TheDirectory.com, Inc (OTCMKTS:SEEK) Can Run Without the Pumpers

“Net” and “Income” – two words that you don’t see too often in the financial statements of OTC companies. TheDirectory.com, Inc (OTCMKTS:SEEK) is one of the few ventures that can boast about such an achievement and they even say that they have been profitable for quite some time. Of course, there’s no way of proving those claims since between September 29, 2011 and July 3, 2013, they decided that they simply can’t be bothered with things like periodical financial reports. Still, they have filed two quarterly statements over the last three and a half months and they both sport a positive bottom line. So, why, you’re wondering, was SEEK deep in triple-zero territory less than a month ago?

Well, there could be a couple of reasons for this. For one, the number of outstanding shares is absolutely huge – more than 2.8 billion, 2.7 billion of which represent the float. This means that at the current value of $0.0025 per share, the market cap comes in at just over $7.1 million. That’s quite a lot of money for a company that, as of May 31, had more than $1.4 million in negative working capital, less than $2,000 in cash and an accumulated deficit of around $8.4 million.

They recently announced that they have secured a $5 million credit facility, but the press release lacks any sort of details around the deal. The fact that the latest official report covers the quarter ended May 31 doesn’t help either and could potentially scare away some of the more risk-averse investors. So, what are SEEK doing about it?

Well, they’re working hard. At least that’s what they say. The company CEO, Mr. Scott Gallagher, has been mentioning the uplisting of the ticker to the higher tiers of the OTC Markets for years and back in August, he said that this time, they really are going to do it. Apparently, an accounting firm had been hired to help with all the paperwork and even a deadline (of sorts) was set – the end of September. Then, on September 16, he said in a press release that they are working frantically to set things straight and claimed that the official filing date will be announced “next week” (between September 23 and September 27). The following week came and went with no PR in sight and instead, on October 2, Mr. Gallagher said, among other things, that they are “finishing the audited financials“.

Last week, he held a conference call and he finally gave the shareholders some more concrete information on the SEC filings. He said that, in his opinion, the week of November 4 will see the filing of the form 10 which is the first step towards becoming a fully reporting venture. The unaudited and preliminary 2013 results should be out on December 16 and around mid-January we should see a fully audited and official 10-K. Will this happen though?

Well, having checked out this press release, we’re not so sure. If you have a look at it, you’ll see that back on December 6, 2012, he said that he expects his company to achieve a fully reporting status “in early 2013“. It’s pretty clear that a fair few deadlines have been missed so far and, quite frankly, we’re not sure if there’s anything to suggest that the current one will be kept.

Other than that, the news sounds good which is why the ticker is registering mostly positive sessions. As we mentioned earlier, they announced that they have secured some much needed financing, they are launching a national media and advertising campaign and they have, apparently, acquired an unnamed local city guide network from an equally unnamed private company for $2.1 million. If the developments really are as optimistic as they sound, the progress should be huge. If something goes wrong, however, the losses could be devastating which is why carefully considering the risks is absolutely crucial.

Let’s also not forget that SEEK was the target of a substantial promotional campaign back in July. The effects on the price were quite horrific and if, for some reason, the pumpers decide to play with the ticker once again, they could bring even more trouble. Some of the most heavily promoted OTC companies at the moment are Pan Global Corp (OTCMKTS:PGLO), Alkaline Water Company Inc (OTCBB:WTER) and Nutranomics, Inc. f/k/a Buka Ventures, Inc. (OTCBB:NNRX).