Q: I would like to have your thoughts on AJX.
The good : balance sheet (no debt and 10 million $ in cash : 15¢ per share), but 25 % in intangible assets and goodwill; the industry, gross margin, divested non-core businesses(usually at a profit; restructuring seemed finished), strong USD (lowers Canadian expenses), positive cash flow from operation for the past two years, not taxable for the next few years (unrecognized tax losses on the balance sheet), 31% insider ownership following the merger (including 15% by Investor Growth Capital, “IGC” an independent venture capital firm specializing in expansion stage investments),
The not so good: management turnover over the last few years, erratic sales growth to be kind, cannot seem to grow revenue to amortize fixed cost (merger should help), cannot seemed to capitalize on promising industry trends, goodwill write-off $40 M, micro-capitalization, stock liquidity,
The unkown: merger (60% vs 40%) with a private entity (Novariant: $30 M in sales) that's taking awhile to get done (announced mid-March 2015), they changed auditors (KPMG to) mid-April and the CFO leaves mid-may.
This investment represents 1% of my portfolio, I am trying clean my portfolio. My decision (of selling) is almost made (do not want this type of investment in my portfolio in the future: 5i provides better risk/return recommendation), I am trying to minimize loss here. I think there is some upside at this level/time Your recommendation: wait to see some quarterly results of the merged company before making my mind (my guess is: it's going to take several quarters of good results before the market jumps in following years of disappointment)? Sell on some technical strength? Sell immediately (not seem warranted as the stock is down recently following a major selling by an important shareholder for reasons not related to AJX)?
Thank you, Eric
The good : balance sheet (no debt and 10 million $ in cash : 15¢ per share), but 25 % in intangible assets and goodwill; the industry, gross margin, divested non-core businesses(usually at a profit; restructuring seemed finished), strong USD (lowers Canadian expenses), positive cash flow from operation for the past two years, not taxable for the next few years (unrecognized tax losses on the balance sheet), 31% insider ownership following the merger (including 15% by Investor Growth Capital, “IGC” an independent venture capital firm specializing in expansion stage investments),
The not so good: management turnover over the last few years, erratic sales growth to be kind, cannot seem to grow revenue to amortize fixed cost (merger should help), cannot seemed to capitalize on promising industry trends, goodwill write-off $40 M, micro-capitalization, stock liquidity,
The unkown: merger (60% vs 40%) with a private entity (Novariant: $30 M in sales) that's taking awhile to get done (announced mid-March 2015), they changed auditors (KPMG to) mid-April and the CFO leaves mid-may.
This investment represents 1% of my portfolio, I am trying clean my portfolio. My decision (of selling) is almost made (do not want this type of investment in my portfolio in the future: 5i provides better risk/return recommendation), I am trying to minimize loss here. I think there is some upside at this level/time Your recommendation: wait to see some quarterly results of the merged company before making my mind (my guess is: it's going to take several quarters of good results before the market jumps in following years of disappointment)? Sell on some technical strength? Sell immediately (not seem warranted as the stock is down recently following a major selling by an important shareholder for reasons not related to AJX)?
Thank you, Eric