The latest Investing Matters Podcast with Jean Roche, Co-Manager of Schroder UK Mid Cap Investment Trust has just been released. Listen here.
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Anyone else headed there ? I will be and hoping to hear a bit more hard monetary fact and a bit less story. I get the story or I wouldn't be lumped on so hard, so want some business news now. Show me the money !
If you would like to hear Malcolm Pye, Chief Executive Officer, provide an update on Benchmark he will be presenting at our next investor forum on the evening of Wednesday 28th of September. Also appearing will be the management of Venture Life Group plc and Vp plc. To learn more about the forum and to register for free please follow this link: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/equity-development-investor-forum-september-2016-tickets-27428572599 Thanks, The Equity Development team
I'm not sure that its their PR people coming up with "companion animal", but I have heard vets use such language in terms of their area of specialisation. Horse owners (as race horse, stud farm, farm and companion animal owners) are generally are well off - I'm sure that they won't skimp on what is good for Barney or whoever :) I took another 15992 earlier this afternoon....any price at close to the most recent placing price is great IMHO. BMK is way undervalued and has very good medium to long term growth prospects.
another "companion animal" devlopment (who is their PR inventing these phrases !!) development which, if it comes off like the others, will make a major impact for BMK - am still banking on the Hypocat breakthrough as the near-term gamechanger here. The fish stuff is all good for growth, but the explosion in the market will be pet related IMOH.
i agree the sp looks very undervalued, the current field is also very exciting for this company i might have a few myself next week.
... from both of you (LO and Mb13). On balance news over the last week is positive, but stock still demanding a high degree of patience from investors. Hopefully we'll all be rewarded in time, but it feels like a bloody long wait....
Another strong and commercially valuable addition to the IP portfolio :) I like the way they are slotting different companies in to build and grow a well rounded portfolio with options for cross selling and upselling. The current share price is also attractive and I took another 11k shares the other day. I am also pleased that Ferd has built a decent stake - contrary to what some one else has posted, to me it is a greater vote of confidence to buy in your own backyard (on the presumption that you are more likely to know what is going on there) than in some remote part of the world, where you may not have the local intelligence. The integrations of the various acquisitions is going to take time but we should be very different looking company in about 3 years time....if we have not been bought out by then ! Good luck all :)
So there we are, the new major shareholder in BMK is Ferd AS, about whom a bit of googling reveals: "Ferd is a family-owned Norwegian investment-company committed to value-creating ownership of businesses and investments in financial assets" They account for at least 90% of the placing according to the RNS, so one could conclude that this is a Norwegian entreprenurial VC investing in a Norwegian JV with an established Norwegian partner via BMK as a vehicle...... 'Spose that's all OK then as they presumably know the local market and activity - personally am not so wowed by it - would have been more exciting to have a large Asian investor or something a bit less parochial. Still waiting for the breakthough on the Hypocat story, that for me will be exciting as a new line of biz (and cash) for BMK.
Yep, he'll have contributed for sure. Slater as well no doubt. A real show of confidence from these investors although I thought that about the last placing as well!
Neil Woodford
Indeed it seems the deal is already done, so look forward to reading who has decided £30mil is a good investment here. Meanwhile, I remain underwater - how ironic to be in this position with an acquaculture bizz !
So here's an interesting twist - looks like someone has decided to fund this already. Certainly I am not aware of any book build this time, and have been in all three previous placings (actually a good thing given the SP movement since the last @ 86p). At 10% of the current issued cap and an 11% premium that can only be a good sign. Am doing some digging to find out anymore info on this ......
The petition is going quite well; 6300+ signatures so far. ONLY 1 week to go !!! https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/112044/sponsors/frRbCOsOLO6QqIN82UOX If you hate seeing buys reported as sells etc!!!!!! Has already been sent to Martin Lewis, Daily Mail, Moneyweek & Watchdog. New chancellor, shaddow chancellor, most MP's & the Stock Exchange aim committee. If you follow tweeters etc, send it to them please! If this petition doesn't reach 10,000; then imo we might as well have not bothered as it will almost certainly be filed B1N; @ 10,000 the government should respond.as well as So , If you haven't yet signed or indeed have but haven't passed it on to others, then now's the time to do so.
....down 8% today. Boring!!
