Member Info for AllAtSea

Am with ULVR unfortunately although I sold 50% exactly a month ago for a loss to buy AV. Just took some profits off GSK this a.m.

Fool says it's a good opportunity to buy both GSK and ULVR. Just took some profits from GSK however and I don't think ULVR is a ripe buy at the moment. The bid looked too much like a desperate measure to me.

Took some LGEN profits to buy more POLR today. I had too many LGEN and think POLR's potential is equal to or greater than LGEN's.

Made very large profits trading PRTC until they got the US listing. With my head just above water, I sold up in April last year and would now like to buy at this price if I could find a reason for optimism. Otherwise it is just a gamble.

https://amp.theguardian.com/environment/2021/dec/27/plans-in-england-for-car-chargers-in-all-commercial-car-parks-quietly-rolled-back

Oops..
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-electric-car-revolution-is-about-to-hit-a-giant-pothole-5zg6zpk5l

Seems to me JMAT knew what they were doing selling the battery interests. As it appears in my crystal ball, the production of batteries is subject to more risk than hydrogen fuel technology. Other crystal balls may be available..

It is interesting to see why these contracts existed:

"The orders were placed by fax or Minitel and the quotations of the SICAV(funds) were weekly: the contract allowed the insurer to offer its clients protection against market volatility… "  The arrival of instant electronic transactions and the daily listing of mutual funds allowed a handful of policyholders to multiply winning transactions. The insurer, had to finance the difference out of his pocket. Or, rather, that of its policyholders, since the losses are then charged to the general assets of the company."

In other words the insurers were promising some privileged clients protection against losses caused by the slow technology of the day. When the technology became available to offer instant transactions the protected clients were put in a position to abuse the protection. The hit would taken not by shareholders (directly) but by the other policy holders who did not have this protection. It was not a facility available to all policy holders of the day; the beneficiaries will those who had wealth to begin with.

I'd expect the lawyers to be able to keep the ball in the air for many more years!

The news has boosted the share price. As for being awash with cash; don't know what to do with it, I'd rather they didn't look for bolt-on growth and generally speaking the world is in a funny mood right now. Anything that looks like an opportunity could quickly turn to ashes with our populist politicians in the ascendant. 'F**k business', if you'll pardon my latin.

They can be held too long or sold too soon. I am hanging on in there with OCDO; I could've sold November and taken profits but only slim ones. My portfolio is like the ocean - much of it underwater.

Had a chat with my car dealer, Saturday. Says production now back to 100% after semiconductor problems. Car due March/April! Guess OCDO should not be impeded either, going forward into next year.

My new car, ordered in August, was due by Christmas. Now we don’t know which Christmas because of the semi-conductor shortage. Apparently when Trump announced his intention to ban chip exports to China, the state-backed Chinese tech sector bought two years worth of stocks before the shutters could be dropped.

How this affects robotics in the West can only be imagined. The concept of autonomous vehicles has dropped off the headlines, anyway. How are Ocado doing, I wonder?

Very pleased with my Black Friday bargain.

Ace, You are boring me; I couldn't care less what was posted in 2017. It was a very different world.

I bet this guy wished he'd hit the pause button for a few days:

"Aviva PLC - London-based insurer - Non-Executive Director Martin Strobel buys 40,000 shares at GBP3.94, worth GBP157,760, on Wednesday.

Current stock price: 392.65 pence, down 0.8% on Thursday

Year-to-date change: up 21%"

We have all been there..

Ace, The statement by AB did not ignore IFRS figures:
"Group operating profit5,‡ of £1,132m (HY20: £1,225m) and Group IFRS loss for the period of £198m (HY20: profit of £874m) reflecting non-operating items including anticipated loss on disposal of France and investment variances driven by higher interest rates."

It's recognised and therefore factored into the sp that EPS will be lower YE 2021 than YE2020. EPS for YE 2022 was forecast to increase but no doubt the concern over this forecast was what caused the dip last week. If Omicron's impact is less than the gloomy predictions then it's not surprising if the sp recovers.

It's always a guessing game, especially these days.

OK Ace, perhaps you would analyse this statement and give us a blow-by-blow account why AV. is the basket case you suggest it might be:

"Amanda Blanc, Group Chief Executive Officer, said:
“We have made good progress on all fronts in the 12 months since we launched our strategy.

We delivered strong cash remittances4,‡ of £1.1 billion in the first half and we are on track to achieve our objective of over £5 billion in cash remittances‡ between 2021 and 2023. In light of our confidence in the strength of the business and underlying cash flows, the Board has declared a 5% increase in the interim dividend to 7.35 pence per share.

The breadth of Aviva, across life insurance and general insurance, is a key strategic advantage and has driven a 17% increase in operating profit4,5,‡ to £725 million. We also delivered some of our best ever sales figures in the first six months. In UK general insurance we delivered our highest sales3 in a decade. In Savings & Retirement, net flows‡ increased by 24% to a record £5.2 billion, and we’ve added 100,000 new workplace customers, reinforcing our number one position.

Alongside delivering growth, we continue to focus on reducing controllable costs4,6,‡ which are down 2%. We are on track to deliver our £300 million savings target in 2022 and are focused on achieving top quartile efficiency in all our businesses.

While we’ve got more to do, our half year results show we have what it takes to drive growth in our businesses. We remain completely focused on transforming performance, capitalising on the breadth of Aviva, making insurance simple and easy for our customers, and creating value for our shareholders.”

Return of capital to shareholders of at least £4bn by HY 2022 with full details with FY results in March 20221

Intended shareholder return of at least £4bn (subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals, remaining completions and market conditions) including up to £750m via share buyback to commence immediately2
Expect additional reduction in debt of c.£1bn and repayment of £0.7bn of internal loan
Combined with £2bn repayment of debt in H1 2021, expected to utilise all of the cash proceeds from divestments of £7.5bn
Divestment programme expected to complete by end of 2021.
Strong growth in cash remittances and operating profit.."

in full here:
https://www.aviva.com/newsroom/news-releases/2021/08/HY2021-results-announcement/

I thank you in anticipation of your very informative reply.

1946? And you are not a pensioner??

You should be posting weird, crazy comments under tabloid stories, not here.

AV. currently holds a lot of cash. That is a nice position to be in, as of now.

“SMALL-CAP - LOSERS

TT Electronics PLC, down 2.9% at 247.50 pence, 12-month range 198.50p-290.00p. Warns on supply chain blockages and guides for profit to be at the bottom end of market expectations. Revenue in the four months to October is 11% higher than the previous year on a constant currency basis and 8% higher on an organic basis. Says order intake continues to "run well ahead" of strongly growing revenue, with book to bill of 140%. As a result, order book is at record levels and provides "excellent visibility" into 2022. "Global supply chain constraints have continued in the second half and in some areas have tightened, principally impacting Power and Connectivity. The increased material and freight costs are being broadly offset by efficiencies and price management and supported by the self-help programme which continues to progress well, and we remain on track to deliver the anticipated run-rate benefits of GBP11 million to GBP12 million in 2023," company says. Guides for annual adjusted operating profit of about GBP35 million, at bottom end of market expectations between GBP35 million and GBP37 million.“

Given the state of the world in general, it’s not all bad!