Please note I published a report last night on Mecom, on the menu bar to the left. Looks a very cheap value situation to me, reporting next week.
Dreadful night's sleep, so might have to publish this & retire for another hour or two. Lots of RNSs. In no particular order, this is what catches my eye.
I didn't know that there was a Listed water dispensing system company, but there is, and it's called Waterlogic (WTL). Group revenues are expected to be in line with expectations, but it's not very clear whether profits are or not. With the shares on a historic PER of 51, my interest has therefore ceased as quickly as it began.
Consultancy firm Turner & Townsend has produced a solid-looking set of results, with revenue up 20% to £244m, and EBITDA up very nicely from £18.8m to £23.6m. They're not coming up on Morningstar, so I can't find the mkt cap, which is a pity as the results look good. Worthy of a further look in my opinion.
Datatec (DTC) says that growth is slowing due to Eurozone fallout, but forecasts remain unchanged. That seems to put it on a forecast PER of just under 10, so looks reasonably priced. Although I don't like the look of huge turnover, and thin margins.
Mobile Streams (MOS) reports improved sales & EBITDA, but then spoils it by saying that more than 90% of the company's cash is in Argentina, and hence subject to currency controls. Moving swiftly on ...
Software firm Brady reports strong growth, and confirms full year expectations.
Positive trading update from Netcall (NET).
A solid trading update from Judges Scientific (JDG), David Cicurel's acquisition vehicle for small companies in the scientific instruments area.
In-line Q1 Trad Statement from Speedy Hire.
FTSE 100 futures are currently up 17, so a fairly relaxed start is in the offing.
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Mecom Group (MEC)
Mecom Group (MEC) cropped up on one of my value filters over the weekend, so I've been researching it & present my findings here for your general interest. http://www.mecom.com/
As always please remember that this is a personal interest shares blog, and nothing written here is intended as a recommendation or advice, so please always do your own research. I hold a small number of shares in Mecom Group.
Mecom describes itself as a "major European consumer publishing group", with several hundred paid for and free newspaper titles in Denmark, Holland, and Poland.
I like the print sector right now, because stock market valuations are unbelievably low, yet these businesses are still highly profitable, although in long-term decline as circulations gradually fall, and ad revenues migrate to the internet. Hence with careful selection, there is a chance to pick up highly cash generative businesses at rock bottom valuations.
Also consider that with ageing populations, many of whom eschew the internet, a reader aged 70 could well be a customer for another 20 years. So the run-off of these print assets could be highly profitable for another couple of decades. They also typically have a variable cost base, hence reductions in circulation and ad revenue can simply be matched by reductions in costs, as Trinity Mirror has successfully shown, remaining remarkably profitable & cash generative.
The problem with Trinity Mirror is that it's going to spend the next 2-3 years paying off its remaining debt, and the overhang of their pension deficit limits their ability to pay dividends. So whilst I still hold TNI, and think it's an extraordinarily cheap value situation (especially when you consider that their freehold property is worth the same as the pension deficit, yet is ignored altogether by the stock market), I came across Mecom as a similar situation which may have more immediate upside. Hence I have split my investment in TNI into Mecom too, to hopefully get 2 cracks at the same opportunity.
Mecom shares have collapsed in the past year by around three quarters, and are now sitting at a recent low of 51p, giving a mkt cap of just £57m.
But this is a big business. 2011 figures showed turnover of E1.06bn, and adjusted EBITDA of E113.6m, so a healthy 10.8% EBITDA margin (see what I mean about print media being highly profitable still - which is probably why Warren Buffett is a buyer in the sector).
Moreover, Mecom paid out a whopping E15.4c in divis in 2011, and this is what makes the company interesting - they cleared the way for dividend payments some in Sept 2011 by reclassifying the share premium account as a distributable reserve. So there are now no barriers to substantial continued dividends.
Net debt was down by E52.2m to E259m on 31 Dec 2011, so still a big chunk of debt there.
However, this is where it gets doubly interesting. Mecom recently (28 June) completed the disposal of its Norweigan business for an astonishing E190m, the proceeds of which should eliminate most of their net debt!
This will be reflected for the first time in their next set of Interims, due out next week on 25 July 2012.
Therefore, despite the poor trading announced on 6 June 2012, we should now have a largely de-geared, highly cash generative group, committed to considerable cost-cutting and further dividend payments.
