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We should all send an email to Dr. P. thanking him for his vision and dedication to XKEM. His hardwork is about to pay off. He should see this as a plus since he, his brother and Steve all have a huge position in the stock. It's a win/win situation for all involved.
It's good to have Swift as interim CEO and President. It would be even better to have a seasoned CEO who's track record and reputation as a CEO of a biotechnology company is well recognized. I think this should be next frontier.
GO BASU
Back in the old days when there were no Yahoo, Ragingbull and IHUB message boards, investors waited patiently to receive their quarterly, semi-annual and annual statements. You guys are working yourselves into a frenzy by playing this stock on a day to day basis.
Learn the trends of the stock and use it to your advantage.
Ode to XKEM: Wherefore art thou Romeo????
ROF
By ALAN SCHER ZAGIER, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 1 minute ago
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The growing number of exercise-induced deaths among athletes with sickle cell trait can be curtailed with proper treatment and greater awareness among team doctors and athletic trainers, a national medical group said in a report released Wednesday.
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The National Athletic Trainers' Association report, released at the group's annual meeting in Anaheim, Calif., only suggests, not recommends, that schools screen players for the inherited blood disorder.
The symptoms of explosive muscle breakdown tied to sickle cell trait are "underrecognized and often misunderstood" by team medical workers who mistake the injury for heat exhaustion, muscle cramps or heart problems, the report found.
"Sickling collapse is a medical emergency," the report states.
Nine athletes have died under such circumstances in the past seven years, ranging in age from 12 to 19. The NATA study also notes the deaths of 13 college football players at schools that did not test for sickle cell trait or had "a lapse in precautions."
Three of those deaths occurred over the past three summers. The group includes former Missouri reserve linebacker Aaron O'Neal, who collapsed on the field near the end of a preseason workout in July 2005.
"I have no doubt that I'm very typical of a lot of sports medicine professionals," said Scott Anderson, head athletic trainer at the University of Oklahoma and a co-chairman of the NATA task force that produced the report. "There's knowledge of sickle cell trait, but a great lack of understanding of the associated risks."
In Missouri, a county medical examiner listed O'Neal's official cause of death as viral meningitis. That determination was challenged by several people, including outside experts and the chairman of the university's pathology department.
Individuals with sickle cell trait have one normal gene for hemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells, and one abnormal gene. Unlike normal, rounded red blood cells, the sickle-shaped cells carry less oxygen and can clog blood vessels that flow to the heart and other muscles.
The trait is distinct from sickle cell disease, a condition that affects far fewer people and in which two abnormal genes are present.
NCAA guidelines treat the hereditary condition found in an estimated 8 percent to 10 percent of the U.S. black population as a "benign condition" and ask members only to consider voluntary testing.
The risks to athletes are heightened during common preseason performance tests such as mile runs or repetitive sprints, the study found. Heat, dehydration and high altitude can exacerbate the risks.
The NATA recommends an adjusted training regimen for athletes with sickle cell trait, including longer rest periods and a more gradual build up to intense repetitions. Such athletes should be excluded from performance tests that could escalate the risk of sickling collapse, the report urges.
The dangers of sickle cell collapse have long been known in the military. After the collapse of four recruits in four years — one of whom died — the U.S. Air Force Academy temporarily barred applicants with sickle cell trait in the early 1970s.
A later study found that military recruits with sickle cell trait were 30 times more likely to die during basic training.
The NFL tests prospective players for sickle cell trait at its annual scouting combine.
___
I think I will call Dr. Pandey and tell him not to put out a PR so the pps can go down some more. I want to maintain my average at $0.015 or better.
BB, after 4 years in this stock, nothing surprises me any more. Way back then, I was sure that all it would take for the pps to move to a new level was the approval of Nicosan and production. Guess what, it didn't happen rather it's retracing back to its lowest 54-week price.
The best way to keep your sanity is to keep an open mind and load up rather than sell. That's what I mean.
