Infrastrata Share Discussion Threads

[kooba] 28/7/2010 14:00

there is no govt support.the company has failed [twice] to attract funding to further the project to completion.one has to ask why nobody is interested in funding a spade ready onshore gas storage project in the uk which is desperately short of storage capacity,and whether the company and various advisors have gone about the process to the best advantage of shareholders.
the big question is why the utility companies that need the gas storage and have had repeated looks at portland do not want to invest at anywhere near the board think its worth....but having said that they now think the best course of action is to sell half of the prized portland asset that has taken years to get to development stage for £22m..exactly the same amount as has been directly spent on the project by infa...so they are saying there is no increase in the value now even with all the permissions in place.who knows at this level i am holding on [and actually bought some yesterday...got to average somewhere!!] and pray that the management do have a functioning plan here to create some value [perhaps ecorp having completed a number of sucessful projects in usa have been brought in to show our board what to do as they seem to be clueless].
anyway a fingers crossed for the long term and the current market cap is at a discount to the proposed terms that ecorp are paying and the net cash we have ....so that is valuing the expertise and experience of our board at a big fat negative...seems right!


not the only ones.
LONDON (Dow Jones)--U.K. utility Centrica PLC (CNA.LN) said Wednesday it had decided not to proceed, at least for now, with its Caythorpe gas storage project in northern England due to regulatory uncertainty and reduced profitability.
Centrica has also delayed an investment decision on the Baird gas storage project by one year.
In February, Centrica said it had planning permission and had mostly completed the front-end engineering design, or FEED, for the Caythorpe facility, had begun the FEED for Baird and had permission for the Bains facility. The three potential projects would add around 85 billion cubic feet of storage capacity.
"Very recently [U.K. energy regulator] Ofgem have indicated that they are minded to consult on revoking the existing Third Party Access exemption associated with the facility, and as a result of the regulatory uncertainty this creates for the project [Caythorpe] we have decided not to proceed at the current time," Centrica said in its earnings statement.
Centrica said that engineering studies continue on Baird and Bains.
"These are complex offshore projects which have slower cycle times than Caythorpe, and significant work is required to ensure that satisfactory returns on investment can be achieved. A decision on both projects is now expected in 2011," Centrica said.
Company website:
-By Selina Williams, Dow Jones Newswires [phone]; [e-mail]

[whiters] 28/7/2010 10:03

Exactly. Why have we screwed up? Is it a lack of cash, a lack of governmental support or the managements inability?

[mina123golf2] 27/7/2010 21:31

Kooba Thanks for your response. Regarding Hindle it is true of course that is substantial share holding will have collapsed in value like the rest of us BUT I would not bet against him and his colleagues "cutting some sort of deal " with ecorp. What is utterly baffling is why its all gone pear-shaped. Gas storage is pressing ahead in other countries - its a tried and tested technology - why have we screwed up?

[kooba] 27/7/2010 19:26

if deal goes through [would have thought it subject to shareholder vote when terms finalised..though not positive] then we are underpinned for a while as we will have cash resources and enough money to pay our excellent board and advisors who have done such a spendid job of securing shareholder value for a few years. meanwhile ecorp who are effectively buying control of our assets for no premium try to develope something that we will retain an interest in and hopefully there will be some value.the extent to future dilution of what we have left will be crucial as to the extent of any recovery in shareholder value....as for ecorp they don't even mention our deal on press releases!!


as for hindle screwing us ...not really as he is one of the larger shareholders he has surely screwed himself in his running of the company.cold comfort.

[mina123golf2] 27/7/2010 19:11

Kooba,Holism This is looking increasing likely to end up at bloody zero. Do you have any info as to the latest position? In your view is there any prospect of a meaningful recovery or has Hindle screwed us up well and truly. What is the state of play with ecorp?? have they committed funds as yet or indicated they will do so. I am not au fait with phrases such as "memorandum of understanding" - strikes me as a lot of s---( add an E if you want)

[kooba] 27/7/2010 16:28

well thats ok then...well done hindle top man!!!!

they also raised £11.5m in secondary placings since ipo and the market cap is only about about £19m .

