Mj Hudson Share Discussion Threads

[simon gordon] 12/2/2023 20:26

Cheers Mig!!

Based on that, it looks like they're heading to administration.

[mighunter] 12/2/2023 20:09

hTTps://news.sky.com/story/crisis-deepens-at-mj-hudson-as-auditor-ey-resigns-12809766

[18bt] 06/2/2023 09:10

In fairness, Sky churn out credible but largely unsubstantiated rumours all the time and a few hit the target…. Monkeys and works of Shakespeare come to mind.

[dr biotech] 04/2/2023 09:22

hxxps://news.sky.com/story/icg-backed-with-intelligence-plots-raid-on-mj-hudson-arm-12801317

In fairness Sky seem to get quite a bit of info on some companies quicker than others.

[c3479z] 16/1/2023 10:47

one wonders if there will be anything left for the ordinary shareholder at the end of this disaster...

[dr biotech] 16/1/2023 08:34

No. Guess there is a general slowdown plus of course the brand is now toxic, if they are in trouble who is going to work with them?

No update on Connell or the LTIP - the two chief culprits for bringing this company to its knees.( Plus the incompetent CEO)

[18bt] 16/1/2023 07:24

Update received. Interest in "certain divisions" - note the plural. Not much of an update on trading - and what there is is not very positive.

[onjohn] 16/1/2023 06:00

Was it fraud

[dr biotech] 15/1/2023 20:10

Well spotted, will be interesting to see the RNS. Breaking up the group is inevitable, whether there will be anything left over for the remaining shareholders is open to question. As has been mentioned previously I'm sure there are plenty of good parts to the company.

An update on the accounting fiasco wouldn't hurt either

[dr biotech] 05/1/2023 18:11

The LTIP requires adjusted EBITDA of something like 4.5m to pay out. The two biggest beneficiaries are Hudson and the now suspended CFO Connell. Of course with adjusted EBITDA it depends what you want to include as "one offs". It appears that this included some IT expenditure and management time for various issues (which I would say clearly were not one offs) plus other items. Its not particularly clear from this years or last years statements, and I'm not an accountant

Under the terms of the LTIP, the beneficiaries only get paid if the are with the company or have left as "good leavers". Assuming that Connell gets sacked for his part, that would presumably means he misses out. I can't see any way that Hudson could accept his outrageous bonus and carry on.

More to the point though you have to wonder what sort of hole the company is in. The £9m fund raise is probably enough to keep things solvent. The damage to reputation will be severe and long lasting. I can't see this lasting as an independent company or Hudson lasting in his role beyond a few months. Hes been proven to be excessively greedy and had poor oversight of what was going on.

[a895] 05/1/2023 17:26

Writeoffs, writedowns, restatement
I would love to think LTIP put on hold
Cash, rate of cash burn, cash flow, Santander, administrator, breakup
tears

[chrisdgb] 05/1/2023 14:53

Could do with some words here.........

[davidosh] 19/12/2022 09:44

Non execs resigning and yet no mention of the replacements needed to sort out this train wreck?

[dr biotech] 19/12/2022 07:28

Chair of audit committee resigned…̷0;no surprise there.
Chair of remuneration committee resigns….again this is pointing at the LTIP being grossly over generous and encouraging risky/detrimental/possibly criminal behaviour. They all should have been sacked.


Hudson has to go.

[dr biotech] 13/12/2022 21:39

Actually looking more closely through the dense admission docs(it appears the perpetual values tweet wasn’t quite correct), Connel would have got about £1m from the LTIP plus additional options in addition to his £200k salary. Over incentivised to the point of dishonesty? Time will tell.

[dr biotech] 12/12/2022 16:12

Looking back through the LTIP documents I can't see Connels name amongst the other noses in the trough. So it'd be interesting to learn whether the holes in the accounts are due to his incompetance or something else (ie personal options that I can't find, or him being leaned on by Hudson himself to ensure his own vast payment).

In a strange way any remaining shareholders may be better off. The ridiculous LTIP can not now vest, so there will be no payout. Thats £10m. I'm not sure of the size of the hole in the accounts, but I'm guessing its a lot less than that. as I mentioned above I'm guessing it will be mostly the "adjusted" part that has been cooked and the statutory figures will be similar, though clearly that will affect the value of the company going forward. It may not be in trouble as a company (cash wise) due to the fund raise, but I don't see a listed future for the company in its present form. Its reputation will be shot and it may end up being a good example of how a company completely fails in its own responsibilities.


