Member Info for CHEQUEMATE

Raymond Kwan has made a no. of share sales recently. A sale made immediately before the closed period makes me a little nervous. Although there can be many reasons why a director makes a sale it does beg the question - does he know something that we don't and will only know about when the full year results are disclosed on or around Tuesday 30 October?. After such a good run up from around 82p when I bought in, it is tempting to take profit now. Unfortunately I don't have easy access to the internet during the day. Any thoughts anyone?. Regards CM

Good day Os. I had been wondering what the possible impact may be too. Overall imo I think the impact will be pretty neutral. On the one hand the trouble is at one of the Lonmin mines, Lonmin being a major customer of SHFT. However, the trouble is at a WORKING mine and not at a construction/shaft sinking site, so that should not effect SHFT. My concern would be if the trouble spread to all Lonmin concerns and/or there was a more general strike by their workforce ceasing all work. I don't know what the likelihood is of a major fine sometime in the future, near or far, but if there is then that may affect future contracts........but I really am speculating here. I would advise keeping our eyes open for any developments. Unfortunately the markets don't work rationally, anything goes with the market so it is no good second guessing. I would be interested in any one elses' view; I may be wide of the mark.........just my first thoughts. Regards CM

A very disappointing response to the rns. I guess much was expected. I don't think the rns was bad, it just stated growth for next year would be slower than for this year unless new acquisitions are made; which if interpreted in a particular way could read uninspiring At least the sp did recover somewhat; I was more than a little nervous when out today, wondering just how far the sp would fall, having seen it down over 11p at one stage. There appears to have been only 2 trades after midday, so perhaps things have quietened down. I feel the wind has been taken out of TRCS sails, so I am not expecting any immediate rise back to the 130s just yet, but hope to be wrong. Thanks for the posting MW; are you still in here?. Regards CM

Good evening. Glad to have a better day today with increased volume, although still not particularly high. It's only one day of course and we have to wait and see what happens from here. I'm not a chartist but I do have a look occasionally. What the chart would suggest right now is that the sp could possibly bounce up to around 80p, although mid 70s is more likely. Some good news would likely take the sp higher. This is a case of wait and see. Think the extra working hours on Sunday due to Olympics is a waste of time personally. People want to watch the Olympics if they are interested not shop. If anything business is quieter. If you watched the opening ceremony of the Olympics you may have seen my boss...........he was one of the mill owners taking advantage of the workers!. Don't know what has happened to the likes of Bert, nor of Ridingwaves. They may have sold out or reduced their holdings but they may well be back in time to catch any interim dividend. Regards all CM

Good evening Stach; thanks for the post early on. You are right, the RNS could be any time and it would be terrific if there was mention of a new contract. I'm not sure there will be any increase in the dividend and if it is to be 2/3rds final dividend, 1/3rd interim dividend as mentioned in the IMS statement then it will be 2.4p. Will that be enough to attract "bounty hunters" or rather "dividend hunters", I don't know, it equates to about 3.6% of the current share price. It should drive the sp up somewhat, but as in many cases upon the ex. dividend date it would not be surprising for the sp to fall back by the same amount as the dividend; so we could do with some positive movement asap. The sp did fall on the news of the death that is true, by about 6p or 7p if my memory serves me right; but it was on its way down anyway. I think it was more down to market sentiment and sector sentiment and the indifferent news in the IMS statement, there was nothing to get excited about, and the market will always look to knock a share back on such news and if it thinks it has got ahead of itself. I haven't added to my shares, nor intend to. I will wait and see what happens. The chart is not great, but it can be turned around upon good news and greater volume. Bear in mind that this is always a tough time for shares at this time of year, with volume tending to be low due to the holiday season. Additionally, who knows what effect the Olympics is having on volume and general interest. Have a good weekend folks. I have to work with additional hours on Sunday due to the restrictions being lifted on retail during the Olympics and Para Olympics!. Regards CM

