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And dont forget that Adam Vicary who is Castings Plc CEO was MD at RDC before he was driven out of Chamberlin by a new CEO who didnt want someone way cleverer as his deputy ! ! !
The whole thing has been planned behind closed doors and I bet someone has a big brown envelope in their pocket for sorting this. No wonder castings shares are up 5% today. They have literally stole it for 400k. Less than a years profit and don't forget that last years declared profit will be weighed down by subsidising the plc fat cats who have raped this.
Right, well, that was the only value left in this thing.
I was kind of hoping that there was enough cash left in the CMH PLC for one of its dormant subsidiaries to buy RDC out of administration, but that did seem like a long shot.
Yeah this was so obvious, I didnt even bother reading the casting rns when i saw it as I knew it was obviously CMH assets it had taken for a penny pretty much
Absolutely disgraceful.
Sold for less than a years RDC profit.
Funny as well that James Greaves who is joint MD at Castings was formerly operations Director for 10 years at RDC. Clearly knows the business inside out.
Absolute sh*t show from start to finish.
Castings plc announced buying RDC for £400k
Started: Dartron, 15 May 2024 12:01
Last post: jerry004, 14 Jun 2024 10:44
Well, presumably this will delist next week, without a NOMAD.
Am still intrigued as to the overall status of the PLC, which is still not in administration and, potentially, may still be holding some cash, as well as a bunch of dormant companies (though also has charges on it from HSBC and the pension fund).
I note that the NPower winding up petition on Chamberlin had been withdrawn, but it remains active on RDC. Presumably because Chamberlin had -7m in shareholder funds (including 4.5m owed to the PLC), whereas RDC was +2m (last year's reports), so the lower ranking creditors of Chamberlin won't get anything?
At least there will be info available on companies house. The only other share I still hold that delisted was channel based (property trust that was liquidated), and is pretty opaque.
AFAIK the plc only holds the shares in the subsidiaryy companies (active & dormant), and any cash that might be remaining from, e.g., the Petrel sale & capital raise.
It also has some charges on it (HSBC & pension fund).
There should eventually be administrators report in the companies house filings, I think.
What actually exists in the PLC then?
Scrub that, there was an NPower WUP against RDC as well
Started: LeMans07, 13 May 2024 09:33
Last post: Dartron, 13 May 2024 19:28
They have trousered all the money as already explained. Director wage bill £394k pa.
Perhaps worth a look at Tasty eateries, for how they dealt with running out of money. Not saying it is similar, but it did catch my eye a few weeks ago, they also had debt to HMRC etc.
https://www.lse.co.uk/rns/TAST/trading-update-restructuring-plan-and-loan-69zmqpdzw2suoit.html
The Company has entered into the Loan Agreement with Will Roseff (the ''Lender''), a UK-based high net worth investor, Chartered Accountant, and Director and shareholder of bet365. Ultimately allows him to convert the loan to shares, which would be about 26% of company from memory.
The ability for the Court to 'cram down' dissenting creditors is a key feature of the Restructuring Plan, however, as set out above, it requires any dissenting class(es) to be no worse off than in the Relevant Alternative and the Court to be satisfied that the Restructuring Plan is fair.
Why not FAB books lend Chamberlin money, and convert in to 50% ownership or the like?
Either way, I think its clear that TB is not on your side here, and ultimately has the tools and connections to beat you and take your money. Uninvestable, and to be fair it has been for a while.
This needs independent investigation asap
Here's one for you.
Customer waiting for products, nothing manufactured for months.
Raw materials not purchased, because.....?
Damn right, we need to know what happened to the money!
So they had 3 million quid in cash only weeks ago from the petrel sale plus 700k from a recent share issue plus over 2 million from walsall site freehold sale not long ago .......... and they are being liquidated due to not paying the electric bill ??
Seems to me like someone has an agenda and a plan behind the scenes here and if not then wtf have they done with all that money ???
Started: MrUserName, 10 May 2024 12:49
Last post: HarryCaul, 13 May 2024 08:15
Morning Guys
404x many thanks for the heads up on the winding up petition. it stinks to high heaven.
