Hi all,I think the reason for the lower than expected take-up...

Hi all,

I think the reason for the lower than expected take-up was because for most of the offer period the SP was 45c, dipping down to 41c in the early part of the final week, making investors nervous that the discount would be non-existent. Also, many are still nervous about further market downturns (re. sub-prime / US economy), and therefore reluctant to part with more money at a low discount. They already had 5 times as much PLT stock as they were being offered, so might have been comfortable with that.

Whilst I was a bit surprised that the take-up was less than expected, I was not disappointed, as it was still more than half, and the main thing is that other investors have committed to take up the remainder, so the company will be fully cashed up.

They have big plans, and many balls in the air, requiring time, resources and plenty of money:
Truscreen:
- 17 distribution deals
- more to come (including Eastern Europe & South America)
- focussing on China (including possible government screening program)
- focussing on India
- production facilities here and O/S
- etc.
Cerviscreen: should be huge, but is the 'new kid on the block', one of 3 companies with the technology, so need to get a good market share ASAP and leverage technological & application advantages before competitors catch up

There is a lot of money to be made by the company, however their technologies won't be applicable forever. They have huge opportunities that they need to take advantage of right now, and not be hampered by lack of funds.

Fortunately it seems this raising will now be a complete success, and I believe it will be their last one, as their income streams should start to pump plenty of cash into their accounts and should accelerate from there.

Also keep in mind they have accumulated losses of $76M, so they won't be worrying about the taxman any time soon! What they earn they keep, for the next couple/few years anyway.

Cheers.

p.s. I'm changing my 'Voluntary Disclosure' to 'hold' ... I'm done buying, unless market downturns provide new opportunities (as mentioned yesterday, I've already got way too many, although I won't be thinking that in a couple of years time no doubt)!