Versarien Share Discussion Threads

[1teepee] 29/9/2019 09:49

Half way through the financial year

[andy] 29/9/2019 09:48

Shavian,


I think you mean "cash burn", and not "cash flow".

[luckyorange] 29/9/2019 09:35

It is AD631, they have put a hell of a lot of work, miles and hours to get to this point, little do the detractors know lol.

[luckyorange] 29/9/2019 09:35

It is AD631, they have put a hell of a lot of work, miles and hours to get to this point, little do the detractors know lol.

[alchemy] 29/9/2019 09:32

So this next quarter!

[club sandwich] 29/9/2019 09:24

Monday will be exactly three-quarters of the way through what was trailed by both Ricketts and Matt Walker as a ‘mind-blowing&#8217; year. Yet to date - despite the potential growing ever more vast - not a *single* commercially-significant contract has been signed with any company in any sector for any product. The last figures showed very clearly that the total turnover for VRS and all its subsidiaries is <£10m, and increased only very modestly YoY.


I’ll ask again - how do you do that? Even at this very early stage of the 4th industrial revolution how do you operate in sectors worth hundreds of billions of dollars - aerospace, automobiles, composites, rubbers, polymers, transport to name just a few - and NOT manage to pick up some crumbs off the table?


That takes a really special kind of incompetence, that does...

[ad631] 29/9/2019 08:43

'holding cashflow down to £65,000/month, but as the Company gears up for production this is rising to £150-£175,000/month.' - Would love to have a sneak look at VRS' internal growth forecasts. Exciting times.

[shavian] 29/9/2019 08:38

Thanks Lucky

[luckyorange] 29/9/2019 08:37

Thanks Shavian (done) but good to see that they have enough to keep them going for a couple of years on the cash side so no dilution needed prior to the BIGT deal.

Daft time for some to sell but horses for courses lol.

[shavian] 29/9/2019 07:57

Lucky, a humble thank you for repeating my AGM notes. On rereading them I note that I omitted to include any mention of VRS’ financial position. As I cannot edit your post I’d be grateful if you would edit it yourself by adding the following paragraph above the section titled ‘Snippets̵7;

“Finance? The financial position is very adequate for the immediate future. CFO Chris Leigh has been very mean with the money, holding cashflow down to £65,000/month, but as the Company gears up for production this is rising to £150-£175,000/month. Revenue is coming in from test orders of graphene, and the more traditional subsidiaries (AAC Cryoma, Total Carbide and Versarien Technologies Ltd) are contributing positively.”

[My non-AGM note: Total Carbide has relocated to the Westcott Venture Park, now home to UK’s ‘space industries cluster’, which announced later this week that TC was co-operating in the design of rocket motor throat nozzles incorporating Hexotene]

[1teepee] 28/9/2019 22:58

Cheers mr luck

[luckyorange] 28/9/2019 21:24

Just one little snippet from the podcast, there are plenty of others if you listen to it.

"We've gone through the hoops now...the team is very confident that it will be delivered in a short period of time"

[luckyorange] 28/9/2019 21:19

Shavians write up just as a reminder of the AGM (thanks again Shavian

Here's my version of events as I saw them. Please feel free to add or pick holes:

Versarien AGM Summary
1100 hours 24 September 2019
Gloucester Rugby Stadium

Official Business - 20 minutes
All resolutions duly voted and passed including Special Resolution No 6 which was to create an extra 15% of shares additional to the present total to give the board more negotiating flexibility. Curiously, 7% of the proxy votes opposed this; presumably this was an institutional holder seeking to oppose all possible dilution.

Q&A - 1 hour 40 mins
USA update? Our new man in USA is Brian Berney, a Brit well known to Neill Ricketts (NR) has been in post for 3 months and is quietly developing his contacts and those left him by the previous incumbent Patrick Abbott. Lots of enquiries via membership of National Graphene Association (NGA). November will be a busy month of trade shows. In a later question it was confirmed that the earlier order from an oil drilling company was very much ongoing with extensive testing of a VRS masterbatch. Also, in a reference to NED Iain Gray’s absence in Seattle someone asked was he visiting Boeing. This was met with sealed lips and a cheeky grin!

BIGT? No holdups with the BIGT agreement, the deal has just got significantly bigger than originally imagined with more Chinese agencies involved and therefore could not be concluded pre-AGM as had been originally hoped. There are no worries about the speed. BIGT is not a customer but an enabling agency who will set the tone in China on a National scale, fully backed by the Chinese government. NR said there are other graphene companies in China, but the Chinese have become aware of quality issues with many of them. BIGT is to be the enabling Tier 1 partner, a role similar to GEIC in the UK, with provinces such a Shandong [which includes the possible Jinan factory] are to be Tier 2 partners. NR would not be drawn on a completion date but it seems likely to be soon. Completion of the deal will provide access to much more capital which will make a significant difference to all aspects of company progress. MW added that this is our first overseas expansion and it’s vital to get it right.

Textiles? This is likely to be an early win, because the testing lead time is much less critical than in Automotive and Aerospace. The existing ink-based printing method is simpler but more costly because two processes are required in manufacture. The new infused graphene method just finished testing with Leeds University has been more complex to solve initially but is more promising because it cuts out one whole process and should prove to be cheaper. Customers could produce textiles using graphene from the current 3Ton type of machine set up locally in a container. VRS has the capability to meet current and anticipated orders in textiles. The Innovate UK grant has helped finance proof of scale-up [to 30 tons/year?] and kit will be bought in as orders materialise

AECOM? All seemingly progressing well, as noted in the RNS, with four projects in Middle East and China. Pace of progress in the hands of the HQ of AECOM not VRS where our team is pushing on as hard as it can. AECOM is a consultant not a manufacturer, although they have toyed with the latter role. VRS is the preferred provider for suitable solutions such as the latest development with graphene infused concrete [presumably with 3D printing]. In another question the concrete development was seen as environmentally positive because of the major reduction of CO2 in manufacture. Sustainability will play an increasing role in the future business direction.