On brokers consensus the forecast divi yield is 9.3%, so it's a real cash cow. The forecast PER is just 3.4 (figures from Morningstar brokers consensus).
Check out their investor presentations here;
http://www.mecom.com/investor-relations/financial-results-presentations.aspx
I think the Stock Market has thrown out the baby with the bathwater here, and that this share is looking irrationally cheap both on a PER and divi yield basis, but as always please do your own research. I've been buying these shares recently between 51-56p.
As always please remember that this is a personal interest shares blog, and nothing written here is intended as a recommendation or advice, so please always do your own research. I hold a small number of shares in Mecom Group.
Mecom describes itself as a "major European consumer publishing group", with several hundred paid for and free newspaper titles in Denmark, Holland, and Poland.
I like the print sector right now, because stock market valuations are unbelievably low, yet these businesses are still highly profitable, although in long-term decline as circulations gradually fall, and ad revenues migrate to the internet. Hence with careful selection, there is a chance to pick up highly cash generative businesses at rock bottom valuations.
Also consider that with ageing populations, many of whom eschew the internet, a reader aged 70 could well be a customer for another 20 years. So the run-off of these print assets could be highly profitable for another couple of decades. They also typically have a variable cost base, hence reductions in circulation and ad revenue can simply be matched by reductions in costs, as Trinity Mirror has successfully shown, remaining remarkably profitable & cash generative.
The problem with Trinity Mirror is that it's going to spend the next 2-3 years paying off its remaining debt, and the overhang of their pension deficit limits their ability to pay dividends. So whilst I still hold TNI, and think it's an extraordinarily cheap value situation (especially when you consider that their freehold property is worth the same as the pension deficit, yet is ignored altogether by the stock market), I came across Mecom as a similar situation which may have more immediate upside. Hence I have split my investment in TNI into Mecom too, to hopefully get 2 cracks at the same opportunity.
Mecom shares have collapsed in the past year by around three quarters, and are now sitting at a recent low of 51p, giving a mkt cap of just £57m.
But this is a big business. 2011 figures showed turnover of E1.06bn, and adjusted EBITDA of E113.6m, so a healthy 10.8% EBITDA margin (see what I mean about print media being highly profitable still - which is probably why Warren Buffett is a buyer in the sector).
Moreover, Mecom paid out a whopping E15.4c in divis in 2011, and this is what makes the company interesting - they cleared the way for dividend payments some in Sept 2011 by reclassifying the share premium account as a distributable reserve. So there are now no barriers to substantial continued dividends.
Net debt was down by E52.2m to E259m on 31 Dec 2011, so still a big chunk of debt there.
However, this is where it gets doubly interesting. Mecom recently (28 June) completed the disposal of its Norweigan business for an astonishing E190m, the proceeds of which should eliminate most of their net debt!
This will be reflected for the first time in their next set of Interims, due out next week on 25 July 2012.
Therefore, despite the poor trading announced on 6 June 2012, we should now have a largely de-geared, highly cash generative group, committed to considerable cost-cutting and further dividend payments.
On brokers consensus the forecast divi yield is 9.3%, so it's a real cash cow. The forecast PER is just 3.4 (figures from Morningstar brokers consensus).
Check out their investor presentations here;
http://www.mecom.com/investor-relations/financial-results-presentations.aspx
I think the Stock Market has thrown out the baby with the bathwater here, and that this share is looking irrationally cheap both on a PER and divi yield basis, but as always please do your own research. I've been buying these shares recently between 51-56p.
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Tue 17 July 2012 - morning report
Good morning, lots of announcements today, so here are the ones that have caught my eye.
Contract win from Lamprell (LAM) for $120.9m to build an oil platform for Seajacks. Trouble is there is no detail on profitability, so it's not possible to assess how good this news is. Lamprell seems to warn on profits every few years, see a collapse in its share price, but then recover. So I'm tempted by these shares which seem to have found a base around 100p, or £260m. Fwd PER of 9 and a 7.5% fc divi look pretty attractive. Bal Sheet is solid too.
£7m mkt cap minnow GETECH (GTC) announces a "major licence of global gravity & magnetic data", which sounds intriguing until you discover it is only a contract for $1.28m. Another company which is far too small to be Listed, I do wish they would have a big clear-out and get rid of all this junk cluttering up the bottom end of the market.
