11.12.2023 14:40:27 CET | Hove A/S |
Investor Nyheder
Denne meddelelse skal sikre, at alle aktionærer i Hove A/S modtager information samtidigt.
Meddelelsen skal ses på baggrund af en artikel bragt i Børsen den 8. december 2023 og henvendelser til Hove A/S’ ledelse i forbindelse med salg af aktier underlagt regler for insiderhandel. Konkret handler henvendelserne om, at der er sået tvivl om, hvorvidt et bestyrelsesmedlem og mindretalsaktionær samt en ledende medarbejder har handlet aktier i strid med gældende regler om insiderhandel.
Tvivlen er opstået, fordi ovenstående personer har solgt aktier i Hove A/S umiddelbart efter, at selskabet udsendte en opjustering af forventningerne til selskabets resultat (”Guidance”) medio november 2023, og Guidance kort efter blev nedjusteret.
For at opsummere kort, går henvendelserne på at enten er gældende regler blevet brudt eller også er vi i Hove A/S’ ledelse inkompetente. Ingen af delene er efter min klare overbevisning tilfældet, og jeg vil i det følgende:
Kommentere på grundlaget for udmelding af Guidance
Kommentere specifikt på det konkrete salg af aktier
Invitere vores aktionærer og andre interesserede indenfor i Hove A/S’ maskinrum for at vise, hvilke forhold vores virksomhed arbejder under, når Guidance skal udmeldes.
Hove A/S er som selskab noteret på NASDAQ First North Growth Market forpligtet af reglerne i First North Growth Market Rulebook, herunder kapitel 4 som omhandler krav til disclosure for First North-noterede selskaber. Da vi i Hove A/S’ ledelse den 15. november 2023 udmeldte en opjustering af Guidance, var vi sikre på at der ville ske en stigning i omsætningen, som vi anså som så væsentlig, at vi skulle rapportere om det til markedet. Opjusteringen af omsætningen var ikke stor og Guidance intervallet for EBITDA blev indsnævret. Ærgerligt at det skete, eftersom vi kun tre uger senere – efter at have modtaget en mail om natten (dansk tid) mellem den 5. og 6. december 2023 fra vores datterselskab i USA – måtte foretage en overraskende nedjustering af både omsætning og EBITDA. Jeg skal som hovedaktionær være den første til at beklage dette og samtidig gøre det helt klart, at jeg som CEO i Hove A/S har det fulde ansvar for virksomhedens udmeldelse af Guidance.
Vi er som selskab sikre på, at der ikke er sket overtrædelse af de gældende regler for insiderhandel. Da den ledende medarbejder hhv. et bestyrelsesmedlem og mindretalsaktionær solgte aktier efter offentliggørelsen af opjusteringen den 15. november 2023 skete dette indenfor de gældende rammer for insider handel med aktier, og handlerne blev også korrekt anmeldt. Handlerne blev gennemført i dagene umiddelbart efter opjusteringen den 15. november 2023 og dermed længe før den 5. december 2023, hvor vi modtog mailen fra vores datterselskab som nævnt ovenfor og nedjusterede. Salget af aktier blev gennemført, fordi de to aktionærer pga. gældende skatteregler, herunder de uhensigtsmæssige regler om lagerbeskatning, var nødt til at sikre likviditet til betaling af skat.
I Hove A/S’ maskinrum har vi teknisk set flere redskaber, når Guidance skal justeres:
Indtil i dag har Hove A/S primært anvendt en simpel lineær fremskrivning af årets faktiske resultater som det bærende redskab. Dette redskab blev primært anvendt, da vi opjusterede i november 2023.
Vi kunne have valgt at supplere denne vurdering med anvendelse af historiske data – f.eks. med sammenligning af de tilsvarende måneder året før. Havde Hove A/S anvendt resultater for ”året før”, da vi justerede Guidance i november i år, ville det have medført en langt højere opjustering, end den vi faktisk meldte ud. Men vi anvendte – heldigvis – ikke dette redskab som ellers er et bærende redskab, når budgetter for et kommende år skal fastlægges.
Det tredje redskab, som Hove A/S benytter, er at se på faktiske ordrer. Problemet er, at vi generelt kun kan se 3-5 uger frem i tiden. Vores kunder har presset os på leveringstider. Vi har for størstedelen af vores omsætning måtte indgå aftaler om at skulle levere indenfor 2 uger efter modtagelse af en ordre. Da fedtbeholdere og smørepumper udgør over 90% af vores omsætning, så bliver salget af disse meget afgørende for vores Guidance. Forventede ordrer kan dog pludselig udeblive, uden at vi bliver informeret af vores kunder. Ofte er det et periodiseringsproblem afledt af forhold hos vores kunder, som vi ingen viden har om, men det er formentlig et misforhold mellem kundens lagre og smøringsrutinerne på vindmølle sites, som vi i ledelsen ikke har nogen muligheder for at forudse eller få informationer om.
