Following my last blog, institutional investors have fired a shot across the boughs of management by voting against the remuneration package of CEO Paul McGlone.
Approximately 31% of votes cast were against his āTermination Benefitsā package, which had rather soft targets. Still, if good news isnāt forthcoming in the very near future I think he may be glad to have got them in the bag.
In my experience if several IIs are prepared to publicly vote against such a package, many more would have been annoyed by the CEO getting a bonus before delivering the goods.
Fleet fixed
Speaking of deliveries, I firmly believe that fleet is fixed and upwards of 20,000 Guardian units have been installed worldwide. However, the company insists on not releasing this material information to all investors – though it was inadvertently leaked by a distributor in Chile.
Instead, like a tired politician, they are chanting the mantra of āLetās get the interims done,ā while bandying about a 16k figure that is 5 months old, as if it has any meaning.
Worse, the information on the distributorās website has been doctored in a rather rough and ready way. It now reads (in translation): āGuardian saves lives in more than 24 countries in the world, monitoring more than 20,000 vehicles in mining and commercial fleet vehicles.ā
So all of a sudden weāre supposed to believe no new Guardian units have been installed in 5 months? Also that fleet and CAT are no longer split?Ā It’s the worse cover up since Boris Johnson insisted that the NHS is safe in his hands.Ā
I appreciate management want to surprise investors with good news but if price sensitive it needs to come out in a timely manner. How about a pre-Xmas trading update? Consider it a stocking filler to your long-suffering investors – whoāve just awarded the CEO the biggest present of his life.
As an aside, itās worth remembering that institutional investors, being a little old fashioned, really do value integrity and openness. For example, theyād be annoyed if the company held back news on say, a new Tier 1 distributor, if it was deemed material.
The writer still holds shares in Seeing Machines.
Chris
Spot on. Maybe if SEE has aspirations to be on the FTSE 350 or better, it should follow their practices, ie not have a Long Term Incentive Plan where the share price has reduced so much. It really is no more than free shares as even underperforming will in most circumstances still be rewarded. SEE should be rightly condemned for this disregard for investors, and thankfully they resoundingly have. If Paul McGlone has any sense, he should refuse the LTIP and suggest to the remuneration committee that it reconsider the terms of the plan.
As regards the Tier 1, it surely would be about time SEE started to koreaning favour with investors and issued news as when available rather than when it could be bothered, or when it fitted with some pre-ordained narrative.
AGM meeting presentation guidance for 2020 revenues to range between $45 million and $50 million. The low end of the range would represent 40% growth, and investors should be comforted by the fact that nearly half of that estimate is already in the books… I have to admit that I am surprised the stock did not react better… unless this estimate includes a hypothetical lump-sum from an aviation deal, in which case I understand the malaise.
Lets hope they can release some specific positive auto, or fleet, or aviation news!? Come on SM!?
Roy, I liked your spelling of currying š
I’m a doofus regarding this comment, no wonder the market didnt react to the guidance! It was in the FY2019 roadshow presentation earlier in September – so not new news.
What, if anything, can/will/should be announced before year-end?