No, I don't think that is on the cards. But they did discuss Sepro and the US market for a few minutes.
I also managed to make it to the AGM today, and like Geoffo, for the most part my impression was positive.
I'll try to relate the various topics brought up in the meeting below as accurately as possible for the benefit of those who couldn't make it. Be aware that I am largely going off memory, and so while I'll try to present an accurate picture, I might have misunderstood or misheard the odd detail.
Institutional Investors: Laurence Freedman mentioned at the start of the meeting that the company had given nearly one hundred presentations to institutional investors in recent months.
Research & Development: He also mentioned that they had been actively developing new products, which included products to treat running water.
Pumping Stations: An explanation was given as to how the shipping-container pumping stations in China worked, and a comment was made that these were going to be deployed in another country in the near future.
China: Currently involved in work worth around $100 million dollars in China, with more in the pipeline.
Pipeline: Laurence Freedman made the point that 'the pipeline' frequently referred to in company announcements was open at both ends: it might go their way, but it could also fall out the other end. Thus, the comment about 'the pipeline of projects worth $A100 million' in the AGM Presentation today needs to be taken with a grain of salt. They might get the full $100 million, or they might end up with nothing.
He also made a comment that the quality of the pipeline had improved lately, and mentioned it had become more common for customers to seek them out.
Acquisitions: Robert Schuitema mentioned that they were looking at buying a stake in some businesses in China, and I got the impression that this was in relation to suppliers of the raw materials used by the company.
International Business: He also admitted that the international side of the business had been underfunded, however, this situation was being rectified.
Asia ex-China: China was currently the only Asian country that the company currently had a presence in, however they were considering a possible move into Korea or Malaysia.
United States: Robert showed a picture of a sumo-wrestler facing off a small child, the inference being that in the US, the sumo-wrestler was alum, and the child was phoslock. He compared the influence of alum in the US to that of 'Big Tobacco', and said alum was most likely responsible for a
mass fish-kill at White Lake, N.C, earlier this year. He mentioned that they were trying to work around the challenges in the US with Sepro.
Patent: Someone asked a question about the patent situation in the US, Robert said that despite some delays, they expected a workable patent in the US soon.
FY 18/19 Revenue Forecast: There was a question about how confident the management were about meeting the $27-30 million dollar target for this financial year, and they stated that $10 million was already in the bag, and they seemed to be very optimistic about the remainder.
Although I generally got a good vibe, one point that I was a little critical about in the presentation was the suggestion that 'Big Alum' was responsible for the lack of traction made by this company in the US market.
I have seen plenty of evidence from the US that, at least in some areas, non-alum alternatives are being considered to combat blue-green algae, for example there is the Nano-Bubble technology mentioned in this
article, which is currently being tested in Florida, or this
algae-eating bacteria, also being tested in the same state. Surely there is no good reason as to why Phoslock shouldn't get a look-in here as well?.
I don't doubt that powerful industries have undue influence in the US, but all the same, I can't help but wonder if that line about 'Big Alum' is sometimes wheeled out by Sepro in an attempt to justify their own inadequacies.
Overall though, based on what I saw at the AGM, I feel somewhat more confident that the company is set to meet the revenue forecasts for this financial year.
(20min delay)