CSR (CSR) shareholders look set for a windfall as they announce a business sale to Samsung, and return of up to $285m to shareholders. Looks good.
Strong results for IG Index (IGG), with diluted EPS up 15% to 37.5p. That makes the shares seem good value to me at 462p, a PER of 12.3.
22.5p total year's divis gives an attractive yield of 4.9%. Strong balance sheet too, and they seem hot on risk management. Looks good to me.
Tanfield has done a small Placing to raise £2m at 42p, to prop up Smiths Electric Vehicles prior to its IPO. Sounds a bit scary to me.
Buoyant sounding trading statement from Monitise (MONI), until you get to the bit where they say they're on track to reach EBITDA break-even by Dec 2013! £234m mkt cap is way too rich for me, for anything loss-making.
Solid interims from £181m mkt cap Low & Bonar (LWB), and confirms on track for full year. Valuation did look about right - fwd PER just under 10 - until I noticed they have £99m in net debt, plus a pension deficit of £24m, so on that basis it probably looks rather expensive.
TETRA radio handset maker, Sepura (SEPU) announces a solid Q1 performance. I like this business a lot - mkt leader in 30 countries, high margins, and huge R&D spend.
In-line trading statement from Computacenter (CCC), shares look good value on a fwd PER of 8, and fwd divi yield of 5.7%. Worth a look.
FTSE 100 futures look set to open up 15, so a reasonably stress-free start. Have a good day y'all!
Contract win from Lamprell (LAM) for $120.9m to build an oil platform for Seajacks. Trouble is there is no detail on profitability, so it's not possible to assess how good this news is. Lamprell seems to warn on profits every few years, see a collapse in its share price, but then recover. So I'm tempted by these shares which seem to have found a base around 100p, or £260m. Fwd PER of 9 and a 7.5% fc divi look pretty attractive. Bal Sheet is solid too.
£7m mkt cap minnow GETECH (GTC) announces a "major licence of global gravity & magnetic data", which sounds intriguing until you discover it is only a contract for $1.28m. Another company which is far too small to be Listed, I do wish they would have a big clear-out and get rid of all this junk cluttering up the bottom end of the market.
CSR (CSR) shareholders look set for a windfall as they announce a business sale to Samsung, and return of up to $285m to shareholders. Looks good.
Strong results for IG Index (IGG), with diluted EPS up 15% to 37.5p. That makes the shares seem good value to me at 462p, a PER of 12.3.
22.5p total year's divis gives an attractive yield of 4.9%. Strong balance sheet too, and they seem hot on risk management. Looks good to me.
Tanfield has done a small Placing to raise £2m at 42p, to prop up Smiths Electric Vehicles prior to its IPO. Sounds a bit scary to me.
Buoyant sounding trading statement from Monitise (MONI), until you get to the bit where they say they're on track to reach EBITDA break-even by Dec 2013! £234m mkt cap is way too rich for me, for anything loss-making.
Solid interims from £181m mkt cap Low & Bonar (LWB), and confirms on track for full year. Valuation did look about right - fwd PER just under 10 - until I noticed they have £99m in net debt, plus a pension deficit of £24m, so on that basis it probably looks rather expensive.
TETRA radio handset maker, Sepura (SEPU) announces a solid Q1 performance. I like this business a lot - mkt leader in 30 countries, high margins, and huge R&D spend.
In-line trading statement from Computacenter (CCC), shares look good value on a fwd PER of 8, and fwd divi yield of 5.7%. Worth a look.
FTSE 100 futures look set to open up 15, so a reasonably stress-free start. Have a good day y'all!
Monday, July 16, 2012
Mon 16 Jul - morning report
Good morning!
Normal service has resumed this week, as I'm gradually overcoming the chest infection which scuppered last week. So here is my usual quick review of this morning's RNSs of interest to me.
Jam tomorrow tiddler Plant Impact (PIM) serves up another poor set of results, with £2m turnover, and a £2m loss. Oh dear, bargepole time. Of course the company still has an "exciting future". Hmmm.
I've never invested in a stockbroker, and am not likely to start, despite today's results from Arden Partners (ARDN). The £11m mkt cap minnow does at least announce a continued strong balance sheet, and a resumption of small divis. Profits are down though, and it's difficult to see why stockbrokers still exist, given the ease of internet trading.
