What was the feeling like at the company? Fondia has previously had a “good vibe”. Did you get a sense of the atmosphere?
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There were some relatively new faces present. HR Director Wilma Laukkanen, whom I had not met before. In addition, I had only met CFO Harri Savolainen and CEO Leena Hellfors in person once before. And for Harri, this was his first press conference for an earnings release. Frankly, there was a slightly tense atmosphere at the press conference, partly due to the fact that the stock market and press conferences are relatively new things for several Fondia executives. In addition, the H1 result was also weak, which certainly also played a role.
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TJ’s outfit was chosen in funeral colors, the congregation’s will? It was a serious matter, of course 
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What technological development was TJ referring to? Has Fondia developed a robot lawyer, a “bottimaatti”?
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I would have asked the same question if the QA had been open to viewers. What kind of technology does the law firm have?
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That’s a very valid point.
The CEO’s communication and external appearance surprisingly affect how things look. Even more so, it affects the brand of Fondia, a pioneer in a conservative industry. A black official suit might suit another law firm (attorney’s office), but it’s a complete cultural opposite to Fondia’s original one. In general, the CEO’s work history reeks of quick few-year stints per position, which doesn’t reflect Fondia’s values at all. Long-term ownership and commitment are far from this.
Fondia’s performance and these communication-related issues are definitely the negative stock market move of the year. The positive side of this is that it couldn’t get much worse.
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With its abysmal information policy, Fondia has driven itself into a state where investors are looking for signs of the CEO’s next outfit. That’s how poor the visibility into the company is.
Hellfors has now seemed super tense in two consecutive webcasts compared to Vainio. In the debut, this was still understandable, but not anymore after half a year of practice. Everything suggests that things are brewing under the surface, and the Jansson dispute has not been resolved. The stock has dipped to almost half of its ATH, blood is flowing (or at least seeping) on the street, but still, I don’t feel like buying it.
Keith Silverang is leaving Technopolis at the end of the year. He’s a skilled guy for the job. 
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Yep, agree. Communication is nonexistent, maybe fortunately, because what little there is, is abysmal.
Also, same feelings about the CEO. The first time could be attributed to learning, but not anymore. Isn’t it important in investing to pay special attention to the company’s management? An investor is justified in asking if they would want to entrust their money to management that operates like this.
About the owners’ dispute. Without knowing anything about the background, the only completely clear thing is that this type of dispute should only and exclusively happen behind the scenes. Publicly airing the issue harms the company and other shareholders. In my opinion, the individuals involved in this matter should no longer be anywhere near the company’s operational activities.
On the positive side, at least for now, the largest owners have held onto their holdings, so apparently, they still believe in the company there. So, I guess I have to stick around at least until that situation changes.
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Quite an astonishing review. It seemed like the CEO had memorized a bunch of mumbo-jumbo word-for-word and was reciting it to the camera. Such a politician-like, roundabout sentence whose content means nothing (or could mean anything). There should be some responsibility towards investors, i.e., an obligation to genuinely explain things more than just with flowery phrases. Does the CEO even know the numbers or the company if they can’t speak without a memorized text? Or answer questions?
Luckily, I sold my shares quite a while ago when the stock was soaring. After that, I waited for a good moment to jump back in, but the gradual news flow from the company has kept me from the buy button. And in principle, I don’t want to own any company that doesn’t clearly and honestly name and explain its challenges, and thus give me a chance to believe that they recognize them and that there are solutions. Instead, I can invest in a company that is even in the midst of challenges, if I have faith that the management keeps investors honestly and openly informed – especially about unpleasant things.
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Regarding the course, I’d say falling to half of ATH isn’t as bad as falling below the opening price. Right now, this is a pure falling knife situation, with no technical support levels left. Especially in situations like these, there should be an emphasis on communication and taking care of the investment community. This feels like cold, lawyer-style behavior.
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What’s so absurd about this is that if you look at https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/593064/sijoittajille/materiaaleja/FondiaOyj_H1_yhtiotiedote_master_29082019.pdf and the balance sheet, the cash is overflowing (though it has started to be slightly eaten into), the debt amount is very moderate and long-term. H1 was weak, but still profitable. So the company’s financial position is good. Now would be a great time to buy if one believes in the company. But it’s just as liiks touched upon. It could be a great place to buy, but with this visibility, one doesn’t dare.
Overall, I believe the strong price reaction yesterday and today is primarily explained by investors’ lack of confidence, not so much the company’s financial position.
If the management thinks the stock is too cheap now, they should announce that they would buy (and cancel) their own shares. That would be a signal to owners that the company is worth believing in. Management certainly has a better view of the company than I do, at least.
