Mercantile Ports & Logis... Share Discussion Threads

[phowdo] 17/3/2017 10:31

This will never become a operational port but would make a convenient location to construct steelwork for the proposed Karanja bridge. It would not surprise me if the MOU is to a construction company that the directors/NEDs have an interest in.

[waterloo01] 17/3/2017 09:59

Wish there was some jam. Wonder what L&G make of it all? One thing it does show is the shocking lack of due diligence so called investment experts do on behalf their own clients. Guess the banks will call in their loan once more progress is made (ie once they have something to sell). Shareholders will see nowt. I've kept a very small holding, more out of prurient interest than any expectation of a return. I do hate being lied to and would welcome the whole thing going bust, IF the current BOD faced some jail time.

[diku] 17/3/2017 09:41

Jam tomorrow!!...

[mount teide] 17/3/2017 02:45

Karanja Port Development Project Cost - by way of comparison, the Port of Kalundborg in Denmark recently announced it is to build the largest deep-sea port terminal for container shipping in the Greater Copenhagen region.

The Port expansion project will comprise the reclamation/building of 330,000 sq m (82.5 acres) of high load container storage hardstanding together with 500 metres of new deepwater berths dredged to 15 metres in order to increase the feeder and container traffic and attract new international shipping lines.

The new port area is called “Ny Vesthavn” and the total budgeted cost of the development is €26 million(£23 million).

MPL has raised through equity and debt close to £150m and, and for the progress to date at Karanja, has already burnt through close to 4 times the total amount of cash that the Port of Kalundborg has budgeted(at European marine construction costs), to build a new deepwater container terminal capable of handling vessels of ten times the deadweight that Karanja will handle.

As i mentioned previously, none of the cash burn figures/progress updates/capital raises for this project make any sense whatsoever to me, and other seasoned industry professionals i have discussed it with.

Collectively, shareholders should demand an EGM and an independent analysis of the project build cost to date.

If this management is left to their own devices, i now feel certain that at BEST, what shareholders are likely to see if they are lucky, is a very much smaller port terminal and quay length than the original design plan: with an asset valuation probably less than the outstanding debt(£48 million at 13% interest) raised to part fund the project.

AIMHO/DYOR


The management/nomad/PR company has been very much less than helpful in answering recent questions regarding the project - following the latest update, i still await an answer as to how many metres of piling is now complete? What does 40% of the total quay piling completed mean in terms of the total project quay length? How is it possible if land reclamation work has continued throughout according to management, they have only been able to add a pathetic 4 acres of additional reclamation in 9 months, against a target more than 25 times that figure?

As for the MOU - to give up a significant amount of the Port land to a potential client for just an initial three year fixed contractual period is not very encouraging at all. Most shipping companies/port users would be expected to sign up for longer, with a five year deal being more the norm, and 10 to 15 years where a signifiant warehousing/storage development is involved.

[unwize] 15/3/2017 12:58

I've sold out of MPL for a loss. For MPL to say back in November that they would have reclaimed a further 65 acres by the end of Jan but only actually reclaim 4 by mid March is either incompetence on a scale I struggle to find words to describe or everything promised at the time of the fundraising was an outright lie.

At the rate the construction is progressing more fundraising seems inevitable to finish the port. If it ever gets finished by MPL who knows how much of it existing shareholders will own

[azalea] 14/3/2017 13:02

PJI
My long absence is due to having sold my holdings in two lots at 79p & 78p on 4/2/16 and 11/2/16, respectively; both times at a profit. At the current price I believe there is potential. Time will tell. A statement that does not carry any suggestion of libel.

[diku] 14/3/2017 09:59

Guys chill out...time to have some cold coke & sprite!!...hot out there...

[phowdo] 14/3/2017 08:14

All talk and no action

That describes the BoD perfectly!

[pj 1] 14/3/2017 08:11

azalea-''all talk and no action''?
Please share your communications with the BoD, Nomad and PR advisors. I would be really interested to hear.

Whilst accusing others, it appears to me you have seen an opportunity to restart your ramping of the Company, after a long period of silence and no action whatsoever, for your own biased self gain to reduce your previous losses (i.e. ramping).

[azalea] 14/3/2017 08:06

Those posters who accuse the BoD of fraud/corruption et al, should email their views to them and see what their response is. Its a pointless exercise restricting such allegations to this thread. In the event I shall be most interested to hear the response such posters receive to their allegations. This is a de ja vu situation all over again. All talk and no action.

