She is the director of IR - not very effective - if you want answers, speak directly with Dave Palmer.
you should review past looses. The Information circular showed what the Probe management team was being paid - totally out of line with what they have accomplished in the past year. Also, very disturbing conflicts of interest with Langlois being VP Corp Dev at about $340,000/year and the president and CEO of Angus Ventures - a supposedly "dormant" company with the same address as Probe; Palmer and Sokalsky approximately 18% shareholders, Langlois 15%, Peterson 5%. This "dormant" company has been very busy with acquisitions and completed a $2.6 million flow through financing. Palmer insisted during the AGM that this was not a big deal and that it was dormant, then cut off questions when there was still 120 minutes left for the call and many other questions to be answered.
i have included that post for your perusal.
I sent an email to one of Probe's independent directors. He assured me that an internal investigation has been launched and he will apprise me of the results. He would also welcome a call to address my concerns.
I have no interest in that. This was the email that I sent to him today. It is long but I think addressed most of my concerns.
The Probe AGM conference call was a disgrace.
I confirmed with the provider that the company booked the call for 180 minutes.
There were 160 investors on that call.
David Palmer ended the call after approximately 60 minutes with the majority of his time devoted to a rambling corporate presentation. I believe he only took questions
from 2-3 investors and was very obviously uncomfortable with those he actually took the time to address. Does Probe management seriously believe that this was adequate?
I had plenty of questions to ask and I know for a fact that a significant number of additional investors had questions. I wanted to ask the questions in the public forum of the AGM attended by fellow investors, because frankly, this management team has destroyed my trust in them. I do not want a private phone call as that would provide potential deniability and after hearing what I heard on that conference phone call, I do not believe that satisfactory answers will be been given. To be told that everything to do with Angus Ventures is legal is laughable. I’m sure most of the legal and regulatory “I’s”were dotted and the “T’s” crossed, but the ethics of those involved are seriously questionable and disappointing.
What was so important that the Probe shareholders were cut off in their only public forum to question management?
Was there another board meeting to follow the AGM in which another substantial raise and options were bestowed on an already overpaid underperforming management team? Was that more important than hearing out the very real concerns of the people that every member of the management team and board is mandated to carry out the best interests of?
While technically proficient, the wide spread belief of the investors that I communicate with, is that the richly rewarded management team did not accomplish enough in 2019 to merit the exorbitant bonuses they were given. They are not happy with the share price. The bonus criteria listed in the Information Circular is extremely vague, however, one of the most important in every investors mind is that of relative shareholder return. Probe has performed dismally for the past three years while its peers surged ahead in leaps and bounds.
During the AGM, Mr Palmer publicly acknowledged that the company obviously lacks in marketing. So what have they been doing? Every shareholder is entitled to see a list of every marketing initiative that the company has undertaken and the budget for marketing for the past three years, including the expensive institutional conferences that Probe sends their executives to. Does management travel first class, business or economy? How many days were the actual conferences and how many days were full days of work performed and how many days were on Probe’s dime? Does a lunch with an institutional fat cat that Probe already engages with and pays exorbitant fees to justify a full day at an international facility? Do spouses accompany the Probe attendees? Who pays for them?
I understand that employees of Probe are entitled to hold investments in other companies. I don’t think any of Probe investors have an issue with that.
I think investors find it disturbing that the area that the CEO admitted is lacking, is the one managed by the two full time employees who also hold executive positions in Angus Ventures.
They may not receive a salary, but they were granted options and Mr. Langlois holds a significant ownership stake in Angus Ventures. That is compensation and a vested interest. Please provide the salary and compensation of your Director of IR as it is not listed in any documents that I have seen.
As full time employees in executive positions at Probe Metals, how can their employment contracts allow them to hold executive positions in another company? That is against the best interests of Probe and more importantly, its investors.
That it was done with the knowledge of the board, (as you said) in a company in which the Chairnan, the President and CEO own 18% each, the VP Corp Dev owns 13%, another director owns 5%, and the Director of IR and a senior Probe geologist have been compensated with options, is beyond disappointing and frankly, appears corporately incestuous and a grotesque conflict of interest.
This “dormant” company with no plans to drill has acquired a significant number of gold properties in Ontario and is undertaking a $2.6 million flow through financing. That takes time.
When Probe Metals was spun out, we were told that the company evaluated over 400 or 500 properties over the course of a year before deciding on Adventure Gold. I’m sure it took a significant amount of time for Angus to evaluate properties prior to acquisition; who was involved with that process? All done on the weekends and after work? I somehow doubt that.
The regulatory filings take time.
The AGM materials of Angus take time to prepare.
The AGM takes time to prepare.
The corporate website takes time to develop and is a requirement for disclosure. I have not seen one yet so I’m sure someone is working feverishly to develop the content for that as well.
The Probe board and management must think its investors are ridiculously complacent, stupid or naive - a company does not conduct a flow through financing of that size without a significant exploration plan.
I don’t appreciate being told that little to no work was done when it’s quite obvious that it has.
So...you may say sell your shares if you don’t like it. Well, I am in the enviable position of owning shares with a relatively low cost, even though it has been the poorest performer in my portfolio over the last three years. I am not selling yet but I am certainly not interested in adding to my position after this. I am waiting for what I think will be a predictably low buyout bid that management will think adequate and that shareholders will be disappointed in, but most will see some positive return.
For years I believed that this company was different; that the management team was not the typical resource industry shysters out for their own best interests. What happened to our earnest, honourable, hardworking team that had a great relationship with its retail base? Now all it seems to care about are the institutional investors and their own personal bottom line at the expense of Probe investors.
For shame.
I hope your investigation is thorough and look forward to the results and that appropriate actions are taken.