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Started: SmallerThanLife, 8 May 2024 08:26
Last post: SmallerThanLife, 11 Jun 2024 08:52
That's what advancing age does! But you haven't missed anything on the STM front.
Will do, Mauritius, Hiking and Snorkelling (no longer diving). Last time there I was on a conservation project (31 years ago) under canvas for 3 months this time **** hotel!!
Enjoy your break. T20 Cricket World Cup?
I’ve decided to stay in. This may get as bad as EQLS, that ‘s extended month on month for over Six months! I’m away on my Holiday when the next day comes (wife’s told me not to be glued to the markets while we’re in the southern hemisphere, only 3 hour difference:-).
Sold another 10k at 57.17p just before the long weekend.
As expected the Long Stop Date has been put back today - but it's only until 28 June (1 month) which I guess means that they must feel that they're almost there. What a long and drawn out business this has been!
Started: Morbox, 4 Apr 2024 13:35
Last post: SmallerThanLife, 17 Apr 2024 08:34
It does seem rather unusual. I imagine the reason it is taking so long is because regulatory approval is needed in at least three jurisdictions - Gibraltar, Malta and the UK. Maybe more. This can always be difficult, particularly if the purchaser is a bit skittish. So I still don't think we can consider this a 100% done deal.
Fingers crossed that we get some good news well before the end of May longstop date (although of course this can always be extended).
Never known one to take this long. Oh well patience. Just hope the 7ish p arrives at some point as well.
Slowly!
Started: Morbox, 5 Dec 2023 15:02
Last post: Morbox, 23 Feb 2024 07:08
Well that 7p or close too, could be coming to us.
Hopefully we may hear something in the next 8 week! It's been going on a long time. I'd be happy with 4p+ for the DCU, but hoping for 7p.
Thanks for the information. Anything we get from the DCU is a bonus but I still think we will receive close to the full 7p.
Received this from my broker sometime ago, also told via another message that DCU’s cannot be held in ISA’s and must be transferred to a trading account within 30days.
“Jambo SRC Limited have made an offer to buy STM Group Plc for 60p cash and 1 deferred consideration unit (DCU) per share.
The DCUs may deliver up to 7p per unit in cash subject to certain conditions being satisfied. The DCUs are non-transferable and will not be listed on an exchange. If the takeover goes ahead, we will contact you with further information regarding the DCUs, once credited.”
I'm getting quoted 59.5p to buy today. That's a bit firmer than previously. I'm still wondering whether the extra 7p (from 60p guaranteed to 67p possible) will amount to anything. Perhaps the firmer price means that it will.
Started: Morbox, 6 Nov 2023 15:20
Last post: Morbox, 27 Nov 2023 12:06
Soon as I bought the share price when from -2.5% to +3.27% some one sold this morning so not many shares around.
Added another £500 at 56.8p
Had this from HL “ Jambo SRC Limited have made an offer to buy STM Group Plc for 60p cash and 1 deferred consideration unit (DCU) per share.
The DCUs may deliver up to 7p per unit in cash subject to certain conditions being satisfied. The DCUs are non-transferable and will not be listed on an exchange. If the takeover goes ahead, we will contact you with further information regarding the DCUs, once credited.
Shareholders will vote on the takeover at meetings on 6 December 2023.”
Oh my overall return at 60p will be near 7%, hopefully more if that other pay out comes!
Picked up other £500 at 57.2p ok not a massive return (4%) but you would need to wait a year in a bank savings account.
I just keep adding, if you try to buy too many then It's close to 60p
Last post: SmallerThanLife, 20 Oct 2023 11:09
I just picked up another 8,000 shares at 56.9p. Hoping for some more news soon.
60p is already a big step up from when the SP was languishing around 25p. I'm not at all clear about the additional 7p either, but let's treat that as a bonus.
