Publishes Recently Released Freedom Of Information Act Request From The Kentucky Department Of Environmental Protection, Which Provides Smoking Gun Evidence That Danimer Lacks Proper Controls On Its Own Production Figures
Evidence Shows Danimer’s PHA Average Selling Price Is Actually Up To 42% Below Management’s Claims
Certified PHA Production Figures Show That Danimer Is Operating Significantly Below Current Capacity Despite Recently Claiming It Is “Fully Sold-Out”
Warns Investors That 12 Million Warrants Become Exercisable at $11.50 After This Friday, May 7, 2021
Notes That Danimer Has Failed To Issue A Public Response To Any Of Our Claims Since The Publication Of Our Initial Report On April 22, 2021
Spruce Point Capital Management, LLC (“Spruce Point” or “we” or “us”), a New York-based investment management firm that focuses on forensic research and short-selling, today released new evidence in a supplemental report entitled “When The Tide Goes Out, What Will Wash Ashore?” that explains why Danimer Scientific, Inc.’s (NYSE: DNMR) (“Danimer” or the “Company”) production figures, its pricing, and rosy financial projections simply do not add up.
We reiterate 65% intermediate and 100% long-term downside risk to Danimer’s share price.
“Evidence uncovered since the release of our initial report only reaffirms our belief that Danimer has been peddling an inconsistent, ever-changing story to investors that will likely fail to deliver on its promises. Danimer’s certified production figures and other evidence recently released by the Kentucky Department of Environmental Protection indicate that the Company has been overstating PHA average selling prices by up to 42% and illuminate that the Company’s monthly biopolymer production and natural gas usage for its Kentucky facility have been materially misreported. Evidence released from the FOIA also shows that Danimer received violation notices in Kentucky, raising serious concerns regarding the Company’s environmental regulation claims. Ironically, Danimer positions itself as an environmentally friendly biodegradable product solution, but fails to disclose that its own production process omits Volatile Organic Compounds that must be stringently regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency.”
Ben Axler, Spruce Point’s Founder and Chief Investment Officer
Spruce Point urges investors to review new findings in its report, including:
Danimer has failed to provide clear and transparent disclosures on its revenue drivers, including its product inventory by location, total volumes sold of PHA/PLA, and average sales price of PHA/PLA.
Newly released information from Spruce Point’s FOIA request to the Kentucky Department of Environmental Protection show that Danimer’s monthly biopolymer production and natural gas usage for its Kentucky facility have been materially misreported and are riddled with errors such as overstating Kentucky’s figure by including Georgia’s production.
Additionally, based on the facility biopolymer production data for April and June 2020, implied Georgia facility production was negative – a mathematically impossible result.
Spruce Point estimates that management has overstated PHA Average Selling Prices (“ASP”) by as much as 42%, based on an analysis of Danimer’s certified actual production numbers.
The results from the FOIA request show that Danimer’s manufacturing base is operating significantly below capacity, raising concerns as to why the Company is telling investors it needs to build additional facilities.
Danimer claims it was “Fully Sold-Out” yet its Q4 2020 product revenue declined by 13.8%, and year end inventories spike to 16.4% of product sales from 3-4% historically.
This only calls into question Danimer’s claims for even more production capacity through a $700 million greenfield investment in Georgia
The results from the Kentucky FOIA also raise serious concerns about Danimer’s environmental regulation claims, highlighting that Danimer received violation notices in Kentucky and that the Company’s production processes produce harmful chemicals like Volatile Organic Compounds and methanol despite Danimer’s claim that its products are environmentally friendly through biodegradability.
Spruce Point found that no audit has been completed of Danimer’s internal controls, leaving investors to place undue trust on reported results without independent verification
We reiterate the Danimer’s share price remains grossly overvalued on PHA average selling prices that appear to be up to 42% lower than management’s claims.
We continue to believe Danimer’s share price faces up to 65% in the intermediate term, with up to 100% long-term downside risk.
Please note that the items summarized in this press release are expanded upon and supported with data, public filings and records, and images in Spruce Point’s full report.
Thank you very much for your continued interest in our investment research.
