved the best lifeboat for himself which probably takes the form of a decent pension scheme.

[c2b] 14/3/2009 14:59

Well the Dixons are stockbrokers so I can't see them wanting to run the company, but the thing that strikes you most of all about this company is what it should be worth to the right buyer, say a medium sized US Pharma that needs a manufacturing / development plant in Europe ... many, many, times the negligible market capitalisation.

I think this is a situation that should be watched very very closely and I think we should be ready to make a big fuss if it goes the wrong way.

It was completely wrong for the Takeover Panel to give this company a "whitewash" in the capital raising last year - a topic which we might need to come back to, and indeed the press contacts made at that time.

[rohkap] 14/3/2009 12:50

Sad though it is, I can see Cobra going bust pretty shortly. They still havent got their 2008 accounts out so there must be fundamental issues with their finances preventing the auditors signing off and this was before losing the material contract! The Dixons might just wait for it to go bust and then pick it on the cheap via a pre-pack administration? What a waste.

[c2b] 14/3/2009 11:38

"Cobra announces that for reasons outside of its control, one of its customers
has entered into discussions with the Company which may lead to a variation or
termination of a material contract which could impact the revenues of the
Company immediately and for the financial year as a whole.

The Company is actively exploring ways in which any such shortfall in revenues could be addressed.

A further announcement will be made as soon as is practicable."

Comment

1) What good are these contracts if they don't protect Cobra in the short run from changes in customer orders ?
2) The "we've lost an order" is the same excuse they used after last year's disastrous and disgraceful fund raising.
3) It's not even a year since the fiasco in 2) above
4) The financial management of this company is awful, they don't run it to make a surplus, never mind pay anything to the shareholders
5) What attempts have been made to conserve cash ? Has the chairman sacrificed any of his remuneration ? How much are the directors currently taking ?
6) What has happened to the "record order book" ?
7) What are the Dixons who ended up owning 43,87%, Invesco 12.4%, Cavendish Investments 8.66%, John Moulton 5.5%, going to do now ?
7)

[the_doctor] 13/3/2009 15:07

space - I dont think shorters really come into it.
The loss of a contract could send this under!

Sadly, just validating the plant would cost more than the market cap, let alone installation, getting it up and running etc.

[spaceparallax] 13/3/2009 14:55

Why on earth do companies issue such worrying statements, without a little more flesh to quantify the risk - it just plays into the shorters' hands.

[alibongo612] 22/1/2009 19:02

I hope when they are announced out they inform that they have got rid of their Teflon Man Chairman who has presided over the demolition of the share price for years on what is imo a ridiculously high remuneration package whilst employing a full time Exec CEO.

[boadicea] 22/1/2009 10:01

wik - Yes, there may be life in the old dog yet!

One sometimes wonders what triggers substantial buys. Could it be this?


I hope their manufacturing clean/isolation rooms aren't leaky!

[wikroberts] 12/1/2009 13:46

Looks like somebody picked 700K at 1.5p...may be they will come up with a better final figures than anticipated. The increase in the value of a dollar must be good for them.

[boadicea] 02/11/2008 17:43

Rokhap - Interims - Did you miss them? They were published on 26th June.
But if you actually mean Finals, I think the time limit for those is 6 months.
What we are missing is a trading statement; last year it was on 27/9.
The Finals (Preliminaries) were last issued on 18/1, so we can expect to wait another 10-12 weeks for those.

[rohkap] 02/11/2008 14:11

The lack of recent news is a tad disturbing. Will the interims be out soon? Thought that under new reporting rules, interims have to be out no later than 2 months after period end date