Fermiscan Holdings (ASX:FER) is certainly one for the speculative counter with the lowest price Ferret has ever written about.
Even the ASX must admit the share price doesn't come much lower.
On February 6 the ASX queried the company over a rise in the share price from 1.6c to 2.2c, and an increase in volume, but in a response signed by chairman Robert Whitton, Fermiscan said it couldn't explain the 50 per cent jump.
Last year the Board indicated that it intended reviewing other business opportunities, in addition to continuing the company's main business focus, and that some capital could be apportioned to this.
The Board determined that the strong future mining services industry presented a number of opportunities and as a first step in this process a wholly owned subsidiary, FHL Mining Services Pty Ltd, had been incorporated and Giuseppe Leone has been engaged as a consultant via the new subsidiary to review potential opportunities.
Mr Leone has over 15 years financial experience in non mechanical industrial services for the oil and gas, power generation, chemical, minerals and mining sectors.
These services were provided direct to blue-chip plant owners as well as major engineering and construction contractors.
SHARE PRICE MOVEMENTS
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Shares of Fermiscan Holdings are on hold at 2.1c. Rolling high for the year is 3.6c and low 1c. According to the ASX the company now has 657.3 million shares and a large swag of options on issue while market cap is $13.8 million.
In January the company announced that director Dick Wright has been appointed as managing director.
The Board said Mr Wright's appointment will further strengthen efforts in identifying opportunities in the resources sector for FHL Mining Services.
Mr Wright is one of Australia's most experienced and respected leaders in mining and oil and gas development and began his career as a mechanical engineer in Australia's mining heartland of Broken Hill.
He has started, grown, steered and governed a wide range of both public and private projects and has significant international experience working alongside industry leaders.
Mr Leone has been appointed as operating officer.
Partnering with operations, Mr Leone contributed to the profitable growth across the region in a period that also saw a significant growth in personnel as well as breaking into new territories such as Papua New Guinea, Timor Leste and New Caledonia.
Should the company find a specific entity in the mining services sector to acquire, or conduct a significant capital raising in connection with the mining services sector, the company will be required to seek shareholder approval.
In this calendar year, the shares have run up from from 1.5c to 3.2c.
A number of factors point to a capital restructure to transform the company into a new entity by lifting the shares to a level where a corporate restructure is possible.
In recent disclosures of corporate changes, the Richard Wright family super fund recently bought 107,142,857 million shares and 25 million options for a total of $387,500.
The Wright Super Fund how holds 128,571,428 million shares.
BACKGROUND
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Fermiscan Holdings Ltd can trace its origins back to 1969.
The company has built an international business specialising in early detection technologies for improved health outcomes.
Late last year the company decided to venture into the mining sector and recruited some names with proven mine expertise and experience.
In the bio-tech operation there are two major businesses - the Fermiscan Test which is the commercialisation of a world-first non-invasive and simple breast cancer screening for women of all ages.
The Fermiscan Test is based on the breakthrough discovery by an Australian scientist that the presence of breast cancer is associated with a change in the structure of hair.
This structural change is detected by the technique of X-ray diffraction using an intense X-ray beam generated from a synchrotron.
The Fermiscan Test has the potential to provide a fast and accurate adjunct to existing technologies for the detection of breast cancer in women of all ages.
The recently completed validation trial (2,009 patients) demonstrated a high level of overall accuracy, and generally showed that the test performed better in younger women.
In recognition of its global commercial potential Fermiscan was named 'Australian Innovator of the Year 2008' at the Austrade-sponsored annual 'Innovation Day Shoot Out' competition in New York in January 2008.
The Shoot Out is a national showcase promoting Australia's leading research and technology companies to the US market.
ENDS !END
I hold.
FER Price at posting:
2.1¢ Sentiment: LT Buy Disclosure: Held
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