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Surely one good thing here is that it is initial/pilot production which could open the way for more product orders :-
"The contract, from a leading RF test equipment company in the USA, provides order cover for an initial build of RF front-end modules for their next generation over-the-air 5G test equipment. The product will extend the frequency range of the customer's existing product offering above 50GHz by employing Filtronic's extensive mmWave specific design and manufacturing know-how."
Corvus Partners with Program Management Solution Provider R&Q Accredited
Corvus is excited to partner with leading program management solution provider R&Q Accredited for this program, backed by a panel of A+ rated reinsurers alongside Corvus Reinsurance Company.
“Corvus has demonstrated they are leaders in innovative underwriting practices through their success in Cyber and other lines of business. R&Q Accredited is pleased to partner with the team to extend the set of offerings to the financial institutions segment. With a growing pipeline of new partnerships, we are excited to deliver on our mission to be the program underwriter of choice for US MGAs, MGUs, program owners and their capital partners,” said Dawn H. Puro, Chief Underwriting Officer, Casualty of R&Q Accredited America.
I believe they already had about 5%, now raised to 10%.
It's not just Downing who see value hear, but you may be locked in for a fair time.
William Spiegel on the Voice Of Insurance podcast :-
HTtps://www.thevoiceofinsurance.com/podcast/episode/34eeaa8d/ep-94-william-spiegel-executive-chairman-randq-prospering-as-the-insurance-ecosystem-comes-apart
Note, there is an advert at the start which you can just click past.
In the report they also state :-
"JDW have approached Allianz and proposed an ADR process."
where ADR I believe stands for Alternative Dispute Resolution, so there has to be a reasonable chance that this may never go to court and the come to an agreement outside court.
US markets futures are -ve and a lot stocks on my watch list looking -ve at the moment .
https://www.cnbc.com/pre-markets/
Probably very wisely given the Allianz claims, they will not consider paying a dividend till the end 0f 2022.
"As announced on 23 March 2020 due to the impact of Covid-19 the Board suspended dividend payments for the foreseeable future. The Directors recognise that dividends are an important part of the Company's returns to shareholders and the Board will consider the resumption of dividend payments at the end of FY22."
Well contingent liabilities are £66 million + interest at worst, but this case may not be decided till late 2022 or early 2023 now.
Legal costs are estimated to increase by £1 million because of complexity, but not sure what total cost will be.
That is the thing Allianz may lose the case, they might win, but be awarded a small amount or in the worst case they might be awarded 66 million + interest.
It will hold BWNG back and that is probably why the Alliance family have not been buying in the market at what appear cheap prices.
downing-strategic-micro-cap-investment-trust September Factsheet :-
Flowtech Fluidpower (+6.6%) delivered a reassuring set of interim results which demonstrate a recovery in trading post widespread lockdowns. We remain of the view that guidance is set conservatively and the business ought to upgrade earnings. Longer
term, the prospect of an e-commerce platform to generate customer synergies and scale is attractive and could drive a more premium rating than the business has achieved historically.
HTtps://www.downing.co.uk/investor/offers/downing-strategic-micro-cap-investment-trust
"Venture Life (-25.9%) was the standout disappointment in the month,
with management disclosing further margin headwinds despite only releasing a trading statement
the prior month. As the business grows organically and with the additions of the recent acquisitions
and a relatively fixed manufacturing overhead, margins and earnings should improve. "
https://www.downing.co.uk/investor/offers/downing-strategic-micro-cap-investment-trust