Member Info for LWHL

Thanks for sharing that interview. Very appealing. Fingers crossed we get the news we are all waiting for soon! GLA.

Luckier, or smarter? It has not really paid to be prudent the past decade or so, but IMO pain cannot be avoided forever (and indeed the monetary policy approach since the first round of QT back in GFC days will increase the amount and the depth of pain when it finally can be avoided no longer). It has certainly been a long wait. Agree the era of cheap credit is over now. Not going to tame inflation though while governments continue to spend like drunk sailors on shore leave. Or while they persist with the net zero wheeze. And do not mention the war either :) Not sure there has ever been a war that was not inflationary to some extent, but happy to be corrected if wrong.

Amazing numbers. Not even just the low wage/second job type roles either. No idea what rate hike number will bring everything crashing down. Thought it would have been before now. Hey ho.

Agree with all your points, Pokerchips, including the last one. Does not mean it will not happen though, although obviously hope it does not. Not war in the traditional/conventional sense, but maybe doing for R what we in the west have been doing for U since the invasion. That would probably guarantee this goes on for much, much longer, without anyone even resorting to using more significant weapons than at present. Regarding your second point, that is why I have a small holding in Intel. It is a dog with fleas (IMO) but so very crucial to US interests in that sector, even without the worst happening to T. If that does happen, many multiples more crucial. Either way, this is going to be a seriously challenging decade IMO. Hey ho.

I have thought long and hard about exactly this question and I have absolutely no idea either. The closest I have come (which may or may not play out) is the roll out of CBDC's across most of the globe when the smoke and mirrors no longer works. Namely when the majority lose total faith in the fiat currencies. War is always a good tactic to divert attention away from domestic troubles of course. History is full of so many examples. Who knows? Maybe this time will be different :)

We just need far, far less government, considerably less public spending and a return to proper capitalism. This will make the UK attractive to global business again, as well as give small outfits the chance to flourish again too. Corporate Tax does not even generate that much revenue for the treasury. It is a bad move that IMO will yield even less tax than at the current rates. So as individuals, we just have to do what we can. Take profits where we can and hope that one day the UK goes back to a system that works for the many, not for the few :) A return to sound money, while we are at it, too.

While I would be delighted to see more Director buying of course, IMO the purchases already logged suggest a degree of confidence. A good finance agreement announced in (hopefully) April and even in a down market, we will hopefully start to re-rate to a more satisfactory SP. Positive developments in the other areas of business outside of what is already known will also help, but as others have said, some patience is going to be required. Especially in this climate. Rest assured, I too would rather we moved vertical right now, but as things stand, IMO no need to worry unduly. GLA.

Even if the next US jobs data shows 'strength', I am willing to bet it is in those sectors that are low wage/second job territory. If they really do go ahead and continue to raise rates, alongside QT, then IMO there is absolutely no chance of a 'soft landing'. There is no chance that carnage will be avoided in their housing market, the stock market, or indeed the bond market. But they can always continue to move the goal posts of what constitutes a recession, so there is that, I guess. Anecdotally, I know a number of fairly wealthy people who continue to reduce their discretionary spending. Only the very wealthy I know are pretty much continuing life as normal and indeed are mostly still on an upward trend. The squeeze for the lower middle classes and lower earners must be reaching breaking point right now. I guess we need a few more months to prove - or disprove - this theory. GLA.

I am going to take a few more in the 12's and I am going to take a lot more in the 10's. Not withstanding the geography aspect here, but assuming they do not go full nation state basket case, this one should reward us within 2-3 years maximum. Feasibly a good deal sooner. IMO of course.

I have no idea how we have already avoided a crash to be honest. Sooner or later, this debt based structure will surely come crashing down. Especially with all the inflationary pressures we face. Including the war we seem to have decided to get increasingly involved with. Like all wars, these things in themselves, are highly inflationary. Good job we have no national debt to worry about :)
As for FRES, I am going to buy a few more a bit lower than this price and then some more in the 6's. All being well, at some point in the next few years, my entire holding here will be in profit. But ready for a real drop prior to then potentially as well. Good old JP. Raised too late and not willing to allow the lagging effect of the rate rises to manifest. Still less hapless than our own AB though. GLA.

Yeah, I have a couple like that too. Hopefully you at least get back most of your 100K. If a bidding war materialises though, who knows? You might still end up with a profit. If it remains as WG and all goes well, the chances increase IMO.

Are you not tempted to average down, aspers, or have you reached the threshold of what you are willing to invest here, come what may?

FWIW, I hope that shareholders reject any offer below 3 quid, because I also think it is worth more than 250p right now. Only caveat being whether the next company update disappoints. If they stay independent, regardless of this, I agree over the next 18-24 months, things should look very different, from a macro perspective. But it just depends on whether the big boys would rather take the bird in hand, or sit tight for the potentially greater returns in the medium term - with the risks that would accompany such a decision. Oh to be a fly on the wall of the CEO's office right now!

The SP would probably hover a bit below the offer price in that instance, Pokerchips, but not enough to hang around IMO. Although I guess if you had a significant holding, a few pence per share would be quite a lot of cash! Any other bidders, if there are going to be any, would probably have come forward by that point, so the risk of missing out on a last-minute bumper uplift should be remote. Not advice though, because while remote, not impossible.

It feels like this could be a year of high M&A activity. Unlike 2007/early 2008 though, I do not think we are going to see many bumper deals, with frothy valuations. Or even necessarily many 'fair value' offers. Not the same cheap credit facilities now as then, nor the same levels of euphoric invincibility that seemed to be quite widespread back then. It will just depend on how many of the big holders decide to take the cash and bank profits (or smaller losses) versus holding out for better times. I am referring to the wider market, not specifically about Wood.

I have known a number of CFO's and FD's over the years. They do tend to be far more risk-averse when it comes to their own money, than CEO's and and like, in my experience :) Not that this offers any guarantees here or elsewhere of course, but it is another small positive to add to the list of 'pros' IMO. GLA.

Well, I have taken profits today from my main holding. In a market like this one, more than 10% in such a short space of time was simply too appealing. Actually, it was more the tone of this latest RNS that made me think that they are going to sell at sub 250p now. Did not want to hang around waiting for the slow transfer of shares during that process if they do indeed do so.
Have kept the smaller holding that I bought for my kids though. Either this is going to see a bidding war and hopefully a number of at least 250p that was my initial TP, the tabled offer as it stands, or even a walk away. In the latter scenario, I think there will be opportunities to return for around what I initially paid, perhaps lower (although I know I now run the risk of being accused of being a de-ramper, or worse!)
Appreciate that those with higher averages will (quite rightly) reject such a low offer if put to them. Maybe lots whose average is even lower than mine was. I simply have no idea what the big holders would sell for. Probably not long to find out though. GLA.

Yes - the tone of this statement seems very different to the first one. Almost dovish. I wonder how the decision-making shareholders will take this? Unless we get a new party to the table, I cannot see a substantial increase on this offer materialising. Maybe a final offer around 3 pence or so more at best IMO. If there is going to be a white knight, they need to show up PDQ!

Always good to see inside buying, even if only a small amount in this case. On top of the other BOD purchases in the recent past and more importantly the actual business news of late, while I am not loving the current SP, I remain fairly relaxed here. Might take a few more if we see a base forming around this level. Equally happy to miss the boat if we get a decent uplift soon! GLA.

To be fair, that is multiple purchases by multiple directors now. Also, apart from RG (who was the biggest shareholder), the percentage of stock held by the other listed major shareholders is unchanged from March 2022 to the current time of print. Sure, this could change, but these are the 'known knowns' right now.