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Absolutely fine Dick to point that out and you're making an opinion. I'd rather not get involved in a discussion about the healthcare system of this or indeed any other country but I see what you are saying. I don't know enough about our Health System to get involved.
Sasa - that's an excellent post thank you and just hope we can get through this asap.
This board is really useful and I would like to thank everyone who posts genuine good info about SQZ. Difficult times but SQZ I have every faith :)
Thanks sassa
I guess that I must be a bit older than you, upomega, as I went through the '72 - '74 bear mkt, too (down 73% in 18 months) but you're right, this time it is different. It's different because all the previous 'crashes' were financially driven, whereas this time it's virus driven, bringing a major economic slowdown (at best) in its wake and nobody knows what the ultimate cost will be.
The common factor of all of them, though, is that panics eventually subside and rationale slowly regains its poise - how long it will take for that to happen this time, I've no idea but it will regain the ascendancy at some point. When it does so, much of this 'double whammy' / the dreadful suffering associated with it, will slowly fade away and the rebuilding of lives and the confidence of the mkts, too, will return to the fore...
Meanwhile, I think the best thing to do while we wait this out is to hold the most resilient stocks, like those involved in essential industries (food, drugs, energy, etc.,) and, ideally, those undertakings with good management, strong balance sheets with little or no debt and in our case having lots of cash in hand - the last being the most crucial asset to boost survivorship during this period of financial attrition.
In a fortnight or so, we'll know how Serica fared last year and I expect the results to be impressive and for them to easily afford to pay their maiden divd and gain some kudos in doing so but they might decide to be extra cautious in deciding to defer it for now but, either way, SQZ must rank amongst the safest counters around right now, imv... sasa.
dickupharma
take a look at omega diagnostics if you are really worried about health. also look at the burnet institute where b and m /unitaids seem to still fail. Ifif you are really worried about health. Go all the way and maybe ask some questions as to why they are not utilising their poc adapted cd4 together with manufacturing of course in the fight against covid. Having aid that there is a big enough fight going on here with the likes of a crabs and ruskies and nickel .
I'm not trying to cause trouble chinch - and this is slightly off-topic - but your comment about me doing well to to consider the effects of the so-called 'Spanish 'flu' a century ago was a bit off the mark. I am in fact reasonably well-read on the subject that's exercising us all at present and possibly have a better understanding than some about certain aspects of the pandemic and the reasons for the approach that's being taken.
I don't want to clutter up the board with my thoughts on the subject of Covid 19 and the way the UK organises (or rather: doesn't organise) its 'health affairs" so I'll simply refer you to two videos featuring Bill Gates - one from 2015 and one very recent. I have a feeling we'd all do rather better if someone like him was in charge of our health service. If the UK's present outdated, chaotic and ill-thought out health system isn't fundamentally restructured when the panic subsides, then everything that has been suffered, both economically and healthwise, by so many as a result of this new virus will have been in vain. I fear, however, that politicians will be too cowardly to take the bold steps that are needed, for fear of losing the votes of people who don't understand, are consumed by envy, like to refer to others as rich and expect them to pay for everything.
Politician across the world can't say they weren't warned: what he says is quite uncanny. No wonder he's worth $100bn :-):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Af6b_wyiwI
https://www.ted.com/talks/bill_gates_how_we_must_respond_to_the_coronavirus_pandemic
...........finally: something truly rare: the BBC getting things in perspective:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-51979654
Thanks Dick for clearing that up and respect your opinion. Bulletin boards can be a poison chalice sometimes but I do value your opinion. Hate the phrase but it might be true, we’re all in this together, let’s hope we all get the result we want and not long now.
Anyone that has invested in shares for a number of years like myself will be utter devastated so it is a huge thing to see lifetime investments going down the drain . Maybe if your in your thirties and likely to have some sort of inheritance then its not so bad but in your fifties and sixties then this is bad news in more ways than one.
Personally I was there in 87 and recovered, but for me this is quite different. One for completely different world events and the other of not having the years to rebuild after this
In other words age and beauty not on my side
Also agree. Hard times ahead for lots of people and the last thing they will be thinking of is how well there shares are doing.all keep dodging that bug. Best of luck.
........my post wasn't directed at you, chinch. I respect your opinions - your posts are balanced.
Jmo but not sure pursuing cheap targets is what ACW and MF are aiming for. At coming up 80 and 60 respectively and with a former NED holding about 17% and the Hardys 10%+, it seems to me that what's most likely is an agreed takeover at a price that satisfies everyone. If either the US- based former NED or the Hardys were to decide to exit, unless they were able to interest an institution, how would they realise their investment and at what cost to themselves and other shareholders?
AIM is not flavour of the decade with institutions (or most other people with any sense). One way to interest them in investing in SQZ might be that it was full of cash and paying a decent dividend.
