Aminex Share Discussion Threads

[warbaby43] 31/5/2016 14:22

More positive sentiment towards Tanzania and its gas would be beneficial to Aminex and in that regard LNG movement would be helpful as, indeed, would news that Shell intended to retain for development the BG Tanzanian assets rather than putting them up for sale.

[vike1] 31/5/2016 13:07

LNG is not our game. Leave that to the majors with longer time horizons and export networks. If we make a discovery in Nyuni, the proposal in the April Corp presentation is to link a subsea pipeline to the Songo Songo plant to serve the domestic/EAC market. Much faster.

Nyuni 3D seismic planned for late 2016/early 2017, then farmout.

[warbaby43] 31/5/2016 11:40

While Tanzania may lay claim to c 55tcf of offshore gas, given the existing world gas glut and relatively depressed prices some way into the future, the mega scale C$30bn+ onshore LNG that was previously discussed looks increasingly like dreamland until at least some way into the next decade especially given the distance offshore of much of the gas and the challenging nature of the seabed.

Smaller scale FLNG, therefore looks a deal more realistic especially for nearshore (Nyuni?)and onshore gas. I have previously posted about Golar FLNG but there is clearly also Exmar in this market:

[skinwalker] 31/5/2016 11:28

JB an investment banker? Are you kidding? He wasn't much good at it clearly.

[vike1] 31/5/2016 10:59

ngms27,

i) Pay Investment Bankers, because they joined profitable businesses and are worth it.

ii) Don't pay entrepreneurs or industry builders because they don't work.

Got it, thanks!

(Interestingly, JB previously was an I-banker. Hmm, I might need to re-think your model)

[ngms27] 31/5/2016 09:50

When you consider that they are working for a loss making company, have eroded shareholder value, the company is only worth 25m my view is that the salaries are totally outrageous.

What's even more outrageous is comparing them the Investment Bankers who actually work for very profitable global business's worth billions.

My view is that they are actually Merchant Bankers taking the p1ss out of shareholders. The whole process of them coming on board has a certain whiff about it.

[gerryjames] 30/5/2016 10:28

Wow...has anyone tried begging letters to recoup loses directly from the millionaire management. If any of you aren't reading, again, personally I'm up a little over the years with a current small position just above your new 7%. Also are these part-time jobs and can I have one? I'm free most Thursday mornings.

[vike1] 30/5/2016 08:58

Warbaby, DantheEpic, I don't think that's true. Would love to see even the tiniest shred of evidence on that quite extravagant claim.

[vike1] 30/5/2016 07:28

At the Investment Banking level. I agree it's a lot of money and don't care to estimate what ppl on this Board earn, but I think you're underestimating what senior mgmt earn.

If you disagree, take a flip through ANY Annual Report's remuneration report of a junior O&G company to compare. AEX is well below average. Again, i'm not condoning the amounts, just reporting facts.

As for IB, here's a link of UK MD salaries. Not CEO level, just MD.

hxxp://uk.businessinsider.com/emolument-data-best-paying-banks-in-the-uk-2016-5?op=0#

[warbaby43] 30/5/2016 07:26

Dan_the_Epic, glad you are hereabouts to confirm or otherwise the accuracy of my memory with regard to this issue of the Canyon Cronies putting in at the Placing shedloads of "their own cash."

As I recall, there was much groupie whoopin' and hollerin' at the time at the notion that they were "putting in over a million pounds of their own money." On the other hand, though, didn't you do some close research and reading of the small print in subsequent accounts to demonstrate that far from being "their own money" it was in fact Aminex shareholder money being recycled through Aminex to fund in total, or at least in very large part, the purchase of their 191m Placing shares?

[bunbooster2] 30/5/2016 01:23

170,000 pounds? Average salary? I'm sorry but you are quite mad. That is a huge amount and I can GUARANTEE that not a single person reading this thread has that kind of income.

[vike1] 29/5/2016 23:36

Look, I'm not fully defending the options plan, but against a number of criteria, it's not as outrageous as it first seems

CEO/COO salaries of about £170k are in line with middle managers at a bank, not senior execs at a publicly traded company. To put into perspective, this is 25% below the AVERAGE take home pay of every employee at Barclays IB. Pick any O&G company and you'd be hard pressed to find a CEO making less than $500k++. Do you ever read the options plans in place for Execs at these companies? Most don't issue RNS's, they simply grant the options and stuff details in the financial notes.

