GTP...Company explains, page-23

Zwu,

Many conservationists hate GNS with a passion and have done so for some years. Fund managers were targeted on and off for a year in the biggest such campaign in recent years. GTP hardly comes up on the radar screen.

The price jump probably did have a bit to do with the paper Looney listed (which is not dated), but you can't hope to know what other factors were involved without finding out who bought and when I happen to know of one broker who issued a "buy" recommendation to traders a couple of days ago on technical grounds only - any such stock which falls by more than half in such a short time is bound to attract chartists.

PE's are essentially an historical measure, taken over at least a full year. Companies such as GTP normally lose money for the first half and make most of their money in the last few weeks of the financial year (something which everyone has been trying to change and with some success). GTP normally makes the market aware of more formalised results in June. Anyone, especially shareholders, are welcome to ring, email etc listed companies and ask whatever questions they like (although there is a limit to what can be disclosed in private). Last year I repeatedly asked on this forum if anyone could find another ASX company with better fundamentals. No one replied.

My own experience of communicating with this company in various ways is that they are above average in honesty and openness, including for the sector they are in. Comparing them to most of the dot coms, for instance, would be like comparing chalk and cheese. The assets are of high quality, the business is easy to understand and the accounts are quite well presented. If you've found otherwise and the company can't explain, ASIC would no doubt appreciate a call.

GNS is a prospectus based company in that it too is issuing prospectuses on a seemingly regular and increasing basis. The point is that investors aren't normally interested in investing until around about now each year, so income is skewed for GTP and GNS, but obviously more for GTP at the moment. GNS earns most of its money at the moment from non-prospectus sources, including large scale felling of native forests at cheap prices, unlike GTP. They are increasingly being forced to look elsewhere and change their methods.

GTP's share price will continue in the short term at least to be determined far less by PE's etc than most other companies. The dividend situation, the politics, emotion and prospectus income deadlines are some of the reasons why. The company will not know for sure where it stands with earnings until it closes its books (which was mid-June last year). Traditionally, most of the money comes in at the last moment and unless there is over subscription, one simply has to wait ie. there is normally a limit to what "assurance" GTP can give ahead of June. However, the first post indicates sales were well up at one point this year, compared to last year.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the stocks mentioned.