RE: Hooray!!! It's Happened.I am very pleased to see Stern get turfed and think it is positive for the company. The stock may not react because there are so many other issues at play here. A new environment minister and the election out of the way may set the stage for a reconsideration of the recent decision to further review the Belldune facility effects. As has been stated well on this board, it is ridiculous to study the transboundary effects when they already have a Bennett facility in Quebec processing much more potent soils.
I worry most about the flow of soil to process. I suspect the new hires will mostly begin work in July at Belldune. Taxes, utilities and other expenses will ramp up sharply in Q3. While the construction of Belldune was mostly accounted for as Capital Cost to be amortized over years, the operational expenses will be credited within each Q results. With limited soil to process & potential delays to Belldune while expenses are incurred, the bottom line may not look too good for the remainder of the year.
When they signed the large contract for NJ Phase III mid 2003, the deal was to process the huge amount of soil by the end of 2005. At that time it was difficult to see how they could get it all done by that date even with 2 facilities running by mid 2004. Clearly the client has dropped the ball and is not able to satisfy their own contracted agreement.
I have sold a large percentage of our shares during June and July. I felt I needed to protect the remaining profits we had left and hedge our bets until the story outlook improves. I had also lost confidence in the management team like so many others and that is never good as an investor. The stock could fall further until the issues effecting the company performance get resolved.
It is possible that the issues will get resolved and the story can turn around quickly but it is difficult to know when that might be at this point. Hopefully we get further informed during tomorrow's CC. I am bracing for the worst though regarding Q2-Q4 and 2004 appears to be a write off. BTW I am too busy these days to comment very often. Cheers!!!