A few observations from a remote attendee.
1. Someone asked a question about whether Directors would buy shares on market. The Chairman pointed out the difficulty with blackout periods, but acknowledged the point and made some notes. Directors buying shares with their own money - somewhat of a novel concept, it seems.
2. LOM seems to be taking a 'softly softly' approach with the gatekeepers to the new MIC, which I took to mean the relevant Angolan Minister. Anyone's guess how long that's going to take given the Negotiating Committee has not yet been established.
3. Mothae is still operating and NS suggested was no longer (not currently) a draw on funds for Lucapa. A fortuitous +100 carat type IIA diamond or two would be nice to boost the cash balance and sale prospects at the same time.
4. Not much talk of the share price. I guess not surprising – none of the Directors seemed interested to tackle that subject. I did find some of the voting results a little bewildering – with barely any opposition to the remuneration report, performance rights etc.
5. Lulo SML tenders. It was clarified that the USD $10.1m dividend announced last year was based on income from the previous year, so in effect conditional on future earnings according to the timeline provided in the announcement. Sale proceeds were used to fund operations, pay a significant tax bill, royalties and JV distributions (assumed pro rata). So not so much a delay in the payment(s) to Lucapa, rather delay in having the free cash available.
Hopefully the sale of Mothae will surprise to the upside. It’s definitely a chance – and could restore our share price to a more respectable level.
All IMO etc.
