This company has had some issues but is at a marked low in terms...

This company has had some issues but is at a marked low in terms of sentiment and stock price.

First the company is majority held by Jeff Cheetham, which locks out any takeovers, and some of his relatives work in the business in fairly senior positions. The annual reports show that those employed family members who are not required to disclose their shareholdings (i.e. non-directors) have previously sold with remarkable prescience.

Second, there was a debacle with the quality of batteries for their LED curing lights in around 2006 which damaged their reputation.

Third, the company is always raving about its new products (glass ionomer cements) but cant seem to sell many of these. Roughly 50% of sales is low margin amalgam and 20% is tooth whitening.

Fourth, the current first half produced a loss as a result of greater expenditure on marketing (finally the company has seen what the real problem is and is adressing it). I would expect that if sales of new products are to increase they will need to do more free hand-outs of product, like those recently announced, and target dentists in training and new graduates.

Fifth, this company took a long time to communicate honestly with shareholders regarding their problems and you really need to "read between the lines" with their anouncements.

Hopefully the company will put some runs on the board over the next two years and this should improve sentiment and the stock price. Probably a stock for those with patience.