ADVC - Advant-e Corp.

[Hielko]

Does it really matter if a company reports 4 times/year or just once?

 

I think you need to give management a little bit of trust, and the fact that they are willing to pay dividends and buyback shares are imo a good indication that this is a management team that you can trust.

[alpha231616967560]

Does it really matter if a company reports 4 times/year or just once?

 

I think you need to give management a little bit of trust, and the fact that they are willing to pay dividends and buyback shares are imo a good indication that this is a management team that you can trust.

 

Is there a once-a-year filing requirement for companies that file a Form 15? As far as I can tell, filing Form 15 relieves the company of the requirement to file 10-Ks as well as Qs, etc. I would be reasonably satisfied with just 10-Ks. As far as management, I am more of a "trust, but verify" sort of investor.

 

Obligations in the 90 day period prior to effectiveness of deregistration. Obligations to file Form 10-Ks, 20-Fs, 10-Qs, 8-Ks and 6-Ks, as applicable to a particular issuer, are suspended immediately upon filing of the Form 15. However, other Exchange Act filing obligations continue during the 90 day period following the filing of the Form 15 (or Form 25 to deregister under Section 12(b)). Foreign private issuers that were previously registered under Section 12(b) or 12(g) will continue to be subject to Section 13(d) and Section 13(e) requirements, which includes the very onerous going private Rule (Rule 13e-3) during the 90 day period. U.S. issuers (or non-U.S. issuers that fail to qualify as foreign private issuers) will also continue to be subject to the proxy rules and Section 16 reporting and short swing profit requirements. Issuers that were reporting only under Section 15(d)—because they have had an effective registration statement (e.g., covering debt securities)—would not be subject to these additional requirements during the 90 day period.

 

 

[Hielko]

Does it really matter if a company reports 4 times/year or just once?

 

I think you need to give management a little bit of trust, and the fact that they are willing to pay dividends and buyback shares are imo a good indication that this is a management team that you can trust.

 

Is there a once-a-year filing requirement for companies that file a Form 15? As far as I can tell, filing Form 15 relieves the company of the requirement to file 10-Ks as well as Qs, etc. I would be reasonably satisfied with just 10-Ks. As far as management, I am more of a "trust, but verify" sort of investor.

 

Obligations in the 90 day period prior to effectiveness of deregistration. Obligations to file Form 10-Ks, 20-Fs, 10-Qs, 8-Ks and 6-Ks, as applicable to a particular issuer, are suspended immediately upon filing of the Form 15. However, other Exchange Act filing obligations continue during the 90 day period following the filing of the Form 15 (or Form 25 to deregister under Section 12(b)). Foreign private issuers that were previously registered under Section 12(b) or 12(g) will continue to be subject to Section 13(d) and Section 13(e) requirements, which includes the very onerous going private Rule (Rule 13e-3) during the 90 day period. U.S. issuers (or non-U.S. issuers that fail to qualify as foreign private issuers) will also continue to be subject to the proxy rules and Section 16 reporting and short swing profit requirements. Issuers that were reporting only under Section 15(d)—because they have had an effective registration statement (e.g., covering debt securities)—would not be subject to these additional requirements during the 90 day period.

They are not required to file a form 10-K, but you are entitled to some sort of annual report if you are a shareholder.

[alpha231616967560]

Annual letter and 2013 performance results attached.

 

6% revenue increase vs 2012 and 20% earnings increase. Looking solid, and earnings are double what they were in 2010, margins continuing upward march.

 

SHLTR_207316.PDF

AR_207317.PDF

[ItsAValueTrap]

How do you get the shareholder letter and annual report?

 

They don't seem to publish it on the website.

[alpha231616967560]

How do you get the shareholder letter and annual report?

 

They don't seem to publish it on the website.

 

I wrote to the company (the CFO wrote back to me) and requested them. He said that they had been sent to the printer and would be out within 10 days (that was 9 days ago), but I actually got the materials through my brokerage (ETRADE for that account) in the end. Hope that helps.

 

I'm a little puzzled about their reasoning for not publishing these materials on their website. They seem to me to be the epitome of a company that is not interested in publicizing their stock.

 

Cheers,

Paul

[KJP]

Has anyone received the 2014 annual report?

[portfolio14]

Not yet. I think last year I got it around mid-May.

 

[alpha231616967560]

I wrote to them today and they replied that the annual report will be shipped to shareholders on Monday.

