Versarien Share Discussion Threads

[lovat scout] 21/4/2019 11:32

Just to put the ST comments into perspective.

Yes, VRS still has to prove the business model can be commercially successful but given that the management has mostly made all the right moves so far, £200m mkt cap relative to the size of the global opportunity for a market leader seems fine to me.

No, the Share Centre is not a research house as most people would understand the description - their job is to have a skin deep opinion on absolutely everything for the clients on their platform. This isn’t a criticism of AJ Bell as they are providing a DIY platform primarily with a few bells and whistles on top.

Of course VRS is an informed leap of faith for all investors but Cowie is annoyed having spoken to NR that he got his timing wrong, like we all have at some point. There isn’t a City scribbler he can lean on for support yet, so he has to ask someone at a platform who probably had never heard of VRS to come up with a view. The AJ Bell reporter can’t turn down a free mention in the ST so better say something....

AIMHO etc

[matheus7777] 21/4/2019 11:17

Regarding the order situation. Like everyone else here, Im waiting for the orders to start landing. However I allay any concerns about this not happening by evaluating all the other business metrics. We have cash for years in the bank, with a lot more coming if the Chinese government end up buying 15% of the company. Losses were reducing according to the last results, and we are selling product already, a point I think a few seem to forget. The team are making sound relationships with big business and several governments, and Neill has bought into a number of strategic partnerships eg Gnanomat which could be pretty big on their own, never mind being part of a well structured group of complementary businesses. So, we havent had the biggie yet, but Neill is putting every single other business metric into place before our eyes. The final piece of the jigsaw may not be ready, but the other 99% of the pieces are painting a pretty clear picture

[superg1] 21/4/2019 10:59

re

'I’d like to know why those here with no worries on the order front have no worries'

Quite simply because we do our own research and it's pretty damn clear in news too.
Plenty has been provided but many simply don't read it.

So many just focus on daily and weekly share price moves instead of looking deeply into the business and who they are talking too.

But them most of those are just around for a quick hit and demand news to sell into.

[superg1] 21/4/2019 10:54

By 2025, more than 50 percent of building materials are expected to contain nanomaterials as more people take benefit of these lighter, stronger, and more energy efficient materials.

Bill Looney, Environment director of AECOM




CNTs as we know were the first to appear but they have never got going because they are like needles embedding themselves into everything.

Graphene platelets it seems the answer.

Quite clearly Aecom intend to use such materials in just about everything they do. The arch is a start or just part of other projects, but it doesn't get anywhere near scratching the surface of what they have planned for the future.

[alchemy] 21/4/2019 10:48

Various. We'll look less "overhyped" with orders, no?I'd like to know why those here with no worries on the order front have no worries. On the M40 yesterday in very very heavy traffic I saw no EVs.On the way back I saw a wholly electric Taxi and a Tesla. I am quite observant of electric vehicles. I saw no Leafs, no Ioniqs.No Jags. David Attenborough would have been appalled. I bet it was like that all over Europe and beyond. So this leads me to : how is our Spanish battery centre going and how is Zap n Go?That Reuter's article on how a Chinese gentleman gave up his EV for a hybrid was telling. I'm off to Islay soon. Yes from London. I wouldn't have range anxiety, but recharge time anxiety and where are the chargers? Yes.I must train myself not to be on edge on long weekends like this.But I am beginning to see the reverse head and shoulders formation .Near term £2 or 2 Guineas better still? I. E. By June 30th ..?

[hoverflyman] 21/4/2019 10:29

Edit: Nice one Super :)

[superg1] 21/4/2019 10:26

And Jeeeez one Aecom person has made a comment that will make your eyes water on the potential. If you look backwards you will find Aecom have been on a nano materials plan for some time.

It seems to me in VRS they have found what they are looking for to take their plans forward.

A comment that they expect half of all building materials to contain nano materials by 2025.

Now trying to imagine the impact that could have on companies like VRS is just completely beyond comprehension.

[superg1] 21/4/2019 10:07

On the Aecom front.

I've started to pick up on some senior names in Aecom talking graphene. Typically the ones involved seem to manage Europe Asia and the Middle East when it comes to the projects and construction.