So the “ Deferred Consideration Unit” could give up to 7p on top off the 60p. This seems to be for the rest of the business that’s not wanted. But how is this transparent to small shareholders, seems the selling of the other parts is being decided by the board. Oh well it could have failed to go through, happy with the 60p any more is a bonus (that’s how I’m thinking).
Paid off (I think), just need to make sense of the RNS now ;-)
Last post: SmallerThanLife, 12 Oct 2023 18:10
Too complicated for me! i will just wait and see what happens.
There should be more news and a timetable pretty soon i think.
So no issues with regulars and this
The principal value of each Loan Note to be issued pursuant to the Loan Note Instrument will be calculated as follows:
LNPV = 7 - X
where:
LNPV =
the "Loan Note Principal Value" in pence
X =
a number between 7 and 0 and calculated on a straight-line basis dependent upon the extent to which annualised net attrition during the calculation period falls between 5% and 10% and where, for the avoidance of doubt:
annualised net attrition during the calculation period is 5% or less, X shall equal 0; and
annualised net attrition during the calculation period is 10% or more, X shall equal 7.
annualised net attrition is calculated as the net attrition during the calculation period multiplied by 12 and divided by the number of months in the calculation period.
Sorry paragraph 12 is in the RNS, and the rules but very complex as stated in the RNS. So probably as you said bonus if we get anything!
Been doing some more digging, this 7p or nil is all to do with the loan note. It seems that certain criteria needs to be met and we should know more once we see the “Scheme Document” and read paragraph 12. So the sale of the other part of the business, will that money just be taken by the buyers?
Interesting trade, where are the shares? If it was a sell have the mm’s agreed to hold them? As I just did a dummy sell quote 54p so 57p seems a very good price for that volume with low liquidity. Or was it a buy, mm’s had the shares and did a deal! Who knows. I keep testing the buy price. Haven’t set a buy order, I’ll just keep an eye on it over the next week or so.
.
Started: Morbox, 25 Sep 2023 08:15
Last post: investz, 9 Oct 2023 23:46
Another cold shower coming upon us in two days time?
52.2p to buy today (Friday).
I left a small 50p bid open all afternoon but no takers.
I think the market was basically 46p-53p.
I might try again tomorrow.
Yes a difficult one. It does seem the the buyer has the upper hand, that's my small concern. they keep coming back with new proposals that STM seems to go "Ok". If I get a little bonus on another trade I may stick it in here. see what next week brings!
A small buy went through at 51.5p this morning. I'm tempted to buy at that price as a deal at 60p looks highly likely and there is still the chance of 67p.
Also it occurs to me that even if this deal falls through the company could very well put itself up for sale as they will have done all the due diligence rearding licensing, statutory regulations, pledged bank deposits etc.
Started: Rich62, 5 Sep 2023 17:02
Last post: Morbox, 8 Sep 2023 15:54
With you, very unclear about the “non-core”. Are these cash positive or debt laden assets? I’m sure once agreed the proposal should clear things up. With the reduced offer of 3p a share would think they have some value. This morning I could buy at 61.75p so a nice little profit (didn’t buy any), but will I’ll keep an eye on it.
It's priced 55-65 currently. A huge spread. Not surprisingly there is almost no volume. But based on this morning's RNS i would think it's pretty much a done deal at 67p.
One question - what is going to happen to the 'non-core activities' not included in the deal. The RNS seems to be saying that Alan Kentish will buy these separately. So will there be a bit more cash to return to shareholders from this? it's not really clear.
Thinking about it, this is so far off the radar, later RNS last night, so today people are in the dark. On the next RNS (signed), if the buy price is under 60, I may add more. Tomorrow I’m flying to Guernsey for a couple of days so probably miss it!
Until signed there will be, but I did a very small buy at open and got some at 46.5 (it’s marked as a sell). Got some more at 55. My avg is 52, but I’ve only 1500 shares, because of the uncertainty, 50% downside and 30% upside, worth a punt. Imo.
You can still buy for less than 55p this morning which suggests there is still some uncertainty about getting the deal over the line though.