Recruitment company SThree (STHR) interims look lacklustre, with profits down 17%, although they have an H2 weighted year, so that might exaggerate the interim decline. A PER of 16 looks toppy for a poor performance. They pay out almost all earnings in divis, which is handy. I'd be happier paying a PER of 10, so will avoid this one!
Perennial loss-maker, Clean Air Power Ltd (CAP) has a glimmer of hope for long-suffering shareholders today, with a positive trading statement stating "revenues significantly ahead". Might be worth a look if you like blue sky things. I note shrewdies Hargreave Hale are a 7.4% shareholder, and they're not daft.
A broadly in line trading statement from software company Sage Group (SGE).
Had a quick glance at poor results from SnackTime (SNAK) - doesn't look good. Small vending businesses never work, so will not be pursuing this one.
That's it, rather a scrappy morning with rather flakey companies reporting. FTSE 100 Futures are set for a +14 start, so that doesn't sound too stressful. Have a good week everyone.
Normal service has resumed this week, as I'm gradually overcoming the chest infection which scuppered last week. So here is my usual quick review of this morning's RNSs of interest to me.
Jam tomorrow tiddler Plant Impact (PIM) serves up another poor set of results, with £2m turnover, and a £2m loss. Oh dear, bargepole time. Of course the company still has an "exciting future". Hmmm.
I've never invested in a stockbroker, and am not likely to start, despite today's results from Arden Partners (ARDN). The £11m mkt cap minnow does at least announce a continued strong balance sheet, and a resumption of small divis. Profits are down though, and it's difficult to see why stockbrokers still exist, given the ease of internet trading.
Recruitment company SThree (STHR) interims look lacklustre, with profits down 17%, although they have an H2 weighted year, so that might exaggerate the interim decline. A PER of 16 looks toppy for a poor performance. They pay out almost all earnings in divis, which is handy. I'd be happier paying a PER of 10, so will avoid this one!
Perennial loss-maker, Clean Air Power Ltd (CAP) has a glimmer of hope for long-suffering shareholders today, with a positive trading statement stating "revenues significantly ahead". Might be worth a look if you like blue sky things. I note shrewdies Hargreave Hale are a 7.4% shareholder, and they're not daft.
A broadly in line trading statement from software company Sage Group (SGE).
Had a quick glance at poor results from SnackTime (SNAK) - doesn't look good. Small vending businesses never work, so will not be pursuing this one.
That's it, rather a scrappy morning with rather flakey companies reporting. FTSE 100 Futures are set for a +14 start, so that doesn't sound too stressful. Have a good week everyone.
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Snoozebox (ZZZ) - speculative share idea
I usually focus on value type investments, but every now & again something more speculative crops up which fires up my interest.
Snoozebox with the imaginative ticker ZZZ, is a recently Listed (1 May 2012) small cap. The Placing price (it raised £11m after expenses on Listing) was 40p, and the shares have since risen nicely to about 54.5p. With 51,295,000 shares in issue, the mkt cap is £28m.
The concept is really clever in my view. Snoozebox creates temporary hotel accommodation from standard size shipping containers. Check out their website here;
http://www.snoozebox.com/home/index.html#welcome
Moreover, they have patents pending on the concept of using standard shipping containers for accommodation. The big advantages are that they are easily stacked, transported using standard trucks, can be sent anywhere in the world easily, etc. They're also cheap, robust & long-lasting.
The product is in demand, and working, so it's now simply a roll-out. Each unit (a small, en-suite hotel room in one quarter of a shipping container) costs about £27k to fit out, but can then be rented out for £200+ per night at events.
The rooms look stylish, and have wifi, a safe, an en-suite wet room, power & light of course, keycard doors, etc. Services are provided by Snoozebox using mother units with their own generators, and storage tanks. They do NOT need connecting up to any mains services, so can genuinely be supplied anywhere.
Sales have had an impressive start, with Snoozebox already securing these events: Queens Diamond Jubilee (256+ rooms at Windsor Home Park), Isle of Man TT race, 80 rooms at Download Festival, 160 rooms at Hop Farm Festival, 144 rooms at Goodwood Festival of Speed, 240 rooms for Silverstone Grand Prix, 320 rooms for London Olympics, etc.
So it's clearly working! The beauty of the roll-out is that they can add more rooms quickly & easily, and finance them on leases. So I doubt there will be the need for further shareholder dilution.
