Bottom Line: A mixed bag on Blinkx’s road to recovery
IT CAN hardly be said Blinkx’s annual general meeting (AGM) went without a hitch yesterday, despite the worrying signs Blinkx was on the right path to recovery.
Let’s start with the hitches. That nearly 30 per cent of shareholders failed to support Blinkx’s appointment of a new director because they “weren’t aware of who he was” – an excuse told to me by people with knowledge of Blinkx’s investor relations – is a shocking indication of the state of Blinkx’s communication with its backers.
Second, despite the AGM starting at 9am, it took until after the stock market had closed at 5pm for Blinkx to finally publish the AGM’s full results. Blinkx placed the blame on the meeting having overrun and the board meeting that had immediately followed for the delay – another disappointing omen.
That said, there were some promising signs. Institutions seemingly remain committed to the stock; Fidelity passing the five per cent stock holding threshold yesterday is a positive.
Blinkx also said it was seriously considering share buybacks, a move that could finally shake off the short sellers that had eroded Blinkx’s share price since January.
But if Blinkx hopes to make a full recovery, it has to work harder to keep retail investors on board.