Pinned straw:
Note - I bought a large amount of ARU shares today.
I re ran my dilution calc as follows:
So at this point it is pretty hard to know:
- what SP they will raise at; and
- the amount they will raise. I believe we have to take out the money spent to date (approx $150 million Dec 2022 raise but there may be other design costs etc that can be taken out. Say another $20 million)
- If we assume the total Project Cost is AUS $1.68 billion.
- We know they want to raise US $775 million of debt (AUS $1.156 billion).
- That leaves about AUS $520 million
- Then take out about AUS $170 million
- Leaving about AUS $350 million to be raised from equity.
And lets assume they raise at about $0.40 (close to what Gina entered at) That results in a 30% dilution.
So at NdPr priced at US $150 /kg a post raise SP of about $1.33.
Obviously ex China pricing is key to the valuation. I make the following points:
- ARU CEO has publically stated the off take agreements are well above current prices and profitable for ARU. I would assume the price to be somewhere between US $100-150/kg NdPr.
- The full effects of US tarrifs and upcoming Euro tarrifs are yet to be felt in pricing. Global businesses will always take the cheapest option. But that is why the US and Euro tarrifs are a game changer for ARU. Also ESG will play a larger role in the years to come. Global businesses will need to source all their rare earths from ex China supply. And Ex China supply is only 10% of world production! And even without the ex China tail wind (or tornado), the demand from the energy transition will massively outstrip supply. Have a read of the IEA reports.
Also, as I have discussed with some other ARU shareholders, my analysis is "valuing" ARU. But it doesn't take into account the 'exuberance' effect that may occur. ARU has qualities that will appeal to the market in the future post FID:
- Energy transition
- Govt 'backed'
- ESG
- Long term
These four qualities will attract Superannuation funds. Have a look at BHP's slide in their bid for Anglo....superfunds make up about 50% of their shareholders. Currently ARU would have almost zero. Even if that percentage only went up to 10%.....that is massive buying!
Anyway...i bought a significant amount today against the bots. I'm ARU long.