Member Info for Lifesab

To state the obvious Murray, Caledonian Holdings is going through a transitional stage. It’s currently a small cap, AIM listed investment company with a history of operating losses and significant shareholder dilution. The market is waiting for the new investments such as AlbaCo and Aspire to mature. Alongside this to fund the new operations it’s issued a massive volume of new shares ( diluting shareholder value ). Until the PRA issue a licence Caledonian are in a holding position but once we get it we should see a massive potential valuation boost. Even a modest valuation spike will have a disproportionately large, positive impact on its total Net Asset Value. It all revolves around the licence. Take care ……

Hi Murray. Feel like I’m at the French open - to and fro. I bow to your greater knowledge with all things Amigo. My problem lies with the “attacks” ( might be too harsh ) against Jim McColl. It’s clearly stated that Jim McColl had significant involvement with Amigo Holdings during its final corporate phases. While he was not involved in the original lending business or the regulatory scandals he was brought in years later as a last resort specialist to “save the listed company from entirely collapsing into worthlessness”. Those are the facts. We will have to beg to differ. Let’s get on with Caledonian and getting agreement from the PRA in regard to Alba Bank. Take care ……

To answer Uncle first I think I’ve said before that I was not involved with Vela and I feel for your pain. I think I also said if you’ve been on AIM for any length of time you will have suffered from bad management, bad decisions, lack of communication etc etc. It’s all part of the “game”. What we have to accept is that Vela is no more and there’s a new operation in place that is fully focused on the financial services, fintech and banking sectors, hence AlbaCo and Aspire. The company have gradually disposed of what it terms legacy holdings such as Skillcast ( joe bloggs ) and northcoders where it holds a 4.9% stake.

With regard to Murray’s point and Amigo. From what I’ve gleaned between 2020 and 2024 Amigo underwent a massive corporate collapse in the UK subprime lending market due to regulatory issues. I accept that it completed a loan wind-down and switched into gold and rare earth mining . During the above period the FCA censured Amigo for systemic failures in affordability checks. Amigo narrowly avoided a £73m fine. I could go on. My point is that this all happened on Jonathan Roes watch……Let’s be even handed and concentrate on what’s to come. Take care……

Murray. You may be right about the share price but without Jim McColl’s involvement Craig Ransley might not have had all the cards to play with. It was Craig himself who said that Jim was instrumental in attracting new equity investment that was critical in maintaining the solvency and life of Amigo. Who knows what would have happened if Jim hadn’t had been brought in ? I’m not sure what your other point alludes to. I didn’t think I made any mention of comparing share prices. Apologies if you misconstrued my words. Take care ……

Jimmy. I think we’ve had this “discussion” about Jim McColl and his time at Amigo. The facts are that when he joined the board as a consultant on the 28th March 2024, the share price was 0.33. When he was appointed to the board on the 1st September of 2024 the share price was 0.28. When he resigned on the 10th February of this year the share price was 2.25 which equates to a 700% gain. As of today it is 2.42. Enuf said ? With regard to todays RNS, it’s all coming together. Fortune favours the brave. Take care ……

Joe. Just to clarify Caledonians holding in Ethtry Plc it now represents approximately 1.042% of the share capital following a major fundraising exercise that Caledonian decided not to get involved in due to its changing policy of investing in fintech companies and the like. This holding is currently worth about £55k. As to your point about a crystal ball, do you think I would be trading on AIM if I had one ? Take care……

Joe. Not sure if you’re aware but Caledonian Holdings completed the sale of its entire stake in Skillcast Group on June 26th 2025. They made a small profit of £16,901.63 on its initial investment of £250,000. It currently has a 5.47% equity interest in AlbaCo Ltd, 100% ownership of Aspire Commerce Group, 4.9% equity interest in Northcoders Group, 0.33% equity interest in Global Connectivity Plc, around 20% in Igraine ( complicated situation ), 0.63% in R8, 0.25% in Finseta, 1% in WeShop and £300,000 in Hamak Gold convertible loan stock. The company is steadily looking to reduce its exposure to all of these what they term their “legacy portfolio “. The fair value of all of these holdings was shown as £1.77m in recent annual report. Igraine changed its name to Ethtry plc in November 2025 and trades on the AQSE market. Of the “legacy portfolio” I would suggest that Ethtry is the one with any real value. Take care……