Edit:Connel does appear to hold about 1m options at a vesting price way above the suspension price. This is separate to the LTIP. Looking more closely at the financials, the company has lost c10m in cash over the last few years - how they thought this would be worthy of a 20m payout is unbelievable. I now think liquidation is the probable outcome.

[simon gordon] 12/12/2022 10:14

Dr B,

The Dublin and Luxembourg operations have probably the most value. PERACS and Clarus Risk have value. I note that one of the new lawyers left recently and two of the ESG directors in Amsterdam have left. Being a people a business they'll need to act quickly to extract value. Santander are owed a chunk. It's a good opportunity for rivals to poach talented ESG consultants, that division could unravel quickly as Governance has completely failed for an ESG facing business. Possibly the ESG division could be holed below the water line.

Hudson next for the exit, then the Chairman?

[c3479z] 12/12/2022 10:05

ominous, Connell was the CFO, raises the spectre of serious irregularities/fraud....

[dr biotech] 12/12/2022 10:05

Not sure about liquidation. Seems that the over generous LTIP has lead to possibly criminal behaviour and that’s going to affect the adjusted figures more than the statutory figures. The rights issue probably was a rescue issue.

Sell the bits that are profitable and sack the board. Return any funds to shareholders, prosecute those responsible. Won’t happen of course.

[simon gordon] 12/12/2022 09:21

Liquidation?

12/12/22:

Company update and suspension of trading

On 17 October 2022, the Company announced that it was engaged in discussions with its auditors regarding significant potential adjustments in relation to the year-end reporting for FY 2022. This work continues but the Board has become aware of additional issues, including in relation to the reporting of historical trading of the business in relation to FY 2022, the full impact of which is unclear. Pending clarification of these matters, the Group has applied to suspend trading of the Company's ordinary shares on AIM, which will be effective before 08.00 a.m. today.

The Company also announces that Peter Connell, who stood down as a Director of the Company on 31 October, has been suspended. The Board has appointed an external accounting and financial services firm to assist them in achieving the necessary clarity to enable the year end FY 2022 reporting to be completed.

The Board no longer believes that the Company's audit will be complete before the end of December 2022.

[dr biotech] 09/12/2022 15:17

Not sure who’d buy it. I’m sure some parts of the company are decent, but who’d trust the accounts? Hidden liabilities could be lurking anywhere. Wouldn’t surprise me if the 2nd LTIP would vest at any price in a takeover.

Yours for £25m. Oh and another £20m for the execs LTIP.

[dr biotech] 30/11/2022 13:26

2nd LTIP shouldn't pay out. It wouldn't surprise me if they use an "adjusted" LTIP where they lower the price to screw over the shareholders again.

I was using the ADVFN figure for market cap - this hasn't taken into account the new shares issued in what may have been a disguised rescue rights. So 46 less whatever cash they still have. May be a decent company lurking inside, but arms length prod with a stick is required.

[simon gordon] 30/11/2022 13:10

Dr B,

What about the bank loan from Santander?

Net debt was £16m to April 2022.

The £9m they raised has/is being spent.

Market cap is £28.5m at 14p on 203m shares. Add on debt = £46m. Then you've got the two LTIPs lurking.

[dr biotech] 30/11/2022 12:17

Results were this time last year. Its worth bearing in mind that EY also became their auditors around this point and they seem to have taken a tougher line than the last lot over what appears to be dubious manipulation of the adjusted EBITDA.

The key date now could be Dec 12th (I think). Thats the date at which the LTIP pays out if they hit their targets. Given that they haven't been able to release audited figures this year it will be interesting to see if they give any statement as to whether the directors will hit the jackpot at the expense of shareholders or not. Given the lack of transparency over the LTIP and the incompetence over cooking the books I don't hold out a lot of hope.

Market cap is just 23m - if you remove the 9m cash that was recently raised then it leaves about 14m. PE below twice their now discredited "adjusted" EBITDA. Cleary trust in this outfit is almost zero.