Looks like the receivers are on the way to RDC this morning.
How it's not the scam to place all people's into pension funds to pump money to British companies and then just leave everyone with nothing... And we are talking in UK there is very low corrupt???? This corruption is massive.. utility companies, pension funds,costs of infrastructure projects somehow is most expensive in entire world..just look how much your railroads cost, nuclear new station..massive overpayment compared with same station in France... and all other places...it's just all UK is spoopy wrong
This winding up petition was filed on 26th April, so any holders left in this might want to know why market wasn't notified until 7th May.
https://caseboard.io/cases/9856350f-b50d-4912-82b7-85bbab7d4b78
This isn't their first time, another one was filed at in December 2022. That time they didn't inform the market at all, instead doing a raise a month later to "support the continued delivery of the Group's growth strategy". Price action since December 2022 speaks for itself.
https://caseboard.io/cases/e8d10b15-7fea-436a-ac41-4236530ebd19
I actually called RDC yesterday, and it was business as usual.
However, I was led to believe that it was a different story at Walsall.
So, the not so million dollar question - who's going to buy the assets free from debt in some pre pack deal?
Absolute bunch of lying.....
Started: LeMans07, 9 May 2024 09:15
Last post: Dartron, 9 May 2024 21:16
It hit home when I looked at the director remuneration. If they genuinely cared about the company they wouldn't have bled it dry. When you think the remuneration was 50% of the last placing. 396k all in. Even TB took 75k salary, so I can only conclude that the insolvency is deliberate, therefore they have a plan. When I sold I was expecting it to delist, that was my worry. But looks like they came up with an even better way to shaft every one. Dont forget the lies in the placing RNS, invest in this technology etc etc. They just wanted their wages until May.
A great, big SCAM!!
Indeed.
It stinks to high heaven.
I don't think for a minute that trading just happened to reverse.
I've been up to RDC and it appeared to be a busy establishment.
I wonder who were the buyers of the properties?
That you can sell off two properties for millions and a subsidiary for more millions and not pay your electricity bill! This and the previous RNS suddenly switching from ultra-positive to negative indicate that investors are about to get shafted in favour of someone, and we can guess who that will be!
Started: NickRubens, 8 May 2024 16:10
Last post: NickRubens, 8 May 2024 16:10
Sadly this is the reality of 'investing'. How many more companies we own that will eventually go to zero, but we just don't know it yet and probably think we are going to make money with these bargain oversold shares etc.
This company perhaps looked like it had prospects, a great rescue story etc but in reality there is nothing special or unique with it's products.
I hope it can come back with some kind of refinance plan but I doubt it. If you are a full time trader the potential loss can be offset against other income, if a regular investor it's a capital loss for the new reduced CGT terms, if an ISA or Pension investor, nothing to offset.
Started: Robsaunders99, 7 May 2024 14:10
Last post: HarryCaul, 7 May 2024 20:34
If they can't refinance the company then yes, he'll lose a boat load.
But, I wonder if they go into administration, can TB do some sort of pre-pack f*ckery and sail into the sunset?
does tb not lose **** loads of his investment here
I would say that cash was running out, the sale of Petrel appeared very desperate. I expect they got the court summons for the winding up order, Hastily added FAB as a shareholder, then decided to rejig the executive positions, partly as they couldn't milk any more salary after May (prior year they took 396k between them). CFO resigned as he knew it would go bust, his notice finishes on 10th May. Now they can go bankrupt, but it wasn't on TB's watch as he is now only a NED. He is also not connected to FAB (See holding RNS) as far as companies house goes, so if FAB want to buy it out of admin they can. Whether that is a wise decision or not, well never know. The Chamberlin we knew was systematically drained of cash by the board, maybe it is profitable if run honestly? Game set and match Trevor Brown. I sold out remainder last week at a huge loss.
