Company News

Telecom Plus and Camkids – Creative Accounting and Pay Issues

Telecom Plus (TEP) held their AGM yesterday (12/8/2015). The company provides a complete range of utility services - gas, electricity, broadband, fixed line and mobile phones via a "club" concept promoted by a network of self-employed (mainly part-time) distributors. They offer competitive pricing and an efficient operation (I am one of their customers as well as being a shareholder). The share price of this company has gone from near 800p up to well over 1800p and back down to below 800p ...

Post Date: August 12, 2015 Read more

Undisclosed Fees and AGMs

It's interesting what you can learn at Annual General Meetings, or from ShareSoc reports on them, even if you don't attend in person. One of the recent news items in the financial press was about the disclosure of what private equity fund managers have received in "carried interest". It transpired that two very large US pension funds, Calpers and Calstrs, had no idea how much their fund managers had earned in this way over many years on top of their normal fees. ...

Post Date: August 3, 2015 Read more

Goodwin still on the hook for RBS debacle

The Herald newspaper have reported an astonishing attempt by the lawyers for Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) to have Fred Goodwin excluded from the legal case over the rights issue in 2008. They wanted four former directors removed from the case so as to streamline proceedings. However the judge presiding over the case threw this attempt out. The directors signed off the prospectus and hence should surely be accountable for what the plaintiffs claim was a misleading document. But the lawyer for ...

Post Date: August 3, 2015 Read more

Does Rolls-Royce need shaking up?

Does Rolls-Royce (RR.) need shaking up? Or more to the point perhaps, will they be following the disclosure that activist fund manager ValueAct has taken a 5% stake in the company, although their agenda is as yet unclear. On the 30th July Rolls-Royce issued their half-year results. Results were disappointing as expected. The order book was up, but underlying revenue was down and underlying profit before tax down by 32%. This is basically the same story as was evident at the full ...

Post Date: August 1, 2015 Read more

FT Acquisition, Toshiba, Diageo, Healthcare Locums, False Accounting, Chinese Companies, and AIM

The Financial Times is being sold by Pearson to Japanese media group Nikkei Group. The Chairman of Nikkei was quoted as saying it will be "business as usual" (in the FT of course) and that the "philosophy and values of the FT are the same as ours". Clearly they are still in the honeymoon period but let us hope that is true as the FT provides excellent factual news and commentary in general. Here's just some of the news they have ...

Post Date: July 25, 2015 Read more

Alliance Trust Results

Yesterday (23/7/2015) Alliance Trust (ATST) announced its results for the six months to 30 June 2015. The results were disappointing with a net asset value (NAV) total return of 1.4% and a share price total return of 2.7%. Based on data published by Morningstar the NAV and share price total returns were below comparable figures for the company's peer group. The Morningstar peer group NAV return was 4.26% and share price return 5.53%. The Alliance Trust discount has, however, fallen from ...

Post Date: July 24, 2015 Read more

National Grid AGM, Rensburg AIM VCT and Stocktrade

I attended the National Grid Annual General Meeting in Birmingham yesterday. Unfortunately, I was not allowed to ask a question as the organisation that I was representing as a proxy put my son's name on it rather than mine so I was only allowed in as a "guest". It was not a particularly exciting event this year. Not a single shareholder complained about the outrageously high pay of the executive directors. The Chairman was both dogmatic and condescending to the mainly ...

Post Date: July 22, 2015 Read more

VCT/EIS Changes and Rensburg AIM VCT

The Summer Budget announced changes to the qualifying investments for Venture Capital Trusts (VCTs) and EIS investments. Some of changes and their impact were not immediately apparent but have come to light since. The rules will effectively be tightened to keep them focussed on early stage companies. For example for VCTs the investee companies will need to have been trading less than 10 years (or 7 years if they are not "knowledge intensive" businesses) and management buy-outs will be discouraged. The details ...

Post Date: July 20, 2015 Read more

Foresight 4 “C” Shareholders Object

Shareholders in the "C" fund of Foresight 4 VCT are unhappy with the conversion of their shares to Ordinary shares. These holders are former investors in the Acuity VCTs. They feel the conversion is being done on inequitable terms for the "C" shareholders. Put at its simplest, C shareholders are aggrieved that free and surplus cash in the C fund has not been paid out to them as a dividend before conversion. A large portion of surplus cash within existing C shares ...

Post Date: July 13, 2015 Read more

Unhappy Shareholders at Sea Energy, Vislink and Blinkx

Perhaps it was the hot weather, or that folks have more time to spare in the summer holiday season, but shareholders in three smaller companies have been stirred to complain about a variety of issues mainly focussed on pay and overhead costs. Sea Energy Stuart Stafford has formed a Shareholder Action Group for investors in Sea Energy. See this web site for more details and to register an interest: https://seashareholderactiongroup.wordpress.com/2015/07/07/action-group/ His main complaints are about 1) Exorbitant central costs which destroy shareholder value; 2) ...

