Bankers is a very volatile stock For a company that has very predictable earnings and cash flow, Bankers is extremely volatile. For some reason they are not attracting investment funds but rather trading funds that trade the technicals right out of this stock which of course in not good for those that have bought to hold. It is a rollercoaster ride. The company has generated substantial free cash flow the last two quarters, beats the tar out of its guidance being up nearly 30% in production over same quarter last year, Brent is holding at $110 and voila as soon as it breaks out to the $3.50 range (finally) which is still below its 1P NAV which for a long life reserve company is rediculous. I do not know what Mark Hogson does as their VP of investor relations but for a European based operation, there are no European investors using their AIM listing which was the original intention of having and paying for the second listing. Take Ithaca Energy, it is a Canadian company that trades on the TSX but its operations are based in the UK and Norway and because of this is also listed on the AIM. The difference is that the AIM exchange is used extensively by the market to invest and divest in Ithaca unlike Bankers that trades a few hundred shares a day on the AIM. IF I was in French's boots I would be wondering why Hogson is not actively and successfully promoting Bankers in Europe to increase demand for the stock as a sound energy investment. There are many stocks I track that have and are moving up and up and not retracing the way Bankers does and really I do not think the management seems to care much about it.
The stock had all the reasons in the world to rise to the $3.50 plus level and stay there but since it has it has been sold down vigorously by over 12% in just several days. The good news is that there were buyers are the $3.50 ranges so these folks should be holding at least for now reducing supply of the stock. To be honest though I really believe in the Bankers story and seeing it unfold is reinforcing this believe, the company has got to get investment funds to buy the stock and get it out of the hands of the traders that whip saw the share price and are really keeping a lid on its ascent