Roundtable Discussion; The Future of Mineral Sands. Watch the video here.
I've been a little surprised (and disappointed) that yesterdays news doesn't appear to be worthy of featuring in the mainstream media. We will all have seen headlines over the years relating to "cancer breakthrough". I would have assumed that "targeted cancer treatment with no side effects" would have been picked up as a story worth a few column inches. We are obviously still at the very early stages of the process and many hurdles still to be overcome before victory can be claimed, nonetheless strange that the Avacta PR department don't appear to have managed any traction beyond investor websites and forums.
Morning
I dipped my toe into PodPoint yesterday primarily as a result of the outstanding customer service I received when recently using them. My wife got a new EV through NHS Fleet Professionals and part of the package was the installation of a PodPoint charger (suspect many dealers doing PCP deals on EV will also replicate this and therefore PodPoint are ideally placed to be the "preferred partner"). Can't deny that the pre installation questionnaire was pretty onerous and we had to take quite a few photos of existing wiring board etc. However, that all meant that on installation day, everything ran smoothly and they did a really good job. Moved to a new electricity tariff that means we can put about 120 miles of range in for a couple of quid.
So......does any of this mean that PodPoint will be the victors in this ever expanding market.? don't know. What I do know is that they have the process of installation refined extremely well and for that reason alone, I'm happy to take small position and wait for 3-5 years.
Been holding for just over a year now, so delighted to now be in the blue and optimistic for future growth
Doubt we can expect this, however a really crucial figure when looking at the new subscribers is also the churn rate - we had 3500 in Mexico at end of August and 7500 at end of September - great. However, how many unsubscribed during this period. A low figure is our obvious desired state as it indicates that the service is delivering against the customer expectations and we can therefore reasonably expect continued revenue through subscriptions. If we actually signed up an additional 6000 but 2000 left, then that's a problem
Not being a naysayer by any means but been through this a few times in my own career where the topline sales figures can mask an underlying churn problem
Just got an email from Hargreaves Lansdown announcing the launch of a new Investment Fund focused solely on Hydrogen. Just had a quick glance through the (202 page long) prospectus. Ineos are backing with 10% of the available shares and in total they are looking to raise £250m. Might be nice to see some of those funds directed our way
https://hydrogenonecapital.com/
From Sunday’s Telegraph. Behind a paywall so you may not be able to view it. The general consensus is that used car prices are at unprecedented levels due to chip shortages for new cars and people reluctant to use public transport. CAP monitor are struggling to set prices as they are rising so fast
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2021/05/23/used-car-prices-soar-industry-faces-perfect-storm/
Met up with a mate last night who runs a smallish independent used car business in our area. He said they typically do 40-50 cars a month but did over 70 in April. As interesting was the price he is selling them at. He has been doing this for several decades and has never seen used car values so high. Mixture of pent up demand combined with the supply chain issues most manufacturers are dealing with currently due to the chips shortage. Also said that LCV values were increasing week on week.
All in all this feels like a good time to be invested here
It wasn't really a buy recommendation - it appeared in the "shares roundup" section and just reported yesterdays price rise following the RNS on better than expected earnings. Nice jump this week nonethless
Testpak
Completely agree. I sit in plenty of meetings where sales departments bang on about the size of their pipeline- when the question about conversion to sale %age is asked, there tends to a lot of shuffling and shoe gazing
However, in balance, a larger pipe should result in greater placements so not wholly decrying the increase. Look forward to plenty of them materialising into contracts
Good luck all
Chuffed to see the RNS today. My instinct has been that the product is good, however until that is realised by a customer being prepared to engage, you don't really know. The contract is nice but more importantly, MOS can now take this case study and target "like minded" prospective customers and sell them the dream based on a reality rather than a theory.
Feeling positive about the future for Lookers now. Appears that the chronic mismanagement/ criminal activity is behind them and we can look forward to a properly managed business in an industry where it is clearly possible to make money. This is a long term hold for me
It's a strange old feeling isn't it ? - months and months of riding the Avacta rollercoaster with false dawns, Huffpost articles, share sells to fund house purchases, great RNS's, not so great RNS's, is it us........not it isn't.....yes it is etc
Desperately hoping it is "real" this time as not sure my fragile nervous system can take another SP dive IF this is MM's messing about.