As disclosed, Spruce Point has a short position in Danimer Scientific and owns derivative securities that stand to net benefit if its share price falls. If you wish to no longer receive our updates, please unsubscribe at the link below. (
See Legal Disclaimer 1.
More
In our initial report, we warned about capital expenditure and capacity anomalies, as well as Danimer’s history of obscuring failure from current investors.
Notably, we pointed out Danimer’s mathematically impossible claim of having more manufacturing square footage than real property in Georgia.
Since our report, Danimer has failed, despite promises, to address any of our claims.
Now, with the benefit of a recently released Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request from the Kentucky Department of Environmental Protection, we have evidence that suggests Danimer’s production figures, its pricing, and rosy financial projections are wildly overstated.
Monthly Kentucky PHA production figures have been restated by up to 100% after coming public.
Danimer’s PHA average selling price appears to be 30% – 42% below management’s claims. Moreover, Danimer’s recently reported production figures are so far below their actual capacity, that it calls into question why is Danimer telling investors it needs hundreds of millions of dollars in capacity expansion?
Danimer’s SEC disclosures on revenue drivers are insufficient in our view. As a manufacturer of essentially two products in two locations, Danimer fails to provide clear and transparent information on the following to investors:
- Production by location
- Total volumes sold of PHA and PLA
- Average sales price of PHA and PLA
Newly released FOIA provides actual biopolymer production figures by location. We find that Danimer’s monthly PHA biopolymer production and natural gas usage for its Kentucky facility have been materially misreported, in some months by 100%
By law, Danimer most provide semi-annual and annual production figures in Kentucky
In its 2020 annual filing, signed in Jan 2021 after closing its SPAC deal on the NYSE in December 2020, we observe it reported material errors that overstated Kentucky’s figures in some months by up to 100% by including Georgia’s production
We are able to extrapolate Georgia’s monthly production in H1 2020 and find mathematically impossible results, implying negative monthly production in April and June 2020. What’s clear is that Georgia production was trending negative in H1 2020
Warning: The compliance reports are produced by an independent environmental consultant. We find the reports have been signed off on by three different Danimer employees, The “corrected” filing was signed by CTO Phil Van Trump, after previously being signed by Plant Manager Kevin Walsh (Plant Manager: H1 2020) and David Mazzei (Project Manager: 2019). Why hasn’t the CFO or COO signed off on these figures? There are legal implications, including potential imprisonment, for filing false information
Now with certified production figures from Danimer, we estimate PHA Average Selling Prices (ASPs) are overstated by 30% – 42%
Danimer’s October 2020 Investor Presentation implied PHA ASPs of $3.00/lb. and the CEO alluded to pricing in the $2.50-$2.70/lb. range on the year end conference call in March 2021
However, based on Danimer’s 2.5m lbs. of certified actual production, and $4.4m of reported PHA sales, we estimate PHA ASPs were closer to $1.74/lb, or 30% – 42% lower than discussed by management. Danimer’s Investor Presentation said it was in a “Fully Sold-Out” position. Even if we assume a one-month lag between production and shipment, ASP would still be $2.01/lb. or 20% – 33% below management’s claims
Warning: Bullish analyst equity models assume ASPs of $2.50/lb, falling to $2.20/lb. in 2025, and $2.00/lb. by 2030 vs. our evidence that ASPs are closer to $1.74/lb. today. We believe Danimer is set to vastly disappoint investors and suffer severe price target cuts
Download the New report (Report Update)
(Two Legal disclaimers for the report: Legal Disclaimer 2 and Legal Disclaimer 3)
Refs
Danimer Scientific, Inc. (update)
Related
- Securities Regulator Opens Formal Inquiry into Danimer Scientific (FREE)
- More legal firms join the dance – Legal Firms Rally on Danimer Scientific Class Action
- Why Danimer Scientific Stock Moved Yesterday
- Class Action Against Danimer Scientific
- Danimer Communication to investors – Danimer Scientific Answers Accusations (FREE)
- Danimer Scientific Responds to Securities and Exchange Commission
- My Analysis – Danimer Scientific Shares Collapsed (FREE)
- More Legal Firms join in – More Securities Fraud Investigation at Danimer Scientific (FREE)
- Spruce Point Report Update 1 – Danimer Scientific Shares Grossly Overvaluated (FREE)
- Spruce Point Initial Report – Danimer Scientific Red Flagged by Investment Research Report (FREE)
- Legal Firm investigates securities fraud – Danimer Scientific Investigated for Fraud
- Article in Wall Street Journal – Danimer Scientific is Greenwashing Says Professor
Legal Disclaimer 1
This communication and our research presentation expresses our research opinions.
