Member Info for Bootsox

...should have said all this applies to a non-ISA/non-SIPP investment wrapper

I estimated that I would've needed a share price drop of >6% to cover all costs to make a sell-buy-back worthwhile (loss of dividends, dealing fees, stamp duty, spread). A sell-buy-back would, all things being equal, have converted a dividend income event to a capital gain.

May have been helpful to avoid 7.5% income tax on dividends and an extortionate 32.5% for higher rate tax payers (8.75% and 38.1% respectively for FY 22/23).

In the end, let inertia and risk-avoidance to rule the day.

Shares marked down 1.5p today (not just on the BB), even though the last trade of the day was 0.8p higher than the first trade this morning/last night (49.8p vs. 49p)

Out of the 20 trades today, 16 were sub £1,000 in value (some maybe not even covering their dealing costs).

Maybe ECK staff selling shares acquired through a company savings plan?

Jaycee, I sold up today and crystallised a significant loss (non-ISA holding).

The proceeds of sale are next to nothing but I was worried about a share suspension, or some such, and not being able to get out at short notice if I need to crystallise a loss against an unexpected capital gain (we are getting towards the end of the tax year).

No big deal to the markets as my diluted holding (1:100 on 09/12/16) was next to nothing.

Noel, the share price performance has been a puzzle to me and, when you look at the fundamentals of how the company executes its business, a major disappointment.
One factor I believe is the current low trading volumes which, on a daily basis, are typically <0.2% of the market capitalisation (the exception being two spikes on 13 and 19 Jan 2022).
Now, there must be a lot of disenchanted holders who bought in >60p who could well be bailing out into this weakly traded market, depressing the share price.
We really need a positive trading update, unlike last June's lame-effort finals which just seemed to accelerate the fall in share price. At the time, I think ECK were just playing Covid politics and trying to down-play their performance. Eventually, after a tortured "shall we, shan't we" process delivered the dividend as originally promised.

The "special ones" who bought in at the non pre-emptive placing of 54 pence per Placing Share must be feeling pretty cheesed off by now.
Nothing is going to happen here until some news starts to come out.

I don't see this as a dilution. Ok, there's more shares in circulation but you end up with a bigger company.

This is just the usual lame response of the dysfunctional AIM platform .

A trade just gone through for 100 shares (a measly £57, even before dealing costs). Surely that can be nothing more than an attempt to tick down the price and encourage selling?

Presume you are referring to MARS?

At present, unless there is an announcement to the contrary on 30/11/21, the dividends are on indefinite suspension (last interims 02/07/19, last finals 27/01/20).

My experience is that the longer we are in suspension the greater chance the small shareholder will be shafted.

No reason for the suspension in the first place, all they're doing his haggling over exploration rights (companies do this all the time without the need for suspension)

A bit left field but BATS (who have extremely deep pockets) are looking to diversify into health products:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-10-22/bat-joins-tobacco-s-health-push-with-energy-drink-investment

clairesmith "well it doesn't seem appropriate to be looking at putting dividends back in this year due to very obvious reason (C19 et al)"

...albeit, some of us rely on dividends to fund our retirement

Nobody (MARS BOD included) seems to want to discuss the reinstatement of dividends.

When and how much?

I wonder if folk are shy of BATS on ethical grounds?

In the past I've avoided them myself but TBH I now need the dividend income and nothing I will say or do will stop/start anyone smoking

Not sure, unless there's a bid, the share price is likely to drift until there is some kind of positive indication of a resumption in dividend payments.

The issue of dividends completely glossed over in the last trading update (13/10/21), hopefully there will be something tangible contained in the prelims due 30/11/21.

Maybe the article had an effect!
After a long, quiet period, some chunky trades gone through today.
Big trades totalled 2.7 million shares with 16 at the 250k mark.

https://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/companies/news/946167/marstons-upgraded-to--buy--as-hospitality-sector-s-survivors-look-to-benefit-from-sector-shake-out-946167.html

...should have said, a bit of oomph behind the trading, not just half a dozen shares

..spike up at the end of the day, something brewing?