Another terrible day for Perth-based sandalwood player and cricketer Adam Gilchrist's favourite company Quintis (the artist formerly known as TFS). Rocked by the news a few days ago that Nestle subsidiary Galderma had terminated a contract in December (a revelation the board only found out about in this newspaper), the stock plumbed to new lows after house broker Cannacord suspended its coverage on the stock. Ouch.
Cannacord is where Quintis founder and largest shareholder Frank Wilson's son, Ben Wilson worked. It raised more than $150 million in new equity in recent years for Quintis (alongside Moelis). The stock has fallen almost 80 per cent in two days and is well below the $1.50 price it enjoyed before short-specialist Glaucus issued its research note in March suggesting it was a Ponzi scheme. A suggestion Quintis instantly dismissed.
Looking through Cannacord analyst Owen Humphries' suspension of coverage, his most recent price target yesterday of $3.38 now looks a tad aggressive. The stock fell 43 per cent yesterday after the board said it wasn't aware a major contract had been terminated, closing at an all-time low of 36¢.
Even so, the most interesting element of the suspension of coverage note was buried on page two, in which Cannacord is revealed to have 950 stocks under coverage globally and only 2.7 per cent have sell ratings on them. Outstanding!
Sources in the fundie world said this implosion was up there with Slater and Gordon and Wellard in terms of catastrophic broker raisings, noting that the fact the house broker and chief supporter found the going too hard was a distinctly worrying sign. ASIC will surely be taking an active interest in the public releases of the company over the past six months.
The question now is which rumoured private equity partners will back 12 per cent shareholder Frank Wilson? It's hard to see anyone stepping up with the credibility of the company now in tatters.
Funnily enough, former cricketing great Gilchrist has gone quiet on the subject of Quintis. Despite him and F1 racing ace Daniel Ricciardo proudly announcing themselves as Quintis ambassadors at a slap-up shindig in Melbourne in March – and since tweeting and retweeting the company's every utterance – Gilly has gone mysteriously quiet on the subject of sandalwood on social media. Should have stuck to the willow, Gilly.