You should assume that as of the publication date of any presentation, report or letter, Spruce Point Capital Management LLC (“SPCM”) (possibly along with or through our members, partners, affiliates, employees, and/or consultants) along with our subscribers and clients has a short position in all stocks (and are long/short combinations of puts and calls on the stock) covered herein, including without limitation Danimer Scientific, Inc. (“DNMR”) therefore stand to realize significant gains in the event that the price of either stock declines.
Following publication of any presentation, report or letter, we intend to continue transacting in the securities covered therein, and we may be long, short, or neutral at any time hereafter regardless of our initial recommendation.
All expressions of opinion are subject to change without notice, and Spruce Point Capital Management does not undertake to update this report or any information contained herein.
Spruce Point Capital Management, subscribers and/or consultants shall have no obligation to inform any investor or viewer of this report about their historical, current, and future trading activities.
This communication and research presentation expresses our research opinions, which we have based upon interpretation of certain facts and observations, all of which are based upon publicly available information, and all of which are set out in this research presentation.
Any investment involves substantial risks, including complete loss of capital.
There can be no assurance that any statement, information, projection, estimate, or assumption made reference to directly or indirectly in this presentation will be realized or accurate.
Any forecasts, estimates, and examples are for illustrative purposes only and should not be taken as limitations of the minimum or maximum possible loss, gain, or outcome.
Any information contained in this report may include forward looking statements, expectations, pro forma analyses, estimates, and projections.
You should assume these types of statements, expectations, pro forma analyses, estimates, and projections may turn out to be incorrect for reasons beyond Spruce Point Capital Management LLC’s control.
This is not investment or accounting advice nor should it be construed as such. Use of Spruce Point Capital Management LLC’s research is at your own risk.
You should do your own research and due diligence, with assistance from professional financial, legal and tax experts, before making any investment decision with respect to securities covered herein.
All figures assumed to be in US Dollars, unless specified otherwise.
To the best of our ability and belief, as of the date hereof, all information contained herein is accurate and reliable and does not omit to state material facts necessary to make the statements herein not misleading, and all information has been obtained from public sources we believe to be accurate and reliable, and who are not insiders or connected persons of the stock covered herein or who may otherwise owe any fiduciary duty or duty of confidentiality to the issuer, or to any other person or entity that was breached by the transmission of information to Spruce Point Capital Management LLC.
However, Spruce Point Capital Management LLC recognizes that there may be non-public information in the possession of DNMR or other insiders of DNMR that has not been publicly disclosed by DNMR.
Therefore, such information contained herein is presented “as is,” without warranty of any kind – whether express or implied.
Spruce Point Capital Management LLC makes no other representations, express or implied, as to the accuracy, timeliness, or completeness of any such information or with regard to the results to be obtained from its use.
This report’s estimated fundamental value only represents a best efforts estimate of the potential fundamental valuation of a specific security, and is not expressed as, or implied as, assessments of the quality of a security, a summary of past performance, or an actionable investment strategy for an investor.
This is not an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security, nor shall any security be offered or sold to any person, in any jurisdiction in which such offer would be unlawful under the securities laws of such jurisdiction.
Spruce Point Capital Management LLC is registered with the SEC as an investment advisor.
However, you should not assume that any discussion or information contained in this presentation serves as the receipt of personalized investment advice from Spruce Point Capital Management LLC. Spruce Point Capital Management LLC is not registered as a broker/dealer or accounting firm.
All rights reserved. This document may not be reproduced or disseminated in whole or in part without the prior written consent of Spruce Point Capital Management LLC.
Legal Disclaimer 2
By downloading from, or viewing material on, this website you agree to the following Terms of Service. Use of Spruce Point Capital Management LLC’s research is at your own risk.
