Member Info for lordloadsoflolly

Yes, but not much use for long term holders!

To me, the current share price reflects revenues still being relatively low (£1.5M), despite doubling in the past year. And currently, most reported profit comes from increased value on Opti's SBTX holding - a value which remains highly volatile year to year. I, too, expect Opti's share price to increase substantially at some point, assuming the current trajectory continues. Problem is, I don't know the timescale. Could be less than a year. Could be several still. And in the meantime, I fear there might be a general market correction, which could disproportionately hit small cap companies. A lot of "coulds" & "mights" there! Which is why I remain a holder, but am reluctant to add - at least whilst the price remains above the 45p mark.

I'd lump Tom W, Elrico & Proactive together. They're none of them neutral (Proactive being a paid for service), the others being large shareholders. I'm afraid I don't feel the need to justify my statement. Suggest you google the number of RNSs, compared to all the interviews from interested third parties - you'll soon see what I mean. In any case, this misses my point really. Which is that ALL significant investor information should be available free of charge to all interested investors. And the only real way to do that (other than via formal trading updates and half yearly reports) is via RNSs. Plenty of posters here agree with me. But if you choose not to, that's fine too.

Thanks skid35. Glad I'm not the only one with misgivings on this! Please keep us posted on any response. 1gandhi - the only trouble with spin offs is that in the case of SBTX, it's their shareholders who've benefited massively. Whilst Opti's have gone nowhere (or worse). Sure, the current paper value of our diluted SBTX holding is now far higher than it was around spin off. But if that doesn't boost Opti's share price, then what's it all for?

I'm a holder in Opti. So before anyone accuses me, I'm not trying to deramp. But there are a few things which concern me about the company. 1. Why does SOH persist in conducting the majority of Opti's investor relations via Elrico? This is a listed company for God's sake and the proper channel should be via RNSs, not some private individual (no offence intended to Elrico). 2. For several years now, SOH has been grouping deals into various value bands. This has undoubtedly led many investors to believe turnover would rapidly rise to £ multi millions. Yet here we are, several years on, and we're still looking at the low single digit millions. OK, that's still pretty decent from a standing start. After all, these things take time and the pandemic will almost certainly have slowed things down. But within the rules, maybe SOH should try to use official channels to update & guide investors more frequently on sales levels & progress. 3. SBTX's spin off was initially sold to Opti investors as a fairly imminent special dividend. Instead, the holding has gradually been diluted, largely to fund Opti's working capital requirements. That may be a sensible (low cost) funding option, but it's not what we were originally led to believe. SBTX has certainly thrived as an independent company, so the spin off certainly paid dividends. Just not to the original PIs, without whom it would never have been possible. So again, more clarity needed from SOH on whether we're ever going to be rewarded for investing in a full pie, only to see slices gradually being removed from it. That said, I fully concede that in terms of £s, SBTX is far more valuable to Opti holders now than pre- spin off.

According to HAT's 23 03 21 RNS, FCA investigation likely to conclude by 30 06 21 (though I guess it could always be pushed back again): "The Group continues to work with the appointed Skilled Person and the FCA in respect of the review into its creditworthiness assessments and lending processes for its unsecured High-Cost Short Term Loans (HCSTC). Given the ongoing disruption from the pandemic, the outcome of this review will now likely be delayed into the second quarter of 2021."

I may be wrong but I thought TW had a sizeable holding in SBTX (in which case he has a vested interest to talk prospects up). Personally, I make my own investment decisions rather than being swayed by other stock pickers. Especially in TW's case.