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Johnny Mercer MP & the mini bond scandal, a useful dupe with a grossly inflated sense of self worth

By Tom Winnifrith | Wednesday 24 April 2019

 

Let us be clear: Johnny Mercer, the Tory MP is not involved in the London & Capital Finance scandal which we have done so much to expose. But he is personally profiting from what will prove to be the financial scandal of the year, the mini-bond mis-selling affair, and his reaction to criticism of his behaviour is lamentable.

Mr Mercer adds to his basic salary as an MP – which puts him in the top 2% of earners – by picking up another £85,000 a year working 20 hours a month as a non executive director of Crucial Academy Ltd. That is what the register of members interests states although Companies House fails to list him as a director. The website of this operation suggests that the company behind it is actually The Crucial Group Ltd, but Mercer is not listed as a director there either. 

Whoever is paying, Mr Mercer his salary is mouth watering. Pro rata it up for a full working week and this 37 year old former soldier is hauling in the equivalent of £731,000 a year. That is almost five times what the Prime Minister earns. Perhaps Mercer thinks that is fair. If so he has a bloated sense of his own self importance, something that is not unusual for an MP.

Crucial Academy/Group seems to do good work, training up ex solders in cyber security. No -one can fault that. However it is a relative start up with no accounts filed yet, in part due to it changing its year end so delaying that unpleasant task. And critically its major shareholder is Paul Careless of Surge Group and it has been bankrolled by Surge with an interest free loan of £325,095. Now why is that conmtroversial?

Surge & Careless have made tens of millions of pounds introducing, generally naïve, investors to mini bonds. These products were marketed as low risk/safe but yielding anything from 9%, in the case of the LCF ponzi, to 14% in the scheme linked to Lib Dem peer Lord Razzall ( not that Surge promoted that particular duffer). Surge charged a marketing fee of 25% of funds invested in mind bonds it plugged.

In the case of LCF (where Amber Rudd MP and the Conservative Party nationally still refuse to answer £65,000 worth of questions), the funds received went on a range of items like a helicopter for the CEO, race horses and it was clearly an outright fraud which the SFO is now investigating as investors face an 80% capital loss and no yield.

But Mercer should consider the maths of all mini bonds where Surge is involved. Let me demonstrate with a worked example.

Granny invests £100 in a five year bond offering a 9% “guaranteed” yield.
Surge takes £25 up front and the mini-bond arranger takes a further £3 management fee.
So £72 is loaned by the mini-bond provider to a borrower.
To repay Granny’s capital and her interest the mini-bond provider thus needs to turn a loan of £72 into £145 in five years.
And that implies an annual return of 20.3% per annum.

Good companies currently borrow monies at, perhaps 5%. Weaker ones might pay 8%. Folks borrowing on their credit cards pay 17% so what sort of companies would be paying interest at 20%? Yes, really rotten companies that are likely, in many cases, to go bust. In financial markets what is termed a junk bond yields 12%.  So this is mega junk and as such the risk of capital loss ( and default on interest payments) is exceptionally high.

That is the maths Mercer needs tpo consider as he weighs his salary from Crucial Group. It has been funded by the profits made from a marketing company that is pushing investment products on naïve investors which they think are safe but , are in fact, incredibly high risk.

We have covered about half a dozen such mini bond schemes on ShareProphets. So far only a couple have gone bust but this is just the tip of an iceberg which will, in the end, see several hundred thousand vulnerable folks losing money they cannot afford to lose – perhaps Mercer should listen to some LCF victims HERE and think again.

If I was running such a shocking marketing scheme I’d try to get some good PR by throwing some loose change, in terms of the wider business, at a “good cause”. And I’d try to get a dupe of a Tory MP who really thinks he is worth five times what the Prime Minister take home on an hourly basis, on board to make it all even more respectable. And here we go, Mercer insists that the press has got it all wrong, telling the Daily Mail:

Surge is not part of the SFO investigation into LCF and has done nothing wrong, adding: 'They are however suffering trial by media.

'This effort to smear me by some loose connection to a company that I have never met, done business with or even heard of before its collapse is besmirching the good name of an exciting project at Crucial Academy run by good people doing good things.'

Well Johnny up to a point. If you do the basic maths you will see that Surge may not have broken the law but what it has been doing is morally reprehensible and yet you defend it and attack its media critics. Crucial Academy may be doing good work. But your bloated salary is only possible because of the vast fees Surge has made stuffing naive and vulnerable investors into product that- because of the commission structure – were almost certain not to delivered the returns promised and pretty much certain to result in capital losses.

Do the maths Johnny…are you really worth five times as much as the PM? Is the source of your salary really one that you feel comfortable with?

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Forterra – trading only “broadly in line” and price increases challenges ahead?

