I have not felt motivated to post for a while, partly because I was dismayed watching the debacle of the Company's own ineptitude needlessly destroying shareholder value, partly because there was not really anything tangible to get hold of, and partly because we are entering 'Silly Season' anyway.
That said, at least the result of the General Meeting has given some indication of the disquiet being felt by shareholders, and my bet is that the Board will have taken note. On a quick glance only around 50% of eligible votes were cast, and one would assume that most of the 'management controlled' shares were voted in favour of the resolutions, so the result should send a clear message. This is especially the case if you consider that a couple of the resolutions would have failed if the abstentions were added to the votes against. Then consider that amongst the 50% who did not take part there are substantial shareholders, myself included, who are unhappy but for whatever reason did not make the effort on this occasion. In my case that was simply due to the effort required to go through the nominee process, but if the silly stuff doesn't stop I will certainly vote my shares in the future. So I hope that Management get the message loud and clear that if they fail to look after the interests of all stakeholders then an active shareholder campaign could quite likely upset their fortune cookies. I still believe that the best way to re-engage with shareholders and recover investors' confidence will be to declare a small dividend.
Regardless of all the distractions, the good news is that the underlying indicators are so favourable that it will take gross incompetence to destroy the potential value of this stock. Simply consider that by 2030 we now anticipate a situation in the UK where no new vehicles will be sold with ICE power units. That is only 9 years away, or substantially less time than has passed since the Financial Crisis. So even in a country which would not be considered a large 2-wheeler market, suddenly because everything will have to be electric it will become a huge E2V market in today's terms.
The Worldwide potential is massive, and provided that VMY can get a grip on achieving volume growth (not just toying with line extensions and fancy models) then all the value predictions on this site will be exceeded.
But competition will not stand still, and the large players all know that they need to switch their own production or lose their markets, so VMT has to move really fast to expand its footprint or it will suddenly be side-lined as the big guys take over. Sure it could remain a profitable niche player, but what an extraordinary opportunity would have been missed !
If they can get that growth engine rolling then another manufacturing facility outside China becomes a no-brainer, and I have to say to those that believe VMT is 'safe' because they export from China that they simply do not understand the Regime. VMT Management can have smiley relationships in China today and unwittingly put a foot wrong tomorrow; we should not naively apply Western logic to that scenario.
So, as I wish you all a Happy and Healthy Christmas, there is much to be optimistic about but only if VMT Management is prepared to learn lessons, fix mistakes and seize the moment. It's time to get down and dirty ! Thinking back to the beginning of 2020 my posted prediction for the 31.12.20 SP was 45p, and at that point I would have been so happy with that ! Now we have seen the kind of traction it can get when the stars are properly aligned, and at least you should all take comfort from the fact that no-one on the Board will be happy to cash-in below $1. Maybe my more recent y-e SP prediction of 82p will only be postponed by a month, let's see. Have fun all, hang in there, and for what it's worth I anticipate buying again next week. 2000.
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