Deja vu...
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Actually the NBR appears to have been quoting the presentation which made clear it was merely repeating the last guidance given. It would be nice to hear from anyone who was actually at the meeting obviously.
So, what did we learn from that presentation?
Well, obviously not a lot that we did not already know before, and specifically sales revenue to date.
Is there a plan? Yes, again it was laid out that the idea is to fill in the gaps in the market with a "broader and deeper channel presence". Well, that makes sense and is presumably the plan when multiplied across all markets. The presentation makes it sound like that is only happening in NZ but presumably the intention is to do it everywhere. Well, it makes sense. The company has gained access to the national markets, and then the idea is to increase the market presence.
And they repeated that last year's intention was to "build the business" this year, and then to "grow the business" and "invest in the pipeline" forwards from here. Again sensible stuff.
So we got very little actual news but we did get confirmation that they have chosen their plan and are running with it.
I think we old time investors have two issues going here. Firstly, the company has got very frugal with detailed news. I cannot for the life of me understand why they do that. It makes life difficult for investors. This is a publicly listed company and not a private company.
But, secondly, there appears to have been a major culture shift here. What was a "bold stroke on minimum budget" approach has suddenly been changed to a "large staff big budget micro-planned incremental" approach. Now, I think probably a lot of us early investors were there for the excitement and now the company has changed to the next phase of a large company and the pace seems a lot slower to us, a lot more deliberate.
But it may be that it is us who do not belong here now and not that the company is doing anything wrong. It is a different company now. I certainly am personally finding I am not really bonding with this new approach, but that doesn't mean that anything is actually wrong and maybe it does mean that I do not belong in this new direction.
But then the company is not releasing much news so that people like us find it difficult to exit because the company refuses to actively get involved with market perception. On logical grounds, the company is now a sound investment and yet the company seems disinterested in communicating that to the market.
Anyway, is there a plan? The presentation appeared to say, "Yes there is and this is it, like we said last time. We don't need a loud drum for rapid growth because we believe the incremental mathematical approach will pay off surely over time."
Or that's what I saw, anyway.
I don't know how much longer I will be part of that journey myself, to be honest. The grapevine reports that discussions at the meeting were fairly persistent. (Sorry, I only report things that I can post links to, so I won't be saying more than that, either here or via PM.) It reminds me that things have changed and I ask myself whether as a shareholder I see myself as part of the journey the company is now embarked on. I only just posted that personally I am having difficulty bonding with the new strategy, and I recently posted that I had sold some down anyway.
Most likely the company will be reporting a profit in November, and then bigger profits through next year. But I nevertheless have a feeling that my own time as a Blis shareholder may be drawing near the end sometime. Nothing lasts forever. I've made a profit already, as you say.
ps. The more observant of you will notice that it is July 2017. To your left you will notice that I joined in July 2007. Ten years.
Hi Simla
Maybe we're starting to experience the FE at Blis. What's the FE? It's the "Fonterra Effect".
I'm not a Fonterra holder, don't know much about that company and cant describe what the FE actually might be - but that's where our CEO came from and he must have been influenced by what happens there. Fonterra also does quite bit of manufacturing for BLT.
Does Fonterra have a tight-lipped policy with their shareholders? Maybe - I don't know. One thing I am pretty sure about though, is that Fonterra does know how to employ large numbers of people and pay many of them big bucks. The FE has already been seen in the BLT Board remuneration upgrade - let's hope it doesn't migrate too much further into the overall culture at BLT - at least not until there's a buck or two available for the long-suffering shareholders.
Like you, I'm pretty peeved at the way things are being handled as far as communication with the market is concerned. However the Board does seem to be more confident of delivering a profit this year, even though it hasn't been quantified. And after all the promises of the past, we cant blame Mr Market for sitting on his hands and waiting for some real money to be made. A bit of FE on the bottom line wouldn't be a bad thing!
Regrettably though, we're also having to deal with the RE - the Rachel Effect - "it wont happen overnight but........"
Once again - Patience Grasshopper!
Bonne chance
Pierre
well I felt rather flat after this presentation and even flatter watching the share price dip a bit lower.. It's a shame I was overseas as I definitely would have trekked down to Dunedin to have a listen and get a feel for what is happening. INteresting new products coming along, so good to know that..
What happened to those heady days of 6c!!! :) Come back, all is forgiven.