Member Info for EdwardSeaton

I'll do a summary of the AGM over the weekend.

I will let you know...

Sorry. My feeble attempt at financial humour.

Wise words.

Re Barclays, is that final or interim?

Wise words, indeed.

Yes, I check most days, and by nothing more than observation, I would agree with you.

Bisichi reported last week that Transnet had been performing substantially better in the first quarter.

I think they are all reluctant to speak positively about any improvement for fear of giving the impression that it is 'job done'.

On first read, £600k better than I had pencilled in.

For coal, the forward looking tone is un-Bisichi optimistic in terms of volume, exports and costs.

Property looks ok, particularly West Ealing.

John Wong is not wrong so far, but investment details remain absurdly scant.

AH said at the last AGM that JH was pushing for higher dividends. I very much doubt we would have got 7p in 2023 under the old regime.

I'm constantly bemused by how some people think their rantings on here are going to somehow influence the share price.

It is as if they think Terry Smith has an LSE chat screen in front of him 24/7.

I seem to recall Andrew and Mike held 10% of Bisichi outside of LAS?

Irrespective, their shareholding are currently a fraction of the NAVs, to the benefit of nobody.

As I have repeatedly said, I am in no way saying their bonus was earned and justified.

I am simply saying that the route to a share price that reflects the value of the company will only come when their clarify what they are trying to do with the business, and what the dividend policy is.

Until such time, whether there is a bonus or not, the share price will continue to languish at a fraction of NAV per share.

Why would anyone buy before good news is announced and the price reflects the good news?

I can't begin to think.

I agree with all of that.

I would only make the following two points:

1. If the two companies were sensibly structured, the Hellers (and all other shareholders) would be substantially wealthier. If they sold/liquidated the companies, they could generate an income from the proceeds well in excess of what they currently draw. They are basically going to work pointlessly if a luxurious income is the only goal. As currently priced, they could take both companies private without a call to the bank. But they have no apparent interest in doing so. Being a plc at this scale is insanely expensive and laborious.

2. Yes, they could have paid their salaries as a dividend instead. But they could also have paid 4 or 5 times the dividend that they did, and still drawn their salaries. I am inelegantly trying to say that it wasn't an either/or choice.

I stand by my contention that I have never come across a pair of companies that would be easier and cheaper to transform. The Heller shareholdings should be worth £30m or £40m, not £5m.

I'm curious. Do you really think a small bunch of weirdos on here can 'ramp' or move a share price?

Yes, I am obsessed with the foolish LAS 42% holding. It serves neither company well, nor their shareholders, nor even the Hellers. They should either merge the companies, or preferably, separate them. What they have now is the worst of both worlds.

I am not aware of being hoodwinked, but if you say so.

I understand you are troubled by the salaries, but all things being equal, if they paid themselves nothing at all, I very much doubt the share price would be in a materially different place today.

I am no fan of the way the company was being run under Sir Mick, and have been exceptionally vocal in expressing my opinions to Andrew over the last 12 months, most recently this morning regarding their opaque investments in opaque investment companies.

I told him that I was not surprised that Bisichi was priced as if failure was imminent, and that was a disgraceful position for a company with cash and investments in excess of £20m and a balance sheet with net assets of £35m to be in.

I don't tend to do my ranting on here, because I very much doubt the directors of Bisichi will read it. But that does not mean I don't rant.

The share price is unmoved in 3 years. During those 3 years, the net assets of the company have gone from £16m to £35m, and it has accumulated something like £20m of cash and non-property investments.

Bisichi is killed by two things.

1. It's absurd ownership structure. 42% owned by LAS is the worst of all worlds.

2. A complete lack of declared purpose and policy.

Both of these things are stunningly easy to address.

It is quite impossible to know if they are making a profit. The total unknowns are production volumes and export volumes.

H1 was feeble. They suggested at their last communication (interim!) that H2 was going to be substantially more.

I assume property will be nothing unusual.

Investments? Ww don't knew what they are, let alone how they are doing.

West Ealing development? No news, so I assume no nothing.

Best guess? Close to zero profit, 3p final dividend.

This will carry on being priced as a basket case until it clarifies purpose and direction. As you say, Beza, this is the first test of Andrew Heller.

As Thungela rises like a phoenix, Bisichi continues to be priced as if the end is nigh.

It is agonising how much value goes unnoticed, in great part due to the inept actions/inactions of the Heller boys.

Andrew will get a lot of stick for his c. £1m salary in a couple of weeks, but the absurd thing is, if they got their act together and sorted out the hideous structure of LAS and Bisichi, between them, their wealth would be multiples greater and the salary would be an irrelevance.

I remain convinced that the companies should either be properly combined or properly separated. What they currently have is the worst of all worlds, combined with a staggeringly opaque business plan.

This is one of those extremely long-term and well run companies that, like JCB, prove that old-school things (that people actually do always need and want) can be done very profitably in the UK.

It's hideously insolvent and substantially loss making. Why would anyone be holding this?

Crazy indeed. But just buy the dividend for now. One of these days, reality will dawn.

People say this is a punt on the coal price. But that is grossly simplistic. What it really is is a punt on the future supply and demand for coal. I entirely agree with the presentation comments this morning - global supply will crumble many years before total demand even begins to decline.

I invest monthly, so in truth, I rather like these deranged prices.