Keep an open mind guys. PPS could bounce off $0.0175, $0.015 and worst case scenario $0.005 before we start an upward trend probably in the fall maybe sooner. JMHO. Pandey said the patient shareholder would be rewarded. $0.005 should be a great entry point. Don't you think so?
Personally, I think Scott decided to quit because you guys were becoming a P.I.A. It doesn't make sense to hire someone and then fire them within a few weeks. IMO he was afraid that he could get himself in trouble with the SEC talking with shareholders who post what he may or may not have said on ihub.
The lesson here is stop calling and demanding to know what the company is doing. They cannot give us minute by minute update on how many people are on NICOSAN and how the construction is coming along. These facts will eventually be released at the appropriate time and soon, the pps will reflect the company's true value.
In the meantime, accumulate if you want to. JMO
Nice read on ECO
CFO Magazine March 1999
TAKE PART OF ME
How companies are unlocking value by carving out pieces of their business.
By Robert Stow England
While market turmoil may have put a big dent in the number of initial public offerings last year, the equity carve-out IPO market continued on a roll, with several major high-profile deals.
Last year, in fact, 14 companies issued equity carve-outs--totaling a record $11.5 billion in net proceeds--despite the weakness in the overall IPO market.
An equity carve-out, sometimes called a partial spin-off, occurs when a parent company makes an initial public offering for a minority stake of a wholly-owned subsidiary-- usually less than 20 percent of the voting stock. The deals allow parents not only to raise needed capital, but also to retain firm control of the subsidiary before, typically, selling the remaining shares in a tax-free spin-off at a later date.
The list of 1998 deals included several high-profile names. For example:
On October 22, at the height of the IPO drought, $45 billion, Wilmington, Delaware-based DuPont raised $4.4 billion in a public offering carving out roughly 30 percent of its oil subsidiary, Conoco Inc. of Houston. It was the biggest U.S. IPO and the biggest U.S. carve-out of all time, topping AT&T's $2.3 billion carve-out of Lucent Technologies in 1996.
On November 11, Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. went public with 18.6 percent of Fox Entertainment, and raised $2.8 billion, the third-largest U.S. IPO.
On December 10, CBS Inc. went public with 16 percent of Infinity Broadcasting and raised $2.97 billion, replacing Fox as the third largest U.S. IPO.
The trend shows no sign of abating. On February 5, General Motors Corp. went public with 18 percent of its Delphi Automotive business, and raised $1.7 billion. PepsiCo is planning to offer a stake in its $7 billion company-owned bottling operations this spring. And Viacom is set to part with a piece of its Blockbuster Entertainment unit. "In my opinion, this trend will continue because the theme of getting smaller has not run its course, and there are plenty of large, diversified businesses around that might be better off without some of their subsidiaries," says Joseph Cornell, president of Spin-Off Advisors LLC, in Chicago.
The idea of getting smaller may seem positively contrarian, as one giant merger after another tops the news. But companies are attracted to equity carve-outs for several reasons: First, says Andy Sanford, a director in the equity capital markets at Salomon Smith Barney in New York, "Carve-outs unlock the hidden value of one of the company's subsidiaries." In addition, says Douglas Squires, a managing director of investment banking at Merrill Lynch in New York, "Many of these transactions are motivated by investors' desire for investment clarity"--for both the parent and the subsidiary. The carve-out of Conoco, for example, allows the parent to exit the depressed oil business and focus on its core chemical business and its growth businesses, such as biotechnology. "This will make DuPont a faster-growing, less-cyclical, and more-profitable company," says Gary Pfieffer, DuPont senior vice president and CFO.
Still, carve-outs carry some risks. Some carved-out companies may not do well when the parent loads them up with too much debt. Others may not do well if they have not established a track record for growing revenues and profits. Ultimately, says Sanford, "It's important to position and structure the deal so each party--the parent and the subsidiary-- can operate and fund itself and reach a level of growth characteristic of its industry."
Who Benefits?