My instinct tells me that this one is different and that this is just the lead up to a CE marked, market leading LFT with a confirmed government contract followed by other countries coming onboard
Strangely, I think I would be more happy with a few dull days of us just hovering where we are as the new base
GLA
Afternoon
Got my dvrg shares in a HL ISA - price on their platform appears stuck at 27.50. Anyone else in a similar position/ have a possible explanation?
Thanks
At worst I bought them at 56p in 2019, at best, I bought them for 12p in Q1 2020. Therefore, my weighted average was 15p. I've top sliced a little this morning, so mostly now have a free ride. I've decided to stay in primarily based on how their peer group is doing - Pendragon has recovered reasonably well and used car sales in general are doing well. Question will be how they adapt to the changing purchasing environment (which in my view will extend beyond the pandemic). Will new entrants like Cazoo take off and can Lookers keep up and/or innovate. On balance, I think they still have a good network of respected OEM brands and therefore, I'm happy to take a risk and see how this plays out. I suspect they will retreat a little from the highs of today, however as we enter Q2 and we see more trading results, I see no reason why this can't start moving forwards
Does anyone have an idea on a typical length of time for relisting of shares once the request has been made ?
I genuinely have no clue which way the price will go when it is back up and running. Could make an argument for significant drop (£50m H1 loss combined with sentiment that this is an awfully run company) or a significant rise ( H2 trading looks better and have all the bad apples exited the business). Toss of a coin for me
For clarity, I’m very optimistic about the future for Deepverge. HOWEVER, I think I’m right in saying that Turner Pope are paid by Deepverge - they are definitely not an independent analyst. I therefore take their valuation with a pinch of salt. Hope I’m wrong as would be very happy with 85p
Any shareholder experience with this company will confirm all the worst prejudices about the car business. If being generous, then grossly incompetent doesn't begin to describe it. Criminal is a better description with the resultant loss of jobs for those working for the company. I hope that whoever is responsible is prosecuted fully
On to more hopeful matters. New car figures are the worst in decades, however dealers make very little money from new car sales - they are in many ways a loss leader for the downstream service and maintenance revenue. I worked for Vauxhall head office many years ago. There was an ongoing battle of the manufacturer trying to get the dealer to promote new cars but the dealer actually much more focused on used/nearly new as that's where the margin is
So, whilst the new car market is on its arse, the used car market is actually flying at the moment. Customers have adapted well to "virtual" showrooms and servicing and maintenance can still take place
So, all in all, unless there are any other financial holes not yet revealed, I see no reason why Lookers shouldn't emerge in reasonable shape with an SP that has reasonable headroom
Larsh - I'm inclined to agree and obviously hope that you're right. Much of the commentary on this board focuses on what the upside is. That's lovely and really hope it transpires. Very little chat on what the downside is, so my point was mainly that I'm comforted that whilst there is clearly scope for it go lower, I don't envisage us going less than £1 if "all" we have is the core business. All the best
I've been pondering what the "steady state" for the SP is. We are all invested in a company that has many strings to their bow. Unpicking how each element contributes to the market cap is ultimately a guessing game but an interesting one nonetheless. FWIW, my guess is that the COVID play has been broadly removed from the current SP. If an RNS was released tomorrow that said that our LFT has failed and we revert back to core business, undoubtedly there would be a drop but I don't believe it would be catastrophic. Whilst the SP didn't move dramatically on the licensing news last week, it was the one that has given me most encouragement in recent months - it's genuine revenue flowing into the company and there is no reason to suggest that it wouldn't be the first of many. Of course, I would love to see the killer RNS that states the LFT is now approved and ready for sale, but I'm comforted that even without it, we are probably a 110-130 company solely on the basis of our "core" business. If you're looking to make a quick buck, that's probably no comfort, but as someone who intends to hold for many years, I'm pretty sanguine about the current state of affairs