Iāve tried being subtle, not that it suits me. Still the question now needs to be asked, when will Seeing Machines start delivering, instead of taking from its investors?
Iām concerned that the management of Seeing Machines has long forgotten that it runs the company not for itself but for its investors. This was brought home to me by a quick look at the latest Annual Report.
A case in point is the huge payment that Ex-CEO Ken Kroeger received last year: A$654K (Ā£347K), revealed on page 47. Thatās great pay considering the share price plummeted 75%. Admittedly, AIM CEOs are well known for paying themselves well regardless of performance, but (as a shareholder) I find this instance especially outrageous.
Nor does it end there, as staff recently received huge share bonuses for work over the same period. Clearly, management arenāt sharing the pain with us long-term investors.
Iād hoped that new CEO Paul McGlone would chart a new path but I donāt see it yet. Here areĀ 3Ā issues I personally have:
- There still seems to be no discernible PR strategy in place. For example, SEE has a fancy US PR firm that donāt seem able to generate mass coverage for what is an easy sell to editors; car tech that saves lives. As a case in point, when I tried to get some simple answers to some obvious questions about their RNS on Alaska Airlines recently they failed to deliver. Am I being singled out for special treatment or are all journalists treated so poorly?
- Lack of transparency for shares awards to the CEO; why have no targets been set and communicated via RNS? This is how SEE do it. This is how another AIM company, Parity did it. Take a look at page 17 ofĀ Seeing Machines’ annual report to learn about a remuneration policy with no policy.
- Lack of disclosure re. relationships with partners. For example, what is going on with Mix Telematics and why arenāt we being told? Itās been years since a contract was signed and we still have yet to see it bear any fruit. Hiding behind NDAs just looks weak.
I hope next week at the Capital Markets Day the management under new CEO Paul McGlone will adjust course and address longstanding investor concerns about the lack of transparency and poor news flow. After all, investing should work for the many, not the few.
This isn’t meant to knock the staff of Seeing Machines or its technology. I have the highest respect for the brilliant technology coming out of this company and the dedication of the majority of its staff to delivering life-saving technology to the masses. I just want more transparency and better execution from management.
The writer holds stock in Seeing Machines.