Vi vil i ledelsen og bestyrelsen nøje overveje, hvilke greb vi kan anvende for at sikre en højere robusthed og dermed troværdighed for Hove A/S Guidance i fremtiden. Dette med grundig analyse af hvad der er sket. Jeg håber, at jeg med denne Investorinformation har givet et fyldestgørende svar på artiklen i Børsen og på de henvendelser, som jeg har modtaget siden torsdag den 7. december 2023. Personligt er jeg stolt over, hvordan virksomheden har anvendt provenuet fra vores IPO i november 2021 til at styrke driften og skalere forretningen og dermed opnået en markant højere omsætning og indtjening. Jeg forsøger hele tiden at varetage aktionærernes og mine ansattes interesser bedst muligt, og som sagt skal jeg være den første til at beklage forløbet.
Mvh. CEO Hans Christian Hansen Hove A/S.
Hans Christian HansenCEO Hove A/STlf. (+45) 31359410
Certified adviserNorden CEF A/Swww.nordencef.dk
Vedhæftninger
Download selskabsmeddelelse.pdf
11.12.2023 14:40:27 CET | Hove A/S |
Investor News
This message is to ensure that all shareholders in Hove A/S receive information at the same time.
The announcement must be seen against the background of an article published in Børsen on the 8th of December 2023 and inquiries to Hove A/S’ management in connection with the sale of shares subject to rules for insider trading.
Specifically, the inquiries concerning the fact that doubts have been raised as to whether a board member and minority shareholder as well as a senior employee have traded shares in violation of current rules on insider trading.
The doubt has arisen because the above persons have sold shares in Hove A/S immediately after the company issued an upward adjustment of the expectations for the company’s result (“Guidance”) in mid-November 2023, and the Guidance was adjusted downward shortly afterwards.
To summarize, the inquiries suggest that either applicable rules have been broken or that we in Hove A/S’ management are incompetent. Neither part is, in my clear conviction, the case, and I will in the following:
1. Comment on the basis for issuing Guidance
2. Comment specifically on the specific sale of shares
3. Invite our shareholders and other interested parties into Hove A/S’ engine room to show the conditions under which our company works when Guidance is to be announced.
As a company listed on the NASDAQ First North Growth Market, Hove A/S is bound by the rules in the First North Growth Market Rulebook, including chapter 4 which deals with disclosure requirements for First North-listed companies. When Hove A/S’s management announced an upward adjustment of Guidance on 15th of November 2023, we were sure that there would be an increase in turnover, which we considered so significant that we had to report it to the market. The upward adjustment of revenue was not large and the Guidance interval for EBITDA was narrowed. It’s a pity that it happened, since only three weeks later – after receiving an email during the night (Danish time) between the 5th and the 6th of December 2023 from our subsidiary in the USA – we had to make an unanticipated downward adjustment to both revenue and EBITDA. As the main shareholder, I must be the first to regret this and at the same time make it absolutely clear that I, as CEO of Hove A/S, take full responsibility for the company’s announcement of Guidance.
As a company, we are certain that there has been no violation of the applicable rules for insider trading. Since the employees sold shares after the announcement of the upward adjustment on the 15th of November 2023, this happened within the applicable framework for insider trading in shares, and the trades were also correctly notified. The trades were completed in the days immediately after the upward adjustment on 15 November 2023 and thus long before 5th/6th of December 2023, when we received the email from our subsidiary as mentioned above and adjusted downward. The sale of shares was carried out because the two shareholders, due to current tax rules, including the inappropriate rules on stock taxation, had to secure liquidity for the payment of tax.
In Hove A/S’ engine room, we technically have several tools when Guidance needs to be adjusted:
Until today, Hove A/S has primarily used a simple linear projection of the year’s actual results as the main tool. This tool was primarily used when we adjusted upwards in November 2023.
We could have chosen to supplement this assessment with the use of historical data – e.g. with comparison of the corresponding months of the previous year. If Hove A/S had used results for the “previous year”, when we adjusted the Guidance in November this year, it would have resulted in a much higher upward adjustment than the one we announced. But – fortunately – we did not use this tool, which is otherwise a supporting tool when budgets for the coming year are to be determined.
The third tool that Hove A/S uses is to look at actual orders. The problem is that we can generally only see 3-5 weeks ahead. Our customers have pressured us on delivery times. For most of our turnover, we have had to enter into agreements to deliver within 2 weeks of receiving an order. As grease containers and lubrication pumps make up over 90% of our turnover, the sale of these will be very decisive for our Guidance. Expected orders suddenly do not arrive, without our customers informing us. Often it is an accrual problem derived from conditions at our customers that we have no knowledge of, but it is probably a mismatch between the customer’s stock and the lubrication routines at wind turbine sites that we in the management have no way of predicting or getting information about.
In the management and the board, we will carefully consider what measures we can use to ensure greater robustness and thus credibility for Hove A/S Guidance in the future. This with thorough analysis of what has happened. I hope that with this Investor Information I have provided an adequate answer to the article in Børsen and to the inquiries I have received since Thursday the 7th of December 2023. Personally, I am proud of how the company has used the money raised from our IPO in November 2021 to strengthen operations and scale the business and thereby achieve significantly higher turnover and earnings. I always try to look after the interests of the shareholders and my employees as best as possible, and as I said, I must be the first to regret how the process may have looked from the outside.
Sincerely, CEO Hans Christian Hansen, Hove A/S
Hans Christian HansenCEO Hove A/STlf. (+45) 31359410
Certified adviserNorden CEF A/Swww.nordencef.dk
Attachments
Download announcement as PDF.pdf