 

RSG

Resolute Mining (#RSG) – confirms “CEO, Terence Holohan, and two other employees, have been detained in Mali by Government Officials”

 

AQX

Aquis Exchange (#AQX) – recommended 727p per share offer from SIX Exchange Group

 

DIA

Dialight (#DIA) – CFO Carolyn Zhang “has stepped down… for personal reasons and will be leaving the company, with immediate effect”

 

GRX

GreenX Metals (#GRX) – Poland lodges request to set-aside arbitration award “on the basis of jurisdictional aspects of the award and procedural unfairness”

 

AAU

Ariana Resources (#AAU) – up to $5m loan agreement to advance Dokwe project

 

NWG

NatWest (#NWG) – second buy back of government shares of 2024, for £1bn

 

CAV

Cavendish Financial (#CAV) – H1 adj. EPS 0.4p, DPS 0.3p, “market conditions have yet to improve significantly post the general election”

 

KNOS

Kainos (#KNOS) – H1 adj. EPS edged up to 22.5p, DPS up to 9.3p, notes “poor macro-economic conditions and delayed UK Government decision-making”

 

VARE

Various Eateries (#VARE) – FY “small positive adjusted EBITDA”, hit outs at Budget “further major blow to a struggling industry”

 

FORT

Forterra (#FORT) – “year to date revenues were 5% below the 2023 comparative”, maintains FY adj. EBITDA expectation of “around £50m”

Sunday »

Bearcast

Tom Winnifrith bearcast: Resolute bosses arrested, Georgina's bosses should be

 

Professor

Visual Aid: Top 10 Countries by Value of All Their Natural Resources

 

Gold

The View From The Montana Log-Cabin As Gold Slips On Trump Election Result

 

Professor

Sunday Long Reads: Lying Researcher, Old Film Future, Tankers vs Whales, Buttons are Back, Non-Nigel Cabin on the Mountain

 

AMRQ

Brown Envelope Man and Amaroq interview

 

Quiz

The ShareProphets Sunday Pub Quiz #266

 

Top-10

Notes from Underground – Most read articles for the week ending Nov 9

Saturday »

JLP

Jubilee Metals – “Operational Update”, a Q1 and outlook positives BUY

 

Father Christmas

Less than two months to go, tips of the year update...

 

Bearcast

Tom Winnifrith Bearcast: Jubilee to more than double and Neil Woodford's oil bearishness overcooked

 

Clown

A disgraced fund manager turned share blogger warns about oil, bullish on Trump, UK shares and China

 

US-Flag-Blonde

Tom Winnifrith podcast: Democrats should stop panicking and screaming but need to think about lessons they must learn

Friday »

TERN

Tern – 99% loss on Wyld investment confirmed

 

EMR

Empresaria – “sale of non-core subsidiary”, but still group financial concern?…

 

MKA

Mkango Resources: good companies just do not behave like this

 

US-Dollar

Ferrexpo Trumps Bitcoin and Tesla combined in the MAGA rally

 

CYAN

CyanConnode – interims, was the fundraising to enhance growth and operational capabilities or mainly to keep the lights on for a bit longer?

 

Bearcast

Tom Winnifrith Bearcast; Reporting back alive, good cancer news but...

 

PICH

Pitch Pit – this stinks

 

ARB

Argo Blockchain: No it really is a zero, a 'fess up and an AI spoof, 0p here we come

 

DISP:

Zamaz: more red flags as its goodnight Vienna!

 

NGHT

Breaking: Nightcap, a big rat abandons the sinking ship

 

MKA

Mkango Resources (#MKA) – expected admission of placing shares delayed to “on or around 22 November… due to administrative delays”

 

BSFA

BSF Enterprise (#BSFA) – “Portfolio Update”, attempted ramptastic

 

CYAN

CyanConnode (#CYAN) – H1 increased loss to £2.1m, cash £3.7m

 

INDV

Indivior (#INDV) – states “focused on acting in the best interests of all shareholders as we continue to execute on our strategy” in response to letter from Oaktree Capital Management

 

TIFS

TI Fluid Systems (#TIFS) – Takeover Panel extension for finalisation of due diligence, financing and transaction documentation

 

EMR

Empresaria (#EMR) – sale of its 51% interest in Fines Tokyo for a repaid JPY50 million (c.£0.253m) intercompany balance

 

SRP

Serco (#SRP) – unsuccessful in rebidding for Australia immigration contract and also notes UK Government budget tax changes impact

 

IAG

International Consolidated Airlines (#IAG) – notes Q3 growth and “demand remains strong across our airlines”

 

RMV

Rightmove (#RMV) – “in line to meet market expectations”, emphasises “looking ahead with confidence”

 

VTY

Vistry (#VTY) – £165m South Division cost issues additional profit impact and group “reduced expectations for completions in the year”

Thursday »

ARB

BREAKING: Argo Blockchain ‘fess up – delayed to an attempted no one watching o’clock and even then attempted obfuscation!

 

KEFI

Kefi Gold & Copper – increased proposed bank loan facilities for Tulu Kapi, Strong Buy

 

TPX

TPXimpact – CFO appointment, to ‘create lasting shareholder value’?

