Some light reading from The Age. Ra-ra review email from Molopo
MOLOPO Energy chairman Greg Lewin sent a ''first 150 days'' letter around to investors last week - the sort of review normally given to politicians after assuming office. In Molopo's case, Lewin was probably justified given that he only acquired the chairmanship after a hard fought, and sometimes bitter, campaign to oust the previous board. The shake-up was led by Melbourne property developer Max Beck, who is now a non-executive director. Lewin's opening paragraph of the newsletter had all the right phrases for a certain form of bingo - like ''intense activity and change'', ''clear blueprint for the future'' and ''vigorously enacted''. Cynics though just point to the share price, which finished at 77.5c last week compared with the $1.05 level they were at in mid-February when the new board rode into town on its reform wagon. Market conditions can be blamed for part of the fall, but Insider reckons that the real problem is a lack of obvious change. Perhaps the upcoming exploratory drilling programs will help. Certainly the share buyback program does not seem to have put a floor under the price. Molopo has spent close to $4 million of its $106 million in cash repurchasing stock. It also has a stake in Canada's Legacy Oil & Gas, although that has fallen significantly in value but is still worth about $70 million. That means Molopo's market worth of $192 million has a gap of only $20 million or so between hard assets and upside for its activities - which to Insider's thinking is probably undervaluing them, even though the drilling program will eat into the cash reserves.