With a placing on 12 weeks ago...... knew Trevor could never be trusted
Has he really put all of the money in from his own pocket... mmmm i wonder
Trevor Brown, Executive Director (29.9% shareholder) is intending to subscribe for shares via a direct subscription to maintain at least a 25% shareholding
Would it not have been wise to pay the electricity bill with funds of the Petrel sale?
What the fck have they spent the cash on!
Curtains here?! :-(
What a shock.....
So they've not being paying the electric bill?
Am I reading that right?
Ffs
Looks like karma kicking in for old Trev
Where the fck is this going?!.... Honestly the last three years investors have been spun a yarn.
Someone not paid the electricity bill!
All valid points, Radagast. We knew the risks and accepted it would take time to turn the Company around. What's not acceptable is an incompetent Board telling us they are steering the ship into positive territory when they have not!
Working capital requirements will be large for the business, payment terms likely to be pushed to 60 or even 90 days. While the price increase is essential it'll take some time to materialise.
I'm worried about the cash flow here, are they paying their suppliers on time if not then it's pro forma invoice and will further distress the situation.
The debt in general is massive, Foundries tend to be low profit margin companies in the UK, the competition from east Europe and India is hammering nails in the coffin quickly. The lessons learned from covid about having a western supply chain are quickly being forgotten.
Uk power prices are uncompetitive coupled with huge renewable obligations, wages are high and the uk supply chain is very unpatriotic with little regard to its ever shrinking capacity.
Liabilities are in the reports.
There was a hefty overdraft, that could be called at any time.
There are also lease liabities with interest rates of c.3.5 to 9.4%, but I'm not sure those would could as debt.
The problem is they're a bunch of C U next Tuesdays.
Nothing is straight forward, all subjective ir seems.
Anyone in striking distance of the factory in Walsall? Might be worth having a look, chat to the lads heading in to work...
In the 9th Jan RNS it says,
"...and in September 2023, the Company agreed a Time To Pay arrangement with HMRC in relation to PAYE arrears of £1.7 million over the following 12 months, which are expected to be paid in full in September 2024"
But in this week's trading update it says,
As previously announced, balance sheet debt following the sale of Petrel Ltd has greatly improved and the Company remains focused on paying off the remainder of its legacy debt within the next 12-month period (excluding the remaining pension deficit and HSBC invoice finance facility)
What does 'remainder of its legacy debt within the NEXT 12-MONTH PERIOD' mean ? Won't they have cleared the HMRC debt by Sep this year? 9th Jan was roughly half-way through Q3 2024.
Last post: Lawrmyer2, 17 Apr 2024 06:29
We’ll see what happens during the rest of this week. There were a few trades yesterday which looked like more accumulation. The MC is tiny now. Despite the curveball RNS I still think we’re undervalued
Yes, Lawrmyer2. Wish other "big boys" would do the same. MC needs to >£3m to make me confident again.
Started: MrUserName, 15 Apr 2024 18:56
Last post: Lawrmyer2, 16 Apr 2024 11:18
Interesting to see that Armstrong has increased their holdings
Would not surprise me!
I sold half last week. Have I been shafted, guess I’ll find out in due course
Bet we get a delayed TR1, and i bet it's Trevor's bookshop company. £50K in 3 buys last week at knockdown price
Started: WhatsOccurring, 11 Apr 2024 07:58
Last post: Dartron, 11 Apr 2024 11:05
that 2m was what was shaken out of pis yesterday. i hope it is w black buying and not fab. tb's voting power needs to decrease, they have taken the **** with this.
I suspect the chap William Black having increased is holding recently is the likely buyer here.
But where is the stock coming from?
Most of the institutional holders are fairly passive, apart from Miton who has adjusted up and down along the way.
Two individual 1 million purchases yesterday and today.... Who is adding 30k to this?!
Still invested unfortunately but was hoping to be proved wrong this time regarding Mr Brown, as people have also made significant profits and losses in the past....
I think you're absolutely right.
It's felt off for some time.
Buy 29% and get the rest for a song when....... ( fill in the blanks).