While carve-outs aren't new, recent research attests to their benefits. A 1998 working paper from Pennsylvania State University, for example, examined 83 equity carve-outs done between 1981 and 1990, and found that carved-out companies had significantly higher revenue and asset growth, higher earnings, and higher capital spending than the industry average during the first three years after the carve-out--achievements, the authors say, that are a direct result of 80 percent of the deals tying executive compensation to the share price of the carved-out company at the time it goes public. "It's a way of providing a stronger incentive for subsidiary executives to perform," says James A. Miles, one of the authors of the study, along with Heather Hulburt and J. Randall Woolridge.
Parent companies also benefit from a carve-out. The Penn State study, in fact, found that these companies had a higher return on assets in the first year after the carve-out. And a similar study by J.P. Morgan & Co., which examined 101 carve-outs between 1986 and 1997, documented that, on average, the share price of the parent rose between 3 and 4 percent in the 90 days following the announcement of a carve-out.
Such potential helped convince The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. to carve out 18.6 percent of its Hartford Life subsidiary in May 1997, in a $735 million IPO, a move that David K. Zwiener, executive vice president and CFO of The Hartford Corp., says, "has surpassed all expectations."
Zwiener explains that the IPO was done to raise capital for the parent, provide stock-based incentives to Hartford Life employees, and unlock the hidden valuation of the rapidly growing business of Hartford Life, the largest seller of variable life annuities. "We felt strongly that the market was not giving us full valuation for 100 percent ownership of the Hartford Life business," he says.
The carve-out significantly contributed to the increase in The Hartford's valuation, which rose from approximately $9 billion at the time of the IPO to around $12 billion, despite carving out a portion of Hartford Life. In addition, Hartford Life's share price has zoomed, from 281/4 at the time of the IPO to 605/16 in early February, a growth rate more than twice the market average.
The decision to retain majority ownership, however, may limit the upside to the deal. The J.P. Morgan study found a distinct difference in the share price performance of carve-outs that later became spin-offs and carve-outs that did not. In the case of 12 carve-out companies in which the parent announced there would be a later spin-off, the share price of the carve-out performed 11 percent above the market 18 months after the initial public offering. The shares of all other carve-outs--those without an announced spin-off later--actually underperformed the market by 3 percent.
There are other advantages to following up a carve-out with a spin-off or split-off, says Rick Escherich, managing director in the M&A group at J.P. Morgan. "It creates more shareholder value, since spin-offs preceded by a carve-out usually perform better than straight spin-offs," he says. In a spin-off without a prior carve-out, the parent company basically "gives the shares away and they have to find a home," Escherich explains.
Most spin-offs are shares given as a dividend to the shareholders of the parent company's shares. Some of the shareholders don't want the shares, and dump them on the market, depressing the share price, he says. "With a carve-out, you have to market the shares through road shows," says Escherich. "This leads to a more-stable home," and a more-
stable share price.
The ability of the carve-out to capture more value ahead of a spin-off or split-off is also why DuPont chose to do it ahead of its split-off of Conoco. The carve-out, which was priced at $23 a share, is to be followed by a split-off later this year. In a split-off, shareholders who want Conoco shares will have to trade their DuPont shares for them.
Performance Enhancers
Despite the jump start carve-outs give to stock prices, "they need to be based on overall business strategies if they are to succeed," says Peter Grittner, principal in management consultancy Towers Perrin, in Providence.
For example, a CFO might want to consider a carve-out if a subsidiary is valued by the markets "on a different basis than the parent company," says Merrill Lynch's Squires. By this he means that the market might value the parent's business on a multiple of earnings per share, while the parent might value the subsidiary on multiples of gross revenues or cash flow.
Such is the situation with New Yorkbased Barnes & Noble Inc., which is considering a carve-out of part of its online subsidiary, barnesandnoble.com, later this year. The parent is in an industry that is valued on earnings per share, while online booksellers are valued by investors on revenue growth.
"It's a different investor base that may look at the online business differently," explains Marie Toulantis, executive vice president of finance at the parent company. The barnesandnoble.com IPO, originally slated for November, was postponed after Barnes & Noble announced that it was selling 50 percent of the business to Bertelsmann AG for $200 million.