I think you are right about there needing to be news from SHFT to pick the sp up, but the fall back can be attributed to other factors too. Momentum is not good at present and market sentiment towards SHFT and its market sector is negative just now. Volume is very low, that needs to pick up; there are very few trades, although that needn't be a bad thing. There definitely needs to be contract win news. I have re-read the AGM and IMS statement issued on 1 June. In it it states that trading is in line with managements expectations. However there are a couple of negatives within the statement, countered by some positives, but it could have been better. Also, under international operations it states that discussions are continuing with EuroChem on the settlement of outstanding amounts. This could be holding the share price back. Does anyone know who is the main direct competition to SHFT?. There has to be competition out there, something we investors can be guilty of ignoring when we get too focussed on the company we have invested in. The share price now is down just over 20% on my investment, which would usually get me thinking of taking my losses and moving on. However, the fundamentals still remain very good and meet most of my investment criteria, so for the time being I am hanging on. I haven't got too much invested here compared to many I guess, but still feel uncomfortable. I remain relatively confident because of the fundamentals. I mentioned about the Bollinger Bands in a previous post. Well, they are started to widen again......unfortunately with the share price tracking the lower one down. This can change around of course and I am not one who relies on charts since they tend to show what HAS happened and don't forecast necessarily what WILL happen. I think there will be more volatility in the short term. Good luck all, lets hope for some positive news to start this heading North again. Regards CM

On the face of it, todays rns is surely good news. so why the fall back in share price of 5%?. Is this a case of the market believing the share price had got ahead of itself and correcting it to some degree?. Is the market marking it down to try and pick up shares from willing sellers so that they can raise the share price again and make money on the next good news, or for someone or individual who wants to buy bigger but at a lower price?. I for one sure don't know, but it's another frustrating, beating logic day. Not only here with SHFT of course, and in truth not unusual. Not sure it is possible anymore to read the market. Maybe on a positive, I can say I saw the same thing happen with GBG, down around 10% on absolutely no news a short time ago, only to recover and rise further; so who knows/. Good luck all, and regards CM

Bollinger bands being squeezed with share price within them; usually a sign of a break out; but which way will it go?. Could do with there being higher volume. Regards CM

Well put post. I totally agree. The Hindustan money is a "known known", so can't see any reason why that should have much effect on the sp, nor an announcement re. interim dividend unless you rightly say it is to be increased significantly. What will drive the sp up is "new news", the award of new contract(s). I am still holding, the dividend(s) at least offset some of the loss I am making at present, which thankfully is not substantial. At least the posts here are generally good natured and there is no bitter in fighting which appears on other bb. Good luck all, regards CM

The 2.4p dividend announced at the end of August last year was a maiden dividend. It was rather surprising that the ex dividend date was so close after the announcement, that is not usually the case, although as far as I am aware there is no rule as to when the ex-div date needs to be. The final dividend was paid in June for those shareholders on the register on 5 May as reported in the final results issued on 20 April; so again not much time lag between the declaration and ex. div date. What is VERY important is the DIVIDEND PER SHARE, not the yield. Don't be surprised if the interim div is kept at 2.4p per share. In my opinion that is the most likely outcome. The yield can fall on a rising share price (not a bad thing) and can rise on a falling share price (not a good thing necessarily). It would be disasterous if the interim div was cut. A high yielding share can identify a share in trouble since the yield may have increased due to a profits warning therefore leading to a lower share price, therefore the div is a higher % of the share price as the share price falls. If the profits have fallen, and/or the company is in trouble it may have to cut the dividend to help it out financially. That in turn would more than likely lead to a further fall in the share price as individual investors and some institutions bail out. If you keep your original no. of shares then any increase in a div. will increase your own personal yield, i.e 1000 shares bought at £1 each will give an investment of £1000, div of 5p a share = £50. Share price rises to £2, div raised to 6p. a share = £60 giving yield on investment of 6%, although yield on current share price is actually down to 3%. Chances are that with the increase in dividend the share price would rise. Conversely, if share price drops to 50p, and div dropped to 4p, your dividend drops to £40, yield of 4%, yet yield on current share price is actually up to 8%!. Chances are in that instance the share price would fall further. Probably stating the obvious I know, but just trying to clear up any confusion over dividend per share and yield. Its getting late and I've been out on the hills most of the day, so sorry if I have got the wrong end of the stick. Regards and good luck all. CM

You may well be right about the no. of shares in public hands. My figures were taken from Digitallook.com. According to that site there are 24,750,000 shares in issue; of those 22,190,932 are held by directors and institution investors, leaving the 2,559,068 in public hands. Of course Digitallook.com is not necessarily up to date and the companys' website is far more likely to be correct. Either way, 80% share ownership by directors and institutions seems phenomenal and still leaves them tightly held. Regards CM

