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I am glad that you are closely following SLN. I see that some of the entities controlled by Mr Griffiths have continued in January to add SLN shares. A good sign, in my opinion. In its report to shareholders for the year ended 30/06/2013, Sarossa Capital (then known as Antisoma PLC) mentioned that it has an non-reportable investment (i.e., below 3%) in a third company. I wonder whether you and/or others might have an impression as to what this third investment may be. Good luck to all in the coming week. Rob229
is writing today in order to express appreciation for the wise posts of Messrs. ChameleonMan and Chairmanone. I made the decision when I bought some GDP shares early this week that I would lend no credence to the views of "david10brook." When chairmanone expressed today the view that some people are just not cut out to be shareholders, I think that that view was directed to the david10brook. I am in accord. Some quoted companies are just not so communicative. Think about individuals: some are simply not gregarious by nature. I am not saying that ignoring proper questions is a thoroughly desirable modus operandi in a quoted company, but I am happy to accord to GDP management some latitude. In so doing, I think I am aligned (and cheerfully) with the shareholders to whom I expressed appreciation in the first sentence of this post. Good luck to all. Rob229
Nice of you to release favorable news on a day in which the broader market is experiencing a little weakness. Your announcement is a very welcome antidote. I wish "our" company continued success in 2014. I think you may be in Singapore, so it is evening for you. I am in Florida, so it is morning for me. Via the internet, I am reaching out, shaking your hand. :-) Rob229
Without getting out my calculator, the share price is 5-6% higher than when I wrote on 23.10.2013. That is three months ago today. I realize Camellia plc is not a high-volatility share, but it is a quality share. I wonder who else follows Camellia plc. BTW, I write from across the pond. I do not know the London Stock Exchange as well as many others here, but maybe someone is familiar with any higher-priced London-quoted shares than CAM. Good luck to all. Rob229
Good day Mr. Jolly, I have the clear impression that one is not supposed to post on the one board some thoughts on the other company, but a respected poster like you has done so; and to me, that makes it ok. There is an ambivalent poster on the GDP board, and I prefer not to tangle with him. Plainly, I have no knowledge of the gentlemen running GDP, but I see a pretty good business, and as mentioned on that board, a large holder, namely FIL Limited, with a fine reputation. The chart and the current fundamentals combine (in my judgment) to mean that the risk in the GDP share price is minimal. Thank you for writing last evening. Rob229
Just wondering whether you remain interested in SRC. I note a firming bid the past couple of days, and that is good to see. I am content with shares that are not yet attracting wide interest, but I hope that a prudent speculator like you continues to follow SRC. Rob229
A pleasure to read your message, sir. I did not crunch the numbers, but the chatterers on television here have reported that the sale by AIG of its aircraft leasing subsidiary, International Lease Finance Corp., has been completed on terms that are advantageous to AIG. If that is true, the bull case for AVAP seems to be intact. I have followed your interest in MPO too. I know I should post over there, but I am posting here. On television yesterday, a fund manager named David Winters (Wintergeen Fund) mentioned that Wynn Macau, quoted in Hong Kong as 1128:hk, is his no. 1 pick at present because Wynn Macau is the developed of the Kotai Strip. My spelling of Kotai looks wrong, but I think you know. Anyway, I made a little purchase of MPO a few weeks back. I would like to buy Wynn Macau, but it has had a very nice run. The fund manager who mentioned Wynn Macau had, earlier in 2013, mentioned Genting Singapore as one of his favorites; Genting Singapore has been an underperformer this year. You surely know the saying, "Once burned, twice shy." Rob
Good day Mr. Jollyspeculator, Very nice of you to tell me a little about your experiences in the London market. By way of response, I will say that you are certainly correct, i.e. that transaction costs arising in connection with partial fills can make those investments uneconomic. I am pleasantly surprised to report that I was able to get some additional SRC shares @ 1.25p just now. So (even with two commissions) my all-in costs are not so bad. I believe I found the other share that is held both by you and by me. It is CSSG. I like that little company, though I have not looked at the quote yet today. For some reason, the tone of the market in NY is better today. I found a risky share that I would like to mention to you. It is FTD. It is quoted at a large discount to nav. As I remember, the 30 June 2013 report shows a per-share nav @ 77.5p, and the offer price is in the low 50's. From what I can see, the shares did not, until recently, trade at a large discount. I wonder whether the discount may diminish soon. It is a venture capital fund, so the manager invests in unquoted companies. I realize that that is risky business, so it perhaps bears repeating that I am not qualified to make recommendations, and I am specifically refraining from making any recommendations. On the other hand, the improving British economy should be beneficial. Have you ever looked at FTD? I have read that British taxpayers derive some incentives from investing in these types funds, but those incentives are unavailable to me. Thank you again for writing today. Rob