Another valid business purpose for a carve-out is to allow the subsidiary to sell its product or service to a broader market than its parent company, Grittner says. Telephone deregulation, he says, prompted AT&T to carve out and then spin off Lucent Technologies--a move that has allowed Lucent to sell equipment to competitors of AT&T.
Similarly, the globalization of the auto business drove General Motors to carve out Delphi Automotive, so that it, too, can sell to competitors of GM. "It's now a corporate necessity for Delphi to sell to others besides GM," says Towers Perrin's Grittner.
Of course, the tax advantages of carve-outs can't be underestimated. By spinning off less than 20 percent of the company as a taxable entity, parents are able to follow it up with a tax-free split-off. That's because under tax law, a company must have 80 percent of the voting stock and 50 percent of the economic value of its stock in order to have a tax-free divestiture. DuPont, however, was able to sell 30 percent of Conoco, by issuing two classes of shares in the company: Class A shares, which were sold in the IPO, have one vote; Class B shares, which were retained by the company, have five votes each.
The different voting stock levels allowed DuPont to sell more than 20 percent of its economic value in the IPO, and still have a tax-free split-off. The company retained 92 percent of the voting power.
80/20 Friction
There is a downside to carve-outs, however. Tom Wilson, president of Allstate Life Insurance Co. and former CFO of Allstate Insurance Co., both based in Northbrook, Illinois, warns there can be operational conflicts between the parent and the subsidiary after a carve-out. "I am not a big fan of 80 percent ownership," says Wilson. "It creates friction between the companies."
The problem arises because the managers of the carved-out company have a new group of financial stakeholders, the public stockholders, "who don't have the same interests as the 80 percent shareholders," the parent, he says. This can create divided loyalties and "complicate" the life of the parent and the carved-out company. For this reason, Wilson would not contemplate a carve-out for Allstate Life and Savings.
Such friction can be avoided, however, if there is a complete break--a carve-out and a spin-off or split-off. This is what happened when Sears carved out Allstate and then spun it off, says Wilson. It's also what's happening with DuPont and Conoco, where the decision to part ways was mutual, according to Conoco CFO Robert Goldman.
After several analyses, both inside and outside Conoco, "we came to the conclusion that our ability to grow the company beyond the year 2000 depended on more access to capital and greater flexibility in managing the business," Goldman says, adding that this required its separation from DuPont. Conoco's senior management has delivered their own vote of confidence in the carve-out, Goldman says, by converting 100 percent of their DuPont stock options to Conoco stock options. "The compensation alignment is a critical aspect in this whole thing," Goldman says.
Whatever the strategic business reasons for a carve-out, the appeal of the technique is expected to grow among larger, diversified companies, experts say, as long as companies continue to search for new ways to unlock value and clarify investing options.
"It's been a very powerful focus for us," says Zwiener. "We've moved the entire company to even-more accountability on a business-by-business level." What's more, he adds, it has inspired other businesses at The Hartford to continue to build the kind of consistent growth and profit results that have been achieved by Hartford Life.
Robert Stowe England is a freelance writer based in Arlington, Virginia.
Healthcare Heroes
Click here to register
Congratulations to the Healthcare Hero Finalists!
Finalists listed alphabetically by category:
Allied Healthcare Hero
Dr. Lawrence Levine, Foot Health Centers, P.A.
Nancy Maskal, The Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Center
David Plotkin, Overlook Hospital
Ronen Rotem, DDS, The Center for Exceptional Cosmetic and Adult Dentistry
Louis Vita, DDS, Vita Head Neck & Facial Pain Relief Center
Corporate Achievement Hero
Atlantic Health
Children's Specialized Hospital
Meridian Health
Roche
Company Education Hero
American Cancer Society, Business Solutions Task Force
The Diabetic Food Critic, LLC
The Center for Community Health at AtlantiCare
Fairleigh Dickinson University - Nursing Faculty
Freedom Eldercare
Individual Education Hero
Rebecca Graboso, Riverview Medical Center
Minerva Guttman, Fairleigh Dickinson University
Pansy Harris Lane, University Hospital
Judy Mundie, Saint Barnabas Health Care System
Evelyn Robles-Rodriguez, Cooper University Hospital
Company Innovation Hero
Push to Walk
Thoracic Group, P.A.
