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@email, I think it's tomorrow.

The sudden interest in DX on Friday was, presumably, investors placing their bets in advance of next week’s full year results announcement - which will also allay any residual fears of another share suspension - and the resolution of the Chairman/CEO issue.

All being well, we should therefore soon be back to pre-suspension levels. If so, that would be an incredible outcome, given that most shareholders had written off their investment earlier in the year.

Just back from a long holiday to find a change of PM and - more importantly! - this latest intervention from Gatemore.

I give up trying to understand what has been or is going on at DX’s HQ. But as Gatemore know the inside story of the GC issue, they are probably right when they say Series should go - unless they are just using the issue as a convenient excuse for ejecting someone they didn’t get on with.

The problem for PIs is that we still don’t know the full story, so we can’t tell. In particular, I’m not sure what Gatemore are getting at when they seem to be blaming Series’ handling of the GC enquiry for the resignations of 3 NEDs, Lloyd and the co sec, unless it's just (intentionally) ambiguous wording. And the fact that Gatemore are now giving unalloyed praise for Lloyd seems to imply he wasn’t involved in the bribery or its apparent cover-up, despite his abrupt departure.

At the end of the day, Gatemore will no doubt get their way, and hopefully Hammond will be a worthy replacement. Some continuity is provided at least by the CFO. Whatever happens, trading performance is certainly not yet reflected in the SP, so I see no compelling reason to sell up any time soon.

I wrote in July: "Approx £5m HSBC term loan 5.1% over base. An increase of 1 % - 2% means a hit of £50k - £100k this year. Obviously unwelcome as the company looks to go from breakeven and into profit, but not a complete disaster...."

Since then, we've had the convertible loan announcement, which referred to annualised savings of £2.4m. This changes everything: against those savings, (almost) any hike in interest is insignificant.

If the correct price is 10-15p, it'll open at that, not 30p. But judging by the share performance of the sector as a whole this year, I'd say a 20% drop to around 25p is nearer the mark.

We already are listed, it's just that trading in the shares is suspended. With Lloyd gone, there's little reason, if any, for the suspension not to be lifted once the outstanding accounts are filed after the general meeting in October. I still think the end of October is feasible.

dc2 - you just beat me to it. ML clearly see the Trak loan as an investment, and not just as a way of propping up the company.

There are plenty of economic headwinds, hence today’s retail sector sell-off, but HFD is more recession-resistant than most, so I think they are largely priced in.

Seems to me the issue has been blown up out of proportion, partly due to the company's mishandling of it, and should never had led to a prolonged suspension - far worse things have happened elsewhere without the same level of fallout.

Anyway, it's now history, except that "further steps...may be required to improve its internal processes and to meet its corporate governance objectives" before the share suspension can be lifted, so that will not follow automatically upon the filing of the accounts, but I still think it is likely to happen around the end of October.

ML has the option to increase its holding by 6m shares at 17.1p. That’s only “buying shares on the cheap” if the SP is expected to rise. But in that case, it would be illogical to defer bidding for the whole company, if that is the ultimate intention. So I wouldn’t rule out a change of plan, and a full bid - with a few extra redundancies - at this point.

"I suppose on that basis you concede the current price is good value for Raza, and by implication, good value for us."

Exactly.

"Got to hand it to Raza, he's playing the waiting game but he knows what hes doing."

Patience...or indecision?

Fascinating development… probably explains the perky SP recently?

ML have 10m shares out of 50m at the moment. If they converted their £1m at 17.1pps, but no other noteholder did, it would still take their holding to less than 30%: 10m + 5.848m / 50m + 5.848 = 28.3%. But Raza also has I believe 600k, or 1%, so 29.3% in total...it's almost as if they've worked back from this result.

So are we inching towards a merger? Well, it’s certainly a vote of confidence by ML - and the directors, including JW who is showing no signs of any desire to retire.

But maybe a merger won’t now be required in order for PIs to get a decent return at last. In the meantime, the CLN at least alleviates any liquidity concerns.

LD had 43m share options per the 2020 accounts, whereas the RNS talks about 26m options, so there must have been a "clawback".

As the accounts say, "an award will lapse upon a participant leaving the employment of the Group, subject to normal good leaver provisions". In applying this provision, the Remuneration Cttee has apparently agreed to allow him to keep most of his options provided he exercises them during the year after leaving, so the 6/9/22 date is no coincidence.

No harm taking a profit I suppose, but I can't see this falling back, so not one I'll be trading. For me, this is a medium to long-term hold.

Yeah, a scintillating performance by a company that "will remain relatively unaffected by the current turmoil in energy prices".

Our new brokers should have little difficulty "selling" the company and getting the SP back to 20p+, where it belongs.

Yeah, very useful background ATPM.

All we need now is for Gatemore to repeat the trick of finding the right CEO. Not sure if they still have a stake in Wincanton, but they are no doubt well-informed.

"Over 70% of our sales now come from motoring products and services, and the fact that this area of spend tends to be more needs-based rather than discretionary is leading to a very resilient Group performance, despite the wider macroeconomic uncertainty.”

If it's more fall-out from the CG issue, which it does look like, I'm not sure why it took so long. Fortunately, the rescue of the company is complete, and he leaves behind a strong senior management team, so his loss is not fatal. I wonder if Lloyd junior will remain a senior executive?

It's good news at least that the accounts and CG inquiry are on track to complete by 30 Sep, and that trading is holding up well.

In the meantime, more uncertainty, but by the time the share suspension is lifted, the dust should have settled, for good or ill. Hopefully LD won't be taking the opportunity to reduce his substantial shareholding...

POO is less only because demand for oil is expected to be less, i.e. fears of a recession, to which the market obviously thinks CCL will not be immune.

The record bookings of the US arm related only to a single day in August, compared to the same day pre-pandemic. Investors are looking more to the (uncertain) future.