On 22nd May Ben’s Creek (BEN) warned that it was set to go into administration. Today it has announced a change of plan: it is going into liquidation? So what is the difference?
Ben’s Creek listed at 10p in October 2021 with its sole asset a ageing coal mine that had sent all its previous owners bankrupt. By 11 April the next year, as Ben’s insisted that it would be different this time, that it would make vast profits and pay a dividend, its shares were 101p. Today it says that unable to repay bonds on which it is in default to ACAM and Avani and within ten days of running out of cash it is set to call in the administrators. More than $70 million has been burned in 31 months. GOTCHA!
Those involved in this monumental pump and dump con can postpone the outright humiliation of a formal administration for only so long. The role of folks such as Peter Shea of Daniel Stewart infamy and the brown envelope man Zak Mir will soon be under serious scrutiny. Ben’s Creek PLC (BEN) says that it will run out of cash by the end of May but it may not last that long before the Fat lady is called upon to perform.
Today, from the disgraced duo of Adam Wilson and Peter Shea, both of Atlantic Carbon and Daniel Stewart (DAN) infamy, we have news from Ben’s Creek (BEN) but it does not address the woolly mammoth in the room.
Its subsidiaries are in chapter 11, its assets on care and maintenance and it is drowning in debt and unpaid bills but still Ben’s Creek PLC (BEN) soldiers on. But next week should be game over with the Fat Lady gigging with disgraced Adam Wilson and even more disgraced Peter Shea. It will be ouzo on cornflakes time for myself after numerous warnings. On 15 April Ben’s stated:
They ignored numerous red flags and warnings on this website. They insisted they knew better than old TW. And now with its subsidiaries in Chapter 11, Ben’s Creek (BEN) is clearly a zero. But for the deluded this is all some great conspiracy to deprive them of vast wealth. And so they have started a petition.
Obviously Ben’s Creek PLC (BEN) and its disgraced advisors Allenby do not give a flying feck about timely disclosure rules but for what it is worth the company’s US Operations have today filed for Chapter 11 Protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of West Virginia (Charleston).
Before midnight on Wednesday I published an article stating that drowning in debt and loss making Ben’s Creek (BEN) had fired all bar 5 of its workers and, being a nice guy, told Guy and Nick at Ben’s advisor Allenby about this at once. Today comes the ‘fess but why the delay Allenby?
On the Ben's Creek (BEN) Telegram Group, a hang out for obsessed lunatics in abject denial, screenshots have appeared from Facebook. I bring you the shots below. These appear to be from Ben's employees claiming that nearly all staff have been laid off by the drowning in debt, loss making company. The shares should already have been suspended pending clarification as I noted HERE. Now an RNS is needed ASAP and surely a suspension looms?
Ben’s Creek (BEN) is – as I have warned for so long - a company that was always going to go bust. Now it seems that the Fat Lady is gargling.
Ben’s has sent an additional shipment of 20,000 tons of “off spec” i.e. sub standard coal to its 29.9% shareholder Avani selling it at just $60 a ton, as opposed to the normal coal price of $195. Avani has paid a Bernie up front and the remaining $200,000 will be paid on delivery. This is not a commercial deal it is just a way of staying afloat for a few days longer. Indeed Ben’s admits its fecked.
On February 9 Ben’s Creek (BEN), already drowning in c$40 million of debt and liabilities, announced that it needed an emergency loan of $5 million from its 29.9% shareholder Avani just to keep the lights on. Five quickly became ten and today it was announced that the final $1.25 million of that enlarged facility had been drawn down. Ben’s now has c$50 million of debt and liabilities and still seems to be burning cash. But the Avani credit card is now maxxed out.
