@Crashcourse1. I am positive on the business operations after piecing together tangible quantifiable information that the company has released to the market. Sales numbers, growth numbers etc. I am not optimistic as yet, given this company has a laundry list of failings and is yet to demonstrate a tangible improvement in its financial performance.
2. In my opinion, the Chairman, Norman, is not running the company and he definitely is not in charge, I believe Director Matt Bailey is making the big decisions now. The following are my reasons;
- Norman has not followed through with his commitment on the final placement tranche. "Tranche 5 – 110 million ordinary shares, an investment of A$5,940,000, within 18 months up to 5 March 2020" (FOD 2019 Preliminary Final Report, pg 8)
- Careline has not generated any China sales since the relationship began despite performance shares being written under the subscription deed "Careline is incentivised to rapidly grow Group’s sales through distribution and product expansion from A$35 million to at least A$500 million over the next three to five years via the issue of up to 190 million Performance Shares." (FOD 2019 Preliminary Final Report, pg 8)
- Careline has not met its purchase obligations under the Subscription deed "As part of the proposed distribution agreement, Careline will distribute FOD’s juice, beverage and vitamin products in China, through its growing network of 10,000 daigous. The distribution agreement will contain minimum targets of $20M per annum of additional sales within two years at current Company margins." (FOD 2019 Preliminary Final Report, pg 8)
- The new factory which was prefabricated in China, undoubtedly sourced by Norman, was significantly overdue on completion
- John Florey who was brought in shortly under Norman was fired
- CFO & Director Joe Zhou who was also brought in under Norman has also been fired
- China marketing expenses to date have been excessive for a business that generates zero revenue
- China generated MOU's Sinopec, ICC etc have to date not materialised
- The above failing's of the Chairman has caused reputational damage to FOD's brand and could be seen as misleading to shareholders
- The market release dated 28th July highlights significant operational inefficiencies which were not identified by Normans people (Florey & Zhou)
+ Director Matt Bailey owns over 6% of shares outstanding and has been on the board since 2016. Matt has a strong & successful history in food manufacturing and retailing
+ Minna Rong the other Director has also been on the board since 2016 representing Shenzen Youheng a +7% holder of shares outstanding
+ Matt Bailey and the new CEO Tony Rowlinson have a previous working relationship
+ CEO is hiring his own new senior management such as Nick Stoikos as Commercial Director
+ CEO is conducting a search for a new CFO
+ CEO already demonstating an ability to identify and significantly improve operating margins
+ CEO incentivised through a lucrative option package.
+ Company no longer making "pumping" market announcements
At the end of the day, despite Norman's shareholding, he only controls one of the three seats on the board. FOD has endured almost two years of Norman's broken promises. The Hiring of Tony Rowlinson would have required board majority as would his 40 million options. The significance of the option package says to me that Matt Bailey is tired of Norman's BS and that the only way to fix things is to bring in an operator of Tony's high standard to put the business back on track.
(20min delay)