Roundtable Discussion; The Future of Mineral Sands. Watch the video here.
I think the article in the IC may have been published before market close, hence the flurry of late buys. I like the turn of phrase 'short sellers holding positions should prepare themselves for a painful singeing of their paws if, as I suspect, the forthcoming annual results provide further reassurance to investors of BATM's operations, and specifically its diagnostic business which was the target of the anonymous short-seller attack'
Most certainly would not want to be short of this stock. Forward looking statement of most significance 'group remains on track to deliver significant growth for full year 2022 in line with market expectations'. Add this to the buy back and I am feeling increasingly optimistic about BVC.
Leading article in this week's IC by Simon Thompson includes a very positive comment on TRR, highlighting the potential value of the Thacker Pass lithium royalty.
Will certainly put this on the radar of thousands of readers.
As a long term holder, I'm more than happy with my investment here but I'd like to see some of the cash from recent divestments returned to shareholders as a dividend. I think a yield of c. 0.7% is a bit measly for an investment company this successful.
LOOP was quite a popular 'qualifying' investment with a number of VCT's and I've often seen it listed in various portfolios. Amati for example held about 915000 shares as at 31.7, having paid about 274p per share by my calculations. I am sure there must be a strong temptation to dispose of the holding as they will not want to appear to be investing in 'basket cases' when they publish their next prospectus. The value would now be immaterial and represent considerably less than 0.1% of their portfolio. Repeat this 'window dressing' a few times and the effect on the SP is devastating and it becomes completely detached from reality.
I have no idea if this is the case or not but something like this must have happened and hopefully it is nearing the end.
The value now on offer appears extremely tempting and we all know that buying at the point of maximum fear can bring its rewards, albeit at very high risk.
Highlights the anomalous discount to NAV of c. 40% and suggests distinct possibility of M & A activity. Personally I think it's a question of when not if CFE make their next move. Probably a very good time to add to holding given the highly favourable risk/reward ratio.
I also found this interesting. CFE hold 16027317 voting rights and the vote against was 15259317. I'm not sure what happened to the other 768,000 votes but I'm assuming that only CFE voted against. It would appear that they do not want to introduce a mechanism that could help reduce the massive discount to NAV [currently c. 37%] via share buybacks. I agree therefore that they may be weighing up another bid for the company, probably at a laughable discount as previously.
I have been adding to my holding as I really like the prospects of the current investments.
I'm really encouraged by today's RNS. A bolt-on acquisition of this size makes perfect sense. I didn't think a capital raise at a discount of 13% was unreasonable. The balance sheet is considerably strengthened and supports the investment case. The top line of the acquisition is quite impressive, suggesting a decent customer base for cross-selling. It's a shame there was no offering on Primary Bid, but at least this may mean fewer shares are offloaded when admitted on 3rd September. Will definitely be looking to top up on any weakness.
The announcement is now available to read on the HKEX website.
In today's Times:
'Gas prices are trading at 13yr highs as concerns over Russian supplies to Europe compound a tight market after the cold start to the year'
'Benchmark European gas prices were trading at almost 32 Euro per Megawatt-hour this week, the highest since 2008 and up from lows of less than 4 Euro in May last year when the pandemic suppressed demand'
The value on offer here is undeniable and I think it's time to add to my holding.