Quintis vows it will survive crisis

... In his first media interview since taking over the helm of Quintis after its shares crashed 80 per cent in two months following a damning report in March by short-seller Glaucus, new chief executive Julius Matthys said the company remained fully functional and operational.
Speaking in the East Kimberley town of Kununurra where Quintis — formerly trading as TFS Corp until early this year — has more than 4000ha of sandalwood plantations, 35 employees, a timber processing plant and a tree nursery factory, Matthys questioned how the company could be considered worthless and without assets.
“No one is farming sandalwood trees around the world like we are doing, of the size we are, and for the time we have been growing them,” said Matthys.
“We have a fantastic product, lots of committed employees, a great deal of intellectual property (IP) about how you get sandalwood trees to grow, and promising markets.
“If we can move through this recapitalisation process and come out the other side, I think we can prove that the sandalwood business can still be profitable for investors, shareholders and northern Australia.”...

...After a good harvest last year of 300kg of heartwood, genetic seedling heartwood yield improvement programs in place and having sold 2800kg of oil in the past few months to US company Young Living for $US3000 per kilogram ($8.4m) — Matthys remains upbeat.
He declines to discuss what he thinks of the catastrophic Glaucus short-selling report. But he does admit “lessons have been learned”, although he remains annoyed at its impact on what he believes is a sound long-term business.
Matthys will not divulge which prospective new owners or companies Quintis is in talks with about recapitalisation. But he is adamant no new debt — the company is already carrying $555m — will be contemplated.
Outsiders suggest asset manager BlackRock, which holds debt and equity in Quintis, is a contender to take over the business, at least in the short term.
Former CEO Wilson appears to be talking to potential partners that would see him reinstated as the business’s boss, while WA businessman and rich-lister Gordon Martin of Coogee Chemicals is reportedly interested in acquiring a sizeable stake.
“Our objective is to recapitalise so we can continue trading as Quintis but with a stronger balance sheet,” Matthys said. “It’s business as usual. We have not laid of any of our staff although there have been some departures who haven’t been replaced.”