Post Date: July 8, 2015 Read more

Group description:	All levels of experience welcome. A typical meeting agenda includes: – Macro Environment – Trades: Members review existing positions and identify securities with promising TA entry patterns or setups and with suitable risk/reward. Any security, long, short, futures, options may be considered. The convener takes actual positions in trades and maintains his own detailed ledger, accurately measuring performance of individual securities and cumulative activity. Members are notified by e-mail prior to the entries or exits that are decided upon. Following each meeting an updated copy of the ledger is circulated together with the next meeting agenda. Members may wish to maintain similar ledgers of their own but there is no obligation to do so. – Technical Analysis: Techniques and systems used in trades. Members can request discussion of particular aspects of TA.
Meeting Type/Venue:	Online via Zoom
Meeting Frequency/Timing:	The first Tuesday of every month from 7 to 9pm

Group description:	Following the launch of the SIGnet Technical Traders groups, it was identified that there were a number of members who use fundamental and other information as their main source of choosing companies to invest in, who would find some understanding of technical analysis helpful to identify good entry and exit points for their investments. This new SIGnet Technical Analysis in Support of Investing group is therefore being launched and we welcome members of all levels of experience to join.
Meeting Type/Venue:	Online via Zoom
Meeting Frequency/Timing:	There will be an initial Zoom meeting on Monday 29th April at 7pm to launch this group, please email info@sharesoc.org if you are interested in joining.

Group description:	A new in person group coming soon! Keep and eye on our Events page to register for the launch meeting.
Meeting Type/Venue:	In person
Meeting Frequency/Timing:	TBC

Group description:	Open to all investors / people with an interest in investing. Typical meeting will involve members talking about recent purchases, successes, failures and possible future purchases. Also with occasional visiting speakers or members making presentations on a topic of interest.
Meeting Type/Venue:	We aim to meet on the last Tuesday of each month in a private room at a pub in Playhatch. Start time 7pm with members encouraged to meet up around 6pm for a bite to eat / drink before hand, if their diaries allow.
Meeting Frequency/Timing:	7pm on the last Tuesday of the month. Meetings likely to last about two hours but with informal ‘overspill’ before / after.

Group description:	This group was set up as a forum to discuss companies in detail, each company is introduced by a member and discussion may last one or two hours. Membership is by invitation only and is for experienced investors.
Meeting Type/Venue:	The group meets at a venue in Waterloo, London.
Meeting Frequency/Timing:	Meetings are on Tuesday mornings at two month intervals.

Group description:	Our group members have wide ranging investment experience and work backgrounds. Discussion topics include reviewing our recent stock or collective investment buying and selling activity, plus what we are considering buying or selling and the reasons for our decisions. We also have a wider discussion on where we think opportunities might arise in the next few months and what we think needs to be avoided. Members occasionally lead discussions on specific topics such as recent events attended, articles or books of interest and sources of investment ideas and information.
Meeting Type/Venue:	During the pandemic our meetings were held on Zoom, but we have now resumed meeting in person at a location a few miles to the west of Colchester. Most meetings will now be in person, but it is possible that occasional meetings will be held on Zoom in special circumstances.
Meeting Frequency/Timing:	We meet midweek every two months. Zoom meetings run for about two hours from 10.30am and in person meetings from 11am until about 3pm, including a break for lunch.

Group description:	Our group is a broad church that contains investors of varying age and experience. We discuss stocks and investment trusts that we have bought, sold or are interested in and the reasons behind our decisions, and try to make sense of the ever changing investment environment. Our members backgrounds are diverse and include corporate banking, engineering, teaching and the leisure industry. Discussions are robust and challenging but tend to be to be informal, and do not generally involve agendas, presentations or detailed preparation. We are a friendly and approachable group who welcome investors of all levels – we just ask that you contribute, at whatever level you can.
Meeting Type/Venue:	Our meetings are held in a very nice pub near to South Ealing tube station (Piccadilly Line), not far from Ealing Broadway (District, Central and Elizabeth Line). Group numbers permitting (and assuming members are happy to purchase food and drink from the bar), we may also have access to a private room in the pub.
Meeting Frequency/Timing:	We meet every 2 months, usually on a Wednesday morning at 11am.

Group description:	Group focused on active investing, primarily in small / medium cap UK equities.
Meeting Type/Venue:	Regular Zoom meetings interspersed with occasional face to face meetings and social activities in the North West.
Meeting Frequency/Timing:	Monthly on Saturdays at 10am.

Group description:	Our group covers a wide spectrum of mainly stock market investing and trading from equities – which include shares, ETF’s Investment and Unit Trusts. We normally rotate the meeting chairperson (responsible for creating, with member’s help, suitable agendas) and a meeting presenter (members take it in turns to provide a 15 to 45 minute presentation on a subject of their choice). Various investing topics of interest are regularly discussed such as software, brokers, investing categories and markets and any related topics of interest.
Meeting Type/Venue:	Meetings will be returning to in-person in a private room at a West London golf club, close to an underground station. In the meantime monthly video calls and an in-between meeting email group will continue.
Meeting Frequency/Timing:	In-person meetings will be held on the second Wednesday of each month in the afternoons, following a golf club one course lunch.