Direction of Strategy in Marketing? Last year was all about building up collaborations, this year has been about penetrating international markets (China, USA, Korea, Japan) Next year will be all about promotion [and production]. Marketing group Pinnacle have made a new promotional video which will be on the website; the campaign will be to emphasise the quality of VRS’ graphene The company has just finished a period of scrutiny by HMGov to confirm validity of IP and its unique quality. All now done, so full sales and tech support now available including links to foreign governments. Dr Martin Kemp is away representing VRS at Graphene Week [in Strasbourg - Europe’s leading graphene conference sponsored by the EU’s Graphene Flagship]

Relationship with UoM/GEIC? Lots of politics swirling around Manchester, and the University is a shareholder so cannot be seen to prefer VRS over competitors [which explains a lot of critical comment on the ADVFN thread]. However, NR has a great relationship with James Baker. Lots of approaches from other Unis all over the world.


“Finance? The financial position is very adequate for the immediate future. CFO Chris Leigh has been very mean with the money, holding cashflow down to £65,000/month, but as the Company gears up for production this is rising to £150-£175,000/month. Revenue is coming in from test orders of graphene, and the more traditional subsidiaries (AAC Cyroma, Total Carbide and Versarien Technologies Ltd) are contributing positively.”

[My non-AGM note: Total Carbide has relocated to the Westcott Venture Park, now home to UK’s ‘space industries cluster’, which announced later this week that TC was co-operating in the design of rocket motor throat nozzles incorporating Hexotene]

Snippets:
• Tyres not one of the 5 areas of focus because tyre manufacturers are not incentivised for long tyre life – this may change as competition takes hold. VRS has 3 orders from 2 tyre manufacturers, with test dispersions under way
• Batteries are also not among the 5 areas of focus, because of the long lead time in development. However Gnanomat is going well, more as a research company in supercapacitors [which may be the next big thing with EVs]
• The packaging company collaboration has taken more time than anticipated because the scope is now much bigger, having moved downstream into different divisions of the group
• Team Sky was bought by Ineos following a ‘little local medical difficulty’ - progress now resuming but VRS is already in contact with Ineos in other areas.
• Hexotene being made in Cheltenham using the earlier production kit. Not a prime focus, being developed in the background
• AAC business picked up well following a dull period. Management culture is adapting to the world of graphene and polygrene applications. One senses that this has taken a while to achieve
• MW spoke about Korea and Japan, where he has been several times this year. Our local consultant in S Korea is engaging with several major manufacturers and supply chain companies. Japan is a slower market and graphene is not so well understood. NR shut him up on a point concerning provincial governments in Japan
• New NED Susan Bowen introduced herself saying she had a very clear strategy of keeping the CEO on the right lines and making sure he knows which of his 3 hats he’s wearing at any given moment!
• VRS always on the lookout for expansion possibilities including M&A, looking further up the supply chain. The team is pushing business on every possible front. The company is succeeding by not trying to do the same as everybody else.
• The share price is irrelevant to NR most of the time, highly dependent on newsflow. There is not much of a ‘free float’ of shares so NR is on the hunt for the right strategic investors, who ‘get it’.

[luckyorange] 28/9/2019 20:34

Gloating is his business Germanicus lol, but you are right it doesn't matter one little bit . We have seen the transfer of shares many times on VRS and those picking them up will be invested for as long as it takes I'm sure.

It is more than one selling Ash you are right, as in the past we have seen similar situations and once they are gone they are gone and we know what happens next. My impression of the RNS prior to and the comments from the AGM is that everything has moved along apace and reaching an inflection point.

I would suggest that those who have the time to listen to the podcast do so again as it is the best and most comfortable that I have heard Neill take part in without the usual interruption and redirection that Justin normally likes to do

[ashehzi] 28/9/2019 20:16

Germanicus, I only added his name to the list of such investors as he admits openly. Surely, there are many who are doing it but don't admit. That is OK and that makes the market.

[ashehzi] 28/9/2019 20:16

Germanicus, I only added his name to the list of such investors as he admits openly. Surely, there are many who are doing it but don't admit. That is OK and that makes the market.

[ashehzi] 28/9/2019 18:48

The other day I spoke to IG to see if vrs is being shorted. The support person spoke to their brokers and told me that no more shorts on vrs are available as all have been taken up and broker isn't willing to lend any more. On checking IG site, I found it standing at 25% clients of IG are short while 75% are long. This is one part.

The other is sellers like Fest, as admitted by him, and the likes who have big holdings and are less investors and more day or short timeframe traders. Volumes have been low and because of no demand, share price has been hammered by such sellers. Such postion holders become the market and dictate the terms unfortunately.

Moreover, I'm interested to see in next week or so to find out if fund/s are still accumulating.

[ewads] 28/9/2019 18:34

Markster66 - added to the ever growing filter

[luckykids] 28/9/2019 18:30

One thing nobody can accuse Fest of is talking VRS up whilst selling, in fact probably the opposite.But the decline in VRS is probably more to his selling than anything else. So whilst he believes he has called it right it probably is mostly to do with him. (That's if really had a million vrs)