It never rains when it pours, so the saying goes, and for Neil Woodford it must feel like an extended monsoon period at the moment. With his flagship equity income fund struggling against redemptions and poor stock-picks to leave it with two classes of accumulation unit now below the issue price (of five years ago, when everything else has gone up) now it is the turn of Woodford Patient Capital Trust (WPCT) to take a bow.
I commented a little over three weeks ago, after Woodford Norwegian Dog Thin Film (THIN) had released its FY18 results at eleven minutes past one in the morning (truly no-one-is-watching o’clock!), that the company had announced plans to raise funds by the end of May as it did not have sufficient funds for operations throughout the financial year 2019. In fact we knew a funding round was on the way since the end of February and here we are on the last day of May…….and no funding round yet.
So much for Woodford’s problems being the nasty press! Only this week, Neil Woodford was complaining bitterly about all these nasty hacks out to destroy his reputation at the Woodford Patient Capital Trust (WPCT) AGM which our very own Tom Winnifrith attended. But MorningStar is a different kettle of fish and its analyst has put up a new report on Woodford’s Equity Income Fund (EIF) which is, quite simply, devastating. In the light of the new report, I would suggest that even the most sycophantic IFA cannot recommend to its clients that they leave cash in this fund. Prepare for an even greater tsunami of redemptions.
The Woodford Patient Capital Trust AGM has opened by denying entrance to the press. Peter Smith, the venerable asset manager editor of the Financial Times has been sent off on his bicycle. The company has decreed that only registered shareholders may enter. Of course, Tom Winnifrith is a registered shareholder.
The £2 billion valuation of Benevolent AI flatters the NAV of Woodford Patient Capital Trust (WPCT), whose AGM I shall be attending this morning, and has - on its own - earned Neil Woodford c£2 million pa in management fees as a result of the EIF Holding. We have covered this Theranos in waiting many times HERE. But what is the scientific view?
At 10.30 AM tomorrow I shall be in the City of Lost Causes for the AGM of Neil Woodford’s investment trust dog Woodford Patient Capital Trust (WPCT) where, as the loyal owner of 10 shares, I have a few questions for Britain’s most conceited fund manager.
Disruptive tech banking play Atom Bank has dealt Neil Woodford another headache to add to his migraine-inducing in-tray. ShareProphets reported HERE that major Spanish investor BBVA, which had taken a large stake in Atom Bank, had missed the deadline to take up its option to buy the bank out and now, according to Sky News, Atom plans to raise more cash – cash Neil Woodford hasn’t got.
For all the positive vibes surrounding Spain’s second largest lender, BBVA, perhaps landing a bid for Woodford unlisted banking startup dog Atom Bank, it seems that at least for now the deal is off the table: BBVA has missed the deadline to exercise its option. So no big payday for Neil Woodford’s beleaguered investors, then...
Neil Woodford is in the press again, this time thanks to Money Observer which quotes from his recent missive to investors where we are told that this is the best time to buy UK shares in three decades. This, from the man who needs to sell a boat-load of shares to keep going!
As investors settle down for the Good Friday and Easter bank holiday weekend, Neil Woodford has had a fair degree of coverage to assimilate. Articles in The Times and the FT point to Woodford’s sale of £42 million worth of NewRiver REIT (NRR) to his former junior at Invesco – something which ShareProphets readers have been aware of ten days now (it is good to see the dead wood press keeping up!) Meanwhile Citywire reports that the suspensions of Woodford’s stocks in Guernsey may be resolved this coming week although we are not told which way. And Hargreaves Lansdown appears to be standing by its man, still, as it covers the recent results from WPCT – something covered here some two weeks ago.
No doubt Neil Woodford will be delighted that his good friends at Crystal Amber think they can realise the equivalent of 123p a share from Allied Minds (ALM). No matter it is a loss, it will be cash in the bank – much needed – IF Crystal gets control and IF the assets are worth what they think and IF they manage to sell them. Meanwhile, dear old Neil – having yet again spunked more other people’s money on Kier (KIE) which promptly fell to a new low - is now faced with a cash-call from Autolus (Nasdaq: AUTL). What will he do?
Our good friends over at Citywire have again come up with bad news for Neil Woodford, in revealing that investors in his Equity Income Fund (EIF) reacted badly to last month’s sequence of dismal news by cashing out to the tune of £160 million. Having started March with £4.7 billion, EIF slumped to £4.4 billion last month which suggests that redemptions are not the only problem for Woodford.
This morning saw Woodford Patient Capital (WPCT) release its annual results for 2018. The key points seem impressive: an increase in NAV per share from 91.33p to 97.61p, more disruption tomorrow (along with the disruptive jam) and running costs are just 0.2% (only because the management bonus is triggered at 10% per year and so far NAV has declined). But they say follow the money ….. what about the cash?
Citywire yesterday published an article which stated that Neil Woodford has listed four previously unlisted investments held by Woodford Equity Income Fund on the International Stock Exchange in….er….Guernsey. Surely even Guernsey’s own residents would agree that this is not exactly the London Stock Exchange! But the odd thing is that Woodford himself seems to have been a tad reticent on the matter – I don’t see any headline proclaiming great success in gaining a listing in Guernsey from Neil Woodford! Why might that be? And that appears to be the nub of the issue.
I still see the occasional after-hours RNS which, were I a shareholder in the company concerned, would make my blood boil. Yesterday a release from AIM-listed Woodford Dog Netscientific (NSCI) at 4.42pm on a Friday evening ticked all the boxes.
Apologies for missing it on Friday, but it turns out that there was yet another disaster for Neil Woodford on Friday as its Norwegian play revolutionising the world of chip and PIN, Thin Film (OB:THIN), announced a strategic update and corporate restructuring after hours. Uh-Oh……a strategic review! No wonder he was in such a bad mood as he lashed out at critics offering false analysis and fake news.
I see that Neil Woodford has had an interview published in the FT in which he lambasts critics determined to destroy his reputation, misinformation, lazy commentary, fake news, fake analysis which “pisses me off” and vents his frustration at the poor investment decisions of investors selling up.
I couldn’t resist coming out of retirement today as I note that Benevolent AI published its group accounts today and my thoughts in the first two parts of this series back in May last year (HERE and HERE) have proven to be pretty much on the mark. This company, and in particular the $2 billion valuation, is an absolute spoof and Woodford is totally complicit in that - and making a fortune as a result. A good old-fashioned birching is too good for him.
