Member Info for bandit1

Capitulation by private investors fed up with Cross and his mushroom style of management vis “keep shareholders in the dark.....” you know the rest. Sure most of the market is suffering on low volume panic selling and MM’s taking pleasure in dropping the bid without batting an eyelid. I do feel for the Cross disciples led by SOTB who will come on her in a couple of hours saying that news is just round the corner blah blah which he has been doing now for a couple of years. Wears a bit thin after a year or so with no real progress on the game changing news at least. Not a holder as I sold out in April as I could see that Cross has too big an ego to keep small fry shareholders up to date and this was a big red flag to me. I will disappear again without saying another word for a month or so until I look in out of interest to see if anything has changed. Over to you SOTB.

Very helpful link CY23 .So, the good news is that BUR has the perfect expert witness in its corner. Look at the body language between Carson Blockhead and Joshua as the latter explains that the Algo’s drive a stock down using illegal trading practices as explained in the recent RNS to force the stock down further in an orchestrated manner not necessarily proportionate to the facts included in the published short attack note. What will be the difficult part however is proving how the HFT trading firms were made aware of the imminent publication of the report and is there any evidence of collusion allowing MW and the Algo’s to profit from this activity. My concern is that financial regulators are poor and have a dire track record. Will this be an ideal case for them to show their teeth? I hope so for the sake of retail investors as most of us are fed up with the rigged nature of markets. I do hope that BUR will now list on the main market ASAP and find a new CFO unrelated to the CEO.

Well despite the doom and gloom from the dullards on here I have acquired over 100k this week at modest prices so feeling a little smug if I may say so. Whether it takes a month or indeed a year to realise anywhere near fair value, that is of no real concern to me. In the meantime I look forward to a special dividend or another TO along the way.

The drop we have seen from the lofty rise on opening today is probably explained by LO selling down following their major participation in the Placing. This is what they do ( step-in on the cheap when Boards are desperate) and therefore I fully expect to see a few TR-1 notices as the price moves up. Someone said a few months ago that they do not like LO on the share register which I agreed with as I have seen so many price recoveries stall somewhat when they and other like-minded funds have taken a big chunk in a Placing. The price we had to pay sadly. Having said that, as others have said this is now substantially de-risked accepting that we still need a positive result from Harvey to maintain momentum. I was very unhappy with the LOG debacle along with everyone else but decided to remain silent rather than throw my toys out of the pram which was very tempting. It may take a little time to push through 30p but I feel pretty confident that it will now do so and more and this is now a medium term hold for me as there is much more value to come. More relief than elation if I am perfectly honest as this did not appear likely only a week or so ago. Let’s look forward to better times ahead.

John - I decided to bail out a few months ago in the mid-70’s as I also felt that Cross runs this like a private company and could not care less about small shareholders and does not keep small shareholders informed. He will speak to the large shareholders if he has to but that is not good enough.. He is in this for himself with nodding dogs as fellow directors ( he appointed them as they agree with everything he says). Trouble is with a big ego and an all knowing personality you walk down blind alleys as no-one is prepared to challenge. It took me a while to figure this out and just glad I did. This is not a deramp as I have no intention of coming back in here whatever the price but wanted to express my opinion as is my right.

Nice to see the aggressive Griffiths buying more here. He is no fool so I am pleased to see that he is helping his mate Neil Woodford out and that others will follow his lead and turn the price around.

Well I tipped all my shares into the tender offer @ 46p and held onto the residue which was around 40% of my original holding and did not expect to see the price hit these levels or even close to these levels. Someone wants the price down and whilst frustrating I won’t complain as it is time for me to buy these shares back in the open market. If OF is content to do so with hard cash notwithstanding his large holding I think I may regret not buying more over the course of this week as positive updates from the company will come in the fullness of time that I have no doubt.

Yes indeed PP10, holdings regulations are often broken with AIM stocks as you know and FCA do not have the resources nor the will to attempt to enforce them hence why it is such a casino. I could make a much deeper point that the junior markets now are in such a mess in UK that serious private investors will steer clear as there is so much manipulation to help those close to the big investors. I continue to participate as I have been around a long time which helps a bit but quickly running out of patience as it is fast becoming a market controlled by teams with deep pockets and an agenda rather than a market based on fundamentals but maybe it has always been this way I just didn’t see it when I was in it!

