email to jill some concerns

I will expect some flak from some HC posters, however I believe the following issues need to be addressed.

Good morning Jill,

I understand that you are new in your job at Hardman and I am sorry that I did not get to meet you at the AGM.

As a long term (6 years) shareholder I have been adding to my holdings recently. I must share with you some of my recent concerns. Also as a regular poster to HotCopper I try to keep up to speed with developments. Many of these concerns are shared by other investors.

It seems that just prior to some negative news being released to market the shorters increase. This happens time and time again. After listening to Simon at the AGM I was motivated enough to add to my holdings. Since then despite supposedly upbeat news about Uganda the share price has slid and continues to do so.

After the UK placement shorters short sold about 10 million shares. The price plummeted 15%. Simon says he has been on the phone daily to UK institutions to reassure them. Perhaps he could try to reassure Australian investors why they should not lose faith in the company.

At present there are 11 million shorters. It would seem highly likely that more bad news is just around the corner.
What do they know that the average shareholders do not? I am not naive enough to think that the stockmarket is fair and equitable, but when it becomes painfully obvious that insiders are trading and profiting from information that is not made available to shareholders I am both disappointed and disgusted.

Again and again we the average shareholders are fed to the lions who always seem to know ahead of time what is going to happen.

With the UK placement and subsequent share price plunge, Chinguetti problems and dismal Mauritainian exploration program during the last couple of years Hardman is losing the confidence of the institutions, brokers and long term holders alike.

Are the current crop of geologists working for Woodside and Hardman competent and up to the task?
The 2 wells drilled in the wrong place at Northern Chinguetti and the dismal exploration program during the last 2 years raises some serious doubts. Also their apparent inability to come up with a viable means of retrieving the reported 1 billion barrels of oil at Tiof does not inspire confidence.
I asked Simon this question at the AGM, he made some remark about paying Woodside top dollar for their technical team, laughed and excused himself to get a cup of tea. After that he did not return.

With the compressor failure on the Berge Helene, we are told that it was never commissioned in Singapore. How could this happen? We were constantly told that the upgrade of the Berge Helene was way ahead of schedule and indeed it left Singapore early. Why was the compressor not tested and commissioned? Was it an oversight? These things come back to management not doing their job properly and undermine confidence generally.

At the AGM Simon was very upbeat about Uganda and yet the latest announcement lacks any real substance and the market has responded accordingly. Simon was also excited about the 2 new projects that were to be rubber stamped and announced very shortly.

The AFR article yesterday was scathing over the production problems at Chinguetti and indicated that shutdown may be an option to avoid damage to the reservoir. It also mentioned that some wells were producing water. If this so why has there not been any announcement stating this. There is some speculation that Chinguetti may have to be suspended until rectifications are carried out. This may explain the shorters. Could you or the company please respond to confirm or deny this speculation.

We need true and precise information, not vague statements.

The market needs to regain some confidence in Hardman and the management team before any more damage is done.

I will post you response on HotCopper when I receive it.

Thanks in advance for a meaningful response to these concerns.