Management are experienced leisure sector people, quite old at 60, so maybe their last throw of the dice? The one question mark is over the CEO, Robert Breare, who is being sued by the administrator & liquidator of a company he was formerly CEO.
The house broker Panmure Gordon is forecasting £3.8m EBITDA for 2013, which would surely attract a very high multiple due to the growth potential? So I can see potentially big speculative upside here. Although the shares already price-in a good amount of optimism.
As usual this is not any kind of recommendation, just a report of something I find interesting. I hold a very small number of shares in ZZZ. As always, do your own research! This share is by its nature more speculative than most.
Please post any comments below, I would be interested in your views.
Snoozebox with the imaginative ticker ZZZ, is a recently Listed (1 May 2012) small cap. The Placing price (it raised £11m after expenses on Listing) was 40p, and the shares have since risen nicely to about 54.5p. With 51,295,000 shares in issue, the mkt cap is £28m.
The concept is really clever in my view. Snoozebox creates temporary hotel accommodation from standard size shipping containers. Check out their website here;
http://www.snoozebox.com/home/index.html#welcome
Moreover, they have patents pending on the concept of using standard shipping containers for accommodation. The big advantages are that they are easily stacked, transported using standard trucks, can be sent anywhere in the world easily, etc. They're also cheap, robust & long-lasting.
The product is in demand, and working, so it's now simply a roll-out. Each unit (a small, en-suite hotel room in one quarter of a shipping container) costs about £27k to fit out, but can then be rented out for £200+ per night at events.
The rooms look stylish, and have wifi, a safe, an en-suite wet room, power & light of course, keycard doors, etc. Services are provided by Snoozebox using mother units with their own generators, and storage tanks. They do NOT need connecting up to any mains services, so can genuinely be supplied anywhere.
Sales have had an impressive start, with Snoozebox already securing these events: Queens Diamond Jubilee (256+ rooms at Windsor Home Park), Isle of Man TT race, 80 rooms at Download Festival, 160 rooms at Hop Farm Festival, 144 rooms at Goodwood Festival of Speed, 240 rooms for Silverstone Grand Prix, 320 rooms for London Olympics, etc.
So it's clearly working! The beauty of the roll-out is that they can add more rooms quickly & easily, and finance them on leases. So I doubt there will be the need for further shareholder dilution.
Management are experienced leisure sector people, quite old at 60, so maybe their last throw of the dice? The one question mark is over the CEO, Robert Breare, who is being sued by the administrator & liquidator of a company he was formerly CEO.
The house broker Panmure Gordon is forecasting £3.8m EBITDA for 2013, which would surely attract a very high multiple due to the growth potential? So I can see potentially big speculative upside here. Although the shares already price-in a good amount of optimism.
As usual this is not any kind of recommendation, just a report of something I find interesting. I hold a very small number of shares in ZZZ. As always, do your own research! This share is by its nature more speculative than most.
Please post any comments below, I would be interested in your views.
Friday, July 13, 2012
Mon 13 July morning report
Good morning, yes I'm back, having been able to drag myself out of the sick bay for the first time in ages. Battling a chest infection, but I seem to be winning at last.
A very quiet morning, but here are a few RNSs which caught my eye this morning.
Dunelm (DNLM) the homewares retailers which recently announced excellent sales growth, is hosting an analyst presentation - http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201207130700025204H
Very good, but I hope they will also follow best practice by making the slides available to everyone on their website, or even better to put up a webcast of the presentation part of the meeting.
Yes the company is trading very well, but it looks pretty fully priced to me now. Let's hope HOME are looking closely at what Dunelm are doing, and making notes.
Capital & Regional (CAL) notes a fall in the value of it's The Mall fund. Hardly surprising, given that high street rents are now completely out of kilter with trading, and need to fall substantially. HOME indicated at their latest AGM that lease renewals are seeing average rental falls of 16%, so this is a timebomb for owners of retail property - who are squeezing tenants dry through their use of the awful, antiquated, 5-yearly upward-only rent review system. This consigns us to many more years of pre-pack administrations, allowing weak retailers to shed their loss-making shops with impunity, whilst the financially strong retailers are forced to bear the brunt of massively over-rented shops. All of which stifles innovation & new life coming through. No wonder our high streets are such dreary places these days, with the same boring identikit chains of shops everywhere. There's more of that to come I'm afraid, so companies like CAL are best treated with a bargepole in my view. They need to prop up the freehold values for the sake of their own balance sheet, but in doing so they are killing off the high street.
