BNN Technology Share Discussion Threads

[newmanontheblock] 11/10/2017 15:31

This is like waiting for exam results!!! Come on BNN chairman!!!!! Communicate something.....

[charlesdarcy] 11/10/2017 15:28

Nohead ;
Nice post , BNN needs new directors quickly .

[nohead] 11/10/2017 14:47

If the CEO and COO were easily able to explain these accusations away, then this investigation would have been wrapped up in a week. As we are now five weeks in, you have to imagine it is probably not looking so good for them, but I have no intel. There are plenty of very experienced and capable tech entrepreneurs in Hong Kong, who not only speak Chinese, but are Chinese. Likewise there are large numbers of talented overseas Chinese in South East Asia and, of course, in Silicon Valley. All is not lost.

[perfect choice] 11/10/2017 13:19

This really has to go 2 ways. Either there was fraud (money siphoning off) or dodgy contracts in which case the accusation will be justified and heads will role. Or the accusation will be dismissed, both Directors will retain their positions (or in the case of DM moved to bring in a new CEO?) and there will be no dodgy contracts or fraud activities. My only concern I have right now is understanding that new Telco deal which was under NDA but meant to improve mobile top-up margins significantly versus previous B2B mobile top-ups. was that announced before formal contract agreement? My guess from those 2 options is the latter as what is happening now, if these snippets posted here are II feedback on what is happening I guess. There seems to be plenty of talk here on DM going or the first option above, but if the PwC report states the accusation is not justified, then that puts a complete different slant on what happens going forward.

As squiresquire states, DM is actually a hard person to replace and he has key abilities highly relevant to China business so that needs to be his focus IMHO, but such focus is wrong to fit with the overall CEO role I would say, so a change should now take place IMHO especially after this.

Somebody mentioned the fund raising but only £25M of that (in April 2017) has been for focusing on the new strategy rather than the previous online lottery business. That said the rest could be counted as the previous failed strategy which was caught out by China changing regulations, always a risk in this market no matter how massive it is. So not good granted, but BNN need to focus on delivering their new strategy now which only really started to make some progress I felt shortly before this suspension.

The cash position announced does show some encouraging signs by extrapolation, as H2 was always the intention to demonstrate the increased revenues all the initiatives should justify, be it that Q3 will be hit by this event.

Everything really is guess work right now (although there seems to have been an increase in the number of rumours recently and not just here, so think news is leaking?) from us all I would say, including this post, so lets hope the outcome of investigations is not too far off now as some have stated an update is close. Hopefully that is the case.

[charlesdarcy] 11/10/2017 13:14

And11 .

If DM is found guilty of misconduct ( I hope not ) then it will need a very strong China business minded CEO with a lot of experience .

Some good posts today and a reality check

[andy] 11/10/2017 13:08

and11,

If Darren has been naughty, he'll be gone.

Shareholders (the larger ones) will demand it, regardless of his linguistic abilities.

The suspension of the CEO is an action not taken lightly.

[and11] 11/10/2017 12:35

Squires! I think you will probably find that DM will continue in that role in China to develop relationships & new contracts going forward, but with the guidance of a new CEO & CFO driving the business. Imho l see this as potentially a very positive step forward for BNN, as it was clear months ago that they needed new blood on the board. The current contracts in place are solid with increasing revenues month by month & cash in the bank...This, imho is how l see it going forward, which if the case could be very positive with share price likely to take an initial hit, but recovering back to its current price & upwards....

[squiresquire] 11/10/2017 12:05

I would suspect that unfortunately Darren Mercer, who can communicate far n=better than most in China due to his understanding the language, would be a very very hard act to follow. If he has been a bad lad, then as nohead says its curtains for him, but i suspect BNN will then be virtually untouchable unless it can be very clearly shown that proper contracts and systems are in place.

That looks like being the fly in the ointment.

[nohead] 11/10/2017 11:46

I share a lot of your hunches Charlesdarcy. I think the company raised something like £70m through the series of institutional placements done by Mirabeau. So around £30-40m was spent on "deals" that have generated little revenue, certainly far less revenue than investors were led to believe. This is bad enough. But if any of these payments were found to be somehow inappropriate, that would be curtains for the CEO and COO I'm afraid. Then there would be the question of what kind of shape the company is now in? If some of these deals are lousy, should they just be cut off like dead wood? Will the Chinese government want to renew its contracts with BNN when they expire in a couple of years if there has been inappropriate behaviour. Likewise will prestigious football clubs continue to want to be associated with the company? Who knows. Like you say, only guessing. The revenues were certainly already looking pretty soggy when all this blew up. I think the share price might take a tumble on re-quoting, especially if any of the institutions decide to clear out. A fresh professional management team might be able to come in with a new broom and get things going again. Some sort of update from the company is due I think.

[charlesdarcy] 11/10/2017 08:35

We are guessing , but until the full story comes out 'why not'.

I think the numbers coming from China were not what was stated and had been signed off by CFO and then he found crazy payments going out to seal new deals that had no paper work to cover up payments .

My gut feeling is that we will see a new CEO , CFO , and 2-3 new directors in the next few weeks , DM will have a new role hopefully .

And a full explanation & if needed a apology to all shareholders followed by a clear very strong statement on the following twelve months trading .

