Member Info for barchid

Gas
I agree, but many of their pubs do sub standard food, good premises but people stay away.
However the beer they brew is good, are they trying to do too much and overstretch themselves?

Almost certainly given the income tax relief, cgt at zero & in case of vct's tax free dividends
Some people, of course, do not want to commit for 5 years to lock in these rebates.

It does look to me, on the charts, that a base has been formed over the past 6 months from which it is (hopefully) breaking out of.
Not sure how much it needs to rise to be a ftse constituent again but when it was kicked out last time that was the nail in the coffin for the share price, as the funds sold it heavily. I had to look at the 5 year chart to remind myself this was almost 180p several times, and since then the divi has increased slightly, if pigs can fly, let us hope MARS can at least get off the ground.
So far so encouraging

Your options point is very pertinent when were they lasted revalued downwards ?

Vodafone cut their dividend yesterday , at least we did not suffer that !

Trent
At least RF did not do a vodafone today !
It seems amazing to me that the UK's larges brewer is not capitalised at a high enough price to be included in the ftse 350, but maybe, just maybe, we are at a turning point?

Many of these shares are held by management & staff who are probably restricted from trading, almost 30% held by Invesco & nearly 25% by Woodford, so the free float is not very large The supposed discount to nav is attractive, if you believe that valuing unquoted investments largely on the last funding price gives an accurate nav.
It does when small companies are goibg into ipo's but Mercia's holdings are micro stocks and clearly, with Woodford being forced to sell his unquoted holdings you can bet he has some of Mercia's holdings in his funds so the next sale, to a forced seller, is likely to be lower than the current valuation. Not to mention that his stake in Mercia could be sold if he continues to see redemptions.
Until these unhealthy situations are resolved they will probably need more than a few Lotus concepta's reporting good test results to float this balloon !

In the past I would have whole heartedly agreed with you but with the disaster that May has been I despair of almost all MP's in particular, poliricians in general.
May has been evasive, a crettin & many more things, all bad, has she done anything to raise your spirits, she certainly has not raised mine ?
So do you vote for someone like that?
Corbyn, May, take your pick, they are both thick

Another very good point, & frankly I do not really have a view as to what might weather a forthcoming downturn best. In days of old the rule was supermarkets & sin stocks (booze & fags) but these days that is not nearly so clear cut.
Even if you go for another recession favourite, utilities, you come up against Corbyn.
The good thing about Mars is that they are very well represented in most supermarkets so I guess you could be right, possibly better than most others, anyway.

BTB
You are spot on re the assets, but I am always wary of the values put on a pub estate, there are an awful lot of (once very good) pubs standing idle with the "Lease this Pub" sign outside.
I have 2 like that within a few yards in either direction from my home in London, so with NAV standing at only 64% of current debt that is not much comfort, but you were quite correct to look at the NAV.
I genuinely think the stock is cheap, but it needs something to happen before it starts to go up.
Interestingly Slater income fund holds it, although several funds sold when it tumbled out of the FTSE top 350. But for it to rise again in value so the funds start adding to it is a bit of a chicken & an egg situation.

Well, they are planning to cut their debt by £200m to £1.2 billion by 2023 and the FT shows their market cap at £631m so the debt is over double what the shares are worth currently by my calculations.
Against that it is fair to say it is on low interest and largely fixed rates for a few years, but is still hefty borrowing for a low growth business.

Trent/Dabbler
I have to say as a stale bull I was very underwhelmed with the share price today, opened easier and is now just about level to last week.
Hopefully if the unexpected revenues do indeed arrive due to this beautiful Easter the market may finally realise that their debt is not such an issue as they perceive it to be, but then again, pigs might fly !
I still bank the dividend cheque but these days it doesn't get automatically reinvested, I've learned the hard way.
What a dog of a stock this has been for the past few years

I absolutely agree, it pays good dividends and invests in the sort of companies which could do very well, but you need to know a lot about these companies, which they do.
I like Hargreave Hale vct as well, their discount management seems better than Amati's, I am surprised that more people aren't involved in them both.

Does anyone have any views on this trust?
It looks a very well run trust and has a good track record, without being in the financial press most weeks like SMT, for instance, puffing Tesla or whatever.
Indeed, being run from the Bay area it surely is better plugged in to what is going on all the time than if it were run from Scotland ?
I am mildly surprised at the apparent lack of interest in this tech trust.
I am a holder and a very happy one too.

Trent
It may be harsh, but I fancy by reading the comments that most of us are under water (?) on this stock, I certainly am wishing that they go better but am I a stale bull?
Yes, actually I am !

I guess as mostly all the contributors to this forum are stale bulls all we can do is hang on & hope.
One thing would be nice, to see this counter back into the 350 index as it used to be, that could give it some follow through by funds needing exposure again ?
Nevertheless the divi should still be paid and that alone pays us to wait

Well seeing MARS (briefly) into triple figures was a relief, I must confess!
Perhaps there is life in the old dog yet ?

LTI
Dividends & buybacks are some of the many determinants of a share price, which is fixed, ultimately, by buyers & sellers. Are you saying that these two factors are not determinants of attracting buyers & sellers?
Last years buyback was like whistling into the wind wasn't it ?

OneStep,You are quite correct !
Share buybacks certainly benefit senior management and the BoD, with their self allocated share options, dividends benefit the shareholder who has already committed his/her cash, unlike the option holders who only put in cash upon exercising (and then usually selling).
LLOY, imo, is far too schewed in favour of buybacks as opposed to dividends, which would surely raise the share price faster than a buyback.

Trent, I totally agree with you, MARS turns a profit, pays out a proportion of it in a dividend and many people think it is a cheap stock, so reinvesting the divi into more stock is a fairly painless way of building up the holding.
I did exactly that myself.