I am not saying that the retracement has me worried, but it would be nice to see here some AVAP holders cheering us on. My opinion remains that AVAP is an attractively priced quality share. To me, an improving economy is a reason that the leasing of aircraft by airlines should do well. Good luck to all. Rob
Just following up and saying hello on 14 Dec. I liked the recent news item here. I was on the verge of making a little investment anyway. The 16:22 execution on 13 Dec., 24320 shares @ 1.29p, is really a buy. I was trying to buy an even number of shares a little below the 1.30p offer price. I got a partial fill, i.e. 24320 shares. Will see what Monday brings. Over here, one can enter an "All or None" order, but my broker does not accept "All or None" orders except in the local market. I am curious as to whether "All or None" orders are permitted on AIM. Thank you. Rob
Good day to Mr. Jollyspeculator, At the current level, Sarossa shares seem attractive. I suppose my statement about the possibility either of a winding down or a distribution to the holders of the preference shares under some other circumstance, all I would say is that the holders of the preference shares may some day decide that they deserve to be paid. I don't know what leverage the preference shareholders may have. I suppose it depends who those holders might be. I will watch with interest. I hope to get involved. Rob
Good evening Mr. Jollyspeculator, Thank you kindly for replying. When I saw the 2003 date regarding the rights of the preference shares, I wondered whether it is a misprint and that the correct year might be 2013. Was this company (previously known as Antisoma plc) in business in 2003? I seem to recall that, in the current annual report (Note 15) the 2003 date appears, so hopefully there is no misprint. I should perhaps e-mail Sarossa Capital, but I have not had a chance yet on this busy day. That which concerns me as an experienced (although amateur) securities analyst is that, presumably at some date, the company will be wound up and the preference shareholders will be entitled to 4.33 million GBP. So I believe that we are obliged to make a downward adjustment in the calculation of shareholders' equity available to the holders of the ordinaries. 13.53 million GBP or 9.20 million GBP? Big difference. Also, the Plant Health share has slipped since the balance sheet date for Sarossa. Yet, I sense good things there; I am inclined to make a little investment in Plant Health. Still, I would like to be involved in SRC. My feeling is that its management may be able to tap into information that is unavailable to me. One interesting company (among others) in which Mr. Griffiths and co. have a significant stake is Nanoco Group plc. I feel as thought there has been a healthy retracement in the Nanoco Group share, i.e. from about 198p to 135p. So I took a small position this morning. I wonder whether you are following NANO. I have read some of your posts here and there, and I appreciate communication with a knowledgeable gentleman like you. We might be invested in some other companies, not sure at the moment. I think you may be following Summit, SUMM. (So many AIM companies to follow, and I have positions on my side of the pond too!) Thank you again for writing today. Rob
I am posing a respectful question to jollyspeculator and Blue. I reviewed the annual report for this company. I see at Note 15 in the annual report that there are 4,331,683 issued and outstanding preference shares each of which is entitled to a liquidation preference of 1 GBP. When the sum of 4.33 million GBP is netted out against 13.54 million GBP shareholders' funds, I am not so sure that the discount which you have estimated is correct. I am very respectful of the scholarly efforts of those to whom this message is directed. I am not saying that I am sure I am right and that you are not right. Maybe your sense of the discount is based upon rises in some of the investments held by Sarossa following the cutoff date for the annual accounts. I have not yet attempted to make that calculation. I hope to be shown that I am in error. I could find nothing else that raises any concern. Plainly, Mr. Griffiths is a believer, and I note in addition the presence of other large investors. I am writing from across the pond. I mention this because you might think it odd that I did not type the usual symbol for GBP. That symbol is not on my keyboard.
