Arkle Resources Share Discussion Threads

[kiwihope] 05/12/2003 10:43

The 16.25p trades are still buys.

[ang5] 05/12/2003 08:31

Waiting ! may be downside! because no big boys buy, USA INT downside,
no one like takeover at this times.

[maestro.] 05/12/2003 07:48

"takeover target"....should start a buying stampede this morning..

[nur0mancer] 05/12/2003 07:42

RNS:
'NOTIFICATION OF MAJOR INTERESTS IN SHARES

Notification under section 198 Companies Act 1985

The Company received a notification from JOHCM Alternative Investments LLP
on behalf of The Trident European Fund who they are Investment Advisor to,
informing it that following a sale of 6,000,000 ordinary shares on 3 December
2003 The Trident European Fund no longer has an interest in the ordinary share
capital of the Company.'

Piece in today's Independent:
'Chief executive exits from profit-less ARC
By Damian Reece, City Editor
05 December 2003

Mike Gulett, the chief executive of ARC International, walked out of the microchip designer with a $275,000 pay-off yesterday after failing to improve the fortunes of the struggling technology business.

The company said Mr Gulett would not be eligible for any bonus or other payments on top of the pay-off, which is equal to one year's salary.

Mr Gulett said: "After two years of hard work here at ARC it is time to make a change. I am leaving with mixed feelings but I have confidence in the new board of directors and ARC's management team and employees."

ARC floated at the height of the dot.com boom in September 2000 but its shares crashed shortly after and the company has never made a profit.

It now looks like a clear takeover target, according to analysts, having been linked last year to a possible bid from Arm Holdings. Other potential bidders include Synopsys and Cadence, both of the United States. It could also be bought out by management.

One attraction is that ARC still has cash on its balance sheet equal to about 26p a share, compared with last night's close of 16p. The shares hit 429.5p shortly after the float.

Peter van Cuylenburg, the chairman, will take over from Mr Gulett as interim chief executive while the company searches for a full-time replacement. It hopes to find a chief executive by February when it plans to update investors on strategy.'

[rambutan2] 04/12/2003 17:18

what makes you think that ark will manage it? the v few bios that have managed to get away in the states have not done well. not a good omen. i dont see any sign of demand on this side of the pond.

[sagem] 04/12/2003 17:17

Did you know that BILLAM have a stake of 36% in a company called EIRX and it is to be floated on AIM market by end of December, so new floatations are starting to happen again. It is almost definite that ARK will be by end of January 2004 thats why I hold shares in Bionex.

[a harris] 04/12/2003 12:41

This title should say ARK will float in new year ???
It was meant to be a discussion point. I have no knowledge that this true.
ADVFN could alter this to suit because it sounds misleading. Sorry for confusion.


thats only an opinion but its what I believe based on the companies that cannot afford not to for much longer. Flotations have virtually been on hold for 3 years. I can see a resumption of flotations in the new year and I recon ARK THERAPEUTICS will be amonst the first.

[a harris] 04/12/2003 12:41

thats only an opinion but its what I believe based on the companies that cannot afford not to for much longer. Flotations have virtually been on hold for 3 years. I can see a resumption of flotations in the new year and I recon ARK THERAPEUTICS will be amonst the first.

[nur0mancer] 04/12/2003 11:36

I make it now (Buy - Sell) on the day of +296776, excluding the rollover. Still a ways to go to clear those 16p trades from yesterday, but Level 2 looks okay at 4-v-1.

INTC mid-Qtr update to come tonight.

I wonder if there may be any press reaction to today's news...

[playmaker] 04/12/2003 10:15

cheers nuromancer for the cash figures - so at current cash burn - they could be through it in 2.5 to 3 years. They need to get there act together a bit then

[the knife] 04/12/2003 10:14

what they need now is a hardman to come in and sort out this mess. the cost base has to be whacked right back, just need one northern hemisphere office and focus all expansion on asia i would suggest. but most importantly that staff costs per employee has to be bought back to competitive levels. and share options should be swapped for deferred equity, dependent on performance

[playmaker] 04/12/2003 10:08

yeah it be interesting to see if the directorate change may bring about the needed slash in costs - as you mentioned - i havent waded my toe yet but at this level the market capitalisation seems pretty reasonable, though yeah they need to demonstrate an improvement in the costs/revenue front.

[nur0mancer] 04/12/2003 10:04

kiwi, yep the 16.25 are definitely Buys, I got mine at that price. That trade @ 16.234 is - IMHO - one end of a rollover.

Playmaker, IIRC cash hoard as of 30-09-03 was 40M+ with cashburn of 4.4M for the Qtr. This burn is way too high & they state they are looking to reduce it, re-emphasised in today's release:
'As stated in our third quarter results, the company has continued to reduce its operating expenses. We intend to introduce further operational improvements and reduce corporate overhead expenses in a continuing drive towards profitability and revenue growth.'

Interesting to note the comment by interim CEO of the new COO:
'he will bring valuable turnaround experience to the task'

[the knife] 04/12/2003 10:00

playmaker, but costs are more than double revenues and if share price doubles/trebles some 52m options move above water

[playmaker] 04/12/2003 09:59

knife there supposed to still have a lot of cash though, ya think??

[the knife] 04/12/2003 09:57

this seems like the news we needed - fresh leadership a must. but one wonders if there are hidden liabilities. and still not clear that revenues are picking up. presumably CEO forfeits him 10m options

[playmaker] 04/12/2003 09:56

valued at23.42 million at yesterdays close, where is the figures for there cash anyone know???

[kiwihope] 04/12/2003 09:54

It may be the 16.235p trade is a buy as well.

[kiwihope] 04/12/2003 09:53

Just checked with Barclays on line ... 16.15p sell / 16.25p buy. So all those 16.25p mid-price trades are buys.

[nur0mancer] 04/12/2003 09:53

kiwi, you are probably correct, just seems a tad coincidental. Anyway a total of 1.85M is not huge percentage-wise.

One could speculate - were one so inclined - whether 'gentle pressure' was applied in the run-up to this morning's RNS...

[kiwihope] 04/12/2003 09:49

nur0mancer ... I wouldn't have thought the ex-CEO would have been allowed to dump prior to announcement.

[nur0mancer] 04/12/2003 09:22

New broom & all that, well caretaker broom anyway - at some point this damn thing has to bottom ;-)

INTC tonight may be the trigger for another attack on Nas-2000, upward revision in guidance (if forthcoming) will do ARK no harm.

Looks like PMUR are the holders of the 16p stock. Yesterday prior-to-close online Bid was 16.1 for 100, now it's 16.15 for 100. Seems my trades took MLSB out but PMUR may be a harder nut to crack. We have a 192k roll.

I wonder if yesterday's trades were related to today's news, could it have been the ex-CEO dumping? What is his holding anyway?

[playmaker] 04/12/2003 09:17

I agree with you Kiwihope, the price could drift down a bit further but I reckon there could be a turnaround

[pictureframe] 04/12/2003 09:11

Looking at yesterday trades need to clear around 700k if shares before bounce

[kiwihope] 04/12/2003 09:11

Well ... last night when I said things change I didn't expect it to be so soon!

A change in fortunes often occurs after a change in top management ... let's hope so.