Lets not be under any illusion that Trevor Brown is running this regardless of what title he choses. He is hands on and has a track record that proves that he is absolutely no fool and is very astute when it comes to printing money. He will be in control of every move and he continues to buy more and more shares either himself or through vehicles that are connected to him including recently. Institutional investors are continuing to buy these shares and increase their existing holdings. Again these people do this for a living and will be given access to inside info rather than the heavily edited headlines that we get. The big holders of CMH do not appear to be selling and are often buying more.
Why is he doing this ? The board ( Trevor ) seems to be on a mission to drive down the market capitalisation of this business by whatever means possible and today it stands just over £2m. Furthermore he is using every means possible to pay off existing legacy debts rather than investing in improvements or expansion or even decent sales people.
For me something dont fit and it seems there is a definite agenda at play behind the scenes here. I am reliably told that the Foundries are not as quiet as the RNS makes out and its business as usual on both sites with little sign of cuts to staffing levels except at board level where its long overdue.
It would not surprise me to see this taken out or broken up with either a management or external buyout or Trevor Brown making an offer for the remaining shares that him or his mates do not already own. The only thing I can be sure of is that we will be the last to hear about it.
I was led to believe the company was positively being turned around by management as outlined in interim results of 21 Feb., 2024.
I foolishly did not hear the alarm bells ringing with the announcement of Board changes on 5/4/2024.
More worrying now is: will some customers cancel their orders due to threatening price increases? Dire!
Time for the “big boys” to step-up to buy some shares and redeem a bit of trust for long suffering shareholders.
Lying Kevin Price, Chief Executive Officer of Chamberlin, commented: "I am pleased to report that operational performance in the first half of the financial year has been broadly in line with the Board's expectations. The current order books across all three trading divisions are strong and will support performance in the second half of the financial year. Therefore, the Board believes the Group remains on track to meet market expectations for the year ending 31 May 2024."
That was last trading update in January, and the one on December 3rd has similar bumf.....Lying CMH
Pained me to do it, but sold half at a significant loss this morning. That RNS has really ###### me off! Left half in on the off chance this recovers!
How much more cost cutting can they do?
Even the way that RNS was written was unprofessional. Negative, positive, repeat negatives and add a little more negatives.
Kevin Price - cat in the headlights.
Not a great surprise, this business has been loss making for years, with cumulative losses of £10m+ even before we got on to this year being reported. It would have died back in 2021 when on brink of insolvency until TB put in money to give it a stay of execution. But for all his financial engineering he clearly forgot to check if they'd put up prices.
I'm certain there would have been a very good investment case for a UK based iron foundry during the Industrial Revolution. Now not so much.
Been a disaster, au revoir.
Started: LeMans07, 10 Apr 2024 09:05
Last post: LeMans07, 10 Apr 2024 09:05
About the story the investors in the placing only as far back as January were told. I am assuming it was the positive "everything's profitable, rising revenues" story rather than the s***show that is this mornings RNS?
Started: MrUserName, 5 Apr 2024 07:53
Last post: HarryCaul, 5 Apr 2024 15:55
Some fair and valid points Dartron.
I would say to keep an open mind about the CFO. This company has been on life support for many years, and he has managed to keep the lights on. This company has virtually no money, it had huge debt, pension deficit... While we are not out of the woods yet, I think we should not be so hasty to say he hasn't achieved anything.
I cant say the same for Kevin, and I had no idea that he was here before it all went wrong. Unbelievable that he would keep his job this long. I honestly do not know what he has contributed in the last few years?
The issue with the old board is that no one else would buy shares. Even Kevin Price wont buy any. That tells you all you need to know about the company. CFO leaving is concerning. Large sell may have been connected. The RNS should have been the other way round. CFO leaving is the big news. Typical Chamberlin burying things again. To say the board are a drag on expenses, maybe it is the other way round. Perhaps the CFO can earn more else where. I mean Chamberlin doesn't have any money to attract any talent (see above re Kevin).
I really wish the news flow had been otherwise, and I was able to sing his praises, after all I have paid his wages.
I have to agree there.
I think the Board was stale, and a drag on expenses.
