Company News

No More Dividend Cheques From Aviva

It has been brought to my attention that insurance company Aviva (AV.) are to stop paying dividends via cheque. Unless shareholders supply bank account information and accept direct payments into them, they will not get paid their dividends in future. This particularly affects those shareholders who hold their shares in certificated form or as personal crest members where payment by cheque is the default method. Another company that introduced this rule a year or two back was Vodafone, despite the objections of ...

Inconvenient AGM Times – DX Group

I posted only recently about the inconvenient time and location of the AGM of Dunelm. Another example is DX Group (DX.) who scheduled their AGM for 8.30 am in Iver, Bucks on the 6th December. But after representations from investors they have moved it to 10.30 am. It seems that they did not get many investors turn up for the AGM last year. But bearing in mind the share price collapse over the past year, more are expected this year. It is good ...

Aero Inventory – Deloittes Fined

There was a brief mention of the latest news on Aero Inventory in the recently issued ShareSoc Informer Newsletter, but here are a few more details. False accounts are a common problem in AIM companies (Aero Inventory and Globo are just two examples apart from the recent case of Redcentric). Let us hope the auditors of Redcentric (PWC) take note of the recent record fine imposed on Deloittes of £4 million in relation to their audit of Aero Inventory, plus £2.3 million ...

Learning from the Experts 2 – Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust

A previous blog post covered how one could learn from experts such as Harry Nimmo at Standard Life UK Smaller Companies Trust. Another company, but a very different one, I hold is Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust (SMT) and I thought this comment in their recently received Interim Report was worthy of note: "Outlook: There is a strong structural asymmetry in equity market returns, given the potential for a successful company to grow to many times its size. This means it is of ...

Rolls-Royce Accounts Adjustments – Were They Prudent?

Rolls-Royce provided a trading update today, and covered the impact of IFRS 15 which is probably a lot more important. IFRS 15 is a new accounting standard concerning revenue recognition which will come into use in 2018. It will have a major impact on the figures reported by Rolls-Royce because of their past recognition of revenue and profits from long term maintenance contracts. For example, Rolls-Royce report that when looking at the 2015 accounts the "Changes result in adverse notional adjustments to ...

Some Interesting Meetings – Palace Capital, Dunelm, NCC

There are some interesting meetings in prospect for investors. Firstly, I notice Simon Thompson has tipped Palace Capital (PCA) in this week’s Investors Chronicle. He suggests this property investment...

Monitise and Scancell AGMs, and the Wonders of the Nominee System

Monitise (MONI) was one of those stocks for speculators in the past. One of those technology shooting stars that got to a ridiculous valuation under former CEO and founder...

Foresight 4 VCT Announce Board and Other Changes

Following a campaign by some shareholders in Foresight 4 VCT Plc (FTF) supported by ShareSoc (see www.sharesoc.org/campaigns/foresight-4-vct/) which resulted in the directors only narrowly managing to get re-elected at the recent AGM, the company has now responded with a major announcement. The proposed changes are: Chairman Philip Stephens and Director Peter Dicks indicate they intend to retire from the board. A specialist recruitment firm is being engaged to identify suitable candidates to replace them (this was one of the suggestions that ...

Lloyds Bank – No Shares For Private Investors

The Government has confirmed, as previously rumoured, that its stake in Lloyds Banking Group is to be sold to institutions alone. There will not be an offer to private investors as was formerly indicated would take place. Chancellor Philip Hammond said "Returning Lloyds to the private sector is in the interests of the bank, taxpayers and the country as a whole" and "That is why exiting our stake in Lloyds in an orderly way and at the best possible price is one ...

Foresight 4 VCT AGM Result

At the Annual General Meeting of Foresight 4 VCT today, all three board directors only very narrowly managed to get re-elected – with 50.01% voting FOR Chairman Philip Stephens,...