Member Info for TerryM1

"I seem to remember SQZ promised to return funds to shareholders.."

They have done with completion of BuyBack's at a volume weighted average price of approximately 177.78 pence per share, current SP 134p....Doh !

Yep, no seen a penny of this, was it not to be a special dividend?

I seem to remember SQZ promised to return funds to shareholders when they has a huge cash mountain before the TW deal, if the Kistos deal would have gone ahead over twice the current SP would have been paid out to shareholders. If they can't find a good acquisitions outside of the UK it is time to return this cash to shareholders. On no account should more money be invested in the UK no matter how good it looks on the surface, just good money after bad.

My main fear after the next Labour government is Mecuria will make a low ball offer and get the rest of company for peanuts.

Dazzle1000

A sale of some wells to reduce the debt IMO will a good move as it may give some confidence to the market, something is needed but not more gas well.

For the record I was with Rusty on acquisitions up until the last 2 which is why I invested in DEC, I was slightly against the last but one where capital was raised at £1.05 (old money) but not concerned but very much against the last one which caused the trashing of the dividend, high priced fixed long term debt well beyond the time of the hedges and trashing of the SP along with lies from Rusty. There is a time and place for everything and IMO this is not the time to increase debt and there is never a good time to cut the dividend but some reduction may have been needed also lying does not go down well with the markets. The plan facts are at current SP BBs are far better value than buying more gas wells and for shareholders they end up owning a lot more gas.

After this failed strategy we need a change if the SP is to recover, it is clear the market does not like this strategy but the shorters love it. There will come a time when buying more wells makes sense but we are long way off at present, sometimes the best strategy is to do nothing and in DECs case pay back some debt. Perhaps as someone said here if you are happy to wait 15 years for a good return it may well be a good plan but not one for me, I have not got that long.

I am also very disappointed the BBs have run out of steam, it looks like they have used up all of the available cash except for the pathetic 3,750 per day, I have bought more DEC shares in a day on more than one occasion than this. If Rusty is concerned about the SP he will allocate more cash to BBs, in the last year he has talked a good game on BBs but not backed this up with the required funds to make much difference. In general I am against BBs (rather see it in dividends) but in the current UK market and SPs this low they make sense and are working well for a number of other companies I have, Shell and BP are 2 good examples.

"Educate my ignorance here, but who was it that instigated the tax regime, that you so fear, will so allow Labour to deliver the death knell?"

It was the useless Conservatives after they came under a lot of pressure from Labour and the press, this is a Labour policy pushed onto a weak Conservatives Government with Labour saying it should be higher, no offsets, no new licences.

This was done by Labour for political reasons but after elected will cause them and us a lot of problems, reduce overall tax take, reduce energy security and trouble with unions with O&G workers, it will not end well.

L&G to sell Glencore

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/major-investor-divest-glencore-tk-142736005.html

Lets see who's shares give the greatest return, L&G or GLEN, my money is on GLEN.

Should be does but dose of DEC seems to work, or perhaps I've been DECed

"Tracker funds should be buying NOT selling!"

Perhaps they have not got the message, now below $13 in NY, at this rate they will be getting a great bargain unless DEC dose what it dose best, keep failing.

"I think they should increase stamp duty for after hours trading say 50%"

Don't give them ideas, will soon be added to all trades.

DARKBLUE

There may be some bounce after Labour election but this is likely to be short lived as Labour have privately stated they do not like savers and seem to be only interested in low paid workers and those on benefits, they have been looking at equalising earned and unearned income i.e. add in additional taxes to savings to take into account NI. I think we will be seeing a raid on savers especially share holders (nasty capitalists), first hit CGT, then dividends and then other tax increases, after all they will need the cash when most of the non-doms leave and a number of pupils are taken out of private schools (already started as as private school intake is down in anticipation of VAT) and put in to the state education giving Labours fiscal plans a big black hole. However these pupils will be fine as better off families buy property near good schools forcing out less well off children and spend some of the saved money on private tuition.

IMO in the end it will not end well for anyone unless you leave the UK or rent rooms to asylum seekers.

If the last few days are anything to go by BBs have run out of stream (or should I say cash) and there is no help from NY any more, they have given up as well, unfortunately I think the new range is more like £10 - £11, but this may not hold for long. Perhaps some reinvestments of the dividends may help. The shorters are in control as the low level of BBs and increase in debt are most likely the signals the shorters are looking at, also Rusty does not really care about the SP and is just looking in how he can buy more gas wells. The way only it seems to get out of this mess is either some good luck like HH goes up a lot, US interest rate reduction, dividend increase (very unlikely for a long time) or a concerted BB program to burn the shorters but DEC although talk a good game have shown no appetite for this.

I guess we can calculate how long at the level of the dividends to break even like some did before the dividend was cut, I guess 3 times as long now.

