Member Info for zac0_4

hardup - I agree with all comments so far. It does have the tendency to magnify market downturns at times but fundamentally seems a good company. At your buy price you've locked in a 7% (ish) dividend yield with dividends increasing at a healthy rate year on year. I've held for years and will continue to do so. Good luck with your investment.

Hi, I did sell the balance of my stake in the low 60s. I reinvested the cash in my holding in Legal & General and have seen a 25% capital increase since and have also locked in a 9% (ish) growing dividend yield. In hindsight I held here for far too long probably on the back of the high dividend yield. The cut in the dividend was probably the catalyst I needed to finally sell. The share price has been in decline year on year, the debt is growing, the nett asset value is falling and it doesn't appear to be making a profit.

I have seen the headline on the front page of the Sunday Times, I've also read the article on page 3 of the business section outlining the difficulties facing the retail sector.

I hope for all concerned that the share price delivers good results from here for all invested. I've said before, and been abused on the back of it, that for me this is not an investment but a bet. I'm happy with my decision to sell but maintain the right to keep an interest in what was a long-term hold.

No reason. If it makes you feel better 'if allocated to alternative use'. It was you that brought the subject up - 'asset valuations underpinned by alternate use such as housing' that prompted my question regarding a reduction in asset value.

Wouldn't the current asset value be reduced when allocated to alternative use?

Hasn't it got to start making a profit before it considers re-instating any sort of dividend payment?

You might never be poor taking a profit but the saying is you'll never be rich either. Invest in good companies and plan to hold forever!

shatter / Jatw - Have held both for a while. My top2 performing funds over the last 12 months. I've just started to build a position in L&G Global Infrastructure Index. Buy and hold is my strategy . . .

Finley1 - I don't think we'll get a true picture of the damage this has done to some businesses until we get an annual report at the end of this calendar or financial year that includes data from mid-March onwards. There's going to be winners and losers and I'm not intelligent enough to pick them. I guess retail will be hard hit, maybe IT providers and logistics businesses will benefit and suppliers of day to day items will be ok. People will still brush their teeth, feed the cat and clean the bathroom!! The ftse is still down about 16% from it's average level and the DOW is about 9% down. Unemployment figures are rising so that must come through into market sentiment at some point.

For me the question is should I remain invested and my answer is yes. Where? No idea so I'm moving away from single shares and into global diversified well run investment funds. Hopefully the managers can answer the questions I can't

Maybe the current share price is simply a reflection of an 11% reduction in fair asset value, a 9% increase in debt and a £37m reported loss in 2019. Couple this with a devastating impact on retail and maybe the market anticipates a worsening set of results due any time soon!

Hi Hawfinch. Will do although now I've sold my holding here I have less interest than I used to have. I agree that there are some hostile posters here and the sad thing is that people will be taken in by their rhetoric. They know no more about where this is heading than you or I. I hope, for everyone's sake that this climbs from here as I don't want to see people lose money. For me this is a lesson learnt. I've been investing for 20+ years and have made every mistake in the book. My winners are quality companies that deliver a high return on the capital they employ and reinvest profits into their business. Not companies who have a poor return on capital, growing debt and a declining nett asset value. My advice to all would be to do as much research as you can and use these bulletin boards to share knowledge and information.

cheers, nightyard

I've simply looked at the performance over a 12 month period back from today. £3.30 is fine if you sold at that price! If you didn't then it's worth £2.03. Agree that we should see a recovery in the sp by year end and into 2021 and hopefully a maintained dividend . Fingers crossed!! Good luck with your investments.

A £10,000 investment . . .

Hi Twonko, well spotted! My mistake. It should have read - An investment in L&G shares 5 years ago would today be worth £7,687 and you would have received dividend payments of £2,876. A total return of £563 (5.6%). I continue to hold. My first purchase was in Oct15 and I have an average cost per share of £2.39. So currently sitting on a capital loss of around 13%. However, current dividend yield for me is 7.35% so happy with that providing it holds and hopefully continues to grow. Good luck with your investments.

Hi falklandinvestor. The L&G share price on 28.05.2015 was £2.68. That's 29% higher than it is today!

Hi, as an example the L&G Global Health and Pharma fund has holding in over 175 separate companies globally so, for me, provides plenty of diversification. I simply take out 6% of the value on an annual basis as income. A £10,000 investment 5 years ago would today be worth £12,387 and you would have withdrawn £3,457. So a total return of £5,845 (58%). An investment in L&G shares 5 years ago would today be worth £10,563 and you would have received dividend payments of £2,876. A total return of £563 (5.6%). Sometimes I think people (me included!) can become too focussed on dividend yields rather than total return.

Hi, long-term holder looking forward to next week's dividend payment! This is slightly off-topic so if it's of no interest simply ignore. There was a post recently that mentioned tracker funds. I'm a fan provided it's not a ftse tracker!! I currently hold 4 tracker type funds all L&G. The way I see it is I'm buying a product from a company I own shares in. The funds are: L&G Global Technology, L&G Global Health and Pharma, L&G International Index and L&G Global Infrastructure. Good performance, low costs and low minimum investment level. Might be of interest if anyone is looking to provide diversification within their portfolio.

I thought the same 3 years ago when I first took a position. It's done nothing for me over the 3 year period other than destroy capital. It was in a lot better position 3 years ago than it is today! Please state the investment case today as I fail to see it.

smorrisjones, Hi! You've never met me but I guess you're entitled to your opinion of me! I didn't say NRR was a bet, what I actually said was that 'for me NRR is a bet'. It certainly hasn't been a good investment and I can see nothing on the horizon that instills me with confidence. Total annual returns over the last 3 years have been -13%, -17% and -68% and the return on capital employed now sits at less than 5%. These are the facts as I see them and upon which I base my view. So, it's now up to you to back up your statement that 'NRR is not a bet' with some facts of your own and perhaps we can have a sensible debate without any name calling!

The issue with shares such as NRR is that long term holders are the ones who suffer. I should know! Continuous capital destruction over a number of years. My only lesson here is that I should have sold a long time ago and paid more attention to the poor business performance. Unfortunately I see nothing on the horizon here to tempt me to reinvest. For me there are far better investments which produce excellent returns and come through economic downturns with good performance. This hasn't been one!! It's a shame but this is no longer an investment but a bet!!