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As a logical continuation of this information policy, the company would next cancel its Inderes analysis subscription 
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Someone on the Kauppalehti discussion board already commented on this, but the target price was lowered quite drastically, even though it was close to Inderes’ forecast. Malicious tongues, of course, say that this is largely following the share price development. Given the thin trading volume of the stock, it is naturally difficult to guarantee efficient price formation, regardless of the direction of the price.
As for the disclosure event, one has to wonder a bit about the company’s operations. I’m not a particularly amazing guy myself (though I’m not a CEO either), but it’s a bit odd that the CEO first clearly states, as if learned by heart, that unlike at the beginning of the year, he now knows the company, yet still prohibits recording the Q&A and keeps the presentation minimal. When there is clearly room for improvement in making profit, in this context, they could have gone through these development projects in more detail, as far as they can be discussed publicly. The new CFO could also have introduced themselves. We are all human and everyone tries their best, and sometimes we succeed and sometimes we don’t, but with such a small shop and such a company profile, one should strive for openness instead of avoidance. Better luck next time.
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Fondia announced a change to its employee share savings program. Based on the release, shares acquired for personnel will be purchased from the market by an external company during September-October. Previously, the plan was to use a share issue to finance the savings shares.
This could have a short-term positive impact on the share price, as the trading volume between interim reports is so small—around 2000-3000 shares per week. If we roughly estimate that the average Fondia employee has saved €500 for shares (and will receive additional shares worth €250 later), this would mean a pressure of €120,000 (15,000 shares at current prices) on the buy side during September-October. Now, one would need to know how significant this buying pressure actually is; the €500 per person estimate might be way off.
I have returned as an owner of Fondia.
I wonder why they changed this? Was it due to
- a simpler/cheaper way to implement it,
- a desire for a stock price correction when demand mechanically increases through this (are management bonuses tied to share price development in some way?),
- an unwillingness to announce, for example, a surprisingly small number of participants (i.e., confidence and commitment) in connection with the share issue,
- the fact that the subscription shares would otherwise have been priced formulaically according to the average price of times past, i.e., far too high compared to the current price,
- or some other factor entirely?
Somehow, for such a low-volume stock, a share issue through this employee stock savings program would have been quite beneficial in bringing more shares to the market.
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It’s impossible to estimate the real reason. I’m guessing a simpler implementation combined with a desire to correct the course.
Indeed, it would take quite a magician to buy 12,000 shares at these prices without the stock price rocketing. 12,000 units is still a complete guesstimate. In Aktia’s savings program, company personnel bought an average of 80 shares (about €640) under worse conditions. In the banking sector, people certainly understand investing better than lawyers, but I wouldn’t consider saving €500/employee impossible in Fondia’s case.
Hellfors is not on the top 100 owners list; perhaps with this share savings program (and hopefully direct purchases), he will rise there? At least he advertised the program on his own blog on Fondia’s website in February.
India News: Minna Avellan (M.Sc. Econ., CEFA) has been appointed as the Head of the new IR Insights business, effective September 1, 2019.
Minna’s first task: Go through this Fondia Case, i.e., Fondia’s H1 event, with Jesse, and then tell Fondia how the H1 event could be “improved” for investors. 
Uncle Masse, FA, the congregation currently has a small cash deficit from Fondia…
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Verneri will be doing a video interview with Fondia’s CEO Leena Hellfors tomorrow. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to make it, but I’ve already sent Verneri a list of questions. If you have any questions you’d like to ask Leena, feel free to post them in this thread! We might not be able to ask all questions, e.g., because of limited time, but we’ll definitely include the best ones!
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-What exactly did the CEO mean by investing in technology? He mentioned two things related to technology in the earnings release: “improving current operations” and “related to future growth,” but what do these concretely mean?
-The CEO mentioned that the 10 largest customers bring in 14% of revenue. This could, of course, mean that one customer brings in 10% and the remaining 2nd-10th largest bring in 2%. I always think about this when companies give these “risk figures,” that they actually give very little indication of the risk of an individual customer unless the selected number of customers each brings in a similar amount of revenue.
-Fondia’s personnel turnover: How high is it outside of management? How is the company now ensuring personnel retention (including management), and what changes have been made, given the clear challenges in engagement/retention?
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Why was the video feed cut without an opportunity for Q&A?
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How will Fondia enable Q&A for investors in the future?
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Will Fondia start publishing a condensed (without a press conference and full financial statements, e.g., regarding the balance sheet) Q1 & Q3 review?
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Does Fondia measure employee satisfaction? How has it developed if employee utilization has significantly decreased?
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The CEO referred to a strategy with various elements. It remained unclear what those elements are. That is, what actions are being taken within the company?
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