I'll leave it at that. Hope you and all other LTHs will get the rewards they deserve when things get back to something like normal - if they ever do. In the meantime a decent and easily affordable dividend wouldn't go amiss.
dyor
Totally agree Scaff - they announced it and should carry it through but these are difficult and uncertain times. If they did pull the div I personally would not think anything less of Mitch, ACW et al and would still invest here. That's why I mentioned earlier that this update is so important for a number of reasons.
Lets hope this virus is sorted soon and we get all get back to normal.
Well Dick
I'm not on a lofty perch I have to say and am not sure where you have got that from - probably you didn't read my post in the way it was intended. For your info I have a pretty substantial holding here and was just speaking in general terms not specifically. Yes no div would be a financial loss for me as well as everyone else with a substantial holding. We're all experiencing uncharted waters here and nobody knows when we are going to get back to normal - have you ever lived through a pandemic, probably not. Suggest you read about the Spanish flu there's a good chap and will give you some idea of the length of time a pandemic lasts and what effect it has on economies.
You might have seen a lot of companies pull their div even with Barclays today and that was 2 days before the div was due to be paid that was a disgrace - but no surprise. Appreciate that they are a bank and were are O&G so different industries but surely should work the same in holding onto cash in difficult times.. What I am saying that cash is king at the moment and companies are protecting balance sheets like there is no tomorrow. This SP has tanked about 40% so what would the effect of pulling the div would have - probably not a lot. We all know what we have and what lies ahead drill wise so in these turbulent times it might be better to hold onto a few quid. Investors are running for the hills at the moment and you can see it the way the FTSE is reacting and will still drop a lot further drop as the number of fatalities grows and the economy comes to a grinding halt.
I knew I would get discontentment from some but surely I think you could have worded your post a bit better with a lot more thought.
Anyway, once you're read about the Spanish flu which was the last pandemic then maybe your response might be bit different
ATB
Don't disagree with what your saying chinch just that when they say something then it's important to carry it out if possible and l believe it will be. They will keep there word surely .
.........if the directors the share price to crash, I dare say they'll consider going back on the dividend pledge they made a few months ago.
Holders don't have be called Hardy to appreciate income from holdings like SQZ. There are no doubt quite a few who bought decent holdings in the teens or twenties. A holding of, say, 250k shares at 20p would have cost them £50k. A dividend of 5p a share would cost the Company c.£14m (out of cash reserves of well over £100m) and this wouldn't make any appreciable difference to SQZ's future strategy in regard to acquisitions.
There's a term: "asset rich - cash poor" which applies to many people of pensionable age. A dividend on the notional holding of 250k shares as above would provide a dividend of £12,500 pa, in times when a standard OAP is worth about £8k.
Feel free to wish away the income of others (and crash the SP in the process) as you dream about how you'd run the company if you were in charge and what your considered opinion is from your lofty perch. I can tell you one thing: if you were in charge, you wouldn't see me - or anyone else with any sense - for the dust.
flexmw - ref the directors and buying shares in the market, their annual income has now established itself at more than £500k pa each and they have been allocated as many soft or in the money options as their performance has reasonably justified. I am not being critical of them in saying this. The chances of us seeing them buy in the market are zilch.
dyor
I’m leaning now towards no div and am sure that I will get hammered for this. I’d rather the cash be used to acquire cheap businesses and then would hope the SP would rise as a result. Having a div would install a lot of confidence but 1p or 2p isn’t going to make a huge difference unless you have a basket full of shares like Mr & Mrs Hardy
fwiw
id rather they didn't pay a dividend and conserve cash until this passes. In the worst case scenario we will at least break even this year. Then hopefully when gas prices pick up next year together with the economy we would be well positioned positioned with 120 million in the bank to acquire some further bargains. My view is that at this level our market cap is underpinned provided we retain as much cash as possible. Maybe they could offer a bigger dividend next year once covid is out of the way
Year end results were on 17th April last year.
As much as I’m fully behind SQZ I would definitely like to see a couple of changes to their management style, no way in the form of how they run the company, but more in the way of promoting the company, news is fairly sparse between major updates, there has been a couple of times we’ve found out information of contracts awarded etc via Energy Voice & no RNS, Serica doesn’t even have a Twitter account which now seems the norm, I appreciate the board is of an age that may not see the need. The other is Director buys in the open market, in the several years I’ve been a holder I cannot remember a time when I’ve seen a notification on this, with the share price where it is & has been, wouldn’t it be good to get some confidence from the directors announcing purchases, I appreciate that may not be possible with the upcoming results, but speaking generally. Regards the dividend, I’m looking forward to this milestone event for the company & hope it doesn’t get pulled due to the current economic climate.
Some rigs manpower just above essential staff but all still good at the Bruce.lm sill looking for good results and maiden divided call.
Yeah, very little volume at the moment. SP moving with each individual trade with large spread makes it look quite volatile put actually pretty flat. Everyone waiting out to see what comes next week.
This is probably going to one of the most important updates for a long time and will see how we are coping with CV. I do hope it is positive...