Hi Uncle. Your involvement with Vela Technologies ( now Caledonian holdings ) obviously dates back some years and it sounds like you’ve suffered some pain in that time. I am relatively new to Caledonian but like you, have spilt some blood with many of my investments over the years. That’s what Aims all about, surely ? With regard to Ensi I have to bring you up on your comments as they suggest the Caledonian board don’t know what they’re doing. Vela, as it was, invested a total of £875,000 in Ensi across 2022 and 2023. It sold its complete holding in tranches right up to early 2025 and in that time made a total profit of roughly £265,000. I think you will admit, not a bad return. This coincided with the company’s abandonment of investment in early stage technology companies and a switch to specific high growth financial targets such as AlbaCo Ltd and Aspire Commerce. At the same time they divested themselves of other companies in their portfolio - Skillcast Group and Conduit Pharmaceuticals. We have to accept that Caledonian Holdings focus will now be fully committed to the fintech, asset management, insurance and banking markets.. C’est la vie. Take care……

I’m afraid nothing much is going to happen here until Alba bank gets its final, unconditional banking licence from the PRA. This could take a few months. In the meantime investors are sitting on their hands, hence no action and minor daily trading volumes. The recent share consolidation will have also scared off any short term investors. Like us they are waiting for some ( positive ) news. Early autumn is probably when we will hear. In any case, Caledonian Holdings must publish its full year financial accounts by 30th September. The old adage “ sell in May and go away, come back on St Legers day ( early September ) may be appropriate in this case. Mind you, I’m not selling. Take care ……

Taken from the Kings Speech and relevant to our obtaining PRA - “ Regulators now provide early indications of likely approval to promising start up applications. Previously start up banks waited up to 12 months just to gauge their probability of success. The new approach eliminates this dead time, giving founders early certainty so they can secure venture funding and build infrastructure. “ Hopefully this will stimulate our situation. Let’s put it this way, it can’t hurt. Take care ……

Spot on Unclejim. I feel sorry for all of the LTHs but I’m afraid this is all about Alba Bank and Jim McColl’s dream. Obviously we will all benefit when the final part of the jigsaw is complete ( PRA ). Take care……

I think we have to accept that Caledonian Holdings is pivoting its strategy toward financial services as shown by its investments in Aspire and AlbaCo ( all linked to Alba Bank ). As such it is disposing of what is termed its “legacy” investments such as WeShop , Hamak Strategy , Finseta et al. In the case of Ensilica they sold approx 100,000 shares in the first quarter of 2025 ( this was reported in RNS of 8th May 2025.) Prior to that in an RNS of 10th February 2025 it stated that they sold 425.000 shares at an average price of 46p. All proceeds from sales were used to support Caledonian Holdings shift toward the financial services sector. Hope that clarifies matters.

Murray, I understand and respect your views. I do believe however that you are being slightly disingenuous when you state that Amigo has turned around ( or its fortunes improved considerably ) since Jim McColl left in February. His leaving RNS states quite clearly that under his guidance the business was stabilised and its fortunes reversed in the 2 years he was there. Craig Ransley actually states that Jim played a critical role in maintaining the solvency and life of Amigo. The fact the share price has increased since his departure only goes to prove “his job was done”. Very confident he will prove successful with Alba. Take care……

According to the records, Jim McColl has a 10.61% shareholding in CHP which equates to 13,797,101,449 shares which isn’t shabby. The major shareholder is John Story who owns 14.75% of the company. Major institutions comprise Hargreaves Lansdown Asser Management who have a 12.8% stake. John Story is an interesting character - this month he became the largest individual shareholder in BSF Enterprise Plc. Has many fingers in many pies. Take care ……

Hope the “patients” comment wasn’t a Freudian slip Chip 🤔. I agree wholeheartedly with your comments. As has been stated many times previously Alba bank and the spin offs thereof is Jim’s baby that has been “gestating” for 8 years. I always like to end with a metaphor and am prepared to be shot down in flames. Patience is a virtue. Take care……

Mea Culpa Murray. I genuinely feel for you. The stock market abounds with people with similar stories. I could tell you about my losses at Rose Petroleum and how the government pulled the plug on Sirius Minerals . Currently I am praying that PPP is sorted out and I get some money back. All I will say is that if and it’s still a very big if PPP pays up then the majority of funds realised will be ploughed into CHP with particular interest in the Alba bank situation. That is what I’m investing in and once again, I apologise if in the short term there is some grief. Take care ……

Expected. Short term pain for long term gain. Take care ……

Gone a bit quiet of late. Let’s hope it’s the calm before the storm. No news is good news ? Running out of metaphors. Take care……

Couldn’t agree more Dude. I particularly like the Charlie Munger quote as I can see myself in that one., as I’m sure so many more on LSE do. Take care……

From a purely selfish aspect I’m quite happy that we’re “bumbling along” at this level as it gives me time to get my funds out of the mess that was PPP. That’s looking like it is finally being settled and as soon as it is I will be piling into this share. For those hoping to make a quick return I sympathise. They say that good things comes to those that wait. Take care ……