After recent fall up a small amount, Numerco 83.50/85.00 up 0.73

Https://www.londonstockexchange.com/news-article/0JCB/offer-update/16536280

Another step completed

"I would like to see the Dividend grow higher in proportion to FCF"

Wouldn't we all, perhaps 40% might be a good number but seem to remember someone from DEC saying 40% was safe

The problem is I don't think Rusty has any intention of spending much on BBs, increasing the dividends or paying off the debt, he just wants to but more gas wells as quick as he can and even if this involves lying and trashing the SP. The markets are not happy with this strategy as has been shown a number of times after each purchase, this is why the SP is in the gutter and the 3rd most shorted share.

Pete640

Hope you are right and we start to see some light at the end of the tunnel, we need it.

However If buying more wells is great for hedging future gas and oil sales prices why has the SP tanked on the last 2 occasions and the dividend down to a shadow of it's former self. The markets are not impressed and DEC is in position 3 of the most shorted shares and has been at the level of around 6% for a time now with very little movement. I really hope Rusty is not planning another purchase of wells as we could be well be the third trashing of the SP and more debt. Unfortunately I do not think entering the Russell will do that much as this has been known for a time and is already in the price and of course the shorters are aware of this. Perhaps if Trump gets in it will help but there will be more encouragement to produce oil and as gas is a by-product it may well cause a surplus of gas, however under Trump we may well see a reversal of Biden's policy to restrict gas export terminals but they will take a time to come on stream and will certainly help a lot but will take a few years. I think the most significant thing for now is BBs running out of steam, back to the same old 3,750 even when the SP below £11 which up until today have pushed up the BBs and even thought HH is back around 2.9 this has spooked the markets as they suspect there is not much more cash allocated.

£12 by December is better than where we are now but still a long way off the SP when HH was the about the same as now around a year ago, at the peak we were at £28 but of course HH was a lot higher then and dividends were 3 times what they are now.

I can look ahead to a year or 2 but 15 years is far too long to be any use for me.

Clued

Agreed but it does not alter the facts that the market has lost faith in this company with no real sign that this will end for a long time so like many other I am trapped or that a heavy losses.

The problem is the Conservatives are not conservatives they are like new Labour on steroids except incompetent and weak, so many of the polices like the EPL were pushed on them by Labour, as such they have lost their core support.

Although we all new it at the time SQZ doubling down on NS O&G was a huge mistake and also lied about return funds to investors. They have had plenty of time to find investments outside of the UK, if HBR can do this they can. I really hope we will see a significant move of SQZ from the UK and do not have to wait too long. Not a penny more should be invested in the UK, it is good money after bad.

"I would have thought that Rusty could convince more US investors to come on board. They should have a better understanding of the business."

The problem is no matter what Rusty says now no one will believe him, too many lies, 2 RNSs nothing has changed while planning to trash the dividends to buy more wells along with more debt unfortunately any rate drops won't held the new debt as Rusty has fixed this for 9 years.

The market where not happy with the capital raise at 105p (old money) to buy more wells instead of Rusty taking this onboard and taking a break from buying more wells he double down, trashed the dividends and took on long term high rate fixed price debt to buy even more wells. Unfortunately that is what the market understands and does not want, the only thing that will restore some confidence is no more new wells for a time, no more new debt, debt reduction, no more lies, BBs at decent levels and one day a rise in the dividend.

This is a company in a mature market not a growth market and as such investors expect a good dividend yield, if you bought at the time I did I am now on around 5% or less, just less than I can get from an instant access account fully protected.

Sunak not interested in the Blair created Supreme Court, the Conservatives or this country, becoming PM was about putting this on his CV to help he get more money in the future. He is only interested in himself and his family’s money, he stabbed Boris in the back who took him from nowhere to become Chancellor, lost to Liz Trust but somehow managed to manoeuvre his way to PM without a vote by the party members as in the rules (could not risk losing twice). Spent his time in office keeping the Globalists happy with high tax, regulation etc, need them onside after leaving office.

Supported the vaccine while making a fortune from Moderna shares through a hedge fund where he was co-founder and kept this very quite.

Then look at Infosys, his family company (once denied he had heard of Infosys on a Sky interview) which has gained a lot of large new government contacts while he has been PM. Gave grants to Indian IT people to come to the UK while Chancellor, made visa easier for Indian IT people as part of trade agreement all benefitting Infosys. Changed the IR35 rules to make it almost impossible to employ UK IT freelances clearing the path for more work for Infosys. Liz Truss changed these back but first thing he did as PM was revert to the rules he put in.

All perhaps a coincidence but has made the Sunak family a lot richer.

Perhaps the worst of all this is he left the door fully open for a Labour Government who will do untold harm to this country while his staff with insider knowledge bet on the election date.

Why would the shorts not hold out, BBs running out of stream, very little chance of dividend increase for a long time and market has lost trust in Rusty and the gang which they know do not really care much about the SP just buying as many wells as quickly as possible with high priced debt 3 times as long as the longest hedge. If Rusty was concerned about the SP the BBs would be ramped up as so far it is the only thing which has supported the SP along with the great dividend which has now gone.

It is also a bit worrying as HH is recovering back over 2.9 and DEC shares not responding, hopefully NY will help out today but not been doing this for a few days now.