It gets a mention in the 2019 Asia and Middle East construction handbook too.

EG

With the volume of construction output set to grow by 85 percent to $15.5 trillion by 2030 the engineering and construction (E&C) industry is pivotal to the world economy.

3D printing is another example that is leaking over from the manufacturing industry. 3D printing has been used for some time to create scaled-down prototypes to validate and demonstrate design intent. Now the technology is being taken to the next level, where we are starting to print at one- to-one scale using both traditional construction materials, such as concrete, and non-traditional ones such as graphene-infused polymers.

AECOM allocating budget to invest in the best and brightest ideas from inside and outside the business. Major clients, both government and private, are demanding more digitally-based solutions. The BIM Mandate from Dubai Municipality and the Dubai 3D printing vision are just two recent examples.

[superg1] 21/4/2019 09:59

Churning through AIM companies of interest.

I've finally found some time to look at other AIM companies for the future. Generally I look for undervalued companies with growth and a mismatch with the market. EG one is imo being hit because of its sector which is well known publicly but its niche should not be tarred with the same brush.

Moving on.

You start to note the over-valued HYPE sectors. I use capitals as I'm talking about city funds that latch onto trends. They take the companies to very high market caps. The reason being certain sectors have done well in recent years and those sectors are the old bio type frenzy of many years ago expecting big returns with drug breakthroughs.

One day graphene and advanced materials will be a hot market sector with funds falling over themselves to get in.

VRS is likely be the one to start the recognition of that when those big name contracts start to drop and the graphene concrete foundation start to set.

We keep going on about Aecom but it's great example as they are so well known in the constriction sector worldwide. They are listed as one of the most admired companies in the world. The drive innovation and industry pays attention.

Aecom I suspect (through research) is a lot bigger long term than any of us have grasped.

And when that happens..............

That ignores, Tunghsu (check the recent news), the China growth, South Korea, US, the big sports brands, packaging brands, huge chemical companies, aerospace and on and on.

I'm sure when the curtain goes up many funds will be wonder how the hell they completely missed the sector.

[ellissj] 21/4/2019 09:09

Putting it into context, here is the beginning of cowies article in the ST you can see beyond the paywall. Clearly, he is working an easter 'resurrection' theme, and looks at 6 shares he is currently underwater with - and that his readers might be too having followed his tips. As usual, per axs post, he describes his vrs holding as modest - thus absolving himself of blame if readers piled in. He offers hope of redemption - but chooses to balance that with analyst comment which offers no surprises, and which suggests he shares his readers anguish at being 26% under. Of course, cowie doesn't mention the general travails of the market - the declines to xmas and bounce - since he bought, which has affected all shares, but especially vrs as miton sold out. Didn't cowie speak to gervais before buying who at the time said he was holding? Oh well, that's life - "can't win em all" he says to his readers. Job done, readers expectations managed ! But Christ, cowie has only held for 7/8 months. I was underwater for 6 months when i first bought vrs. Patience reqd ian. neill and co working to a plan. Pieces of the jigsaw appearing. The story grows exponentially, as does the opportunity. Truth is, he is still holding ! Aimo. Best ellis.


'One share has sunk without trace. Now I’m hoping for a resurrection.'

"My stake in Braemar Shipping has plunged ingloriously, but all investors should expect the odd clanger."

Ian Cowie

April 21 2019, 12:01am, The Sunday Times


'Ian Cowie’s shares in Braemar Shipping’s have suffered, as have those in Vodafone, Versarien and Dignity, but dividends have proved some consolation.'

"Easter Sunday is as good a time as any to hope for resurrection, and this DIY investor can always dream that bright ideas which seem to have died a death might spring to life again eventually. Sad to say, there is no sign of that yet among the worst of Cowie’s clangers — shares I hold that have lost 10% or more of their value.

Despite global stock markets enjoying their longest bull run, or period of rising prices, on record, my “forever” fund still contains six stonking stinkers. Laugh if you like, but the unvarnished truth is that you can’t win them all and every portfolio will contain some losers. So, without further ado, here they are.

Braemar Shipping has proved my barmiest idea…"

[dgduncan] 21/4/2019 08:37

I think Ian is on the fence at the moment but he is more pro VRS than not as he has already bought some shares. Unfortunately bought at the wrong time but this will change.