[bionicdog] 27/7/2010 11:11

Not strictly true as many sold some shares at the peak and hold the rest for free.

[meljohn] 27/7/2010 10:19

From £4.30 to 27p says it all really ...

free stock charts from www.advfn.com

So at this all time low by definition there is no shareholder who is in profit ...

[kooba] 23/7/2010 15:44

the market cap is now at a significant discount to the value implied even in the ecorp deal..showing negative enterprise value and obviously strong disappointment from shareholders who feel misled and confused where any future upside lies.i suggest any shareholder contacts hindle direct with their thoughts as it appears blame for this fiasco falls to him.
[e-mail]

[mina123golf2] 22/7/2010 08:11

Holism You raise a valid point. The question which worries me is why if this project generally is such a winner - that nobody has stepped forward with the finance. After all £450m is hardly a colossal sum by todays standards. I am therefore concerned that there are fundamental problems with the entire project and our man Hindle is the fall guy. It just seems extraordinary that after all this time of fiddling about the whole project(and others) has been, more or less given to ecorp.

[holism] 22/7/2010 07:50

I wonder what the major shareholders are considering.The deal with ecorp hasn't been finalised there is still time to sack Hindle and introduce a better deal.

[kooba] 21/7/2010 11:43

mina sorry missed your last post.
well effective valuation on all assets that ecorp have bought means our remaining interests are now effectively valued at a discount to implied value in that deal.we also have some cash coming in as part of the deal [so we can pay the directors salaries!!] and hopefully very little now going out.
we still retain a potentially valuable interest in portland [if it can be funded at multiples of where we have just sold half] and some very diluted other bits and pieces.
the management were completely out of their depth and have panicked into a deal diluting our interests as they have farted around so much and to no avail that they probably realised that raising more cash to throw away in abortive talks was a no goer.
so they are probably worth current levels and not much more we are now not the masters of our destiny and may well get forced into further dilution by our new mates ecorp before full funding is achieved.on the upside ecorp may just know what they are doing and get the whole thing moving and funded next year with infa retaining a decent equity interest worth substantially higher than current market cap...i'm not holding my breath.

[mina123golf2] 13/7/2010 07:30

kooba Thanks for that. As a regular poster and one who will doubtless be appalled at the latest developments could I ask you where you see the share price heading in the next 12 months. Tricky one I know but you have been keeping abreast of this for ages as it developed - although like the rest of us amazed at the "sell out". Can you envisage a meaningful improvement in the SP? I am seriously considering taking the loss and putting the proceeds of sale on Desire Petroleum who are drilling for oil in the Falklands. At least that way you either take another loss or a massive gain ( like Rockhopper did when they struck oil next door to where DES are about to drill )

[kooba] 13/7/2010 07:10

"The
project company, Islandmagee Storage Limited, anticipates that the principles
for the necessary tariffs and licences will be decided early in 2011 for the
development of the first gas storage facility in Northern Ireland."

probably 2012 then knowing infa...not that we have that big an interest anymore.

[holism] 09/7/2010 15:23

yes looks to me as if the management were incapable of anything beyond planning permission (which at the time was considered an excellent achievement). I have always worried about the egoes at Hindle leveland I have expressed that on numerous occasions, the pity I was convinced that Gas Storage was something I had to have in my portfolio long term. I think 2015 is the crunch point for gas storage. The board ain't got what it takes. At the moment no contracts have been signed so there is a window of opportunity for a bidder to step in and get a bargain.eCorps has done due diligence etc.Will it haqppen in the next few weeks? I doubt it.This is one share I will not be averaging down on!!

[kooba] 09/7/2010 08:51

what are the chances of one of the cooperation group or other bids for the lot before this deal goes through??once in a lifetime opportunity to buy a spade ready uk on shore project with some other interesting bits at a knockdown price with the management having a very difficult job defending against any bid at a premium to £50m or so.
just appears the management want to hold on to their jobs at any dilution for shareholders and have proved totally inept at the vital project finance side of their chosen business...they do not deserve more time.