Please, take issue with executive pay, because that is a big deal, but AEX is nowhere near among the worst offenders.

Add to this, there is no other bonus system in place, the BoD have stated this will be the only one over the next few years, and is the first plan approved by the Board in six years. Maybe you'd rather they pay themselves more in cash each month.

Personally, I hope the BoD all get filthy rich from these options.

[thecynical1] 29/5/2016 22:26

blackgold - jmo is indeed "just my opinion"

Did you like the "lmao" from Dan in 56588?

Dan - you are not suggesting that there might have been anything untoward abput that arrangement, are you? : )

[vike1] 29/5/2016 15:59

That RNS was from 3 years ago. Let it go people, the company is on the upswing, though the share price does not yet reflect this.

I've noted before that while I agree the quantum of options is a bit high for comfort, the overall comp that Exec Mgmt receive is not out of line with the industry, though the make-up favours options instead of cash (not a bad thing necessarily).

El1te, it's good to see you back on the board, and your contributions are valued and I hope you come back. You clearly were hurt by that RNS that extended the original farmout due to 'high interest', as you've repeated that time and again. That was from diff mgmt though. Time to move on

[dan_the_epic] 29/5/2016 15:35

Oh dear Peter. You're wrong. Jacks is spot on.

August 2013. Jay Bhattacherjee will be appointed Chief Executive Officer of Aminex and Philip Thompson will be appointed Chief Operating Officer with IMMEDIATE EFFECT. share price 2.33p.

Huge swathes of value being washed down the sink. LETS NOT FORGET THEY put up loads of equity for the moldova purchase.

What's the value of moldova now? lmao, written down towards zero. Didnt thompson also get $70,000 in consultancy before he even joined aminex? (iv) consultancy fees were paid to Mr. W.A.P. Thompson amounting to US$74,000 prior to his appointment as a director

HMMMM sounds like a total legit and transparent management hiring process in the best interests of shareholders

[jacks13] 29/5/2016 15:03

29 August 2013 - 2013 HALF-YEARLY FINANCIAL REPORT
In addition to our results, we are today separately announcing the acquisition of Canyon Oil and Gas Ltd. (“Canyon”;), together with its experienced and entrepreneurial management which will supplement our existing team. Jay Bhattacherjee, a Petroleum Engineer, will become Chief Executive Officer of the Company and Philip Thompson, a Geophysicist, will become Chief Operating Officer.
Share Price 2.33p

19 November 2013 - INTERIM MANAGEMENT STATEMENT
MANAGEMENT CHANGES
During the period under review the Company has made senior management appointments through the acquisition of Canyon Oil and Gas Ltd. (‘Canyon’;), as announced in August. Jay Bhattacherjee, a Petroleum Engineer, has become Chief Executive Officer and Philip Thompson, a Geophysicist, has become Chief Operating Officer. The Canyon and Aminex teams are now fully integrated and moving rapidly to develop the Company’s portfolio of exploration and development assets in East Africa. A formal Sale and Purchase Agreement has been signed between the shareholders of Canyon and the Company, conditional only on certain matters requiring shareholder approval at an EGM, most likely to be held before year end. The new management is currently carrying out a thorough review of all the Company’s activities and actively working on the disposal of non-core assets.
Share Price 1.88p

9 January 2014 - OPERATIONAL UPDATE
Aminex Chief Executive Officer, Jay Bhattacherjee commented: “Following the management’s successful trip to Tanzania in December 2013, the Gas Sales Agreement is largely completed and will be executed once TPDC gives its final approval. With this process nearing its close, first production on the horizon and high impact nature of the Company’s appraisal portfolio in Tanzania, the management team is excited about the prospects for Aminex in 2014 as it seeks to drive forward value for shareholders.”
Share Price 1.65p

24 February 2014 - EGM APPROVAL FOR PLACING AND OPEN OFFER

The Board of Aminex is pleased to announce that the resolutions to approve the Placing and Open Offer, announced on 30 January 2014, were passed at an extraordinary general meeting of the Company today in London.
Share Price 1.02p

[greyingsurfer] 29/5/2016 14:32

Even if the share price reaches 2p/share, which is 17% below the share price when JB and PT joined, he'd have netted a pre-tax gain of £185k for what is essentially a reversal of value destruction to date.

