Personally the only issue I have is with the approach to IR. I say this because I had already left the register once before for the same reason, and do not like being put in a position where, if I were to be completely honest with myself, I would have to admit that still nothing has changed in this regard, and despite the many milestones being reached, the share price unashamedly reflects this.
I have kept a complete history of email exchanges that stretches back to 2013, and without going into detail, issues I raised in my very first email (when shankar madan was MD) have still not been addressed, even though multiple directors have constantly acknowledged a shortcoming there.
6 years is a long time to be attending to shareholder engagement. Plenty of great achievement in that time and yet the share price isn't even 20% of what it was back before all of this, and liquidity isn't even a word than can be used in the same sentence as Alara.
The directors typically use the above as an excuse to focus on results, rather than acknowledge that the real problem is in the delivery.
The worlds first smartphone was released 15 years before the IPhone, but I bet nobody even knew they existed. The first mp3 player was 5 years before the ipod. Hardly the commercial success stories that Apple, the masters of PR, enjoyed.
Fundamentals need to be communicated effectively. There is a great TED talk about the difference between Apple and all it's competitors, and the main premise is that Apple focused on WHY (mission) before WHAT (product), leading to an innovative approach to HOW (operational model) . Lots of people had the same products but few succeeded in capitalizing off them. Apple succeeded in communicating it's story.
Alara needs to address this.
AUQ Price at posting:
2.2¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