[waterloo01] 14/3/2017 06:13

Away at present so not switched onto stocks but I think it's time to fire the board (including the NEDS) and call in the rozzers before they pilfer the rest of the cash.

[diku] 13/3/2017 22:26

Not too late to convert into fishy port for fisherman!...revenues will start coming in sooner!...

[pj 1] 13/3/2017 20:08

I would suspect the answer lies with ITD and the other Contracts that the 3 times ''mobilised workforce'' then worked on. Paid for by MPL (SPL) shareholders? All imo.

It certainly appears to mne that MPL is still doing the minimum works required to keep the project alive. I wonder what due diligence the Nomad has undertaken to make sure the lead contractor is indeed at ''full capacity''.

Does anyone else think that is rather a strange statement as it reads ''The Company's main contractor is operating at full capacity and the Company's engineers remain engaged with the contractor to ensure that the configuration of the final facility is optimised to achieve maximum utilisation of the land mass created.''

Surely it should read ''The Company's main contractor is operating at full capacity on the Karanja port project..........''

I do not believe for a minute that ITD is working at full capacity on one project alone.

Just more red flags.......

All imo

[diku] 13/3/2017 14:35

5 year patience required here..if it is still going then...

[deepvalueinvestor] 13/3/2017 14:34

MT - thank from all investors for your input. Progress is being made and MOU is good news but it is frustratingly slow.

[diku] 13/3/2017 14:22

Think time to have more cold coke & sprite!...hot out there...

[mount teide] 13/3/2017 12:44

Gbill11 - the project cash burn to date is some £40m - £50m MORE than a rough cost estimate(plus/minus £5m), i have from an independent source (port marine engineering consultant) as to the cost of carrying out the work currently completed to date. It would only take about £5k-£7k to engage third party Marine engineering consultants to complete an inspection and report to verify this.

DYOR/IMHO


Some facts: despite saying by the end of March 180 acre of land reclamation and four berths (3 capable of taking ships) the actual situation is:

Only 39% of the total land reclamation work is complete (79 of 180 acres)
Only around 17% of the piling is complete (although the company considers this 40%): i have asked for clarification on this) If it is 40%, then as i predicated previously, at best on completion there will only be a quay some 300 to 400m(capable of taking just two small shallow draft 4,000dwt ships), not the 6 berths for 4,000DWT ships(average length of 150m), as stated in the fund raising circular.

[pj 1] 13/3/2017 12:15

So we move from a previous ship repair facility smoke screen to a Steel works smoke screen.

What's going to be hidden behind that then?

[gbill11] 13/3/2017 12:00

If Mount Teide's interpretation is correct then I don't think it's blatant misrepresentation at all, it's fraud and those responsible should be either prosecuted or jailed.

[mount teide] 13/3/2017 11:20

I would remind shareholders that in the 31 October 2016 circular to raise the extra funds the following progress was anticipated by the end of March:

90% of land reclaimed - 180 acres

Constructed 4 berths(3 of which will be capable of receiving ships) - this would be equivalent to at least 600-700m of the 1000m total sea frontage.

By their own admission since June 2016 the following progress has actually been achieved to date(yet to be verified by photographic evidence).

Land reclaimed June 2016 - 75 acres
Land reclaimed March 2017 - 79 acres (against target of 180 acres) Apparently, despite claiming to have worked continuously during the last 9 months they have achieved the grand total of another 4 acres, some 5% of the progress expected in the circular!

Quay piling Sept 2016 - 100m
Quay piling March 2017 - 160m (against target of at least 600m to 700m - since the entire 1000m/200 acres project was due for completion in June 2016, just 3 months away according to the circular). So they have achieved a further 60m of piling, less than 10% of that expected during the period through to March 2017.

This appalling update only reinforces the view the FUND RAISING CIRCULAR WAS A BLATANT MISREPRESENTATION, as the progress actually being made has been less than 10% of the target indicated in the circular, despite work supposedly continuing without interruption throughout and the project being fully funded until the end of Q1 2017.

[azalea] 13/3/2017 10:04

At last, after carrying out an onsite due diligence process the first customer has signed an MOU with MPL, to construct its own steel fabrication works on site; further interest has been indicated by other businesses to also sign MOU. Other pointers in the update suggest that the Port in now making significant progress. By the end of the calendar year,I am looking for a doubling of the share price

[diku] 13/3/2017 09:45

There is a reason for calling it AIM!.... = Am I a Mug?...