BLT - Blis Technologies

[Bobcat.]

Is this a moment to be looked at seriously? Or, as you say, "a bit ho-hum", nothing to see here?

The trouble is, of course, that we are not reading this in isolation, but framing it with knowledge of years of slow progress. Is that help or hinderance?

I am a holder, Simla, and agree that BLT is in better shape than it was a year ago. By 'ho-hum', I'm meaning there's nothing in their latest report to make me
a) want to sell, or
b) want to buy more.

I'll sit on what I have until we get the next update (next month all going well).

[winner69]

Looks like the good old same old, same old from here. Still talking, doing no walking.

Question is, how much is everyone ready to stump up in the inevitable next capital raising? I'd be wanting results and answers, many years ago to be precise, much more than excuses right now if I was a shareholder.

A solid 1 cent by July.

I'll go back to my cave now that no one wants me on here. Guess the reading is sobering enough...

You entitled to your view mate.

Is the never ending story eh

Wonder if fellow Dunedin based outfit PEB will end up the same

[simla]

I'll go back to my cave now that no one wants me on here.

Nil desperandum, Moosie

[Harvey Specter]

Looks like the good old same old, same old from here. Still talking, doing no walking.

Question is, how much is everyone ready to stump up in the inevitable next capital raising? I'd be wanting results and answers, many years ago to be precise, much more than excuses right now if I was a shareholder.

A solid 1 cent by July.

They are actually making progress on their new strategy.

Cash burn was $1.2m and they have $3m in the bank so hopefully they will be cash flow positive before they run out of cash.

[brucey09]

Snrs.
Can any person say if k12 is good for as you say flues.?

[Rego55]

Snrs.
Can any person say if k12 is good for as you say flues.?

My understanding is that Blis is not effective against the flu. The reason for this being that it works more like an antibacterial and the flu is a virus. You need an antiviral to attack the flu specifically. Having said that, my own anecdotal evidence and perhaps that of others suggests that Blis K12 creates an inhospitable environment to harmful bacteria. Whether or not this environment and the subsequent quality of one's immune system aids in the prevention of other non-related illnesses is debatable but I like to think it helps. I personally have blitzed K12 when I have felt something coming on like a sore throat / common cold and and it has worked. The four or five people I've got onto it here in Chch are now also firm believers in its worth.

[simla]

I forgot to express my thanks to the company for another mountain of work. There's the good and the bad in the last results, as there has been before, but this company continues to eat through a large challenge.

On the bad side, the future still seems to be exposed to Chinese accreditation in the shorter term, is having current legal difficulties in the US, and has yet to build up a really solid ingredients revenue stream.

Well, it's hardly their fault that the Chinese have cracked down incredibly hard on dairy suddenly, and which has caught the entire dairy industry by surprise world-wide. But they sure as heck are obviously working very industriously to get through the hoops, and we know that the quality of their factory will be excellent because Blis has very high technological standards. We don't know much about the US legal problem, but again we know that they have been toiling hard over it, and we also know that probiotics are constantly under siege from regulations for some unfathomable reason, so we can't be hugely surprised anyway. (And if you are ultimately right, Moosie, that this company will always be struggling, then it will certainly be because of the constant legal hurdles and not because this company lacks will power or skill.)

And the revenue stream problem is again something they are obviously toiling incredibly hard over constantly. The biggest upheaval for the company over the last few years has been the change of distributor. This appears to have set the company back two or three years, and involved a lot of cost. I imagine that is what we have seen in the recent issues. We might reasonably assume, however, that the change of distributor was done in the hope of higher revenues long term. Certainly I've heard anecdotal evidence elsewhere that startups almost inevitably change distributors once it becomes clear that the initial distributor underestimated the intended scale of the startup, and that such changeovers are always painful.

But the revenue stream is also on the good side for the last results. Firstly, the company is obviously getting pretty comfortable with the new distributor - and what a relief that is, if you imagine the alternative of all that cost and then still not liking the outcome. Secondly, they seem to have a few markets that are safely in their pockets and growing healthily. Safe access to Europe and half of Asia is hardly a bad starting point, even if life remains difficult in America and China. And even there, they appear to have lozenge access to China anyway, and that appears to be kicking off even now. And, thirdly, the sales in NZ are still growing well. I have always assumed that NZ sales represent what is possible in other markets. If Blis can replicate that scale even in just Europe, Japan and Taiwan, then things will still work out pretty well by my maths, never mind what happens in other countries or with food-based sales.

And there are other things on the positive side. The company has over $3m in the bank, which would seem to be enough for years to come if sales continue to grow at any half-decent rate, unless they feel the need to invest heavily, but which presumably would be based on sales growth anyway. The product itself continues to gain reputation world wide, as is quite evident in internet searches. Lots of places discuss K12 and M18 now, places that are not business associates of Blis. And, very importantly, the company has successfully shepherded the product to being useful for things like yoghurt, which has required an enormous technological push (read about encapsulation alone some time, let alone shelf life of probiotics) as well as finding business partners (which we are yet to hear a lot about, but which appear to exist.) On top of which the company continues to turn out top-notch research and development, continues to administer a listed company, and continues to find efficiencies and procedural improvements (the cost of goods sold appears to have got better every year for a few years now, as I read it.) And they continue to push through the enormous field of patents, which is clearly a mine-field to deal with internationally. And all on a limited budget.

