It’s time to hand out my 2017 report card for ProGreen. My opinion only.
Progreen Farm: C
Due to financing issues and to a lesser extent weather, the planting was a month late which pushed the harvest back a month and caused a domino effect on repaying back loans before their due date to prevent notes from converting into shares. Jan had to do a lot of smooth talking to get some lenders to postpone repayment with out penalties yet some shares did convert.
There were issues with the preparation of virgin land for growing and poor planning when it came to packaging of the peppers. I place the blame on the foreman because he supposedly had experience in farming where Jan had none. Was also not impressed with selection of the pepper varieties that lead to many acres having no yield whatsoever. It may have been a test everything at once situation but one would have thought the seed mfg could have predicted what the best yielding varieties would have been. They definitely need to improve the output/yield and increase the efficiency on the farm especially if they plan to grow additional acreage.
CieloMar: C
While the residential resort property got off to a great start and Jan’s vision was made perfectly clear, I think the outlook suffered in the second half of the year due the amount of time that was required to get everything necessary in order to submit a master plan. Jan was planning for Fall 2017 but it’s unclear if getting approval for a highway to be rerouted thru your property constitutes tacit preliminary approval by the Mexican government or if a formal submission will even be acknowledged by Jan. It will take several back and forth’s between Progreen and the government for any approval to happen. It will also take time. Could be years. My guess is 3-5 years away before phase 1 initial hotel and ocean golf course is completed. Infrastructure will take a while to put in purely due to the location. The reservation process was non-existent the past few months but a recent filing for reservation company at least shows that things are moving in the right direction.
The Stock Price: D
Stock price has been fluctuated wildly this year starting around .015 , getting as high as .03 early in the year, then falling below .01 late in the year as investors realized that Jan had to borrow money thru convertible notes at loan shark rates. It appears the price is going to wind up close to .015 far from my predicted price of .05 -.075 . Sadly I was in the low end of the forecast crowd on this board as many were predicting .10 - .25 , and some were even as high as $1.
Jan: B
For the most part I thought Jan did a good job keeping shareholders informed of what was going on. Failure to initially let shareholders know about all the convertible deals he had taken out resulted in the shareholder puzzlement when one or two of those deals actually converted into shares. He redeemed himself by eventually letting shareholders know when deals were paid in fully and he stuck to his promise that no more deals would convert to shares in the latter part of the second half of the year.
Jan managed a move from Michigan to San Diego as well as setting up an office in Ensenada. Somehow he got a crop grown and harvested in 2017. He found architects and planners and has consistently laid out his vision for CieloMar, all while working around the death of his land partner’s son who instrumental to farm business.
The Future: A
Being in the right place at the right time makes it appear that Progreen has a bright future. It’s apparent to anyone that has met Jan that he is a man of his word. Partners, vendors, customers, and shareholders have all found that out this year. I would bet his associates and the farm workers would say the same thing too. The recent signing of Huy Fong Foods to a red chili pepper contract that allows for basically unlimited supply is a testament to relationships that Jan is able to develop in such a short time period. It will be all about Sriracha for the next few years. While nothing is certain in developing Mexican resorts, progress is slowly inching along and the recent news of the $10 million financing plan and an agreement with an architectural design and building company at least gives shareholders the impression that the Master Plan submittal and/or expected approval is further along than Jan has admitted to.
I will be wiser for 2018 and not make a stock price prediction.
With all my chores completed for Christmas Eve, I wish everyone Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year.
TP