Started: Laura2022, 11 Jul 2023 07:11
Last post: SmallerThanLife, 4 Sep 2023 16:11
The extended 5 September deadline expires tomorrow. Further extension?
At lease they're still talking. Could go either way at any time.
The extended offer is due to expire on Tuesday (22 August) but there is no share activity at all. What does that mean? A further extension of the offer deadline perhaps?
Added today.
Hope offer goes through.
Great news! And it seems to be at a good price. Hopefully the offer will be finalised. Right now there is quite a difference between the expected offer (70p) and the share price (50p) so there must be some doubt around. I think I'll sell my shares if I can get 60p.
Started: Scarfell, 18 Jan 2023 09:30
Last post: SmallerThanLife, 11 Jul 2023 12:03
And finally we get some welcome news today with an expected offer of 70p. That is a very healthy premium to the 25p share price we have been seeing recently.
With today's hiccup caused by the delay with the audited accounts (hopefully it is only that) the market cap based on 24p per share has now fallen below the net cash on the balance sheet.
Agreed. Almost the entire market capitalisation is covered by cash and there is a decent dividend yield on top of this. Admittedly a large part of the cash balance is tied up for regulatory reasons but one way or another this will be unlocked one day - for example by a trade buyer - and there will be plenty to distribute.
As always seem to under deliver on results - however still making £1.7m minimum profit on £24.1m revenue. No debt, £14.0m cash held as security. Market cap is around £16m and paying 1.5p dividend (over 5% at 27p)
Eventually this will either be taken over or become a real cash cow. A hold for me.
Sorry Trading Update not results
Started: silverknight, 21 Jun 2022 11:30
Last post: silverknight, 21 Jun 2022 11:30
Cash held to meet regulatory requirements but even so a 6% yield (all paid over the next 5 months) not to be sniffed at. Debt free and 91% rr. Tucked away in my ISA
Started: Gallmat, 5 Feb 2022 20:18
Last post: SmallerThanLife, 8 Jun 2022 10:21
The results announced today were not over exciting but net cash is now £16.8m against a market cap of £14.5m. Add to this the fact that the company is trading profitably and paying a decent dividend and it looks a good bet.
It promised an integration of acquisitions and an IT roll out backed efficiency that took significantly longer to produce than expected. They also had an interview with Simon Thomson 2-3 years ago and on the back of it he tipped them - they then warned off the plan about 4 weeks later - he gave them a damning review and that did not help sentiment.
Good profitable business but ignored by market and to be fair I have considered selling a number of times as they cant seem to deliver their own declared strategy - however good divi at this price.
NtD
This is trading near cash.
Has there been some problems historically with the company?
Failing/unprofitable businesses
Non delivery?
From balance sheet this seems cheap, just wondering if there are skeletons in the closet before i start a deep dive
Started: silverknight, 21 May 2021 10:35
Last post: silverknight, 21 May 2021 10:35
confirms the undervaluation. How can this company have an EV of only £5mill? With increased focus and recurring revenues I'm very happy to go on collecting the divis. Much better than the banks.
Looks a good move selling this business. Only a £100k lost in profit for a return of £1.8m. Seems a good trade.
Started: silverknight, 9 Nov 2020 10:12
Last post: silverknight, 9 Nov 2020 10:12
Hi Rich. Interesting to see that Eastmount Capital took a 3% stake on 26th Oct and last Thursday someone bought 5%+ of the company. Could an opportunistic bid (45-50p?) be on the way? I've topped up as it seems a decent each way bet.
Started: silverknight, 19 Oct 2020 10:33
Last post: Rich62, 19 Oct 2020 12:38
Hi Silverknight
Hadn't forgot final dividend, but focused just on opportunity for this week and forthcoming divi.
FY dividend will obviously be dependant on how STM Group does over next 6 months...
