These are the questions Martin Jones just answered for me on the telephone-(everything is not exact because I was taking notes by hand- I should have recorded).
1) What part or aspect of the business is giving you the most trouble now?
Jones said-Namoya-and Twangiza are both “solved” -Twangiza had a lot of over burden, now much has less (he sounded very positive on both mines which we kinda already knew) costs for production for Namoya will be headed down because just like Twangiza they had lots of expats (who were expensive) who have now been let go and now they are working with local Congolese who are much cheaper ,according to Martin the rainy season been solved at twangiza, at namoya they are working on a gravel road because of mud problems which does affect transportation of material during rainy season- (Martin did not get specific when that would be accomplished.
2) What are your biggest concerns regarding the general political and social environment in the DRC at this time?
Upcoming elections would be there biggest unknown however he also mentioned that Banro has already been through two elections and that really the political and social environment is better than what many perceive.
3) What part of the business do you think is being ignored or misunderstood that has more upside potential than Wall Street is giving it?
Martin said he feels the Stock is discounted greater than it should be for two main reasons-the location in the drc (seems he felt unreasonably) has a negative connotation still, and the -
$ 170 million in Debt that needs refinancing- which they have busy getting that done . I believe he said that getting Namoya up to capacity had basically been a distraction/requirement to being able to focus on the debt.
He also stated that we have THREE main investors to work with and that getting good terms on the refinancing was “extremely important”.
4) What catalysts will affect the stock going forward?
Martin said they needed to Shift debt to equity-and that that would be a Huge milestone for the compny(refinance the debt with the details he answered above already)
5) Can you be specific regarding your plans to promote the company as in what mediums do you plan on using, what kind of budget will be allocated, will it be done in house or outsourced, and can you be specific as to when this will start?
He could not be specific but gave details on why the delay in promotion occurred.
In general Martin answered regarding why they have delayed promoting the company may be the most telling. Martin said that they had to wait for Namoya to produce at the level they had projected before they were going to start promoting the company (it sounded to me like he was trying to say we need to become more credible before they begin promoting).
Additionally he said he has a proposal regarding promoting the company that he (Martin) will begin promoting among his team once everyone is back from there summer vacations.
6) Do you expect the rainy season to always cause lower production or are you working to eventually mitigate those problems, what are the specific challenges of the rainy season that lower production?
Martin said the rainy season been solved at twangiza, at namoya they are working on a gravel road because of mud problems which does affect transportation of material during rainy season still- (Martin did not get specific when that would be accomplisehed. He said there rainy season is actually from sept-may.
OVERALL- He sounded quite positive, but also felt in his voice that he ackowledged they have not been able to "do what they say" in the past regarding promoting the company, I have to learn to be tougher now even though he does seem very genuine to me.
