vti on aim 21 june

Nissen, too old, too greedy, makes space for new blood, good
not many days left to get set at current prices
holders to buy shades, future is bright

Price: 29.5 (21JUN)
Chg (%): 0.5 (1.72%)
High: 30.25
Low: 28.75
Volume: 2695554
Close: 29.5>>>>>>>> ~ 79 cents
52 Wk High: 32.5
52 Wk Low: 8
Currency: GBX
Last Chg: Mon-21-Jun-2004
Chg Time: 18:18:40


Investment extra, Daily Mail
21 June 2004

Cleaning up

THE stakes are rising at Virotec, the Aussie mining clean-up group tipped here at 10 1/2p. It hit 31 3/4p last week week as excitement mounted about the US Environmental Protection Agency thumbs-up for its Bauxsol compound. Then it fell to 29p as director Dr Michael Nissen sold 400,000 shares.

One version says Nissen's son is buying a house but the timing was poor and Nissen, 75, is under fire.

Broker Durlacher had taken Virotec on a tour of big fund managers*. They like its prospects but board unloading puts them off. Hefty options* for directors and staff are now in the money.

The group's potential is still large. The US agency's 'superfund' comes to $30bn. The Gilt* Edge mine where Bauxsol was tested has an £110m budget. Landing a UK water contract would be a big break.

Virotec's revenues are still tiny. The temptation to launch a further fundraising is real, but it says it does not need one.

Virotec must turn potential into hard revenue. It appears to be getting closer to success, which means the shares could go further. But keep an eye on who is selling.