RE:FILED ON SEDAR AT 8:46PM: DIRECTOR VLASOPOULOS RESIGNSArguendo, I agree it was not the news I was hoping for, I had planned to have a glass of wine and read financials for my friday night entertainment. With that said I did check all of the previous YE filings this afternoon and they are always filed on the last business day of April so although I'd hoped it would be tonight history tells me it would be Monday April 30.
Now for Angelos resignation I am much more curious as to what this means, he's been with PYR since May 2015 and is a CPA, CA. I don't know that a CFO would have been more beneficial as by all indications Angelos is capable of conducting those duties as a board member. I foresee two different scenarios here the first being that Angelos is incapable of the job and has demonstrated incompetence which was found during the KPMG audit and thus his termination. Peter has gone on the record several times stating that PYR will be cash flow positive from an EBITDA standpoint several times... so in the event Angelos screwed up throughout 2017 and they will in fact not be EBITDA cash flow positive in 2017 then Peter will have to eat crow and thus the Chair of the Audit committe failed his duties and had to go. Which would explain why he was fired today and when financials come out Monday the "problem" has been resolved. If one of us was a CEO and being told by the CPA in charge of the audit committee that we were on track all year only to learn difference once KPMG looked at it.... we'd have him "resign" as well. Paul Simmons was CFO for 11 months ending in August 2016. So Angelos has essentially done the job for one fiscal year and failed.
The other scenario is the sky is falling and people should set the ask at sub .40 cents, I will take one for the team and buy all those shares... (I'm kidding of course, well about the sky falling but I will buy shares Sub .40 if someone will sell). I did have another scenario in mind but after writing the first one I came to the concludsion that some form of scenario one is likely what has just occurred.
At the end of the day no one expected PYR to make money in 2017, I for one did not care about EBITDA cash flow positive. I don't buy .65 cents stocks because they make money I buy them based on potential. PYR has three great business lines two of which are commercailly viable. So it has its risks but its a calculated risk and I still believe the odds are in share holders favour, and we likely see a good buying opportunity coming. They may have fired Angelos but they have also done considerable hiring since Sept 2017, which is more important to me than Angelos. PYR has been around for 30 years and this is but a bump in the road. Also explains the second PP as they needed additional funds to complete what they wanted to do. They realized things weren't what they had thought so the SP and warrants were reduced to reflect the audited financials. I suspect a capable CFO will be hired in the coming weeks as this is embarrassing for management.
Angelos has been deleted from PYR website but I pasted his description at the bottom of my long winded thoughts. As always time will tell and I'm likely wrong, but this is how I see things today. Share your thoughts and lets hammer this out with our speculation.
HK
If anyone actually gets to the bottom of my ramblings....
Mr. Angelos Vlasopoulos, CPA, CA, is Director of PyroGenesis Canada Inc. He is a Certified Public Accountant and brings to the board over eighteen years of corporate accounting, finance and operations experience in both private and public companies. Prior to joining the PyroGenesis Board, Angelos was a Vice President at Brookfield Asset Management and held the position of Chief Financial Officer of MediSolution Ltd., a public company. Angelos held various positions in a major software and services organization, including Senior Finance Manager of one of the company’s divisions. He has also worked in the Audit & Advisory Services practice at Deloitte & Touche LLP, and is currently the President and Chief Executive Officer at Aeson Leeds Inc., a Strategic Financial Management firm.