Good to see the sp heading North again, but, don't get too excited. The market is still volatile and is always looking for something else to worry about and mark shares down, regardless of the fundamentals. Yes, in my opinion the sp should be at or nearer 100p, but my opinion counts for diddly squit with the market (mischief) makers. Unfortunately for SHFT, it is lumped in with the mining sector (or so it seems) and that sector is weak at present, so a mark down in that sector catches SHFT too. Hope for, but don't expect a short term return to 100p. The company has declared it intends to have a progressive dividend policy, which is excellent news, however that won't influence the sp in the short term; positive trading updates will, so lets hope for that. Regards all CM

Hi MW. I too bought in in the low 80's. I can understand why you feel a bit twitchy and share your sentiments. However, I feel a little different with TRCS than many other shares; not only are the fundamentals very strong but it has held up remarkably well throughout market turbalence to date. I tend to be more concerned when there has been such a big jump in sp like there was yesterday because I expect there to be a degree of profit taking and consequently a retrace in the sp. This didn't happen today and the sp rose further. This company is not widely followed and is off most investors radar, which is an advantage. I think I shall hold for the time being but may put a figure on a bail out should the sp start falling just to lock in some profits. I am not sure when the results are due out but I think there is a distinct chance that there will be an increase in any dividend when announced so it may be worth holding for a while. According to my calculations, of the 24.62m shares issued, 22.72m are held by directors and institutions, leaving less than 2m held by other investors; so they are very tightly held; not leaving the pi much scope to influence any sp movement. First thoughts on that is it has to be good........but I'm probably missing something. Thanks for replying to my post and especially for all your posts keeping pi informed of rns for many companies; it is appreciated. Regards and good luck. CM

Are you in here too MW?. Thanks for the posts. I was off to work too early to pick up the rns so got a real surprise when I saw the sp in early trading. So good to get some good news but also a good reaction. Half expected this to finish the day below 100p, lets hope it stays above come day/week end. Regards CM

Thanks MW, excellent service as always. Regards CM

If last year was anything to go on, then don't expect an ex divi date to be announced until the next set of results due at the end of August, with ex divi date likely to be the end of the first week in September with payment due at begining of October. Regards CM

Good to hear from you; I thought you had packed your bags. I only have 1000 shares in here but it is hurting all the same. It is near impossible to trade during the day due to work commitments, so I can get caught out by sudden movements. I think as much as the accident it is the mining sector as a whole which is being sold off, not just SHFT, but it is extremely disappointing. I keep hoping it will pick up as we all do of course. Heaven knows what awaits us next week but I don't like going into the weekends with a sigh of relief that another week has finished. Think you are wise to be mostly in cash. Obviously GBO is also suffering, so my general portfolio is in the red, to which I can only say...........UGH!.......where is the asprin?. Thanks for getting back to me Ridingwaves; I appreciate it. Hope you are well too. Regards CM

What is your view(s) here now?. Are you still in?. After all the excitement of the ride up where do think the bottom might be?. Didn't expect it to fall this far. Pretty quiet here these days. Regards, CM

Many thanks for your postings on this and many other boards mulledwine; you do a grand job keeping all informed; I don't know where you find the time. Please keep up the sterling work. It amazes me, although perhaps it shouldn't, that after such splendid results the share price can be hammered due to one sentance in the report about the current weakness of the euro to the pound. Although it has been stronger, the excange rate hasn't changed drastically imo, but obviously will have some effect on profit. Any hint of negativity at present by any company and the market makers set about them like a terrier. Of course it is in their interest to cause uncertainty and votality. All very frustrating. Regards CM

Re growth stocks paying a dividend; you may be interested to have a look at GBG and TRCS. The fundamentals for both are very good, although at present fundamentals don't seem to be helping a great deal. I would have put SHFT up there with them, but it is getting hit by being in the wrong sector with the global slow down it seems. I tend to agree with your view of special dividends. Stach; I admire your enthusiasm and optimism, but with respect, don't get carried away. I would settle for SHFT to get back to where I invested at high 80's. Brokers forecast should be taken with a pinch of salt, they are of little use bar being of interest and can be darn right dangerous if you put too much on them; since I have seen brokers forecasts suggesting 160p for one stock I bought in to at around 60p only to see it fall back and back with me bailing out at 36p and see it now at around 3p; NOT that I am suggesting anything like that will happen to SHFT. Not sure what the catalyst is going to be to turn the markets around. Hoping the right result at this weekends Greek election will help, but the market seems to be looking for the next thing to go wrong. Regards and good luck to all. CM