Member Info for Barlew

Not very good with the crystal ball having upped the target price yesterday. Press Release on RSA website does not look so bad but puts a good gloss on the figures. Lower dividends are prudent but could see sp down. No profits warning - just lower profits! Not sure when warnings are supposed to be given but press release implies that profits as previously anticipated. Aviva cut their div by 25% last year and have survived. Must admit am nervous of selling precipitately in case both RSA and Aviva recover more quickly than anticipated. Probably a good buying opportunity within the next few days but then one has to have the money to do so. GLA.

I wonder who is right! The shares have come back quite a bit since the announcement. I rather agree with Legaland gullible and just sit tight. and see what happens. Time in the market rather thanm timimg of the market. All a bit of a gamble anyway. GLA

Crept up to 39p now - if they firm up Macau sale could be in the 40s - what is your target L+G? I am going for 85p although not sure why. I like this share because it pays a decent div and has been moving up steadil;y. As to tcg I have been in and out of that too many times thus reducing my profit with great efficiency. Like you _dtv I am on about 30/35% profit but half of that unrealised although had I stuck it out i would have more than doubled my original stake. Am trying to keep my finger off the sell button but I agree with you that it is a strain on the nerves. I actually believe that tcg will succeed and that Leisure is good news as people want to escape from all of life's problems. I also hold Cineworld for the same reason and which has served me well. Best of luck and sleep well L+G.

...for that very helpful information. Must confess that I have not been following CWC particularly closely recently (too bound up watching Thomas Cook going North and hoping it stays on track despite its debts) save to buy some more a few days before Christmas at 35.86p basically because I believe in the company. I must admit that I thought that Macau was a done deal but clearly I jumped the gun. Sounds like a good couple of days for CWC which is certainly reflected in the sp. with more goodies in store. All very encouraging. Legalandgullible will be well surprised when he emerges from hibernation in the Spring - let's hope. GLAi

Pleased to report that during your current hibernation sp has started to hover around 37-38p as opposed to your 36-37p. It's all very gradual but going the right way. I do not know what is behind this apart from the upward trend of the market but I would like to think that a slimmed down CWC will find favour with investors and could of course be ripe for a bid from who knows where. I have had these shares for a long time and am sticking with them in the hope of greater things and indeed to enjoy the still handsome dividend even if it is now in single figures! GLA

Look at the LSE SP Charts over 1 month, 3months, 6 months and 1 year for CWC and apply the "Trend line with Standard Deviation" and then try to draw a conclusion. My guess is that the peaks were at the time the news of Macau and Monte Carlo & Islands deals respectively was first published. More research to be done by some brave soul! GLA

L+G thanks for calcs which I am sure we all appreciate. I think you've got it in a nutshell. Both deals have been discussed in the press for a time now and surely some of the attraction of these deals was factored into the sp before the recent further rise. The market is prone to react on rumour and more strongly on done deals. When the Macau deal is formally announced the sp will probably go up a bit and hopefully when both deals are completed the sp will go up further on certainty. I could not access the FT report but they are about a month behind re Macau. I find Google Alerts give me a load of helpful info as it comes through. I have been increasing my holding here and as you know that goes back a fair bit. I always preferred this half of the old Cable and Wireless and still think that the potential upside is greater than the profit made by at least some on CWW, quite apart from the fact that dividends over the last year (or is it 2 or more?) have been excellent at 12-14% although now back to the higher end of normal (which is safer).

Hope Harry Stevenson's analysis is correct. I bought in high some time ago and ever since the Egyptian problems and future profits warning etc I have been regretting it. Cheered to read the bullish reports on this Board and will hang in there with what I have left. I preferred to take a hit and make the money up elsewhere and in shares which pay a reasonable dividend unlike BG

How good to hear from you l+g. Yes I am fine thanks - still dabbling! Have been trying to recover from buying BG some months back when they were looking good. Yes you have a good memory. In fact I came out of ISYS at the end of June and for some reason went straight back in again a few days later at a slightly higher price. Just liked the shares and missed them! Actually 2nd time round bought marginally more. Good thing too. I know what you mean about AIM - my non ISA account is in the red because of that market aided and abetted by BG and their Egyptian fiasco. I am still in ISYS but at a reduced holding having taken some cash profit for Christmas. Also made some money on TCG and still waiting to do so on CWC - fingers crossed. Keep well and have a good end of year.

You agree with Daily Tel or rather Daily Tel agrees with you. I do too having been in and out of these shares before. I have always liked Invensys and in particular their specialised controls. Thye were unlucky over some Chinese contracts and got caned for that which at least enabled me to buy in fairly low.. I have taken some profit and am riding out the balance so there should be some fun and even more profit in the end. GLA.

Sp moving around a bit so have cashed in 50%. Cash will be useful for Christmas! Could be joining you for a drink!!

Well done. Have not been posting much here so not aware of positons. I propose staying for the ride. Do you agree . Daily Tel suggests other bids possible even for rest of Isys. What do you think?

Drinking onyour own money or selling up?

Not very encouraging. Anybody got details please. Ckuld only find flash of substantial drop in profits.

Thanks Toonman for explanation. As you rightly say it's a good div at over 6 % and I am happy enough to have bought some more shares at just over 36p

As far as I can see the dividend for the year has been halved from 8 cents per share to 4 cents per share this year. The Company has appeared to be at pains to make this fact as difficult as possible to ascertain and whilst it gives greater stability I am surprised that the market appears to have ignored this. This comes on top of an earlier dividend reduction a few months ago.I cannot find the past dividend history on the CWC website. This is not uncommon and in direct contrast to companies like Shell which show them clearly for all to see which in my view should be mandatory.

Anybody know why? It's a thin market in these shares but they have gone up recently and 5% today

Thanks for that helpful post. Let's hope our respective optimism for different reasons proves justified. I am happy to stick with CWC (was also in CW.). My entry price was well above yours but I have probably made up the capital loss in dividends which as you say remain attractive. Plus of course I hope to sell at a price higher than I paid for the shares in the first place so softly, softly....

Thanks. Noticed a large sale last night which brought the price back. I just have the feeling something is going on here. Encouraged to see that you regard this as a safe investment. I always regarded it as a bit of a speculative investment although the reduction in the dividend was a good sign. Brought the share down to more realistic aspirations. Let's hope they either succeeed on their own merits or get taken over as did CWW.

Anything behind the recent gradual share price increase? I always prefer a slow and steady graph. Anybody such as AT&T or even BT possibly interested? CWC have a lot of assets worth picking up although servicing them is costly as the company has found to its cost.