The 2007 Liquidmetal Technologies, Inc. annual
meeting of shareholders is to be held at the Courtyard
Marriott,
on Thursday, November 15, 2007, at 10:00 a.m., PST.
holders the following questions to be raised with the
members of the Board of Directors:
1) Pre-eminent among all the shareholders polled is the
why management has failed to meet its obligation
to repay short-term debt due in October of 2007.
Minimum payment on the July 2007 notes in the amount of
$2,083,000 . In addition, 1,796,000 plus interest is due the
Kookmin Bank: 1,571,000 due in December, and the balance
of 225,000 due in Feburary of 2008.
2) Why is the coatings business under Larry Buffington, President of Liquidmetal, Inc. is growing revenues
and profits at a consistent rate, while the Bulk Alloy
Business is decreasing in revenue and profit? This 3Q
2007 numbers compared 3Q 2006 speak very clearly.
Since Larry Buffington is President and CEO of Liquidmetal,
we suggest that he devote more time and energy to Bulk Alloys,
which is clearly losing the race. Otherwise, hire another President and CEO
for the Bulk Alloy Business, since clearly it is necessary as shown
by the results for the last year. We need to get the job done,
quickly, effectively, and competently, and turn profitable with
right thinking uncrippled by past failutes.
It is not the shareholders responsibility to provide on the job
training for an executive. He is to come to the job with the right
stuff. We need an experienced executive from the metallurgical
realm to head the bulk alloy business. PERIOD.
3) Management has in the past year several times alluded to
returning to the 2004 plan to making joint ventures with
contract manufacturers which would purchase Buhler-
Liquidmetal die casting machines with purpose to manufacture
and market to customers of the contract manufacturers,
components and products diecast utilizing Liquidmetal
technology and pattented feedstocks, namely the Zirconium
based bulk metallic alloys. To date, three joint ventures have
been established:
a) an indefinitely non-operational joint venture with Jack
Chitayat
b) a primarily experimental unit in Italy (LSI) which is not
bringing in the revenue or profit
c) a recent transaction of expedience between the two Kang
Brothers in which partial assets and employees of Liquidmetal
Korea were transferred to James Kang of Grace Metals, a
Korea-based company operating in both Korea and in the
former Weihai, China finishing plant under a licensing
agreement in which Grace pays Liquidmetal Technologies,
Inc a royalty and for the Liquidmetal zirconium-based
alloys made in Korea.
4) What the shareholders want to know is what has become
of the JV's which are not based upon old friendships
and nepotism? To wit, where are the JV's with the
contract manufacturers? Flextronics (Solectron), Hon Hai,
Jabil (which make product for respective Sandisk, Apple, Nokia
and many others) and IMF Efector based in Pennsylvania.
5) Most important, where is the pivotal JV agreement?
the one with the diecasting machinery manufacturer, Buhler-
Prince?
The stock answer at Liquidmetal is that "It takes time". The
shareholders gave Management five years waste opportunity,
time, money and resources.
The shareholders know much better than management that
TIME IS MONEY, and in Liquidmetal's case, TIME is
INTEREST Payments and, worst of all, PENALTIES.
6) What has happened to Motorola? The whole world
knows that they bet the farm 4th quarter last year and lost
on their product introductions. BUT, we were selling
components for the PEBL (still in production), the ROKR,
(still in production) and the RAZR, (still in production)etc.
Did LQMT lose the business with Motorola? Are we
not supplying components any more? Management needs to
EXPLAIN why Liquidmetal's business with Motorola dropped
off. What did LQMT DO WRONG?
A very legitimate question.
7) Why is Liquidmetal foregoing marketing and making joint
ventures with the Taiwanese and Japanese? Is there a
problem for these nationalities to deal with the Korean
nationality? The last time I checked, Sony, HTC, Sharp,
Panasonic, etc. were all big players in the electronics market.
And they have capital to invest in.
Other topics, broadly swept under the rug over the years are:
1) The KEP Program with DARPA
2) The "partnership" with Johnson and Johnson
Shareholders demand a MEANINGFUL update: which is
to say, these projects are dead in the water or yes they are
ongoing and this is the latest PERT DIAGRAM.
When will the company WEAN ITSELF off the cyclicality
of cell phones and electronics? In the CC one spoke in one
half of a sentence about going after industrial accounts.....
This is NOT a STRIKING or meaningful FORECAST, NOR
a concerted effort at planning.
A pioneer technology needs a daring chief executive
officer.
We need someone who can channel resources
and energy into nuts and bolts applications,
because he has been there and done that. It is not
the time for chasing after luxury perfume bottles
and top of the line items that sell less than 1000
units a year.
WE need someone who can go after repeat business and
high volume. That's the whole point of die casting. Run the
mold over and over and over again to recover the mold and
set-up costs. You run year in and year out, not one run for
a quarter and then switch to something else.
We need a CEO who more concerned about making it work
than in making a deal. We need a CEO who uses lawyers for
offense rather than defense, that are future oriented and not
rear view mirror oriented. We need fresh thinking and that
has to come from without the Company, not within the Company!
INDEPENDENT DIRECTORS, WAKE UP
Finally, When is Management going to plug the hole in the
ACCUMULATED DEFICIT...now more than 150 million
dollars. When will the Company be NET EARNINGS
POSITIVE? Shareholders are getting tired of repeated
EBITDA statements. As Clara once stoutly growled,
"WHERE'S THE BEEF?" When are you going to make a buck
One Year, Two Years, Never? Or is it next quarter?.
Shareholders need clarity and certainty NOW.
The Board of Directors needs to find someone who can speak
with CONVICTION, CONFIDENCE and COMMITMENT,
unswerving in all three and then PERFORM and
EXECUTE the PLAN PROFITABLY and on a SUSTAINED
BASIS (which was recommended in March 2004 by a Board
of Directors now completely turned over).
If you don't know where you are going, you will
No comments:
Post a Comment