Member Info for Alas_Smith

Forget about the CEO and acquisition, history now. The market simply did not like what it read in the news today. The snippet that told everything was Market Outlook : "The Board does not anticipate a material recovery in customer demand before the end of the current year. However, we anticipate c.£20m in self-help measures expected mainly in H2. Overall the Group remains confident of making sequential progress in the second half relative to the first".

If I were not a shareholder and looking at this company to buy a stake in tomorrow, I would walk away. There are other companies to choose from and achieve my goal, capital growth. I am not too fussed whether the sector is chemicals or healthcare as I need to build up each to address the imbalance I have to IT. Mostly as a consequence of chucking a lorry load of cash into Nvidia last year and Dechra this year.

Our short seller has increased exposure yesterday to be 1.2% short. I suspect has increased short position today. I am content to mop up shares as circumstances permit.

Well, FWIW, I have bought a few for elder son today in his ISA that I look after.

Looking at the 10 year chart, the SP is hard on the trend line and although I attribute little value to charting, it seems a good point to buy with the small bounce off the 12 month low point.

More recently, of course, the shares reached a 12 month high.

Sadly, the simple reliance on patterns made by the share price has little relevence to a lightly traded equity such as this. And while plausible comments written with authority and conviction may pan out in time, I prefer to rely on facts as shown in the p & l accounts and the balance sheet.

FWIW, I do not invest my money in the expectation to break even, I expect it to provide capital growth, which may or may not throw off the bonus of a dividend or two along the way. Sure, my timing was pretty hopeless, but I prefer to be fully invested and risk depreciation than to be in cash and miss spikes that tend to have greater effect.

Last year my portfolio declined over 20%. This year I am up around 16%. Looking back over the last 4 decades where I have maintained daily portfolio movement June, July and August are stable months and September poor. The adage of "Sell in May and come back after St Legers Day" remains pretty accurate.

September has been a month (for me) where at best there is no change but more often than not suffered a steep loss (3% or more) only to recover this in the next 5 months before making major adjustment in March in preparation of the year ahead.

There are times when I think that my portfolio is the absolute dogs danglies...... the truth is, I suppose, with around 80 holdings with exposure that ranges from £5,000 to £70,000 per holding that it is becoming little more than an international tracker focussed on capital growth rather than aligned to a specific sector or income stream. My target used to be to beat the FTSE - this was an easy target - last 3 years my target evolved to seek to beat the better of the S & P, DOW, DAX or FTSE. Much more challenging but I have been up on one year, down on another and slightly under par this year. My consolation is that an index does not throw off cash dividends and as I have yet to draw from my investments I have the penalty of the "brokers turn" with which to contend together with dealing and management charges.

FWIW, I added another small chunk to my portfolio yesterday. I will add as circumstances permit until my target qty holding has been reached. Lucky timing

The Scheme Document https://www.lse.co.uk/rns/DPH/publication-of-scheme-document-fqb6n4ao1xkdavs.html sets out the timetable and on 20 July subject to vote.

As it is expected to complete either at the end of 2023 or the early part of 2024, I am waiting until there is more information before making a decision. FWIW, I would prefer that it is settled in the current tax year as it will take up the full CGT allowance for both self and wife. I have not yet funded ISA wrappers for this year. Oh, and there may be a dividend paid in October, of course to consider.

Interestingly, Goldman Sachs (giant squid) are bullish on India https://www.cnbc.com/2023/07/10/india-to-become-worlds-second-largest-economy-by-2075-goldman-sachs.html

No-one gets rich unless they bank profits from time to time. I continue to accumulate.

Ftseexplorer, in anticipation of reasoned debate, the numbers released today are for the benefit of ALL investors. My contention that growth through acquisition is distracting has merit. Just need to look at the contribution that these have provided and the costs incurred in so doing.

The benefit of acquisition is likely to be seen in future years but not, again my opinion, in the current year.

I have found it helpful to rely on facts, so https://www.creditsafe.com/gb/en/blog/reports/insolvencies.html might be of interest as well as the Governments own statistical figures.

Of course, Chelsea11 might wish to put a brave face on things, and simply seek to rubbish my opinion. Doubtless point to the share price chart that does show, since April this year as rising. I would also agree that there is a broad trending rise in the share price over a 3, 5 and 10 year period. BUT over the shorter term of 1 and 2 years, at best it seems to be treading water.