The Valley Hospital
Visiting Physician Services
XECHEM INTERNATIONAL, INC.
Individual Innovation Hero
Mark B. Anderson, UMDNJ - Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital
Dr. John Bach
Lawrence Gessman, M.D., FACC Cooper University Hospital
George Lynn, AtlantiCare
Jodi Schechtman, The Communication Station
Nurse of the Year
Kathleen McDevitt, Samaritan Hospice
Micki Patrick, Raritan Bay Medical Center
Valerie Quigley, Chilton Memorial Hospital
Robert Skeist, Newark Beth Israel Medical Center
Leslie Wright-Brown, Newark Beth Israel Medical Center
Physician of the Year
Constante Gil, MD, Raritan Bay Medical Center
Nathan Kaufman, MD, Shore Radiation Oncology, Meridian Health
Jeffrey Kozlowski, MD, The Valley Hospital
Stephen Smith, MD, Saint Michael's Medical Center
Dr. Kenneth Swan, University Hospital
Volunteer of the Year
Eugene Cheslock, M.D., Riverview Medial Center
Julie Eckert, Samaritan Hospice
George Fuller, Children's Specialized Hospital
Carol Lavitt, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital
Dr. L. Ralph Pothel, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey
Special Recognition Hero Award – the following individuals will be recognized for their heroic actions in Emergency Services.
Patrick Allen, The Valley Hospital
Lafe Bush, The Valley Hospital
Location: Sheraton Woodbridge, Iselin, NJ
Time: 8am - 10:30 am
Breakfast will be served
Date: 6/11/2007
Deadline: 6/8/2007
Single Ticket Prices:
Isd673 thanks again. XKEM's collaboration with SHETSCO to produce Vitamin C was rumoured a couple of years ago. I remember the pps spiking on this rumour. However, no PR was put out by Dr. Pandey. I don't think he is aware how important information like this is to the market.
Hope Scott picks up on it and put out a PR.
Isd673..this is excellent. Please forward it to Dr. Pandey's email. I am sure he is aware of it. Nothing lost if he reads it from a shareholder. Thanks.
bigd...I agree with you that xkem is in its infancy and money has to be plowed back into R&D and clinical tests until revenue and growth history are established. When this happens, then they can do a buy-back to reduce the number of outstanding shares and increase the pps so we can move to a major exchange.
It is not mandatory to do an R/S before moving to a major exchange. I would like to move to a major exchange with all my shares intact. Personally, I see r/s as a gimmick to rob shareholders. lol.
xyz..fyi, An R/S is viewed negatively by the street. It's best used to shore up the pps of companies that are not generating any revenues. XKEM is generating revenues and should see a significant stream of revenues in the near term so, why do an r/s? Isn't a buy-back a better strategy?
We want to hold on to hold on to all our shares when this company is valued in the dollar range. What's wrong with that?
I have tried to figure out what the problem is with our boardmates Mets and JoChef. I got very concerned that they are questioning the legitimacy of XKEM and rightfully so. After reading all these posts and making a few phone calls myself I am resting assured that all's well.
I have come to the conclusion that Dr. Pandey had to do every thing he could to move this company forward. When you are a struggling company with no assets, and up to your eyeballs in debt, it's very difficult to find a large, glossy company to back you. What's important to me right now is that the $9.38 million loan has been approved. The plant is in construction. The FGN is involved with NICOSAN and has a stake in the profits. NICOSAN is being produced and marketed.
FIAT met with Dr. Pandey and has reported favorably to the board. If any one is concerned about the company or companies XKEM wants to use to provide fabricated offices and equipments, please call Dr. Pandey and make other suggestions. He is transparent in dealing with shareholders. He is trustworthy and honest.
XKEM is still a speculative stock but with current developments, I think we'll make it. JMHO.
Scott..what is an outlook address card may I ask?