In no event should Spruce Point Capital Management LLC or any affiliated party be liable for any direct or indirect trading losses caused by any information on this site.
You further agree to do your own research and due diligence, consult your own financial, legal, and tax advisors before making any investment decision with respect to transacting in any securities covered herein.
You should assume that as of the publication date of any short-biased report or letter, Spruce Point Capital Management LLC (possibly along with or through our members, partners, affiliates, employees, and/or consultants) along with our clients and/or investors has a short position in all stocks (and/or options of the stock) covered herein, and therefore stands to realize significant gains in the event that the price of any stock covered herein declines.
Likewise, you should assume that as of the publication date of any long-biased report or letter, Spruce Point Capital Management LLC (possibly along with or through our members, partners, affiliates, employees, and/or consultants) along with our clients and/or investors has a long position in all stocks (and/or options of the stock) covered herein, and therefore stands to realize significant gains in the event that the price of any stock covered herein rises.
Following publication of any long or short report or letter, we intend to continue transacting in the securities covered herein, and we may be long, short, or neutral at any time hereafter regardless of our initial recommendation, conclusions, or opinions.
This is not an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security, nor shall any security be offered or sold to any person, in any jurisdiction in which such offer would be unlawful under the securities laws of such jurisdiction.
Such an offer or solicitation can only be made by the confidential private placement memoranda relating to the investment vehicles managed by Spruce Point Capital Management, LLC (the “firm”), which the firm will provide only to qualified offerees.
Spruce Point Capital Management LLC is not registered as an investment advisor in the United States or have similar registration in any other jurisdiction.
To the best of our ability and belief, all information contained herein is accurate and reliable, and has been obtained from public sources we believe to be accurate and reliable, and who are not insiders or connected persons of the stock covered herein or who may otherwise owe any fiduciary duty or duty of confidentiality to the issuer.
However, such information is presented “as is,” without warranty of any kind – whether express or implied.
Spruce Point Capital Management LLC makes no representation, express or implied, as to the accuracy, timeliness, or completeness of any such information or with regard to the results to be obtained from its use.
All expressions of opinion are subject to change without notice, and Spruce Point Capital Management LLC does not undertake to update or supplement this report or any of the information contained herein.
If you are in the United Kingdom, you confirm that you are subscribing and/or accessing Spruce Point Capital Management LLC research and materials on behalf of:
(A) a high net worth entity (e.g., a company with net assets of GBP 5 million or a high value trust) falling within Article 49 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (the “FPO”); or
(B) an investment professional (e.g., a financial institution, government or local authority, or international organization) falling within Article 19 of the FPO.
You agree that the information on this website is copyrighted, and you therefore agree not to distribute this information (whether the downloaded file, copies / images / reproductions, or the link to these files) in any manner other than by providing the following link — http://www.sprucepointcap.com
If you have obtained Spruce Point Capital Management LLC research in any manner other than by download from the aforementioned link, you may not read such research without going to the aforementioned link and agreeing to the Terms of Service.
You further agree that any dispute arising from your use of this report and / or the Spruce Point Capital Management LLC website or viewing the material hereon shall be governed by the laws of New York, without regard to any conflict of law provisions.
You knowingly and independently agree to submit to the personal and exclusive jurisdiction of the superior courts located within the State of New York and waive your right to any other jurisdiction or applicable law, given that Spruce Point Capital Management LLC has an office in New York.
The failure of Spruce Point Capital Management LLC to exercise or enforce any right or provision of these Terms of Service shall not constitute a waiver of this right or provision.
If any provision of these Terms of Service is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, the parties nevertheless agree that the court should endeavor to give effect to the parties’ intentions as reflected in the provision and rule that the other provisions of these Terms of Service remain in full force and effect, in particular as to this governing law and jurisdiction provision.
You agree that regardless of any statute or law to the contrary, any claim or cause of action arising out of or related to use of this website or the material herein must be filed within one (1) year after such claim or cause of action arose or be forever barred.
Spruce Point Capital Management LLC and the terms, logos and marks included on this Site that identify Spruce Point services and products are proprietary materials.