We need fresh ideas, and strategies.
Good riddance to the CFO leaving.
I was always uneasy as finances have been a mess and also his CV, he was at Carillon for years and we know how their finances went.
Last post: MrUserName, 5 Apr 2024 12:14
Strange how these folk always leave it same time.
Hopefully the CFO was shown the door politely.
I am going to take this as a sign that TB thinks they are now in a position financially where appropriate new people might actually consider applying /an approach to join the leadership team.
Ever hopeful...
My view is that all of us here are significantly under water. The SP has been decaying for some time, despite the positive outlook.
I’m not going to sell at these levels, so I’m all for the company getting some new blood in with some new ideas and contacts.
And as we’ve seen, IIs are keen to pick up available shares
I wouldn't worry about any stock being dumped by them down here. The holdings (like most of our positions) are of minimal value and would get absorbed without too much impact.
To be fair, despite being invested, they haven't created any value have they? KBW was in charge of SAAB and Smiths industries and would have extensive contacts to create new business.
Time for a different approach.
Started: LeMans07, 5 Apr 2024 08:35
Last post: LeMans07, 5 Apr 2024 08:35
I met him once and he didn't impress me. This was just a comfy bit of pre-retirement income for him I think.
So First Equity have increased their holding a bit. They obviously see potential
Started: WhatsOccurring, 14 Mar 2024 08:19
Last post: Lawrmyer2, 15 Mar 2024 18:27
I think that’s a sound strategy. Especially the reading reports. The company managed to bury an HMRC liability of around £1.5m by putting it deep down in a report and I missed it. I think the company has done a lot of positive things over the last couple of years and has generally been transparent, but burying that bit of info felt like they were trying to hide it! Won’t make that mistake again!
OK well, I'll try to make sure my average purchase price stays lower than his then. Oh, and carefully read all the reports right to the end, and not just the fluffy bits at the beginning.
* 5th March even
Yes, something definitely afoot with those buys today! And as you say, a late one from 5th of Jan!
Interesting! Seems like someone has been loading up?
TB has a reputation as a bit of a pump and dump merchant. The other companies he’s pumped have had a ‘revolutionary’ new product. However, they’ve never taken off.
His involvement with CMH is rather different for the reasons stated earlier (old company, tangible products). Personally, the makeup of CMH doesn’t lend itself to a pump and dump type scenario. Instead, it lends itself to a more steady climb from where we are now.
Some decent sized round buys today. Is something cooking
Many would agree with you, 0hmarko. Long-term shareholders have suffered badly but are in too deep. While there's life, there's hope! GLA
This share became JUNK...lets be fair...not worth to looking any more
With you there Jerry!
I have to say though, I am finding it quite tempting to up my holding to a million shares, just because I very much doubt I'll ever do that with anything else. Probably not really a very sensible investment strategy though.
*edit*
Should have read - If you can't make any money off £20m plus turnover, what's the point.
Started: BertieBassett, 11 Mar 2024 16:17
Last post: BertieBassett, 11 Mar 2024 16:17
Dear All,
Meanwhile, over at IQAI, we seem to have a problem with the BoD. The problem seems to be the same one that you are having ...
I have now had interesting conversations with fellow "whistleblowers" re: the IQAI problem.
Thankfully, IQAI is "main market" and therefore more accountable ... and the SEC (USA) in particular is more prone to investigate any claims due to this. IQAI has USA-based BoDs.
Just to note, I am not a sizeable investor in IQAI, I just don't like to be treated with disrespect ...
Is there anyone here who has the time/inclination to chat through your BRH problems with me?
Please email me: iqaicomplaints@gmail.com
-- BB --
Started: jollyspeculator, 28 Feb 2024 15:18
Last post: HarryCaul, 28 Feb 2024 15:55
Dunno JS
The 3 prints today look to be purchases, I think one of the MM's has just slipped off the bid to try catch a seller, to cover the book lower down.
Awful out there today.
Classic drops below placement price...
derisk or grin and bear??
tp 1p for oversold bounce, perhaps