Welcome on board Scott. All the best.
How Company Buyback Makes A Difference
Ask most investors about how buying a stock can help them build wealth, and the answer you will get is by two ways, stock price appreciation and dividends. However many overlook the third way, stock buyback. Let us find out more about this third way.
The Meaning of Buybacks
A stock buyback is nothing but a company buying back its shares from the marketplace. Buyback can be thought as a company investing in itself. With the extra cash in hand, the company can use it to buy its own shares. These shares are absorbed by the company leading to reduced number of outstanding shares in the market. When this happens, the ownership of each investor increases because there are fewer shares in all. Company buybacks are usually perceived by the market as a positive thing which often causes the share price to shoot up.
Typically, buybacks are carried out in one of two ways:
Tender Offer: Shareholders may be presented with a tender offer by the company to tender a portion or all of their shares within a certain time frame. The tender offer has the number of shares the company is looking to repurchase and the price they are willing to pay for them. The price is almost always at a higher price than the market price. When investors take up the offer, they will state the number of shares they want to tender along with the price they are willing to accept. Once the company has received all of the offers, it will find the right mix to buy the shares at the lowest cost.
Open Market: The second alternative a company has is to buy shares on the open market, just like an individual investor would, at the market price.
So why does a company decide to buyback ? Lets find the motive.
Reasons For Buyback
Build Investor Faith: When a company announces a buyback it is usually perceived by the market as a positive thing, which often causes the share price to shoot up. This in turn is good for the investors and eventually what the company's management wants for their investors.
Discount Recovery: When the company feels the market has discounted its share price too steeply, they try to revive it by buyback. By buying back its own shares, the company sends out a positive sign to the market that the stock price has gone too far in discount.
Improve Financial Ratios: A company might pursue a buyback solely to improve its financial ratios which the investors and traders heavily focus upon. This definitely is a questionable motive. If reducing the number of shares is not done in an attempt to create more value for shareholders but rather make financial ratios look better, there is likely to be a problem with the company's management.
Reduce Dilution: A company might pursue a buyback to reduce the dilution that is often caused by generous employee stock option plans. Stock options have the opposite effect of buyback, as they increase the number of outstanding shares when the options are exercised, which affects financial ratios such as EPS, P/E and ROA.
Effects of Buyback to Financial Ratios
With company buyback, the financial ratios start looking good. To begin with, buyback reduces the assets (cash) of the company on the balance sheet since that cash is used to buyback the company stocks. As a result, return on assets (ROA) actually increases. ROA gives an idea as to how efficient a company is at using its assets to generate earnings. ROA is calculated by dividing a company's annual earnings by its total assets. Also return on equity (ROE) increases because there is less outstanding equity. In general, the market views higher ROA and ROE as positive signs, thus attracting more investors.
Example on Buyback
Let us take an example of a company Money Inc, that has $50 million in total assets and net income of $2 million. Their stock price is $15/share and they have $20 million in cash. Also assume there are a total of 10 million outstanding shares. Now Money Inc. decides to buyback 1 million shares. This means they will be spending $15 million cash and reducing the outstanding shares to 9 millon. Lets see how this buyback changes the ROA and ROE.
The cash holding of Money Inc. dropped from $20 million to $5 million. The total asset dropped from $50 million to $35 million, since cash is an asset. This leads to an increase in its ROA, even though there is no change to the earnings.
Before buyback ROA = $2m/$50m = 4.00%
After buyback ROA = $2m/$35 m = 5.71% (the market often likes higher ROA)
Before buyback EPS = $2m/10 m shares = $0.20
After buyback EPS = $2m/9 m shares = $0.22 (the market often likes higher EPS)
Before buyback P/E = $15 share price/$0.20 EPS = 75
After buyback EPS = $15 share price/$0.22 EPS = 68 (the market often likes lower P/E ratio)
Based on the P/E ratio as a measure of value, the company is now less expensive than it was prior to the repurchase despite the fact there was no change in earnings.