I like the 03 December news. Invest for further growth by aligning with highly experienced people. BPM share remains a good value in my humble opinion. I urge others to do their own research. Good luck all. Rob229
Good day to Mr. Moljen, Thank you for writing and for discussing some pertinent differences between ASW and DSG. Good luck with your top up. It seems that your order was executed at a very advantageous price. You must be a patient investor, and I admire that quality. I wish I were more patient both when buying and selling. As I type this little response, I do not have all the metrics of the two companies, DSG and ASW, handy, but I do remember a statement which I think DSG issued about itself, to the effect that its dividend yield is the highest among software companies quoted in London. Then, I looked and saw that its stated price-earnings ratio is moderate too. No surprise that these two parameters are (if I may borrow a word from my prior study of mathematics) congruent. To me, the apparent pride of the company in being a solid dividend payer is, as I think I wrote here before, a sign that it is a shareholder-friendly company. Every time that I tried to determine over the last several months whether ASW was attractive in the 85p range, I sensed that it is quite an expensive share on the basis of price-to-sales and profit margin. For now, I am happy to have found my way to DSG. You seem to be a knowledgeable contributor, even though I think I noticed that you have posted about two companies only. I sense that you have numerous other positions that are of the tortoise variety. I am always looking for suggestions and always willing to share. I assure you I am not a ramper. I too have a penchant for tortoises. They usually reach their intended destinations. A company with a tiny market cap, i.e. ~4 million pounds (and which has just started to show a profit), is Croma Security, CSSG. Maybe it will interest you. Lest I be figured out as an interloper here, I like to disclose that I write from across the pond. I am in Florida. So if, for example, you catch me spelling a word like favor without the "u," you will know why. Rob
Hi Mr Libero I suppose there are differences among all quoted software companies. But I will briefly compare DSG to ASW. I see at ASW a higher price-earnings ratio and a higher number for revenues-to-market-cap. I think ASW is trading at almost 4x trailing twelve-month revenues, while DSG trades at less than 3x the trailing twelve-month revenues. I also follow (and hold some shares) of a small-cap software company in Germany, named RIB Software. The story seems good, but the price-earnings ratio is up there. So the risk-reward ratio at DSG looks good to me. I encourage you to research with care and confer with a broker. I did not verify the above numbers myself. Maybe the world looks at ASW as a safer story. I would not know that. Rob
Good day to all on Saturday, 23 November 2013. I am rather new to this company. I imagine that there are competitors in its sector, but I do not know who those competitors might be. From my perspective, ABDP offers a terrific product. Anything that bears an important relationship to automotive safety has significant appeal. I realize that consumers, i.e. individual buyers of automobiles, may not always be keen on spending extra money in order to maximize safety, but the manufacturers are keen to enhance the safety of their offerings. I am not surprised that our shares rallied yesterday after a couple of weeks of consolidation. With regard to the rise, the limited public float would seem to be a contributing factor. I am writing from across the pond. I am very interested in the thoughts of others who may be invested here. I see on this board the acronym DYOR. (In my part of the world, I see more often DYODD, Do your own due diligence; but the meaning is about the same.) Surely, I encourage any potential investors in ABDP shares to proceed cautiously and in recognition of either acronym. Good luck to all in the coming week. rob