I must say, I was astonished that a former director would publicly make such sensational subjective remarks:
I think the Board has made a series of blunders very recently, particularly in relation to the acquisition of the McPhillamys and also the other investment, Tropicana.
And my fear is - my fear is and from what I'm hearing from the Board now is that you're going to exacerbate those mistakes.
RRL SP declined more sharply than its peers’ since the AGM. These assertions have certainly counteracted the positive outcomes announced in the Biannual Exploration Results and AGM Presentation.
Mr Rose remarked that the acquisition of McPhillamys (9 years ago in 2012) was one of the Board’s recent blunders. However, the fact is that all current board members were appointed after 2015 (https://www.marketindex.com.au/asx/rrl).
Regis issued 35,714,286 ordinary fully paid shares (@ $4.20/share, totalling $150 m) in consideration for the McPhillamys Gold Project. That was less than 8% dilution to shareholders at that time with no cash outlay for purchasing a 2 Moz reserve.
@thecrabpest, the company indeed could spend $70 m to buy-back those 35,714,286 shares on market now @ around $1.7 - $2. Once the project is approved, it is not impossible to raise 150 m by an institutional placement @ $4.2/share (or more) to partially fund the development.
Due to delays and uncertainties in obtaining an approval, the McPhillamy project has long been excluded from RRL valuation by the market practically since 2014. We can hardly blame it for where the SP is now. In fact, RRL SP peaked close to $6 in Jul 20 when we had less certainty about the approval than what we have now (about 20:35 to 23:50).
The value of McPhillamy will eventually be judged/recognised by the market once the DFS is finalised, which can potentially lift the SP substantially. It was entirely inappropriate for Mr Rose to make unsubstantiated presumptions ahead of DFS.
“And I'm presuming that's going to be a very, very substantial investment …… I think it's terribly important that you don't exacerbate the problem, particularly at McPhillamys and that is getting into a long, costly exercise in developing it where there won't be a dollar return for quite some time into the future”
He should know very well that the Board would make investment decisions based on the DFS rather than anyone else's crystal ball. Nonetheless, using the AGM platform, he pushed his underlying message to the market that the McPhillamy project is a problem instead of value, provoking fears/doubts.
Mr Rose remarked that the acquisition of Tropicana was another one of the Board’s blunders: “You've probably paid a $1 for something that's currently valued at about $0.60 at the present moment”.
Although it is a widely circulated view that Regis overpaid for Tropicana, recent M&A cases in the gold sector suggested that RRL did not pay too much for the asset. The exploration results affirm that Tropicana “was definitely the right investment for us to make, and it will prove to be valuable many, many years into the future, well beyond what people give it credit for.”
According to his LinkIn profile, Mr Marcus H. Rose was a part-time non-executive director at Regis from 2003 to 2007. He is currently the executive chairman of Concept Financial Services Group (CFSG). It is surprising that an experienced company director does not look beyond very short-term market fluctuations to assess the value of a strategic asset.
Anyone think Regis overpaid for Tropicana should ask themselves:
What position will Regis be in now if it did not acquire a productive asset that can instantly generate cash flow at the time it did?
Was there an equally suitable asset with a lower price tag available at that time?
Is it worthwhile for Regis to risk losing the Tropicana deal and wait for a better deal?
Regis possess many attractive qualities:
Quality of a stable income earner, being a top-end mid-tier dividend paying producer
Quality of a growth stock as demonstrated in the Biannual Exploration Results
Quality of a speculative stock given the imminent approval of McPhillamy
These qualities also attract all kinds of predators and make the SP more susceptible to manipulations.
The best response from the board members to Mr Rose’s remarks would be BUYING RRL SHARES ON MARKET NOW.
(20min delay)