Conclusion: Company buybacks can be good or bad. As is so often the case in finance, there is no definitive answer. If a stock is undervalued and a buyback truly represents the best possible investment for a company, the buyback can be viewed as a positive sign for shareholders. Watch out, however, if a company is merely using buybacks to prop up financial ratios, provide short-term relief to an ailing stock price or to get out from under excessive dilution.
Related Buyback News:
CVS/Caremark approves $5B stock buyback
Marsh sees profit slip, announces stock buyback
IBM: Large Share Buyback Could Give Stock A Boost
Moneygram Boosts Buyback by 5M Shares
Labels: Buyback, Financial Statement
Investors keen on Nigeria despite disputed polls
Tue 8 May 2007, 11:52 GMT
[-] Text [+] By Estelle Shirbon
ABUJA (Reuters) - Foreign investors are mostly upbeat about opportunities in Nigeria despite political uncertainty generated by elections last month that were widely condemned as fraudulent, fund managers and bankers say.
Outgoing President Olusegun Obasanjo, whose free-market reforms launched since 2003 have been popular with investors, is due to hand over on May 29 to Umaru Yar'Adua, who has said he will continue the reform process.
Yar'Adua's election was deemed "not credible" by international observers who reported widespread vote-rigging, but investors said the fact that there had been an election, no matter how flawed, was reassuring to them.
"The worst case scenario didn't happen. We didn't have anarchy. The market likes that," said John Niepold, portfolio manager at U.S. investment firm Emerging Markets Management, which has more than $100 million in Nigerian equities.
Nigerian stocks have offered spectacular returns over the past two years, especially since a new law came into effect last year forcing Nigerian companies to set up pension funds that are looking for outlets for their money.
The Nigerian stock exchange has increased in value by about a third since the start of this year, led by banking stocks that have been popular since a forced consolidation of the sector -- one of the achievements of Obasanjo's reform team.
Foreign firms' interest in Nigerian banking has also increased as they look for a permanent foothold.
Africa's top banking group by assets, Standard Bank, announced in February it was merging its Nigerian unit with local investment bank IBTC and would take a controlling stake in the new firm.
"The perception is that Nigeria is still quite an attractive place to invest," said Francis Beddington, Standard Bank head of research on central and eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa.
TELECOMS DEALS
The fast-growing telecoms sector has attracted keen foreign interest, and the enthusiasm has not abated.
Alcatel-Lucent has announced contracts worth at least $600 million with local firm Globacom in the past three months, while in January Mubadala of Abu Dhabi bought a GSM licence for $400 million -- among other recent deals.
Oil is by far the biggest area of foreign investment in Nigeria and that has proven for decades to be resilient. While some multi-billion dollar investment projects have been delayed by unrest in the oil-producing Niger Delta, interest in new exploration areas, especially offshore, is still strong.
Recent non-oil private sector growth has come against a backdrop of deregulation and unprecedented spending curbs introduced by Obasanjo's reform team. They saved windfall oil earnings, won $18 billion in debt relief and secured BB- credit ratings from Fitch and Standard & Poor's.
"The key thing is whether the reforms continue under Yar'Adua," said Jonathan Chew, head of Imara Asset Management which has about $15 million in Nigerian equities.
He added that portfolio investors were far more interested in company specifics than in politics, and as long as the government kept its hands off the private sector the current momentum could keep Nigeria moving forward for a few years.
Some bankers said they hoped Yar'Adua's legitimacy problem would spur him to enact swift reforms.
"He is starting out on such a horrible note that he really has to work hard to make his tenure positive for Nigeria," said a London-based investment banker who did not wish to be named.
© Reuters 2007. All Rights Reserved. | Learn more about Reuters
xyz..are there shares available to investors before the IPO at below the price of the IPO?
bigd...may I ask you a question? How many companies out there have 3 billion o/s? I googled and nothing came up.
fox...it's a little too harsh. I think we should present our concerns in a more friendly and cordial manner. We don't want to put too much stress on Dr. Pandey. He has done a lot in moving XKEM forward so has Steve. Steve has been great. He is part of the team and has been there for all of us when we needed information or reassurance about our investment.