Worth not forgetting that JB & PT actually came on board at 1p (the price when the deal was approved - receiving the same number of shares at the time even though the share price was well down on point of negotiating the deal), so whatever anyone may feels about the current price, it doesn't represent value destruction since they came on board. Also of course existing holders were given the opportunity to buy shares, both as an offer and on the market, at 1p and below, my last top up was at 0.85p, unfortunately many refused the opportunity to take the offer at 1p, which reduced the company's options somewhat, as well as passing up a 30% gain or so even at current levels. The BoD in fact put in about twice as much cash at the time of the offer, when cash was needed to move things forward, as shareholders were prepared to at the time. They have also taken shares in lieu of remuneration. So I think you can argue that the BoD have been prepared to put their money where their mouths are - more so than most other shareholders have. If they can move Ruvuma, and the company valuation, forward in the way that I hope they can then I am happy for them to be rewarded. If they fail within 3 years then their options will be worthless anyway.

Peter

[el1te] 28/5/2016 23:30

In the interests of wrapping up - as I by no means want to start a lengthy set of discussions - but respecting your comments:

BunBooster - Absolutely right; no-one is being forced to invest in Aminex. With regard to the cash flow, well arguably all the potential in the ground is irrelevant if they can't fix the balance sheet, without major shareholder dilution, to enable drilling in the first instance. The only cash flows that are looking closer to being a certainty are those from KN1, but the asset lifespan is fairly short, and they certainly are not huge, especially with the 15% security liability overhanging from Ruvuma commitments.

Greyingsurfer - Regarding the options package, there's no getting around the fact that Aminex's options policy is undemanding, to say the least. It's not much more than I'd expect of a micro-cap and it is in Aminex company policy, but setting explicit vesting targets, setting an exercise price higher than the current price, or even paying part of the salary in shares would be a much 'fairer' way to align interests. Of course, what you argue is the principal of a well-designed set of share options - this isn't well-designed at all, in my opinion.

I'd even suggest that Phil Thompson, for example, doesn't need any options to be incentivised. He already has purchased around £1m in stock if I remember correctly, drew a salary of £188k last year, and now apparently needs £375k in base case options to be incentivised? (alongside the internal driver of wanting to maintain some track record integrity) - Does the lack of options supposedly mean that he has not been incentivised to date? Of course not; excessive options packages are far too widely issued by management teams of small caps who recognise there are generally not shareholder revolts to their issuance. They're often an excuse to boost potential returns in the event of success, arguably even driving higher risk taking to unlock those returns, which is often termed moral hazard risk.

Even if the share price reaches 2p/share, which is 17% below the share price when JB and PT joined, he'd have netted a pre-tax gain of £185k for what is essentially a reversal of value destruction to date.

Edit: Won't go into the details regarding the farmout situation. Had fairly clear comments that were made, but no need to dig up old ground on that issue.

Anyhow, good to see there is still healthy debate on this board, and I wish you all the best and a happy bank holiday.

[blackgold00] 28/5/2016 20:35

thanks greyingsurfer for the time and the effort of that post and BunBooster you are so right, " Aminex has not been for widows and orphans". but with regards to the risk and reward every one has to calculate and invest according to their means, and then win or loss the experience can be ultimately enriching.

[warbaby43] 28/5/2016 12:14

Bizarre, and superficially at least, the sort of occurrence that is unlikely to promote much investor confidence in the Tanzanian government or its entities:



Speaks volumes that Symbion are prepared to go public in such a way

[bunbooster2] 28/5/2016 11:15

Elite - I would say that there is a very clear "long-term obvious cash flow potential that won't be re-invested into still fairly high-risk drilling"

It's the on shore Tanzanian assets. A neighbour hit 2.7TCF recently and reckons that is worth 8 billion dollars. Billions have been and are being spend on infrastructure that will use gas.

Aminex has always been high risk, high reward. The risk hasn't paid off and there is a high chance it never will - but the potential pay off is clear. It has never been for widows and orphans.

[blackgold00] 28/5/2016 09:47

yes mostly agree warbaby, there was talk via some Solo article last week about them meeting some business folk there as well, all a little bit interesting, time will tell.