RE:RE:RE:RE:Got a response from Matt , pretty quick Sorry, I took a long time to type this all out. If it's repeating what others have posted, it's still worth reading for a second time.
Matt the poster, not Matt the cfo, LOL. Really? You've invested for years? Since before the glorious 10 cent days? Okay. Were you complaining the whole time? For years and years and years? I assume you've not sold a single share because you haven't found anything better? I don't think I said "move on" but that would make more sense than buying more and more and more while at the same time bashing and complaining and making illogical statements. Ie it just makes no sense.
For Matt the poster and all the others, for the love of all that's holy, as my mother used to say when exasperated, give it a rest with the LTIP and the NCIB. The LTIP has NOTHING to do with the NCIB. ATH and EVERY other publicly traded company has an LTIP plan or something with a similar name. Very FEW companies have an NCIB. Having an NCIB is a GOOD thing. Nobody would suggest if ATH has an NCIB they have to cancel the LTIP would they? Or if ATH has an LTIP, they should NEVER buy back shares? No, of course not. Please think carefully. I'll repeat myself. These two things have NOTHING to do with each other.
As you KNOW, being such a long term shareholder, ATH , like ALL companies have ALWAYS had a LTIP. The HR weenies rename it but it's always been there. It used to be just options granted "at the money" that vested over 3 to 5 years. It's always been below the industry standard of 10% of outstanding shares. Same as almost every other company in the world. Some greedy buggers go for as much as 20%. I refuse to invest in those companies. I discovered I owned one when I read the annual financials and immediately dumped it. Lately all the cool kids have added restricted stock units or deferred stock units or some other formulation, but it's all the same thing. A long term incentive plan means instead of paying them with a wheelbarrow full of cash, their bonus accrues over years. Saves us cash. Saves them taxes.
lets start at december 31, 2020. Issued and outstanding shares were 530,675,391
the laundry list of way too complicated LTIP was 41,725,255 shares. Total fully diluted 572,400.
note there were no warrants then because they were issued to the debt holders as part of the refinancing.
Note: Important: ATH had long term debt of $ 559,498,000 and NO NCIB.
Ath had interest and financing expense of $86 million. Context? Their entire G&A was $19 million. The huge transportation costs of all that oil was $84 million. The CASH interest paid was $62 million.
Not even 1 share could be bought back at 10 cents because of the debt covenants. Or $1. Or $2. No matter how much shareholders complained. Including me.
Now let's look at the latest audited balance sheet. December 31, 2022.
Shares outstanding are 586 million. Vs 531 million. The LTIP was 39 million. DOWN due to expiry and exercise of older units.
BUT ATH ISSUED 350,000,000 warrants, exercisable at $cdn 0.9441 , to the debtholders in order to refinance the debt. That was in line with where the stock was, so fair pricing, but the number, 350MILLION was like extortion. This was obscene highway robbery of loanshark proportions but NOBODY else would finance ATH at any cost. Our blessed banks were all under pressure from ESG nutbars to not provide any financing to any oil producer, and especially not heavy oil or oil sands producers. The only other option was turn out the light and we all walk away leaving 100% of the assets to the debtholders. It was an infuriating time to be in the oil business.
So FULLY DILUTED went to 530 + 350 (warrants) + 39 LTIP = 939 million from 572 million.
Since those 350 million warrants were issued, as Matt the cfo pointed out, ATH has exercised over 210 million of those warrants. Mostly "cashless" thereby vastly reducing the number of shares issued. I can explain this process, or Matt can offline. It's not accounting/finance 101.
Meanwhile ATH reduced the Debt load to not just cut interest costs, but to avoid ever being extorted like this ever again. We all learned the hard way. Never trust the banks, and nonbank lenders are all wolves and sharks just waiting to pick your bones clean. Debt at Dec 2022 was $206 million of which only $148 was LTD. Down from desperation days of $560 million end of 2020. Cash interest dropped in half to $30. Total financing and interest cost ($92 million) is weighed down by the HUGE cost of those warrants as they "accrete". Also Not accounting 101.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Reminder: The warrants are 100% owned by the debt holders and have nothing to do with management compensation..
bottom line share count? At dec31, 2022, BEFORE any NCIB, is 586 + 139 + 39 = "only" 764 million
fully diluted. DOWN from 939 million due to very judicious action by Matt to minimize the share count bomb from those frickin warrants.
NOTE: the LTIP is a small number in all this. Always has been. Still is. Can we put this to bed? I doubt it. I'll just copy paste this every time the screeching breaks glass windows.
Good luck to all.