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....and back down again somewhat. Still, an interesting spike up to 289p. Don't know what to make of it, but it's been an excellent day for my UK small cap holdings generally. Maybe there is a 'positive UK' factor today, what with expectations of trade deals, base rate cuts, etc.

Has been well received by one and all, as evidenced by the share price rise.

Would GBG's provision of services be subject to tariffs? Thought services were exempted anyway.

The latest Buffetology Fund factsheet says that Ashworth-Lord fully exited his position in RWS, following the trading statement on 24/04/25. Possibly not good timing for them, but more positive for us as it suggests an overhang of shares has now cleared.

Not a good day for biotechs with all biotech/healthcare investment trusts down markedly.

"Shares in GSK and AstraZeneca came under pressure on Wednesday, after vaccine-sceptic Vinay Prasad was appointed to a key role at the US Food and Drug Administration. Prasad, an oncologist who has been vocal in his criticism of the FDA's leadership as well as Covid-19 mandates, will oversee the regulation of costly biologic drugs, including vaccines, gene therapies and blood supply, and is widely expected to tighten up vaccine approvals, likely leading to much longer approval timelines for new drugs." (Sharecast).

But it would be nice to see Carrol buy some shares with his own cash. I haven't gone back forever, but I can't see a purchase from him in the last few years.

Some useful info in these recent posts, thanks gents. Meanwhile, Mr Market doesn't want to play ball, giving up a chunk of recent gains. Still, I'm not in the mood to sell down here, the skies are brightening.

The ask has now reached 7.9p, more than double the cash offer price!

The reason the sp is going up so markedly is that the MMs are letting you buy but not sell anything - the dark arts. All of this is telling us something, it's telling us to tread carefully!

All very confusing. Some dummy trades this morning suggest I can only buy £800 worth of shares. The ask is 5.9p, well above where it should be. Can't sell a jot.

You're right, I misread that, we are indeed being asked to wait on. Thinking further about their spending money on the blame game, the motivation may be if they can shift poor NAV performance to Triple Point and re-state the figures to show their tenure in a better light, they could earn more.

None of this is good for us lot. I'll hang on for now, it was a small investment.

It's a reasonable question although we're only a couple of days over, as of now.

But I notice the sp rising unexpectedly today - VLG has always been a leaky share, so maybe the Results are about to hit and maybe they're better than expected. I live in hope!

I've watched that presentation twice now. I like CEO Tim Carrol, an enthusiast and a salesman, no bad thing, and I like his FD - she seems practical and no nonsense. But what do I know? Anyway, a buy price of 131p was too tempting not to add. There is an IC article out there from 2 days ago entitled "Focusrite is now a ‘deep value’ play". Unfortunately it's behind a paywall but if any smart fellow can find a way in and copy & paste, it would be interesting.

Wow, bad news on every front: poor trading, poor management forecasting - completely caught out like they don't know their company or industry - weak balance sheet leading to a 'strategic review' - and we all know what that means - resignation of FD, and on and on...

I sold out (for a stonking loss) when Wendy left, as my faith was always with her. I'm glad I did. UK small caps, what a joke! Just a bunch of low quality businesses led by low quality management teams.

Re: Arqiva, which is the biggie for remaining investors here, Chair says "We also acknowledge that there remains a wide range of outcomes for the valuation of the Company's largest asset, Arqiva, dependent upon key broadcasting contract renewals expected to be agreed during 2027. This will limit the ability of the Company to realise the best value outcome for shareholders with respect to Arqiva prior to the outcome of these renewals."

Well, we're not waiting until 2027 one presumes, so we're forewarned to expect limited realisations for Arqiva's sale.

Turning to the 56% drop in NAV over the year, they say "Given the significant reductions in Company valuation since December 2023, the Directors and Investment Manager have undertaken a detailed investigation which has identified potential issues with the prior year valuations. Given that neither the current Board nor InfraRed were part of the December 2023 valuation process, the Directors have elected to appoint an independent expert to review the valuations for this period."

So, it's the classic blame the previous Board and Management ruse. Heard it many times. And now they're going to spend lots of money on independent experts to ascertain precisely who's to blame for the poor NAV performance. Exactly how does spending cash on the blame game help us going forward? It's just hubris.

Wait to see how the market reacts tomorrow, but I'm not impressed.

IMO they should've withheld the divi in favour of paying down the debt faster. They claim keeping the divi demonstrates confidence in the future....which sounds a bit cavalier to me with all the tariff uncertainties around.

Wow, a devastating but entirely fair piece. It puts one right off investing in small caps, or many of them. Are management teams competent? Almost certainly many are not, so with hindsight it does make sense to chose an industry/sector where there's less scope for management to completely f up the company.

Meanwhile, the sp keeps dropping. Management presentation/Q&A at 11am.

"D9 advises that the results presentation for analysts and institutional investors, previously announced to take place on the day of D9's audited Annual Results, Wednesday 30 April 2025, has been delayed."

"D9 will announce its audited Annual Results for the year ended 31 December 2024 by market close on Wednesday 30 April 2025 and expect to host the rescheduled Investor Presentation during the week of 6 May 2025."

Hmm, nothing in this notification is likely to improve sentiment...

Been waiting for this v important milestone. It's a biggie.

Sentiment changing towards the company, with the sp up 24% this morning.

Quick skim read and it's a bit meh! 'Adequate' is just about right. Profitability looks weak but at least no disasters so the sp isn't tanking. Small mercies!