For an accountancy outfit specialising in companies in distress, there has to be some rational reason when facts demonstrate that more and more companies are struggling. As it co-incides with expansion through acquisition of non-core business, I remain of the opinion that it has been a distraction.

Keltickilla, we are seeing multiple usues of drones and with different functions, small ones over short range for reconnaissance and medium ones carrying something like a grenade. Again range is somewhat compromised and based on radio signals. A potential variation will be using mesh, both in terms of covering greater distance, but also at higher altitude and then piggy backing onto the next "operator" to control.

Another variation is for a single destination point that has been pre programmed so that in the event of a strategic loss, zombie units can attack several days after a position has been over-run with explosives.

Eavesdropping will always have a role to play but for the most part are easily detected in buildings but not easily discovered in open ground.

Thunder2040, although I broadly agree with you, the point you raise is a double edged sword. My gut instinct is that I think there is a flaw in your argument, but I am not an accountant. Possibly your choice of words .... deposits are not earnings, they are the foundation of a contract between the holiday maker and the holiday where several parties are included. The agent is not a direct participant in the contract but does hold the cash. There is a trust in place between the airline, hotel and holidaymakers to believe that the flight and room are reserved for the holidaymaker and in return there is basically a fee paid for the "holiday" to the agent, in this case OTB where there is the protection of escrow, ATOL and ABTA.

The deposits are recognised in the ledger as cash assets, liabilities and at trigger events, revenue

On the one hand deposits provides positive cashflow at the point of booking but also liability through facility to cancel, flights, transfers, hotel etc.

My hunch is that this is a red herring and of relevance only in terms of any financing that the company might need for expansion as it should have no impact on day to day operations.

I despair these days that offence is taken at the least opportunity. Please filter me as I am sure you will find that I am abrasive and cantankerous. As you have found my post patronising, I hope you will accept that it was not intended so to be. The inbalance in fee structure is, I suggest because performance is based on the NAV and comes in at 1.5% approx. I did not participate in the IPO and fee structure has not been a criteria of interest to me in my investment decisions.

The NAV has risen but for the same period, the share price has fallen. An advantage of this is to allow the manager to buy shares, hold them in treasury and sell them at better prices. This has been done with monotonous regularity.

Not really sure where this is going, but over the greater part of the last 50 years, when I am uncomfortable with a holding, it is best sold. You seem uncomfortable with the matter of fees and if that metric determines your decisions, then it has to be a factor in determining whether this is an investment for you. But, hey, I am not so patronising that I cannot accept that you were quite right to chide me and for that, I apologise.

There will be no further comment by me to this board.

Thunder2040.... the increase of the short position is pretty similar to the concept of averaging down for owners of shares. So, as the SP rises, so there is a good chance that WorldQuant will increase its exposure in the hope to benefit in time. At some point, either the share price in OTB will rise above the point where it is viable for the short to be maintained or the price will fall so that the position can be closed gracefully perhaps at a profit.

Https://citywire.com/investment-trust-insider/news/augmentum-says-good-riddance-to-tourist-capital-as-fintechs-thrive/a2420864

Steeltrader9, with respect, you do not appear to understand how Investment Trusts (IT) work or the structure of IT’s. Probably best that you do sell though this is, of course, not advice.

I have dipped a toe in for elder son with a purchase that went through a few moments ago. Todays news should see the revival of interest in this IT.

Results are dreadful. CEO out with immediate effect. Pretty catastrophic year.

Does seem a little harsh - wondering what I have missed from the RNS today. For AZN, today is a statue day when the rest of the market seems to be enjoying a pigeon one.

The “special military opertion” by Russia to have dominance and control of Ukraine, there are some important lessons for politicians, Generals and businesses that is evidenced. The first is that wars tend to be “boots on the ground” fighting once air supremacy is clear. Next, that effective defence is eliminated either through volume or devastation.

Russia has been utterly humiliated thus far in that, to date, it has onky seized territory sympathetic to Russia and has not demonstrated air supremacy through conventional means (non nucleaic) and these gains have been hard won and other than land, infrasructure has been destroyed or worthless.

Wars strengthen the military cause for geographic unity and the political endorsement for territorial defence. BAE systems should be generating substantial recenues now and sustained revenues to build a defensive stockpile.