And also the company seems to be building up a list of useful business partners. They have several international partners who seem to be actively pushing Blis now, and things are heating up in NZ too. (I think we must assume they are getting to know their lawyers pretty well too now, since probiotics seem to live in a sea of legal proscription!)

And not to miss the most obvious good news of all: with reasonable luck, they hope to gain operating profit soon. Essentially that statement boils down to this: "Everything we have been doing is coming together. Our efforts at building international distribution are showing signs of solidity; we have gained access to most markets in the world that we want now; our technology is pretty good; our understanding of the legal situation just gets deeper and deeper; we have other organisations at our side."

Yes, the situation remains in doubt. But even there, just how much doubt is there? If China does not agree to dairy accreditation, then the lozenges seem to be okay in China anyway. And presumably they can still sell food products elsewhere in the world regardless with some reconfiguration of approach. And if the US does not sort out, then let's be honest that sales there are presently not very high so at least the revenue can't actually plunge on the back of it!

All that's just my opinion, naturally. There is still the potential for operating profit to be a while yet, but the odds are looking a lot better for them now regardless of any coming set backs. As I say, just my opinion.

Anyway, we can only wait to see what happens next. But I have no problems thanking the company for all the hard work that has gone on for yet another year. I am definitely very grateful to them, and to all their business partners.

[simla]

I've been trying to figure out why Blis keep mentioning Malaysia, as the combination doesn't show up much on the net. Yet the last report said "Ingredient sales in Asia have shown significant growth, with major markets being Japan, Taiwan and Malaysia." (p5) and "technical work [on] new BLIS M18 lozenge and gum products for ASEAN IV countries (Malaysia region)" p7

This may be a clue. Oralbiotix K12 is from BIO-LIFE in Malaysia. BIO-LIFE appear to be owned by DKSH, a Swiss firm with turnover of about $9 billion, who describe BIO-LIFE as the leading vitamin and health supplements provider in Malaysia. Here's another blurb saying, "With such a proud history in natural healthcare and as a leading brand platform in a key Southeast Asian market like Malaysia, BiO-LiFE was chosen in 2010 by DKSH to be the spearhead brand for a pan-Asian expansion in the group’s vitamin and dietary supplement business expansion and growing towards becoming the leader in evidence-based, natural healthcare solutions across Asia."

Here's a press release by another probiotic firm about their deal with the company, who chose them because "The BiO-LiFE brand has a very successful track record of promoting clinically proven Probiotic supplements." "We look forward to growing our brand with the support of BiO-LiFE in Malaysia and other countries in the region."

All just guess work. But they definitely have a Blis product at least. (Malaysia has a population of "only" 29 million, but add in the other SE Asian countries and it pops over half a billion.)

On another note, the last report said, "The delay in full accreditation is due to additional audit requirements imposed to ensure access to the Chinese market [and complexity]". p5. Ensure? Read literally, this may mean they are already set for export elsewhere but delayed to gain the ADDITIONAL requirements for China, in which case the other markets could be ready to roll regardless? Or it may not mean that at all.

I also noted the sentence, "in the last six months further progress has been made in conjunction with Stratum Nutrition, Asia Pacific Partners and NZPR Group in advancing the plans of product formulators and distributors to launch [Blis products]. As a consequence, we anticipate ingredient sales to increase materially in the neutraceutical sector." p4 The sentence doesn't seem to me to relate to anything else in the report in particular, so maybe something useful is on the boil?

So possibly there was a little more good news hidden in the report than was obvious. You always have to read the Blis reports carefully, as nothing is ever stressed, nothing is ever repeated,

Or maybe I'm reading into it things that aren't there. Time will tell.

[GR8DAY]

GREAT WORK ONCE AGAIN SIMLA!!.......many thanks for your tireless work. The report and your summaries leaves me with more hope/belief that this BLIS story will (eventually) develop into a story of success....and I dont just mean in a commercial sense but also on a humanity level. (lets not loose sight of this fact). I still believe that one day a multi-national will make a full takeover offer to secure the rights to this WORLD-FIRST bio-technology.....as a food or drink? additive. In fact I cant believe this hasnt happened already at the current low SPrice? Please carry on with your analysis......your'e not just talking to yourself!!

[brucey09]

My understanding is that Blis is not effective against the flu. The reason for this being that it works more like an antibacterial and the flu is a virus. You need an antiviral to attack the flu specifically. Having said that, my own anecdotal evidence and perhaps that of others suggests that Blis K12 creates an inhospitable environment to harmful bacteria. Whether or not this environment and the subsequent quality of one's immune system aids in the prevention of other non-related illnesses is debatable but I like to think it helps. I personally have blitzed K12 when I have felt something coming on like a sore throat / common cold and and it has worked. The four or five people I've got onto it here in Chch are now also firm believers in its worth.

Muchas gracias Snr.
I like you explained. I will be trying from Amazon.