For me its a no brainer to hold or buy more at today's share price, based on NAV
However STM need to start delivering, rather than making excuses for poor sales performance
Rich
Are you forgetting the final div in June (.75p this year) or assuming it wont be paid. I suspect it might be .55p again but that still doubles your stated yield.
Started: Rich62, 18 Oct 2020 10:56
Last post: Rich62, 18 Oct 2020 10:56
Only a small dividend at 0.55p/share - however if you buy at 28p / share, its still 1.96% return by my calculations...
Better than any interest rate from bank / building society at present
Pays 19th Nov
Rich
Disappointing update for sure, but not really unexpected with covid.
Revenues to drop by £0.32m leaves STM target revenues at approx. £27.8m which is still an increase on 2019 from £23.3.
Profit I expect will be in the range of £1.5-£1.8m.
Next years targets will be affected too, so while we see targets reduced there is still an increase and the company is still making profits, cash in the bank and no debt.
STM has a NAV of 59p and a negative enterprise value at this price.
If another company was on the look out to buy a smaller business like STM, this would be the time to do it.
Started: 50glass, 14 Oct 2020 09:32
Last post: Majorboy, 14 Oct 2020 13:51
Whilst today's announcement is disappointing, if not unexpected, the sp reduction appears grossly overstated, so creating a good entry point to top up holdings.
Started: silverknight, 14 Oct 2020 10:54
Last post: silverknight, 14 Oct 2020 10:54
People are easily spooked in this market but the m/c is below cash again. The basics are sound but I would hope to pick up more stock in low 20s. Again we should ask- is the (reduced) divi safe going forward.?
Started: TeelaBrown, 11 Sep 2020 06:55
Last post: Etotheipi, 15 Sep 2020 21:48
33.7p at the time of writing, now 40p, 19% increase. Does Master Investor normally produce the goods or was this just luck?
The recent write up provided by Master Investor was, in my view, very bullish regarding the prospects for STM.
Whilst the projections and figures provided are very helpful, for me, the most interesting point that is made is:
"It looks for other companies in its own marketplace operating with revenues of £2m to £3m for which it is prepared to pay 2x revenue. Larger companies elsewhere in the sector are paying 5x to 7x for books of larger revenues."
In effect, if STM were to become a bid target for a larger company, that company would be paying around 5x revenue of £30m in 2021or 2022. That would give STM a valuation of £150m around seven times current valuation.
So, which larger finance company might find STM a valuable addition?
Started: silverknight, 8 Sep 2020 12:19
Last post: silverknight, 8 Sep 2020 12:19
Not entirely surprised by the pullback but the profitable business still valued at under £2mill. Even with a reduced divi you're still getting a decent yield. Well worth hanging on to.
Been trying to sell to be able to buy in cheaper but always in NT. The future looks bright here but the impact partly from covid has slowed progress by a year. This now looks to be a long term hold of 1-3 years. I may just add on further drops.
This statement imo explains the drop today but suggests a step change in 2021 when the fruit of their labour is delivered. Buy the dip with the intention of a long term hold.
"A key focus for the second half of the year, and into 2021, is accelerating our new business activity for new products, which for the reasons given above, is behind management's expectations. Understandably, some of this timing delay is down to the disruption caused by Covid-19. With our recent launch of additional new pension product offerings for both SIPPs and the workplace pension aimed at the Shariah market, we are confident that these will start to fill some of the shortfall. We continue to look at ways to enhance and market our products to proactively serve our target market and deliver future growth.
We expect that 2021 will see a step-change in profitability due to improved operating margins as our investment in IT initiatives start to bear fruit, and our Options workplace pension business moves from a loss making position into profitability."
Started: 50glass, 13 Aug 2020 14:53
Last post: 50glass, 13 Aug 2020 14:53
Today's news is welcome, bringing well-establish and well-regarded businesses on board.
Started: silverknight, 7 Aug 2020 13:46
Last post: silverknight, 7 Aug 2020 13:46
Happy that they have that as a safety net just in case.