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Thanks Jatw, very interesting. Nicandrou does say that the Pru have already started an independent wholly-owned asset management business in Shanghai "which is showing promise". He also said they are preparing to apply for a pensions licence in one Chinese market, following participation in a pilot scheme. Things really seem to be opening up at last in China itself, and Pru finally have some flexibility. If it is a "race for distribution" in Asia, as he said, then the competition certainly seem to be ramping up in China, so Pru need to keep their finger on the PULSE (sorry).

https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/video/prudential-deepen-presence-china-market-063919670.html

Todays rns informs us that the Bharti family own 66.43% of the company through various vehicles.
As Bharti Airtel are the parent AAF was spun off from, I assume they owned 100% before the IPO, and it seems they retain firm control.

Interesting news from Vietnam which I haven't seen reported elsewhere:
https://www.vir.com.vn/prudential-sets-sight-on-china-refuting-continent-wide-buyout-rumours-71913.html

And from Japan, reporting that former PRU employee Lee Yuan Siong is about to take the reigns at AIA just as (Chinese) mainland authorities prepare to scrap foreign ownership limits. That explains the expansion plans!
https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Insurance/AIA-jumps-as-CEO-choice-spurs-hopes-for-sharper-China-focus2

None of this seems to have received much attention in the UK, but it seem like a really big deal for Pru: potentially a massive growth spurt. Hope M&G are looking there too.

Thinking about it, the MF dividend figures given in the article don't make much sense, even in their own terms - they suggest the total dividend going up by over 20% year on year (from 15.3>18.4), which seems unlikely. They don't state their sources, but it looks like someone has got confused by the split which happened half way through the financial year.

Total dividend of 18.4p for the next financial year IS feasible (Bank of America forecast 18.6p, for example) but the 15.3p figure for this financial year looks wrong. In fact, the second half payout alone is likely to be better than that - the company has pledged combined final and special dividends of 15.77p which are due to be paid in May, if confirmed.

That is not the "total distribution" for the year either though, because there was also a notional interim dividend paid as part of Prudential's interim dividend just before the split. I have previously estimated that at roughly 5.96p (i.e. half the expected final dividend), but now realise that it can be improved by reducing it by 5%, so that it is effectively derived from an approximation of last years final dividend, rather than this years - that gives a more accurate figure of 5.68p. Adding that to the pledged final "ordinary" dividend of 11.92p gives 17.6p as the total "normal" dividend.

Add on the pledged special dividend of 3.85p and you finally arrive at the (expected) total distribution for this financial year of 21.45p.

Couldn't find any recent Motley Fool article on Aviva, but they seem VERY keen on M&G:
https://www.fool.co.uk/investing/2019/11/23/no-savings-at-40-id-buy-this-ftse-100-dividend-stock-yielding-8-right-now/

Note that their estimates of dividends "City analysts are forecasting a total distribution of 15.3p per share for the 2019 financial year, and 18.4p for 2020" don't seem to include the expected special dividend, they don't even mention it.

Always take MF articles with a pinch of salt - one written shortly before the split seemed completely oblivious of what was about to happen, so they don't exactly go overboard with research!

Pru "has obtained a licence from the Ministry of Planning and Finance (MoPF) of Myanmar to start its life insurance business in the country... the country has approximately 57 million mobile subscribers... Prudential is planning to adopt a digital-led insurance distribution strategy...Myanmar is Prudential’s 13th life insurance market and 25th business in Asia."

https://www.verdict.co.uk/life-insurance-international/news/prudential-mopf-life-insurane/

Rather than discuss the definition and spelling of super-silliness(?), we should be figuring out how Nanoco can poach the brilliant young doctors who made this breakthrough: https://news.samsung.com/global/samsung-fellows-study-on-the-potential-commercialization-of-qleds-published-in-leading-science-journal-nature

I want a puff of whatever n3m3sis187 is smoking. Hoo hah! Bangers and chips!

There doesn't seem to be a hard deadline, the vague "in mid-December" is officially merely what they expect to happen. I would assume it represents the end of the discovery phase and the start of an evaluation of the various strategic options identified.

