There was a lot to be said. A number of the stockhouse
posters have done a great job of covering the various
aspects. Furnitureman did an excellent job. I was there
and a group of us met afterwards to discuss everything
and pump Mark who managed to stand right beside Rebecca
for at least most of the scrum.
I am re-posting furnitureman's three posts which I feel
accurately and thoroughly covers the AGM so well I cannot
see how it can be improved on.
Post 1 - by furnitureman
Hello sportsfans,
I attended the AGM this afternoon and what follows is a transcription of my notes taken during REK's presentation. In separate posts I will relate the "scripted Q&A" that followed the presentation as well as what I heard in the "scrum" that followed the formal part of the meeting.
Most of what is written below is a paraphrase. Where I did note exact wording from REK it will be enclosed with quotation marks. [Any editorial by me will appear in square brackets]. Undoubtedly some of this will duplicate what others have posted. I apologize for this, but I wanted to relate the chronology of the AGM. Some of what I write may contradict what others have posted (and will post); all I can say is that I have posted what I heard to the best of my notes and recollection. Don't take this as the "formal record" of the meeting - that's what the webcast (apparently available in a few days) is for. Oh, and apologies in advance for the spelling errors....
BEFORE THE MEETING
I noticed that there were no microphones on the floor. I approached Renny Ho and asked about this. He said that there was going to be a "scripted Q&A" delivered by REK after her presentation. He started to say other stuff, but I said that not allowing questions from the floor was bush league and walked back to my seat.
REK's PRESENTATION
She noted that there were 126 s/h present representing 11,964,194 shares (about 25.2% of the o/s shares). I got the feeling that there were fewer people this year than last. When the resolution to elect the BoD was proposed, about 20-30 hands went up for the Yes vote and only 3 or 4 (that I could see) went up for the No. [The rest of the people there apparently were confused Florida voters who couldn't work the complex voting machines properly.]
REK then started her Powerpoint presentation with the usual schpiel about Pennsaid, Fung-off and WF10. [I couldn't spot anything different from the 2001 AGM, but maybe one of the posters who was paying close attention might be able to enlighten us.]
She reviewed DMX's business strategies (Control our Destiny, Partner with Established Pharmas, Focus on Technology Platforms, Reduce Risk). For FY 2002 she relayed Pennsaid's highlights: Approval in Fin/Aust/Lux, Italchimini appointed in Italy and the plant in Varennes getting FDA approval ("with no negative points - like getting 100% on your college entrance exams"). REK also talked about the acquisition of Oxo as being the biggest event of the year.
With regard to the Q1 F/S, she said the sales were made up of Oxo Chemie products, contract manufacturing and Dioptic. R&D spending was down from 795K to 707K.
With regard to FY 2003, the company's focus will be on "product commercializations" and that Pennsaid would be a "growing commercial reality" and that it will "consume most of our resources".
Other issues for FY 2003:
Fung-off has completed proof of concept studies, pre-clinical research is ongoing and they are "approaching a P I trial". [Anyone know if this is materially different from 12 months ago?]
WF10: "Clinical trials have shown encouraging, some would say dramatic, results". She then quoted the P2 results. "P3 Clinical Trial is approaching analysis in the US". After DMX took over DMX in June 2002, they found the data collection to be "enormously challenging". "We hope to lock the database as quickly as possible". [More on this will be related in the "scrum" re-cap.]
Infrastructure: DMX will "fine tune its infrastructure". Also they will begin the process of melding the cultures and operations of DMX and Oxo. There is a new, more consolidated R&D dept. The IR team has been "strengthened", with the addition of people experienced in dealing with the media. I believe REK also said that they had hired an IR person who has 10 years experience in the field. She didn't give a name and, as far as I know, the issue was brought up in the scrum.
Two new "clinical research associates" have been added. There is also a new plant leader in Varennes, and there is a continual upgrading of the manufacturing section (machines, not people, I think). REK said that the current 26000 sq ft facility in Varennes is capable of meeting anticipated NA Pennsaid demand, but that a new? facility of 50000 sq ft facility would be constructed for Pennsaid's global production and also to do contract manufacturing. She mentioned the figure of $40M as being what is planned for investments over the next few years, but I can't remember her words and the context in which they were said. Anyone else hear that?
She then ended her presentation by reviewing the previous fiscal year. The following are some quotes from my notes:
"2002 was a tough year for the company, for the economy and for the world"
"The share price is down, but share prices are down everywhere"
Pennsaid is "not easily accepted" by the regulators because "they have no standard of comparison"
"There is no reason for HC to delay approval indefitely"
"Patience has beeb sorely tested" (This was said in reference to the delays from HC)
"DMX is a model specialty Bio-Pharm company"
[I was looking for some sort of small mea-culpa from REK in her speech this year, but - basically - it didn't come. There was no real admission that perhaps mistakes had been made. To me, this was disappointing but not wholly unexpected....]
[Part 2 will follow in a separate post - it's a transcription of the "scripted Q&A" session REK did] |