[mina123golf2] 03/7/2010 08:58

The idea that this poxy company and the associated muppets that have been running it for years now - could somehow or other produce "a useful bonus" is almost laughable if it was not so serious. You have a choice and its a simple one (a) sell the shares and crystallise the loss OR (b) hold in the hope that some day you will recover your outlay. I would consider the likelihood of "b" happening is roughly the same as England winning the next world cup( which is incidentally a damn sight higher than Scotlands) There is however a serious side to this namely we have, as small shareholders been strung along by Hindle and others on the basis that everything is moving forward according to plan( the 5 company consortium, the EIB etc etc ) - when in fact this was out and out lies. This storage facility has been touted by many for ages as the answer to the UKs gas storage problems when it is clearly nothing of the sort.

[golconda] 03/7/2010 08:28

when the company split in two a few years back infa shares were valued at about 240p which was the yardstick for capital gains for earlier EIS shareholders- if one sells now i think but am not sure that the allowable tax loss would be for higher rate tax payers the difference bewtween 240p and the price received ie about 56p (200 x 28) which for people with a cgt bill is a useful bonus-any comments

[eacn] 02/7/2010 12:01

Mina123golf,

I have to say that I have some sympathy for your recent posts. I too was astonished by the eCORP RNS, given the company's previous line that the co-operation group process was proceeding and was likely to reach a conclusion in Q4 2010.

We should not forget that the business was funded to see the co-operation process through to completion. We know from the CEO's remarks at the finals presentation that indicative pricing had been obtained from co-operation group members at the outset of the process. Given that INFA published third party vetted NPV calculations for Portland at the outset of the process, I think it was reasonable for shareholders to assume that the indicative pricing was not a million miles from the board's view on pricing and the indicative numbers being suggested by co-operation group members. Indeed if that was not the case then the process should not have been allowed to proceed in the first place without first informing the market of the disparity in perceived valuations.

Of course, it is entirely possible that the process started to fall apart and that the eCORP deal became the only tenable option. But somehow I doubt that. There was always the option of battening down the hatches, stopping all activity and playing a game of wait and see. I suspect that existing shareholders would have been prepared to fund such a strategy.

With eCORP on board there is an improved prospect that Portland will eventually be built, but dilution will be significantly greater than previous supposed. I doubt that INFA will emerge with more than a 15% interest in the project and it is possible that it will only be half that. Similar percentages will probably apply in Ireland.

That implies a valuation on completion of somewhere between 50p and 100p, but that is some time hence. The board no doubt sees it somewhat differently, hoping that by proving up the assets they can reduce dilution in subsequent funding rounds. However, given the poor negotiating record to date, I will not be betting on such an outcome.

This is clearly disappointing for all holders, and while I have been cautious in taking a bullish stance on INFA, I will hold my hand up and say that I did not expect this outcome.

Experienced investors in the E&P and metals exploration markets will, however, recognise the situation. This was an investment that was predicated on NPV models, which rely critically on assumptions on the cost of funding. In this case those calculations were overturned initially by the credit crunch. The secondary blow has been the management's failure to come to terms with this change in circumstance and to re-align market expectations accordingly: a familiar theme, which I simply failed to properly factor into my calculations despite several tell tale signs.

[hvs] 02/7/2010 10:29

Shareholders SOLD down the swanee YET AGAIN.

Welcome to Britain Plc

[mina123golf2] 02/7/2010 10:14

holism I HAVE scratched the surface and my head, in an attempt to make any sense of this and the only thing I have ended up with is splinters in my fingers. This is an out and out shambles with little so called shareholder value.

[holism] 02/7/2010 07:40

You have to scratch the surface and understand where Hindle sees his future. He has a paddle and a fairly small one certainly not big enough to maximise shareholders value here.

[mina123golf2] 02/7/2010 07:03

It appears the market thinks little of the selling off of 50% of the company for £22m. This has all the hallmarks of desperation. Personally I think we are up the proverbial creek sans paddle etc etc. What on earth have the Board being doing the last 2 years?? If this gas storage facility is "the bees knees" and the answer to the UKs gas storage problems why on earth are we not knee deep in prospective investors - as opposed to some US outfit picking up half the company for a song??