[alpha231616967560]

Has anyone received the annual report yet? I seem to have some delivery issues (they seem to be partying like its 1999) with my brokerage that I don't quite have sorted. If you do have one, I'd appreciate a copy.

 

Cheers!

Paul

[ItsAValueTrap]

Here's their consolidated financials:

http://www.proxydocs.com/0/000/898/052/advante_corporation_642015.pdf

 

Shareholder letter at the very end.

[alpha231616967560]

Here's their consolidated financials:

http://www.proxydocs.com/0/000/898/052/advante_corporation_642015.pdf

 

Shareholder letter at the very end.

 

Thanks a million IAVT!

[portfolio14]

I have a strange problem. Hope you guys can help.

 

I received a letter from a company called Issuer Services Group with the stamp chop dated Jun 9, 2015. On the envelope it says "Important Shareholder Information Enclosed". But the envelope is empty! There is nothing inside! So I have no idea what it's about.

 

One likely possibility is it's something for Advant-e.

 

I'm wondering if you guys have received anything for Advant-e via Issuer Services Group?

 

Thanks

 

[KJP]

I have a strange problem. Hope you guys can help.

 

I received a letter from a company called Issuer Services Group with the stamp chop dated Jun 9, 2015. On the envelope it says "Important Shareholder Information Enclosed". But the envelope is empty! There is nothing inside! So I have no idea what it's about.

 

One likely possibility is it's something for Advant-e.

 

I'm wondering if you guys have received anything for Advant-e via Issuer Services Group?

 

Thanks

 

No, I have not.

[portfolio14]

I have a strange problem. Hope you guys can help.

 

I received a letter from a company called Issuer Services Group with the stamp chop dated Jun 9, 2015. On the envelope it says "Important Shareholder Information Enclosed". But the envelope is empty! There is nothing inside! So I have no idea what it's about.

 

One likely possibility is it's something for Advant-e.

 

I'm wondering if you guys have received anything for Advant-e via Issuer Services Group?

 

Thanks

 

No, I have not.

 

Mystery solved. I contacted Issuer Services Group. They immediately found the communication and sent it to me electronically. It's actually for SODI, not ADVC.  :D

 

[KJP]

Anyone know of any facts justifying the recent decline here?  I think Advant-E is now trading around 4.5x EV/EBIT, which seems incredibly low in light of the business's historic performance.

[portfolio14]

Anyone know of any facts justifying the recent decline here?  I think Advant-E is now trading around 4.5x EV/EBIT, which seems incredibly low in light of the business's historic performance.

 

Haven't heard anything. So, trailing P/E adjusted for goodwill writedown is about 10x. That's cheap.

 

Too bad that it's already a really big position in one of my accounts. I had some long-standing sell orders at about ~0.70 to trim the position but no one took my bait. And for my another account, it's using IB of which the transaction cost is ridiculous for penny stocks.  :(

[KJP]

Anyone know of any facts justifying the recent decline here?  I think Advant-E is now trading around 4.5x EV/EBIT, which seems incredibly low in light of the business's historic performance.

 

Haven't heard anything. So, trailing P/E adjusted for goodwill writedown is about 10x. That's cheap.

 

Too bad that it's already a really big position in one of my accounts. I had some long-standing sell orders at about ~0.70 to trim the position but no one took my bait. And for my another account, it's using IB of which the transaction cost is ridiculous for penny stocks.  :(

 

Yep, I think the ex-cash P/E is around 7 or 8.  Crazy for a growing, asset-light business.  I left IB because it was so difficult to trade stocks like ADVC. 

[portfolio14]

Anyone know of any facts justifying the recent decline here?  I think Advant-E is now trading around 4.5x EV/EBIT, which seems incredibly low in light of the business's historic performance.

 

Haven't heard anything. So, trailing P/E adjusted for goodwill writedown is about 10x. That's cheap.

 

Too bad that it's already a really big position in one of my accounts. I had some long-standing sell orders at about ~0.70 to trim the position but no one took my bait. And for my another account, it's using IB of which the transaction cost is ridiculous for penny stocks.  :(

 

Yep, I think the ex-cash P/E is around 7 or 8.  Crazy for a growing, asset-light business.  I left IB because it was so difficult to trade stocks like ADVC.

 

Had they not cancelled the reverse split... That was still a mystery. :(

[Poor Charlie]

Any news on the dividend?

 

They paid .03 last Jan but I haven't heard anything for this year. 

[KJP]

I also have still heard nothing.  Anyone have any news?

