Member Info for lordloadsoflolly

Perhaps unfair to call it a “missed opportunity”.

Could well be that they launched the cookies, but the trial failed for whatever reason. Could be down to taste, price, marketing, where the trials took place etc etc.

Most NPD launches (around 70-80% in the food sector) end that way.

IHNC - as I said at the time, not the best form of comms from a company that's normally on it.

They should have at least tweeted this change in order themselves. They're very keen to go on X to emphasise all the progress (which is great). But they should be consistent & on this occasion they weren't.

No big deal by any means, but I sense Minchin's influence here. Accentuate the positives & gloss over any minor setbacks (albeit trivial & temporary on this occasion).

Hardboy - thanks.

Hardboy - well done for attending. I guess this week’s developments changed most people’s minds. Not that many PIs pitch up to AIM AGMs anyway.

I had hoped to get to one of HAT’s some day, mainly to meet & thank Chris, who I’ve a lot of time for.

Sadly, that isn’t to be now. But at least the story had a happy ending for shareholders. I hope it does for employees too. US companies can be pretty demanding & ruthless, but FirstCash has made the right initial noised.

Interesting to hear Di’s take on RFX. They are more forex-focused than HAT, with a smaller proportion of the business devoted to pawnbroking.

Was much said about the expected timeframe for the deal?

Sheffieldowls - you're welcome.

Sheffieldowls - I expect they’ll be an element of that & might put a bit of my own proceeds there assuming the deal goes through. I’d need to research Ramsdens more before deciding.

I guess your view on future gold prices is critical too. Gold’s around its all time high currently. Some think this trend will continue. But history suggests eventually there’ll be a significant retreat from whatever peak price it reaches. And that would likely have a negative impact on the sector.

RFX may benefit from takeover speculation for a while, though I don’t think an acquisition’s that likely in reality. And certainly not from FirstCash, as I imagine this would be rejected by the CMA.

H&T was quite different from RFX in terms of scale & in the proportion of its business devoted to pawnbroking.

Also, FirstCash may decide to grow H&T more aggressively, as it appears well capitalised and US companies tend not to hang around. That could mean they pose more of a threat to RFX.

All in all, lots to weigh up. I expect RFX to benefit by association for a while. But it has already enjoyed a strong run, so will have to keep delivering if it’s to remain an attractive longer term holding.

ode to tigger (not an awful lot really)

mr tigger makes us s******

with his show of patients

“just eight weeks, that’s all we need”

he promised - nostrils full of weed -

for imm to do a deal to

make its current price a steal

eight weeks later mr tig’s

desperate for some different gigs

but has no cash to splash elsewhere

cos it’s stashed down tim’s underwear

“that’s odd”, says tig tig with a frown

the share price is still going down

it seems my serious research

has left my wallet in the lurch

despite all my chums’ nudgy nudgy

immupharma’s price won’t budgy

alas the moon is out of reach

and i’m reduced to bognor beach

Sorry Tigger - you lost me there at the point when you said “I have completed some serious research”.

Bendipa1 - but by the same logic, had it been listed on the main market, the share would have always cost more for PIs to buy.

Winnings1 - many thanks! Which site was it we discussed H&T on?

Anyhow, sorry you missed out here (assuming the deal goes through). But fear not, there'll be others.

Tigger - keep up your detailed Chat GPT research. It's like gold dust (or should that be moonshine?).

Who can argue with you when you say "My research is appreciated worldwide like the MOON and The starts".

Talking of starts, when exactly is this bid you've been predicting for weeks? I'm starting to run out of patients. Can you see it in the starts yet?

Cadburyhill - I agree IQE's in cyclical sectors. But whether this leads to any powerful eps rebound any time soon is anyone's guess.

Sure, there are potential structural drivers. But these have been there for years, yet IQE has singularly failed to capitalise on most of them.

I wouldn't be unduly swayed by other investors' decisions either, as they've often been wrong in the past.

I hope as much as you that you're right. And I remain invested here, as it's honestly not worth bailing at this price. Yes, there's scope for some sort of uptick. And we've seen that already in the last couple of days, as the latest results weren't even worse than previously guided.

But the outlook statement still points to fairly flat revenues & adjusted EBITDA for the year ahead. And whilst any Taiwan sale would strengthen the balance sheet, it would also significantly lower future revenues.

In current volatile markets, where small caps generally remain out of favour, revenues & profits are what talk the most.

"Three times in the last 8 years the share price has moved in a way that implies a 5x from here minimum". Hmmmmm - dream on I suspect.

Agreed. Sad to see yet another well run British company swallowed up by an overseas player.

But their offer is way above my oft-stated target (550p) for reducing my holding, so it’s a no brainer.

I’ll probably switch at least some into Ramsdens, as I feel it’s a good sector to be in, offering a decent progressive yield too. But I’ll wait until the proceeds come in, by which time hopefully any initial takeover excitement at RFX may have dissipated.

Cadburyhill. - think you may be missing my point actually. Which is that there’s currently no sign of any eps rebound. Nor has there been with IQE for many years.

So what makes you think there’s going to be a “powerful eps rebound” any time soon?

Kaeren - Hex is generally excellent with its updates.

But assuming that particular Telegram / Instagram poster is correct, I think they should have included this info in their latest tweet.

Selectively reporting all the good news, whilst overlooking any setbacks (however minor) is unlikely to boost long term investor confidence and might explain today's SP movement. It's a minor point, but worth making I think. And yes, it does rather smack of Minchin's innfluence!

Tigger - God bless you too.

And all who sail in you.

Cadburyhill - according to today's outlook statement, "Revenue and adjusted EBITDA for the full year are expected to be ... from £115.1m to £123.0m and for adjusted EBITDA from £7.4m to £10.0m".

Don't see why this would encourage "the price to move materially over the next six months". Though it might at least create some sort of support level.

Broomtree - when the This is Money article says "First production and helium sales are expected before year end", presumably it means before HEX's YE (30 Sept 2025). Rather than calendar year end. Either way, clumsy journalism if so.

Morri - you forgot to add that no-one wants a bearish double bottom these days.

Anxiety - it's not hard to announce an improvement in profits when you make the necessary "one off" (aka annual) adjustments to distort the accounts.

IQE's reported loss before tax was £36.9m v £28.8m last year.

On the plus side, they're building up a shedload of cumulative losses to offset against tax......