Gunther: You asked when I expect to see some upticks in BNGO's price. Lets consider my list of positives and some other stuff.
The next significant news we are likely to hear from AB&G is 1st quarter 1998 earnings which are due out any day now. After posting an $0.08/share LOSS in 4th quarter 1997, I would consider any return to profitability good news. Presuming 1st quarter numbers are in the black, how the market responds will, I'm sure, be driven to some extent by how good these numbers are. I really don't want to speculate on what these numbers will be (we learned that lesson the hard way last November!) but the higher the better. Hopefully, a return to profitability will be rewarded by the market with some sort of uptick in stock price but who knows...
The new CEO, Mr. Andre Hilliou, is due to start work next week. One can't reasonably expect any truly significant action on his part immediately. However, I am hopeful that he will bring a new and more open attitude towards investors. This is something he should be able to begin to convey fairly quickly. Maybe within the first couple of weeks? Again, who knows.
The annual shareholders meeting is scheduled for June 5 in Austin, Texas. That gives the new CEO time to get to know some details about AB&G's operations, convene some Board meetings, maybe appoint a new Board member, and use these actions (among other things) to construct a vision of where he expects to take the company. I would expect some sort of "vision" statements to be issued by the company following the annual meeting. If Mr. Hilliou and AB&G have (and can articulate) a plan for the future that investors perceive as viable and that indicates the $11 million in cash will be put to profitable use in the near future, this could also translate into some uptick in share price.
Of course, actually using some of the cash (in a manner deemed profitable by the market) will be a big positive step for AB&G but, again, who knows when we will see this happen. Hopefully, Mr. Hilliou has some good ideas. I have to believe he does or else why hire a guy with such good gaming industry experience? Time will tell.
The South Carolina legislature is due to adjourn on June 4th (I think I am right on that date). The South Carolina Supreme Court decision could be issued at any time. The best possible scenario for AB&G, in my opinion, would be for the South Carolina Supreme Court to rule in favor of video poker AND to do so AFTER the legislature adjourns for the year. I think it unlikely the legislature will take any action to further tax or regulate the video poker industry as long as there is the possibility the Supreme Court will abolish the industry by declaring it to be an "illegal lottery". If the scenario described above comes to pass, it would be a MAJOR positive for AB&G, in my opinion, and one that I think the market would find hard to ignore.
The next few weeks should be a very interesting time for this company. The last few days have seen virtually no price change and very low volumes traded. It seems to me the market is taking a wait-and-see attitude these days which is a perfectly reasonable approach given the circumstances. Personally, I'm cautiously optimistic.
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