Encouraging that the US signing of the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019 , along with another bill banning the sale of munitions to Hong Kong police, seems to have had no impact on Pru, despite its apparent inflamation of the trade war. China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the bill reveals "sinister intentions" towards China and Hong Kong. It doesn't, it aims to protect HKs special status, as per the agreement China signed with the UK. Deploying the PLA, as China did just before the district elections, reveals sinister intentions, even if it was just to help clear debris. Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com, said: "Trump seems apt to bring discord where there was harmony", which inappropriately contorts the word harmony beyond recognition in order to fabricate an inversion of a Thatcher quote: worth it?

Hello empty board. Wish I'd got here earlier, but better late than never.

Well the spread issue was dealt with, I think, the day after I mentioned it. So, thank you to all our MM readers, I guess!
Are long term holders able to offer any clues about what's really going on with PMP: are the sudden dramatic setbacks this year just temporary aberrations, will normal service be resumed in due course?

Here are the key points from the RNS of November 5th summarised,
hopefully my paraphrasing is reasonably accurate:

Preliminary discussions entered into with CERTAIN PARTIES about a potential sale of the Company.
Review of strategic options announced including, but not limited to, potential sale
Commencement of a "formal sale process", as per Note 2 on Rule 2.6 of the [Takeover] Code.
Evercore appointed as financial adviser
Dispensation obtained from Takeover Panel that any interested party doesn't have to be named
Interested parties expected to enter a non-disclosure agreement with Nanoco, be provided with information, then submit indicative proposals to Evercore.
Proposals to be submitted in mid-December
No certainty any offers will be made, process can be terminated or altered at any time

If the market thought there were any bidders, the share price surely would not have fallen off after the initial surge, and even that surge in itself was pretty subdued. Barring some commercial deal prior to sale, I fear the price may be lower than some anticipate, because it seems to be a buyers market. Hope I'm wrong, I know some don't want to hear this, but value depends on the quantity and quality of buyers. Nano seem pretty good at keeping secrets though, so who knows.

Lombard Odier might have been expected to start unwinding their short position, given that it has been failing for months, but on Friday they increased it, again! Their short interest is now up to 0.9% and they have probably lost over £1 million at current prices. The strange thing is, every time they increase their short, the share price seems to rise, almost as if the market is interpreting their shorts positively, as mere future forced buys.

At last, we found out what Witnit really thinks of us:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14njUwJUg1I

Don't mention the war.

SBTX are likely to make no revenue at all from the deal for at least a year, and even after that it seems the revenue rates have not been determined or secured, and the timing is out of SBTX's control. What levels of revenue are to be expected, and could they conceivably be zero? Perhaps the only benefit of the deal to SBTX at this stage is avoidance of development costs. It is perhaps understandable why the market sees the other party as having got the better end of the deal: new material at no cost and apparently little commitment to anything in return.

Arguably that's just the way the business works, and it may well be SBTXs easiest, fastest chance of making money, but it's a hard sell to the average investor at this point, with high risk, no guarantees, and uncertainty even in the medium term. Early investors disappointed by the opaqueness of the deal might be finding more transparent short-term prospects elsewhere, perhaps planning to come back for another look in a years time.

For the convinced and committed, low price now should be seen as a long-term buying opportunity rather than something to complain about. With this kind of investment/gamble, it's always "jam tomorrow" until actual revenue starts rolling.

Not really an answer to the question asked, so we have to assume that you rate all those soft skills as worthless. It seems you intensely dislike the stated company strategy too, which is... awkward. Comparisons with cancer are rather insensitive, given the aims of the company, but I guess it rams home your point. It really seems you and this company are a bad fit, and hard to see any constructive value in your criticisms, but interesting nevertheless.

It's good to have an experienced, realistic voice on the board, every board should have one! We should heed the downside and avoid getting ahead of ourselves. This is gamble, even if you like the compelling business case. Wouldn't you agree though, Cionnathagad, that the three founders bring different skills to the table? Cathal may not fit your criteria for a "pharma guy", and if you listen to his talks he is quite open and modest about his role in the company, but he seems excellent, for instance, at promotion, goodwill and publicity (aka BS), which are surely all valuable in their own right, especially for a project of this kind, and he does have experience in pharma business, even if he isn't a full on test-tube-botherer.

Thanks James. Let's hope the people on the island get their confidence and sense of unity back: it would be good for them, good for China, good for the world. And good for Pru too! Good luck.