News: IGO Independence Group Posts Q4 Profit After Tax $30.1 MLN, page-6

I have no easy answer to what they can do now.

What they should have done is not buy Nova, then adjusting for cash they’d have had a third the number of shares on issue, a third the number to feed with new discoveries or acquisitions, and Tropicana is still a pretty good asset, which I suspect will outlast Nova (but who can be sure what nearby discoveries will deliver).

Sometimes it is better for a mining company to simply shrink a bit for a while, paying out the cashflow to shareholders. I want growth per share, not growth per se, from my investments.

If I was still a holder I would be hoping they continued to focus on exploration, and if they did acquisitions that they were small immature assets with great potential, rather than the reverse takeover type activity that got them Nova, just when they were in a position to deliver a long awaited dividend bonanza to shareholders.

Nevertherless (regardless that they grossly overpaid for Nova) I like the assets, but I don’t like the price, and I don’t trust management.