Sprott Asset Pared Timminco Position, Still A Big
Sprott Asset Pared Timminco Position, Still A Big Supporter
Zaterdag 18 Oktober 2008 06:09 RSS Feed By Stuart Weinberg Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
TORONTO -(Dow Jones)-
Sprott Asset Management recently sold a small portion of its Timminco Ltd. (TIM.T) stake, but the firm is still a believer in the company's story, Eric Sprott, chief executive of Sprott Inc. (SII.T) told Dow Jones Friday.
'We love the Timminco story. We love it,' he said. 'I think things are really coming together there, but
I would say we're in a bear market and people don't have patience to wait.'
Sprott Asset, a Toronto hedge fund and subsidiary of Sprott Inc., held 17.756 million shares, or
17.07%, of Timminco, according to Timminco's most recent management proxy circular, filed May 1.
Mr. Sprott said he believes
his firm sold about 100,000 Timminco shares about a month ago. 'Have we sold some, yeah, we might have sold 100,000 shares or something, but there's been no wholesale selling,' he said. 'We have not been active in the last month or so, I think I can say that with some certainty.'
Mr. Sprott said the selling activity reflected a need for portfolio balance. 'Y
ou know, bear market, you've got to be as liquid as you can,' he said.
Mr. Sprott said the sale wasn't done because Sprott Asset
needed money to pay out redemptions, which have been minimal. 'You do get some redemptions,' he said. 'I mean, if I had to guess what redemptions we had, we've probably had like 2% of our funds redeemed.'
Mr. Sprott added that
Sprott Asset has about C$1 billion in cash, so it hardly needs to raise money.
Timminco, which upgrades metallurgical silicon to solar-grade level using a non-chemical process, has been the subject of a fierce bull-bear debate. Bears question the firm's low-cost, proprietary method for upgrading silicon, while bulls point to the firm's supply contracts with high-profile solar-cell makes, such as Q-Cells AG (QCE.XE) and Canadian Solar Inc. (CSIQ).
In August, Timminco disappointed the Street when it reported lower-than-expected second-quarter silicon shipments. Earlier this month, the company said shipped 300 metric tons in the third quarter and it reiterated guidance for 2008 shipments of 1,200-1,500 metric tons.
A former market darling, Timminco has seen its share price fall 63% year to date. The stock closed up 20 Canadian cents to C$8.15 in Toronto Friday.
'I would say that, if they can announce that they have all their product for some period, all to spec, all at normal capacity, then people would differently upon it,' Mr. Sprott said.
Company Web Site:
https://www.timminco.com -Stuart Weinberg, Dow Jones Newswires; 416-306-2026; stuart.weinberg@dowjones.com