The high street needs a radical overhaul, with shorter leases, monthly rent payments, and rent being pegged at a percentage of turnover, flexible both up and down. That would give us back the vibrant and interesting high streets we want!
Nothing else to report, have a good day all!
Oh, if you haven't already seen it, check out my post from last night about company videos.
A very quiet morning, but here are a few RNSs which caught my eye this morning.
Dunelm (DNLM) the homewares retailers which recently announced excellent sales growth, is hosting an analyst presentation - http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201207130700025204H
Very good, but I hope they will also follow best practice by making the slides available to everyone on their website, or even better to put up a webcast of the presentation part of the meeting.
Yes the company is trading very well, but it looks pretty fully priced to me now. Let's hope HOME are looking closely at what Dunelm are doing, and making notes.
Capital & Regional (CAL) notes a fall in the value of it's The Mall fund. Hardly surprising, given that high street rents are now completely out of kilter with trading, and need to fall substantially. HOME indicated at their latest AGM that lease renewals are seeing average rental falls of 16%, so this is a timebomb for owners of retail property - who are squeezing tenants dry through their use of the awful, antiquated, 5-yearly upward-only rent review system. This consigns us to many more years of pre-pack administrations, allowing weak retailers to shed their loss-making shops with impunity, whilst the financially strong retailers are forced to bear the brunt of massively over-rented shops. All of which stifles innovation & new life coming through. No wonder our high streets are such dreary places these days, with the same boring identikit chains of shops everywhere. There's more of that to come I'm afraid, so companies like CAL are best treated with a bargepole in my view. They need to prop up the freehold values for the sake of their own balance sheet, but in doing so they are killing off the high street.
The high street needs a radical overhaul, with shorter leases, monthly rent payments, and rent being pegged at a percentage of turnover, flexible both up and down. That would give us back the vibrant and interesting high streets we want!
Nothing else to report, have a good day all!
Oh, if you haven't already seen it, check out my post from last night about company videos.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Company videos
Hi,
Just a quick note to apologise for radio silence this week, I came down with a nasty chest infection on Friday & have been confined to bed for 5 days with a fever & general feeling awfulness. Unfortunately I was staying with friends, so turned into their worst house guest ever, lying in state demanding soup all the time!
On the mend now thankfully, so my morning reports will resume tomorrow.
One interesting project that I couldn't miss happened today. Some time ago my old friend David Stredder, who has probably done more to help private investors than anyone else I know, asked me to get involved with an idea he had to make some videos of meetings with company management. The idea came from the success of his "Mello" investor evenings, where up to 80 investors come along to meet management of a number of small caps, and then eat/drink/network afterwards. They're excellent events, but for every person who can make it to such a meeting, there must be dozens more who are not able to attend.
So Dave came up with the idea of him & I going to meet management of companies we think are good investment ideas, taking a small film crew with us, videoing the meeting, and putting it on the internet for anyone to watch. Thus disseminating useful info about good quality small caps to all investors or potential investors.
We decided to give it a go, and did the first one today. I have no media experience, so was pretty nervous, but as soon as I start talking about shares, all nerves disappear, and thankfully that happened today. The video should be ready in about 10 days we hope, so I'll put up a link here to it (and other interesting videos we see out there that others do - there are several people active in this space).
Where I think Dave & I have a unique edge is that our videos are real, experienced investors, having an informal meeting with a company Director(s), and just chatting about the company - so it's a fly on the wall situation of an actual investor meeting, rather than PR fluff. We're not soft-soaping them, but neither are we doing a Jeremy Paxman either - it's just how we would be in reality - i.e. courteous, but asking the questions which seem pertinent to us. Dave also asked in advance on the company bulletin board what questions other investors wanted to ask.
It went really well. As our first attempt, I'm sure people will criticise elements of it, and we will welcome all feedback, and ideas for improvements once it's published.
As regards fees, Dave didn't want any payment at all, but I wanted a very small fee just for my time & travel costs (as it was not a company I already held shares in), plus of course we had to hire the film crew, so we charged the company concerned a very small fee, but it was on the understanding that we ask the questions we want, and we edit the video how we want. So as independent as you can get hopefully - both Dave and I value our reputations far too highly to put anything out there which compromises us.