Yes I have too, accepting that there could be wild swings on a daily basis as large blocks of shares are sold and bought on an individual or on a matched basis. Could be a few months before this share returns to normal trading patterns so best to choose what you consider is a decent price to buy and wait for next major announcement from the company or indeed further TR-1’s to establish which funds holds the large chunks of CIR and how the Board are commercialising their portfolio of products. Rest assured they will be keen to update shareholders after the recent car crash which has damage value and in some cases reputations.

As someone who has been investing for over 30 years and has avoided both active and indeed passive funds this debacle has turned the industry on its head. The high fee environment for sub-par performance is very much in the spotlight. I believe that CIR will recover over time but this has spooked many investors who are collateral damage and Woodford will retire in the near future in my humble opinion.

Also I see that there is new Chair of the Audit, Risk and valuation committee at Patient so looks as though Harris may be stepping down as it seems odd that he is still shown as chair of an Audit committee!! Can’t be right.

Yes we should see a TR-1 on Monday as Woodford announces pretty quickly. Someone appears to have bought these all at 13.5p hence the earlier drop and recovery a few hours later.

Kularatnam/Jedclampit - nice to read positive posts at the weekend when the paid trolls are absent and probably sitting in local parks drinking cheap cider. I agree that the company management are focussed on the day job and allowing the paid advisers and the CEO/CFO to negotiate the terms of the deals. It is always a tough time for equity holders when the wolves circle intent on bagging their prize which in this case is total destruction of yet another company. Will they succeed in this instance ? I very much doubt it for the reasons many have properly articulated on here and with a strong cash period coming up, headroom in banking lines for the foreseeable future and multiple parties as far as we know in discussion to acquire some valuable assets, but I am an optimist at heart but also pretty realistic. Yes, debt levels are too high we all can see that and management have made mistakes along the way but the financiers are aware and supportive of the new strategy to focus “on the knitting” which is tour operations and hotel management with or without a deal from their biggest shareholder. I muse about the paper loss which Fosun are sitting on in regards to their equity purchases and the possibility that they have been buying bonds at knock down prices and feel that they are positioning themselves either to acquire now as part of a multi-lateral transaction involving the sale of airlines or indeed at a point later on. Is it possible that they want to hang onto airlines and slots and want to agree a deal with regulators in EU to sell within a stated time period allowing Brexit to intervene and change the nature of the transaction? This is speculation but one could make a case to sell the airlines at a later date when market conditions improve for these assets or indeed if the buyers won’t pay fair value. Point I am driving at is that this is taking time for a reason, it is complicated and with multiple parties engaged this pushes the timeline right quite a bit. We all know that Private Equity has so much cash looking for a home and if the reports are true that some are after Nordic assets and perhaps slots too this bodes well. So, while some will constantly drop comments that bad news has possibly leaked hence explaining the rise of shorts they are speculating and that may be totally wrong too. This is not without risk of course but remains an opportunity in my eyes and my glass remains half-full. Good luck to all genuine shareholders here.

Well SOTB I look in here from time to time when I see further reductions if nothing else to read what positive statements you are making. My friend who lives on the Moray Firth ( I did not mention that he is an exec in the O&G business with a lot of connections) strongly suggested to me in April that TC is just interested in TC so will make little effort to keep small shareholders up to date even though it is in his job description. After a few malts and a good discussion about opportunities with my mate I decided to sell my 85,000 shares with an average of 73p. I am not here to gloat but I keep looking at the drop which is tempting me back in until I remind myself of the reasons why I sold in the first place. Never say never but I will have to believe that Cross will be more communicative and there is no sign of that is there? Each to their own but when will he realise that this is not a private company where he can do what he wants but a listed company where he is simply an executive albeit with a large holding!