So, I think its okay for us to voice our concerns and to lay out strategies that we believe would help create shareholder value.
The list should be handed to Dr. Pandey with a list of strategies that can be used to create shareholder value such as timely PR's, buy-backs, equity carve-outs, etc.
Those with experience in this area should submit their suggestions. We are fortunate to have a CEO who is accessible to shareholders. I am sure Dr. Pandey will listen and incorporate our thoughts into his game plan as we move forward.
Best of luck to all.
ROFL...watch the PRs fly. No doubt he'll want to see the pps at $1.00..that's $15 million. Hellooo.
rattling...06 is meeting with Dr. Pandey to discuss shareholders issues. As far as I know Bigd maintains contact with Dr. Pandey also, so do many people on this board.
As for voting someone to represent us on the board, I don't think it is allowed.
rattling...I agree with you. Cheerleading alone is not going to bring home the bacon. That's how common shareholders loose their pants and they do every day.
So, off with the rose colored goggles and pom poms and designate a representative.
Stand up and ask for what your want.
light..very well said. Dr. Pandey should be aware of how to create shareholder value. Sometimes, I am just afraid that revenues alone may not cut it in the near term. I agree with you that the company has to implement strategies directly aimed at increasing pps and rewarding shareholders for their support.
We have to present the concept of a buy-back to the company. The last time I spoke with Steve, I mention this so, I am hoping that eventually, they would include this in their agenda in the foreseable future.
06mets....good job. Of course we all want to see a healthy pps, at least I do. I would like to know Dr. Pandey's game plan for creating shareholder value.
06mets..excellent idea.
We have to engage the company, present a united front and discuss our concerns with Dr. Pandey so strategies that would eventually benefit common shareholder could be implemented.
Xkem has attracted many smart and savvy investors each striving for the biggest slice of the pie. We all know what we have but, on the other hand, we should make sure that our interests are protected.
Isd673...What do you want us to do about this?
bigd...please delete all those r/s b.s. Steve has said many times that it's not on the horizon. He told me that a buy-back is more likely.
Any one who is long should not advocate an r/s because it is NOT GOOD FOR US.
Imagine your shares being reduced to nothing. Even if the price goes up, you will make a lot less than if the stock were to go up by itself.
So enough of that crap.
zyz1002...you know the answer. You gave it to me before.
I think I remember you said the float was huge. That's why I have been saying buy back all along. Things are good no doubt but we are all frustrated that the pps is not moving. I have seen many worthless stocks on pink sheets that have 10 times higher pps than xkem.
XKEM has an approved drug. Has sales, funds and in the construction phase of a state-of-arts manufacturing plant not to mention market size of $2+ billion. Why is it selling for 2 cents???
light, good morning. Hope you are well today.
I am personally concerned about how the company intends to create shareholder value. Please let them know that in light of the astronomical O/S and Float, R/S is not in our best interest and we do not want it. We want the company to buy-back these shares as soon as possible.
I am raising this question because impeded in the 8-k, is a clause regarding r/s and f/s. I do not have a legal background so I do not thoroughly understand this clause but I think it gives them the okay to do whatever they want including an r/s.
Thanks.
light...why do you take a nap in the afternoon? What happens if you don't?
xyz1002...thanks for your expertise. It's good to take off the rose colored glasses and pom poms once in a while. Thanks for addressing this important issue before it was deleted.
Hemoxin may not have to go through all 3 fda trials since there are data supporting Phases I, II and IIb in Nigeria. Phase III in Nigeria could pass if the company takes time to design an fda acceptable protocol. JMHO and don't ask me for a back up.
As of now, NICOSAN/HEMOXIN is stronger than ever with the termination of ICAGEN's drug. The only drug to control painful crises in SCD patient safely is NICOSAN/HEMOXIN.
GO XKEM. This stock rocks.
making..if they release news too soon, there may be a sell off.
drift...it's in the charts. Just watch.
I think we'll see $0.495 before the dust settles. That's the target.
My reaction...this is better than NASCAR!!!