Strangely the stock could come back stronger within a few days of trading as the past is not the value of a stock but the potential future .

[and11] 11/10/2017 08:06

The reduced cash burn would also put BNN in a very strong position for taking the business forward with 28m cash on the books...

[and11] 11/10/2017 08:04

Nohead, not sure if this is to do with historical or future contracts. As the amount of cash detailed in the last rns would suggested that cash burn has been dramatically reduced to approx 250k per month rather than 1m + in the first half of 2017....So this is either from increased revenues or reduced overheads.. More likely to be from increased revenues imho as hinted in the last rns that business in China was trading as normal...I'm sure we will hear soon enough the resulting outcome & the way forward...

[gemstar2] 11/10/2017 07:43

If the accounts are materially inaccurate, then relisting will create a false market

I worry too about cash raising and the cash burn

[nohead] 11/10/2017 07:07

And11, we don't know the details of the allegations but, as you say, it is likely that they refer to accounts previously signed off by the CFO, and that he subsequently uncovered some kind of (alleged) fraud, which he immediately reported. It is curious as to why the CFO then resigned, rather than stick around to try and help sort things out. Pressure was building on DM and Qi anyway because they had spent large amounts of capital on deals in China that had not resulted in the expected revenue build-up. The latest set of interims had again warned that the revenue for the second half this year may again disappoint. Large shareholders had already been forced to throw good money in after bad in a down-round placement, and then watched the share price plunge once again as the revenue did not, once again, materialise. People were already questioning whether all these deals the company had struck in China were any good. All will hopefully be revealed soon. Because of the cash burn/lack of revenue, the company does not have much time to play with. The focus is now on the remaining board to move quickly to rebuild the company before the money runs out.

[wla2510] 10/10/2017 22:44

BNN is his baby and DM is not at all happy about being replaced as CEO judging by the scowl on his face as he’s driving about but the institutions are making this happen and all shareholders will be glad to see DM’s very considerable talents properly harnessed in deal making but also with the company being properly run which is clearly hasn’t been. In medium term i’m Confident in future of BNN but hope the news when it comes is well recodone event the market and the share price whilst up well cos my nerves will be jangling if it plummets!

[and11] 10/10/2017 22:37

Iphone8! I agree with your comments, but wouldn’t this put the ex-cfo in serious contempt if he makes aligations that are based on results which he, as CFO would have had to sign off!!! 🤔🤔🤔🤔 lets hope for some clarity & way forward soon....

[iphone8] 10/10/2017 22:06

JakNife, good point. Given that the allegations were serious enough for the LSE to agree to suspend the stock, and for the company to bring in PwC, we have to assume some kind of fraud is alleged. The company has been falling dramatically short of revenue forecasts and so it is more than likely this is connected to the allegations. Therefore the accounts are probably alleged not to be accurate, which would account for the CFO no longer wishing to associated with the company. Logically this would lead to an announcement that the accounts may need to be re-stated. To be frank, I don't know what the LSE precedence is on this, but in a general sense, public stocks should trade. Tradability is why investors are induced to buy publicly listed shares, and be able to buy/sell at a price determined by the market.

More importantly, this company has a large staff and is burning cash. There is no way it will be able to raise more capital in these circumstances, and so cash preservation is critical to turning this situation around. The company needs the attract the necessary managerial talent, who then will have enough resources left at their disposal to formulate a recovery plan. If the allegations have substance, then the company needs to now act quickly to shore up the business, and cut costs if necessary. We don't want to get caught up in an on-going consulting vortex of wasted time and chargeable hours, while vital cash burns. Re-quoting the company will put pressure on what remains of the board, and rightly so. The market will set a new share price, and then the board will be judged by its ability to recover shareholder value.

[highasakite] 10/10/2017 21:07

bossno1

I think u are mentally ill

[bossno1] 10/10/2017 20:55

Lowasasash—-
On reviewing your posts I believe you suffer from cognitive dissonance, where your beliefs are so distorted by prejudice you are unable to assess reality in an objective manner. Every comment made by a poster is reduced in your world to a negativity as it does not reconcile in terms of your confirmation bias outlook. You need professional help. BN 1

[and11] 10/10/2017 19:47

Clearly you have a hearing problem kite! Just as you did when you stated all of the monies had gone! 🤡🤡🤡🤡

[highasakite] 10/10/2017 19:18

ssc85

Stop lying to suit your agenda.


For what its worth I heard today that PwC have found massive fraud.


This will never relist I am also hearing.

[charlesdarcy] 10/10/2017 18:27

PC .
Yes if the Chairman gets DM in a new role in China and a couple of exciting new directors and no criminal proceedings then YES this stock will not collapse but seen as a new start purchase and the price could easily jump to 60p plus .

It would not require huge buying for that to happen but no big players selling .

[perfect choice] 10/10/2017 17:43

Very interesting snippets if sources are correct. Would be what I would want to hear with new CFO and CEO (with DM moved) but allegations not having any real substance enough to materially impact business, be it reduction in income growth in Q3 is reality now. Who is to say what will happen when BNN relists, the price could even jump with the right appointments? Guess work yes, will just have to wait and see.

[newmanontheblock] 10/10/2017 16:51

Thank ssc85. I will keep my fingers and everything else crossed.