Am still a little cynical, and do accept that this appears good news but it is high time we had some monetisation to report, rather than another box of jam tomorrow. Fully agree with MB that this is a long-termer, but do feel srongly it could needs to get moving up pronto. Show me the money !!!!!!!
Thanks MB - Agreed, nice confirmation of the story's progress (though more waiting for concrete results of course). (NB - you don't need top copy RNS into a post - we all have access by clicking on Live RNS above..;) )
Great RNS - strong IP and Euro 300m market potentially and more is vaccine is developed for other farmed fish species RNS Number : 5178E Benchmark Holdings PLC 19 July 2016 Benchmark's new seabass vaccine commences commercial field trials Benchmark is pleased to announce that one of its new generation aquaculture vaccines has been released into the market for commercial field trials. The vaccine is the first in a series of Benchmark's new vaccines targeted at the €300m Mediterranean seabass market and aims to provide producers with an effective control of Nodavirus - a disease that impedes growth and causes high production losses. There was previously no effective treatment available for this endemic disease. The trials will see a significant number of leading producers use the new vaccine 'on-farm' at commercial scale ahead of market authorisation, a process which typically takes 9 to 12 months. Full development of the product has been undertaken in-house through exploiting the Group's R&D expertise, vaccine manufacturing capability and aquaculture trials facilities to ensure a streamlined and secure development process. Nodavirus also affects several other farmed aquaculture species including Turbot, Barramundi and Grouper, and Benchmark now plans to provide these sectors with a similar solution. The development process for producing this vaccine for seabass can now be readily adapted to bring forward vaccines for these other species. Malcolm Pye, Benchmark's CEO commented: "This is another key milestone for Benchmark and is testament to our increased capability, as we continue to invest in our manufacturing capacity and technology, to open up new markets for the company by solving major challenges for our customers. This product represents a significant first for the Company, as the full development process including research, design, development and manufacturing, has been delivered entirely in-house by our specialist teams."
I did see the ED presentation - quite a long one. The most interesting part for me was the pipeline and stages at which various products were in development. I particularly like the business model and the way that the divisions interlink synergestically. The Directors have decent skin in the game and I think that the move into tilapia and shrimp will generate a lot of revenue from the developing economies. Apart from all this, the current market price offers a good margin of safety compared to placing price. I have taken a little over 154k shares so far and intend to hold for a minimum of 3-5 years for starters. This time frame is likely to be transformational and I would not rule out the possibility of a takeover by a food giant at a good premium to where we are now. Good luck all :)
Nice move today on decent volume. Hopefully heralds a new and more positive share price evolution.
33% increase in salmon prices over the 12 weeks....good for us :) hxxps://salmonprice.nasdaqomxtrader.com/public/report;jsessionid=C3FC13A62EF50EFEAA9995A70E6D42FB?0 Added another 18k this morning - though at a premium today still at a significant discount to the 85-86p placement not too long ago. Good luck all :)
Did anyone attend / view the webinar held with ED, and is it worth a look ? Haven't faced it myself yet as probably would grind me down (more) on this one. For me, a key issue is the pretty poor way in which BMK communicate historically, so not really surprised if the tone of the half-year report was lacklustre / uninspiring. Have given up trying to get my question answered at these webinars - what do the founders & C-level management feel about the drifting SP............ Truth is this is a long term punt, and a feck load more attractive at sub-50p than the placing prices I am in at averaging 82p - but I hold as I believe in the long term. Would spread-bet it long if the SB companies didn't want 75% margin for a decent sized punt ......
Fair enough Andy. I think the 'challenging conditions' comment referred to the closure of the Chilean border which was temporary, and is now open again. General market is poor for domestic mid caps for sure, but much more positive for international companies with lots of non-sterling revenues - which I think does describe BMK - however, we'll see!!
Just taken this off my watchlist as i was not impressed with the half-year report and talks about large loss (although due to investment) and challenging markets conditions. Add in the general market being very poor and can understand why this is being marked down. Sales revenue etc well ahead of last year but seems future demand my be hit or deferred to later in the year.
Can anyone work out what it was about the figures that has caused this to drift lower like this. I'm pretty sure that most of their revenues are non-sterling so recent currency moves should be a major positive?
...end to the week. Stock like benchmark with lots on non-UK sales, and defensive markets should be flying, but instead, someone has taken the update as a reason to sell out, and hasn't traded it very subtly. Patience still required on this one....