Dan Coatsworth has probably not taken the time to analyse VRS to the same extent as Ian has because it is 'at the other end of the corporate scale'. Ian tends to analyse fully before he writes. On the face of it Dan is stating facts but has not taken the time to get to know the VRS management. That is where the difference is.

[boilingfrog] 21/4/2019 08:20

axotyl - hopefully revenues are just about to appear, and we know something Dan Coatsworth doesn't. He's right though - they ahve more than enough deals, now they need to start commercialising them as a matter of absolute priority.

[axotyl] 21/4/2019 07:51

Grab - you'll probably be displeased by the comments of an analyst who possibly hasn't bothered with the relevant background research:

Cowie: '...At the other end of the corporate scale sits Versarien, a Cheltenham-based technology tiddler that hopes to commercialise graphene, a wonder material first isolated in Manchester. It’s down 26%. I would love to believe my modest investment might help British industry capitalise on world-leading technology but Dan Coatsworth, an analyst at the online platform AJ Bell, was sceptical.

He said: “Versarien is a classic overhyped small company where retail investors rushed to own shares for fear of missing out. While it has signed oodles of partnership deals, the key ingredient missing is turning these agreements into substantial revenue"...'
S-Times, 21apr19

[nopedigree] 21/4/2019 07:41

Hi Mike Brenner, your top class write ups on the stocko site are now behind a pay wall, are they available anywhere else and if so could sg put a new link in the header?

They are very useful to send newcomers to.

Regards.

NoPedigree

[grabster] 21/4/2019 06:41

Ian Cowie in the Sunday Times today - commenting on his shareholding in Versarien. But I can't access. Would I be pleased or displeased if I could see what he says?

[davidosh] 20/4/2019 21:06

Just to mention that Neill Ricketts has accepted an invitation from Mello to appear on a specialist panel at Mello2019 in London on Friday 17th May which will be looking at the reasons why stocks are not valued correctly and do not seem to be the right price?

The panel will engage in serious discussion over a one hour session and include a well known City analyst, a broker, a financial PR, a highly respected investor and a fund manager. Two other stocks will be discussed and the CEO or board member from each company is taking part.

This will not be a light hearted session as the aim is to understand why certain stocks fluctuate wildly in price or never get anywhere near what a reasonable valuation should be if the brokers have their research correct ? It should be useful and informative. Mello is an event created by investors, run by investors and most certainly for investors. It is a ticket only event.

If you would like to come and meet and speak with Neill at the event and watch this panel session it will take place in the early afternoon at Mello2019 held in Chiswick, London W4 and further details here



If you want discounted tickets to attend then the best code to use is ADVFN30 and you will get 30% off the one or two day prices

[ellissj] 20/4/2019 20:36

Opportunities for vrs 2D materials here in ukri projects imo. And a wonderful post john. Atb ellis

'transforming construction challenge?'

"This challenge aims to transform the construction sector – enabling it to produce safe, healthy, efficient building using the latest digital manufacturing techniques. This will enable us to meet the UK’s national infrastructure programme target of £650 billion worth of projects by 2025.

The challenge will support industry in adopting technologies and help buildings to be constructed 50% faster, 33% cheaper and with half the lifetime carbon emissions.

Government is looking to industry and researchers to innovate in construction, increase productivity across the UK and open up significant global markets for efficient buildings."

[ellissj] 20/4/2019 18:36

More on retrofit here. Opportunities for 2D materials imo. Best ellis

The first step ;is to bring down costs by scaling up the number of deep retrofits.  

'Innovation and opportunity.'

'Overcoming these barriers will require innovation.'

"We will need new materials and components. Better insulation, higher efficiency Photovoltaics (PV)/solar, better heat pumps, new types of doors and windows, and building control systems that work on the domestic scale. 

We will need new design and construction techniques that cut costs and reduce time. Mass customised off-site manufactured components, like wall panels and ;roofs, that can be quickly installed without the use of scaffolding..." ;

[ellissj] 20/4/2019 18:15

Vrs 2D materials could help here providing Eco solutions imo re this catapault blog. Glalth. Best ellis

Blog - Transforming Housing Construction.