We hope investors enjoy the videos, as we've got a couple more planned, but the vital element is that WE choose the companies! So we're turning away anything that isn't something we would personally invest in. That's the key point of difference, compared with the PR spin for rubbish companies that you may find elsewhere.
I became cynical about meeting management of companies, as after all it's their job to be likeable and believable, so in the past I've maybe been too gullible in believing stories that were weak. But these days I'm a bit more cynical, and think providing you avoid the temptation to get pally with Directors, then it should be possible to remain objective.
With the latest micro cap trying to De-List, and therefore destroy shareholder value, Lighthouse, it's a real minefield looking at micro caps. Hence one of the questions I asked the Chairman of the company we met today (Plastics Capital) is whether he was committed to retaining the Listing. We got an emphatic confirmation on that point, so that point alone was a useful outcome. We also cleared up a point over another Director's departure which had caused consternation amongst private investors (when it needn't have done). So a very useful day.
I'm still feeling pretty groggy, but will get up at 7am tomorrow to resume my morning reports.
Just a quick note to apologise for radio silence this week, I came down with a nasty chest infection on Friday & have been confined to bed for 5 days with a fever & general feeling awfulness. Unfortunately I was staying with friends, so turned into their worst house guest ever, lying in state demanding soup all the time!
On the mend now thankfully, so my morning reports will resume tomorrow.
One interesting project that I couldn't miss happened today. Some time ago my old friend David Stredder, who has probably done more to help private investors than anyone else I know, asked me to get involved with an idea he had to make some videos of meetings with company management. The idea came from the success of his "Mello" investor evenings, where up to 80 investors come along to meet management of a number of small caps, and then eat/drink/network afterwards. They're excellent events, but for every person who can make it to such a meeting, there must be dozens more who are not able to attend.
So Dave came up with the idea of him & I going to meet management of companies we think are good investment ideas, taking a small film crew with us, videoing the meeting, and putting it on the internet for anyone to watch. Thus disseminating useful info about good quality small caps to all investors or potential investors.
We decided to give it a go, and did the first one today. I have no media experience, so was pretty nervous, but as soon as I start talking about shares, all nerves disappear, and thankfully that happened today. The video should be ready in about 10 days we hope, so I'll put up a link here to it (and other interesting videos we see out there that others do - there are several people active in this space).
Where I think Dave & I have a unique edge is that our videos are real, experienced investors, having an informal meeting with a company Director(s), and just chatting about the company - so it's a fly on the wall situation of an actual investor meeting, rather than PR fluff. We're not soft-soaping them, but neither are we doing a Jeremy Paxman either - it's just how we would be in reality - i.e. courteous, but asking the questions which seem pertinent to us. Dave also asked in advance on the company bulletin board what questions other investors wanted to ask.
It went really well. As our first attempt, I'm sure people will criticise elements of it, and we will welcome all feedback, and ideas for improvements once it's published.
As regards fees, Dave didn't want any payment at all, but I wanted a very small fee just for my time & travel costs (as it was not a company I already held shares in), plus of course we had to hire the film crew, so we charged the company concerned a very small fee, but it was on the understanding that we ask the questions we want, and we edit the video how we want. So as independent as you can get hopefully - both Dave and I value our reputations far too highly to put anything out there which compromises us.
We hope investors enjoy the videos, as we've got a couple more planned, but the vital element is that WE choose the companies! So we're turning away anything that isn't something we would personally invest in. That's the key point of difference, compared with the PR spin for rubbish companies that you may find elsewhere.
I became cynical about meeting management of companies, as after all it's their job to be likeable and believable, so in the past I've maybe been too gullible in believing stories that were weak. But these days I'm a bit more cynical, and think providing you avoid the temptation to get pally with Directors, then it should be possible to remain objective.
With the latest micro cap trying to De-List, and therefore destroy shareholder value, Lighthouse, it's a real minefield looking at micro caps. Hence one of the questions I asked the Chairman of the company we met today (Plastics Capital) is whether he was committed to retaining the Listing. We got an emphatic confirmation on that point, so that point alone was a useful outcome. We also cleared up a point over another Director's departure which had caused consternation amongst private investors (when it needn't have done). So a very useful day.
I'm still feeling pretty groggy, but will get up at 7am tomorrow to resume my morning reports.
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