Member Info for lordloadsoflolly

TrustedInvestor - you beat me to it! Whilst bespoke lenses bump up the price considerably, when I looked, the starting point (with UV400 polarised non-prescription lenses) was £163. Which seems pretty reasonable to me. I'd be quite tempted in fact, if I didn't already have a high end sports watch that - amongst other things - plays music.

Dontshootme - thanks for notifying everyone. Having listened to it, I thought they made a lot of sensible comments. But to me, their body language wasn't hugely confident (particularly Lawrence's). That may have been an element of deliberate contrition. But had I been a potential new investor, it wouldn't have hugely inspired me. In any case, it's always worth remaining wary of any fund managers' presentations, as they're naturally biased (deliberately &/or unconsciously). Despite Burns' & Slaters' attempts to distance themselves from Woodford (which I felt were well argued), it still reminded me of Neil's "I've never felt more comfortable in my investments" speech. Which he delivered shortly before Woodford Investment Management's collapse. So whilst I don't think for a minute the same fate will befall SMT, I'd always recommend relying on gut instinct rather than any fund manager's soothing words.

Another issue with unlisteds is that if they reach the 30% threshold, managers can't participate in fresh raises of existing holdings, however attractive they might be. So in effect they get diluted.

Another issue with unlisteds is that if they reach the 30% threshold, managers can't participate in fresh raises of existing holdings, however attractive they might be.

Yes if PBX migrated to Aim, existing shares would move across also. Hopefully SOH will arrange this before too long, as it’s clear to everyone (except him maybe) that Aquis is cheap for a reason. Ghost town of an exchange.

mrozzy - you're right. Still a fairly small outfit though. Its Linked In entry claims "51-200 employees". And judging by their website & product packaging, no-one with any design or marketing flair whatsoever.

martinu & others - if you've time to kill on a rainy day, my link at the end of this post outlines a court case between SOH (amongst others) and 3M back in 2011. It's all about a product called BacLite MRSA, which SOH helped invent before selling it on to 3M. Under 3M's control, BacLite MRSA never reached the original sales potential estimated by its founders (sound familiar!?) The case hinges on whether 3M was negligent - failing to exploit the full potential of BacLite, thereby depriving SOH & other founders of their contractual 2009 net sales earn out payment (BacLite MRSA was wound up by 3M in 2008). SOH & his fellow claimants were PARTLY vindicated. However, their original claim for US$56.45M in damages was watered down by the judge to "just" US$1.3M. In other words, they over-estimated the lost sales potential by a factor of over 40. Spookily, isn't that roughly what's also happened with Opti to date! hTTps://legaltimes.typepad.com/files/london-ruling.pdf

Presty Foods! looks like a tiddler to me. Its website hasn't been updated much since 2020 and I can't see any sign of it being a publically listed company (though I could be wrong): https://prestyfood.com/. What it really needs is for one of the big players in this sector to incorporate MicroSalt. Then we'd finally be off to the races. Whether it ever happens is quite another matter.

Larus - possibly, but I totally agree with skid35. To lose one senior exec is possibly just unfortunate. But to lose several is careless (or it suggests a character flaw in SOH, either in terms of recruitment or getting on with others)

clockface - If no-one took the company over, I imagine existing pension rights would be protected up to 90% under the Pension Protection Fund. But future employer pension contributions wouldn't be assured.

I didn't say anything about the CWU! Just that if Royal Mail DID go into administration, 222p would become a distant memory. Good luck any holders left here. And for the record, I've zero shares in IDS/Royal Mail/Consignia/whatever today's chosen brandname.

Either the threat of liquidation is mere sabre rattling. Or the share price is significantly out of step with events.

gheko - I think you’ll find it’s NOTHING LIKE Microsoft or Tesla.

tambo210 - though if you were purely referring to business energy tariffs, you're right of course! But it's CONSUMER bills that directly impact the official inflation calculations, as the term "Consumer Price Index" suggests.

tambo210 - I expect to see headline CPI inflation at 3%-4% by year end. Incidentally, you say "the cap on energy bill is rising". That's incorrect - the Energy Price Guarantee rise that was due in April has been postponed by three months following the Spring Budget. By which time, the EPG will become redundant anyway, as wholesale prices over the preceding months will mean "typical" household bills fall below £2500.

maidit308 - yoou do realise Proactive Investors is really just a paid for corporate advertising platform?

Tambo210 - Afraid I disagree, though I guess it depends on how you term "high inflation numbers". I reckon UK inflation will be around the 3%-4% mark by the end of this year. A fair bit of current food inflation is down to the energy price spikes too. Farmers have produced less, because the increase in fertiliser prices (which need a lot of energy to manufacture) & the price of energy itself simply made food production less viable. Unfilled positions certainly remain a problem, especially in sectors like agriculture, hospitality & healthcare. But the government has been careful to drag out public sector pay negotiations long enough to ensure settlements remain well below current inflationary levels. That will help ensure high inflation doesn't get baked in.

DorsetLSE - inflation rates are almost bound to drop very sharply this year, as last spring’s energy spike drops out. As a result, interest rates are also near their peak and likely to fall back within the next 12-18 months. Though not to near-zero levels.

maidit308 - as you say, “patient is the key”. Sadly, judging by the share price, the patient is still pretty sick right now.

Dontshootme - thanks for that link. Certainly a helpful behind-the-scenes insight. We're clearly in a period of turbulence here, which the boardroom bustups do nothing to help. However, many of the external headwinds (high inflation leading to value stocks being more favoured, greater caution with new rounds of fundraising & IPO valuations falling) could well abate later in the year. I remain cautiously optimistic here, but that's only a guess.