"The UK Government has an aim to increase home building from the current levels of just over 200,000 to 300,000 per year. In this week’s guest blog in our Future of Housing series, Mike Pitts, Deputy Challenge Director at Innovate UK, says new digital manufacturing technologies can help meet the productivity challenge and deliver higher quality, energy-efficient buildings at the same time.

Construction is labour intensive. It relies on the availability of skilled workers, and these are in decline due to the age profile of the workforce and the reliance on migrant labour, mainly from the EU. To boost production, the sector needs to adopt more productive methods of constructing houses.

Those methods may also help with quality issues. Can you imagine making cars by delivering the raw materials to your driveway and then getting a succession of skilled labourers to come and carry out their specific role in turning them into parts before assembling a whole car? This is the way we make homes. The inefficiency of doing everything onsite is clear. For every house that is completed, on average seven tonnes of waste is produced, much of which is brought to the site and then discarded without ever being used. This also affects quality. Buildings that don’t perform as expected, and/or need extension work after supposed completion, are common.

The Transforming Construction programme, under the government’s Industrial Strategy, is setting out to tackle issues like this and accelerate the adoption of the kind of digital manufacturing practices that have transformed other sectors including aerospace and automotive. The programme is managed by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and is the biggest public investment in construction innovation for a generation.

Beyond energy efficiency

The programme is already funding activities with both small and large housebuilders, helping them to work with digital design, project and building monitoring, and the factory production of building parts. This expedites onsite work, boosts build quality, and creates new jobs in the process. Better made homes will require less energy to run, but we want to go further than that. We want to make it easier and cheaper to incorporate energy generation technologies into a building, effectively turning your home into a power station; raising the prospect of no energy bills, payment for excess energy, or free refuelling of your electric car.

That’s all fine for new buildings you might say, but what about the existing housing stock that is energy inefficient and uncomfortable to live in? The term used for upgrading the insulation and energy technology of old buildings is ‘retrofit’. A lot of work has been done to show retrofit is technically possible for UK homes and is happening at scale in other countries. For retrofit to be achievable at a cost that is mitigated by energy savings, it must happen at scale, in an organised manufacturing-led way. As a future innovation programme, we envisage a large-scale scheme that would bring together the retrofit supply chain and involve landlords proactively seeking to upgrade their stock. This could achieve the critical mass required to bring down the cost and increase the scale at which retrofit happens. To that end, we are keen to hear from industry and landlords who want to combine their plans with this potential major programme.

In order to do this, and encourage innovation in the construction sector, we’ve set up the Transforming Construction challenge. We want to see the industry producing safe, healthy, efficient houses using the latest digital manufacturing techniques. This approach will help us meet the UK’s national infrastructure programme target of £650 billion worth of projects by 2025 head-on. Through the challenge, we will be supporting the sector as it adopts new technologies that will ultimately mean buildings are constructed 50% faster, 33% cheaper and with half the lifetime carbon emissions. In order to bring about this change, UKRI is turning to innovative players in industry and research to disrupt construction, increase productivity and open global markets for efficient buildings."

[supernumerary] 20/4/2019 17:21

Fest - you have to remember:

---------------

"Imagination is the only weapon against the war of REALITY?"

Lewis Carroll

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Still there, still all wrong ;¬)

[ellissj] 20/4/2019 16:54

Happy easter neill and co and vrs family. Atb ellis

Neill Ricketts@neillricketts

Happy Easter #vrsfamily

3:25 pm · 20 Apr 2019

[ellissj] 20/4/2019 16:51

Sounds superb impactplayer ! Carry on. Keep up the good work. And well done neill - you got the chap up and running and #winning. Seems to me right time - right place, Holders have a great friend stateside in Patrick. Grateful here. Aimo. Best ellis

ImpactPlayer@Patrick36271795

So fired up...the only word for today is #WINNING getting into that global client that people said "..it can't be done..." guess what... what a way to enter the Easter Holiday..blessed ... time to head home :-)"

[festario] 20/4/2019 15:40

I know styles and customs are different in the US, but is it only me who feels a little queasy when I look at the tweets by Patrick Abbott?He's coming across more of a Spiv than a sales agent for a serious company.