Yes I agree that those who invested in a hitherto star fund manager’s INCOME fund which has a disproportionate block of holdings in unquoted stocks which are more akin to growth stocks rather than stable income producers, should cause great concern to anyone wanting their cash back quickly and ask the FCA what they really think. After all, on their watch we see another ‘problem’ which they were aware of but did nothing to stop. Andrew Bailey may not secure the top job at the BofE after all! I maintain a position and interest here still despite the Harris/Woodford connection with Patient Fund and uncertainty about future sell downs because I believe there is a potential upside but nothing I have read recently gives me any confidence to invest more. Perhaps ResearchAnalyst1 will give us another inspirational quote as to why we should not be concerned that this is not bouncing sharply back as he recently predicted?

Manchego - yes I know you would not believe it would you that the dullards could actually be so dull?I could write so much about shorting and the pros ( liquidity and price discovery) and cons, especially in conjunction with posting of misinformation and appearance troll teams but I will show some restraint. I have filtered so many here now and apart from a few notables, most appearing on here day in day out have a twisted agenda and are paid, yes paid to rubbish the company. I do not engage because it is clear that some are paid based on their rate of success in engaging others in dialogue, debate, argument usually to create negativity, doubt, suspicion etc. I wish that more people were aware of this. The Algos dominate this share within the short funds at the moment which is typical with companies under the cosh bit I do not believe they have insider information at this stage but keeping a close eye on volume and any emergence of bigger trades will give a clue as to whether the company are ready to announce some news. I retain a decent holding and have no reason to doubt that a positive outcome will come out of the multiple negotiations going on. Sadly, this board is typical of some many on LSE with ineffective admin and with the boards crawling with low-life failures seeking to make a little cash moving from target to target talking garbage for the most part so I will simply sit on the sidelines ready to gloat when we see better fortunes for the business. It won’t be too long now IMO as the Board will be acutely aware what is going on in the market.

Sadly I also believe that that the future here looks bleak and the only chance that long suffering shareholders may have is a takeover although a premium of say 35% won’t excite too many with a much higher average. A fund raise in the next 6 months may be required and the big question on my mind is what likelihood is there that the Board can cut back investment such that they can delay any fund raise until the price recovers from these lowly levels? Not sure but when I am unsure I will sit on the sidelines with a smallish holding just in case someone takes us out and parachute in proper commercial execs that may have the talent to monetise the Intellectual property! What a disappointment.

Whilst our esteemed leader has been instrumental in building an exciting high-tech British business and cannot be blamed for the specific challenges relating to Huawei and the knock-on impact on supply chain how patient should shareholders be here? I remember the Placing last year @ £1.45 and suspect that those who participated are feeling very uncomfortable and more than a little disappointed with performance. I have questioned Nelson’s capabilities as a CEO - he is a scientist and often the skill-sets required are quite different. He and his fellow directors need to seek out a partner IMO which can bring professional, commercial management to add to the valuable IPO which the company possesses. I will hold in the hope that someone will buy IQE and could offer 70p-80p and receive the backing of many shareholders as it is difficult to see how the share price can recover in the short term.

Thanks Meaningful. So the CEO of HL pens a disparaging piece about his mates Fund and what will clients of HL do when the fund re-opens? It does not take a genius to figure that one out but what surprises me most is the fact that the comms between Woodford and HL re the unquoted holdings has been tardy much to Hill’s frustration. I have read other stuff today re the investigation announced by the regulator that Woodford’s Income fund may have breached maximum holdings rules ie not > 10% of fund in unquoted securities save relying up a loophole within another European regulatory framework which includes an intention to list the security on a public market in the next 12 months as being considered to be outside of the 10% for calculation purposes, although this is hardly going to give anyone comfort when liquidity is crucial ie. now! So, for me this is getting worse and not better and we surely need to hear from the scarlet pimpernel aka Steve Harris in some way, shape of form don’t we?

Thanks PP10. No idea why Harris is tight lipped, perhaps he hopes it will all blow over so he can continue to collect his fee in the Woodford Patient Fund. I would have thought that the relatively small fee is much less important than his holding here and indeed clarity for the benefit for shareholders here. I have no doubt that many block transfers will be taking place and indeed more may have to take place when the gate re-opens of the Woodford Income fund if withdrawals exceed the cash raised. I think what we can be sure of is that sentiment here remains to the downside which is reflected in the price despite what some experts many so-called experts may suggest about an imminent bounce in the price.