[KJP]

The 2015 financial statements are attached.  Short version:  Essentially no top-line growth along with gross margin compression caused EBIT to about $500k to ~$4 million and net income is about $2.6 million. 

 

ADVC now has about $7 million in cash and 58.8 million shares outstanding.  At $.55/share, the market cap is $32 million, EV is $25 million.  So, about 12x P/E or 10x ex-cash. 

ADVC_2015_Annual_Report.PDF

[KJP]

The Company is executing a 1 for 10,000 reverse split and cashing out all resulting fractional interests at $.50/share. 

 

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/advant-e-corporation-announces-reverse-stock-split-followed-by-mandatory-cash-out-of-fractional-shares-and-forward-stock-split-300282992.html

[NeverLoseMoney]

The Company is executing a 1 for 10,000 reverse split and cashing out all resulting fractional interests at $.50/share. 

 

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/advant-e-corporation-announces-reverse-stock-split-followed-by-mandatory-cash-out-of-fractional-shares-and-forward-stock-split-300282992.html

Wow, the same stunt they tried to pull 3 1/2 years ago: http://otcadventures.com/?p=383. In the end they didn't go through with the reverse split, it was cancelled for some unexplained reason. Threat of lawsuits maybe?

 

Now they actually pulled a fast one and screwed small shareholders out of their shares. I don't think there has been any prior announcement about this reverse split, so if you held less than 10,000 shares you had no option to at least try to buy some more to reach the 10k threshold and prevent a forced cash-out. A nice way for Mr. Wadzinski to buy in $500k worth of very illiquid stock well below intrisic value from small investors who can't do anything about it.

 

And then he proceeds to give them the middle finger in the press release as well:

 

Jason K. Wadzinski, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, stated, "We are very grateful to all our shareholders, who risked their capital to help us execute our business plan.  We trust that this company action will provide small shareholders with liquidity as their shares are converted to cash at $.50 per share, the approximate current market price."

 

A nice way of showing your gratefulness! I think small shareholders would have been a lot happier receiving something that approximates intrinsic value for their shares rather than the approximate current market price.

 

He can execute this same trick again in the future, so the value of the company for relatively small shareholders that have not been cashed out is permanently impaired in my opinion. It probably already was, given their earlier actions, but they did not go through with that reverse split. As a small shareholder, now you know for sure they'll show no hesitation to screw you. Only if you can afford to fight the company in court in a future episode like this can you hope to receive fair value for your shares.

[portfolio14]

My guess is, they cancelled the previous attempt because they were pissed off by the opportunists trying to take advantage of arbitraging the odd lots. Hence, they made it secretive this time. If Wadzinski really wanted to screw small investors intentionally, the last reverse split attempt would've been done secretly. I would say small investors are collateral damage here.

 

The Company is executing a 1 for 10,000 reverse split and cashing out all resulting fractional interests at $.50/share. 

 

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/advant-e-corporation-announces-reverse-stock-split-followed-by-mandatory-cash-out-of-fractional-shares-and-forward-stock-split-300282992.html

Wow, the same stunt they tried to pull 3 1/2 years ago: http://otcadventures.com/?p=383. In the end they didn't go through with the reverse split, it was cancelled for some unexplained reason. Threat of lawsuits maybe?

 

Now they actually pulled a fast one and screwed small shareholders out of their shares. I don't think there has been any prior announcement about this reverse split, so if you held less than 10,000 shares you had no option to at least try to buy some more to reach the 10k threshold and prevent a forced cash-out. A nice way for Mr. Wadzinski to buy in $500k worth of very illiquid stock well below intrisic value from small investors who can't do anything about it.

 

And then he proceeds to give them the middle finger in the press release as well:

 

Jason K. Wadzinski, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, stated, "We are very grateful to all our shareholders, who risked their capital to help us execute our business plan.  We trust that this company action will provide small shareholders with liquidity as their shares are converted to cash at $.50 per share, the approximate current market price."

 

A nice way of showing your gratefulness! I think small shareholders would have been a lot happier receiving something that approximates intrinsic value for their shares rather than the approximate current market price.

 

He can execute this same trick again in the future, so the value of the company for relatively small shareholders that have not been cashed out is permanently impaired in my opinion. It probably already was, given their earlier actions, but they did not go through with that reverse split. As a small shareholder, now you know for sure they'll show no hesitation to screw you. Only if you can afford to fight the company in court in a future episode like this can you hope to receive fair value for your shares.