CEO Email Reply.
Repost for PSN, posted a few days ago. This email is in reference to my previously posted email I sent Alex. My name deleted for privacy.
Mr. xxxx,
First, I would like to thank you for giving me the opportunity to address your concerns.
Second, I need to state upfront that I have a full schedule today so please do not misinterpret my brevity as a dismissal of you or your concerns. Please do not hesitate to schedule a call so that I may be a bit more detailed when addressing any questions, you may have.
The title of the press release as with all titles is designed to articulate the overall or summarized message of the information we wish to communicate to the public. This is typically drafted internally and has several contributors. To answer your question directly, yes, I do review all public releases and as such, I approved the one in question. Yesterday’s press release, which may fall short of a few shareholders expectations, does accurately convey where the company is mid-year, how it arrived to this point and where the company s headed. I would also add that yesterdays “press release” was a copy of my mid-year letter and not necessarily a news item on a product. It was and is important that my letters to shareholders are accurate and represented equally accurately.
The Outstanding share count was not misstated however the date in which it was stated was apparently misunderstood. The Outstanding share count to which you refer was stated in the Q2 Disclosure we issued a few days ago. This time period is to cover APR18 – JUN18 and as such during that time period the Outstanding share count was accurately represented. Again, it is important to understand that a quarterly report is specific to that quarter. Since Q2 there has been a conversion from a previous 3a10 executed last year to settle debt. This is debt that has been “on the books” as it were, for more than three years. Additionally, the 3a10 was disclosed last year and has been addressed several times publicly since. The creditor executes conversions at their discretion which is something we have no control over. The discrepancy is in the misunderstanding of the quarterly dates, not the share count and of course this is something that I will look into to see if there is a functional way to make that more clear in future releases. As a point of clarification, I would also add the difference in the outstanding share count is closer to ninety million and not one hundred million as I understand it.
In reference to shareholder value and while understanding your frustration, I do not share your assessment that the company is not progressing. Three years ago, this company was literally on the verge of collapse with little prospect of protecting shareholders’ investment (myself included). In the past two years, as I have outlined in previous shareholder letters, market liquidity has been drastically increased, the company released its first product, generated revenues for the first time in the company’s history, Company became profitable - again for the first time in the firms history, we have improved company and brand recognition, company is solvent and has credit to build - again for the first time, company has a pipeline of products being prepared for delivery which will further expand revenues and optimize marketing investment and has reduced debt by several thousand percent. While I understand why a shareholder might like to strictly focus on the price per share, I would submit to you that a company is more than a share price. When you get right down to the fundamentals of a company then by definition a company must make something and sell it at a profit. This will build a company’s intrinsic value and ultimately build the value of a shareholder’s investment. This of course takes time, this is what we have been doing and I am confident we will deliver on our promises to our shredders. Please keep in mind that the share price will always be the last metric to recover when restructuring and rebuilding a company.
As for your accusation that the company is “spending out of control” or otherwise “mishandling” capital, I am not sure what you are basing this accusation on? All products do in fact exist which is easily determined by going to our website and viewing the pictures and/or videos included online. To be pointed about your questions about why we are not releasing all of our products and what is taking so long; I can only say that it is widely understood in manufacturing that in order to undertake such an endeavor of the scale you suggest would require vast resources that very few companies possess and if they did would prudently decide otherwise. It may not seem obvious from the outside looking in but every time we launch a product there are many elements that need to come together such as product design, packaging design, regulatory compliance filings, supply chain, manufacturing, shipping and assembly, order processing, fulfilment, customer support and human capital management to name a few. After we have a final product there is marketing and let me assure you that is a significant cost as any manufacturer/retailer will tell you. This of course takes capital support to which it must be managed efficiently to effectively execute and deliver a final product. Now imagine doing this across numerous divisions for several products. As I told one investor, if Apple, with all their resources only puts out a few product lines a year then perhaps it would be unwise for a small company just getting back on their feet to attempt to execute beyond their capabilities and in fact beyond the capabilities of one of the most valuable companies in history. We should do one thing until it is profitable and self-sustainable then move on to the next product and/or thing. Perhaps it was before your time with this company but we learned years ago that when you try to do too much you fail and it could be catastrophic.
I fully appreciate your concerns about being efficient with capital which is why I streamlined our operations and budget by reducing our burn rate by several hundred percent. This of course, I have outlined in previous shareholder letters. I assure you that I am acutely aware of the value in managing money efficiently as I have been the one tasked with dealing with the shortage of capital in the past. Nothing is more frustrating than having a pipeline of products on the shelf with little to no ability of delivering it to the public. That is something I have changed and have no intention of allowing to happen again.
Everything said I do understand your frustration and agree that the company has not been eager to release information over the past 6 months as we are in the process of executing on strategies that are sensitive in nature. I would also add that I do not intend to be cryptic but it is not my policy to discuss pending contracts or open discussions that we have with potential clients/customers.
Again, I apologize for not being more detailed but if you have some free time next week I would very much appreciate the opportunity to further address your concerns. I hope you have a good weekend and look forward to speaking with you.
Respectfully,
Alex Umbra
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
Umbra Applied Technologies Group, Inc.
4377 Commercial Way
Suite 130
Spring Hill FL 34606
United States
Tel: 888.926.4682
Tel: 813.607.6219
Fax: 813.614.9056
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www.hygieiatech.com
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www.uatgreentech.com
www.umbrabattlerifle.com
www.umbraexploration.com
www.umbraappliedtechnologies.com
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