Copyright in the pages and in the screens of this website, and in the information and material therein, is proprietary material owned by Spruce Point Capital Management LLC unless otherwise indicated.
Unless otherwise noted, all information provided on this site is provided by Spruce Point Capital Management, LLC and is subject to copyright and trademark laws.
Logos and marks contained in links to third party sites belong to their respective owners.
All users may not reproduce, modify, copy, alter in any way, distribute, sell, resell, transmit, transfer, license, assign or publish such information.
Full Legal Disclaimer Legal Disclaimer 3
This research presentation expresses our research opinions.
You should assume that as of the publication date of any presentation, report or letter, Spruce Point Capital Management LLC (“SPCM”) (possibly along with or through our members, partners, affiliates, employees, and/or consultants) along with our subscribers and clients has a short position in all stocks (and are long/short combinations of puts and calls on the stock) covered herein, including without limitation Danimer Scientific, Inc. (“DNMR”) and therefore stand to realize significant gains in the event that the price declines.
Following publication of any presentation, report or letter, we intend to continue transacting in the securities covered therein, and we may be long, short, or neutral at any time hereafter regardless of our initial recommendation.
All expressions of opinion are subject to change without notice, and Spruce Point Capital Management does not undertake to update this report or any information contained herein.
Spruce Point Capital Management, subscribers and/or consultants shall have no obligation to inform any investor or viewer of this report about their historical, current, and future trading activities.
This research presentation expresses our research opinions, which we have based upon interpretation of certain facts and observations, all of which are based upon publicly available information, and all of which are set out in this research presentation.
Any investment involves substantial risks, including complete loss of capital.
There can be no assurance that any statement, information, projection, estimate, or assumption made reference to directly or indirectly in this presentation will be realized or accurate.
Any forecasts, estimates, and examples are for illustrative purposes only and should not be taken as limitations of the minimum or maximum possible loss, gain, or outcome.
Any information contained in this report may include forward looking statements, expectations, pro forma analyses, estimates, and projections.
You should assume these types of statements, expectations, pro forma analyses, estimates, and projections may turn out to be incorrect for reasons beyond Spruce Point Capital Management LLC’s control.
This is not investment or accounting advice nor should it be construed as such. Use of Spruce Point Capital Management LLC’s research is at your own risk. You should do your own research and due diligence, with assistance from professional financial, legal and tax experts, before making any investment decision with respect to securities covered herein.
All figures assumed to be in US Dollars, unless specified otherwise.
To the best of our ability and belief, as of the date hereof, all information contained herein is accurate and reliable and does not omit to state material facts necessary to make the statements herein not misleading, and all information has been obtained from public sources we believe to be accurate and reliable, and who are not insiders or connected persons of the stock covered herein or who may otherwise owe any fiduciary duty or duty of confidentiality to the issuer, or to any other person or entity that was breached by the transmission of information to Spruce Point Capital Management LLC.
However, Spruce Point Capital Management LLC recognizes that there may be nonpublic information in the possession of DNMR or other insiders of DNMR that has not been publicly disclosed by DNMR. Therefore, such information contained herein is presented “as is,” without warranty of any kind – whether express or implied. Spruce Point Capital Management LLC makes no other representations, express or implied, as to the accuracy, timeliness, or completeness of any such information or with regard to the results to be obtained from its use.
This report’s estimated fundamental value only represents a best efforts estimate of the potential fundamental valuation of a specific security, and is not expressed as, or implied as, assessments of the quality of a security, a summary of past performance, or an actionable investment strategy for an investor.
This is not an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security, nor shall any security be offered or sold to any person, in any jurisdiction in which such offer would be unlawful under the securities laws of such jurisdiction.
Spruce Point Capital Management LLC is registered with the SEC as an investment advisor.
However, you should not assume that any discussion or information contained in this presentation serves as the receipt of personalized investment advice from Spruce Point Capital Management LLC. Spruce Point Capital Management LLC is not registered as a broker/dealer or accounting firm. All rights reserved.
This document may not be reproduced or disseminated in whole or in part without the prior written consent of Spruce Point Capital Management LLC.