 

DSW

DSW Capital – 'Beat the Budget' transactions boost, but what’s the outlook from here?…

 

Bearcast

Tom Winnifrith Bearcast: a 1 in 15000 chance this is the last one ever

 

HUM

Hummingbird it’s almost game over, watch out Celadon there is a lesson for you

 

Trump

Gold and the fiscal fecklessness of Donald Trump

 

ARB

BREAKING: Argo Blockchain a zero: Evil Banksta has news

 

FADL

Fadel Partners – having been AIM Awards-shortlisted for “Best Newcomer” last year, ‘Update to Trading Expectations’ is downwards (natch!)…

 

CABP

CAB Payments (#CABP) – StoneX “does not intend to make an offer”

 

DSW

#DSW Capital – October “exceptionally strong levels of M&A activity and completions”, increases guidance

 

TRN

Trainline (#TRN) – H1 adj. EPS up to 9.9p, notes improved guidance

 

RR

Rolls-Royce (#RR.) – “confidence in the delivery of our 2024 guidance despite a supply chain environment which remains challenging”

 

SFOR

S4 Capital (#SFOR) – Q3 LFL net revenue -12.6% YoY, “primarily reflecting lower activity in both Content and one of the larger Technology Services clients”

 

AUTO

#AUTO Trader – H1 adj. EPS up to 15.56p, DPS to 3.5p, though “now expect the stock lever to be slightly negative for the full year”

 

ITV

#ITV – Q3 update, argues confidence will deliver increased profit this year but that with further cost savings

 

SBRY

J Sainsbury (#SBRY) – H1 adj. EPS edged up to 10.7p, DPS maintained at 3.9p, remains confident in forecasts

 

HWDN

Howden Joinery (#HWDN) – since half year LFL revenue -1.9% YoY, expects FY PBT “at the lower end” of analysts' consensus forecasts range

 

TW

Taylor Wimpey (#TW.) – “trading in line with expectations”, argues “well positioned for growth from 2025, assuming supportive market conditions”

Wednesday »

Bearcast

Tom Winnifrith Bearcast No 2: this strategic review could be amazingly good news

 

APTA

Aptamer – “pleased to report that the sustained focus of our commercial team continues to bear fruit”. Er, does it?…

 

WSG

Westminster: classic bullshit from loathsome ex Tory MP and penny share spiv Tony Baldry

 

SAAS

Microlise – “confident that no customer systems data has been compromised”, but employee data?…

 

Clown

A disgraced and failed fund manager on Trump's win and China

 

SOLI

Solid State – argues “trading in-line with market expectations for the full year”, but how much really so?…

 

OPTI

BREAKING: Optibiotix, O’Hara resurfaces!

 

SCE

Surface Transforms – “Directorate Change”, why ANOTHER share price slump?…

 

GEX

Georgina Energy: Lyin’ Yet again

 

Bearcast

Tom Winnifrith Bearcast No 1: GroupThink, Donald Trump and Kefi

 

GEX

Georgina Energy (#GEX) – “Operational Update”, attempted ramptastic

 

KEFI

#KEFI Gold & Copper – “initial committee approval granted by second co-lending bank for increased amount”

 

SAAS

Microlise (#SAAS) – “Update on Cyber Security Incident”, expects services “essentially back to normal” by end of next week

 

EME

Empyrean Energy (#EME) – £1.12m equity raise at 0.1p per share, also an up to £0.25m “retail offer”

 

BRES

Blencowe Resources (#BRES) – £1.5m equity raise at 4p per share with warrants

 

YOU

YouGov (#YOU) – FY adj. EPS down to 29.4p, DPS +3% to 9p, current year trading “broadly in line with the prior year”

 

JDW

J D Wetherspoon (#JDW) – 14 weeks LFL sales +5.9% YoY, “cost inflation… has now jumped substantially again following the budget”

 

DOM

Domino's Pizza (#DOM) – Q3 update, “expect FY24 Underlying EBITDA to be in the range of current market expectations”

 

MKS

Marks & Spencer (#MKS) – H1 adj. EPS up to 14.7p, DPS maintained at 1p, “confident of making further progress in the remainder of the year”

 

PSN

Persimmon (#PSN) – Q3 “in-line with expectations”, argues “well positioned for continuing market improvement”

Tuesday »

DIS

Distil – interims, was recent discounted equity raise to “provide working capital”?…

 

AMRQ

Amaroq Minerals – 2024 exploration update, this winning 73p offer price tip still a Buy

 

ITX

Itaconix – “pleased to provide” trading update, but how ‘pleasing’ is it really?…

 

Bearcast

Tom Winnifrith Bearcast: Define imminent

 

AFRN

Aferian – emphasises trading improvement and “well-positioned”, but how much so really?…

 

ENSI

EnSilica – full-year results argue “from both a financial and operational perspective… remains well positioned”. Er, does it?!…

 

VCP

Victoria now just 93p, target remains 0p: a 20 red flag check list

 

EPP

Gary Newman warns placing ahoy at Energypathways

 

Bearcast

Tom Winnifrith bonus bearcast: serial deceit and lying at Predator as it places

 

US-Flag-Blonde

Preparing for election night at the Welsh Hovel, I’ll be stewing some apples, Tom Winnifrith

 

ARB

Argo Blockchain (#ARB) – “October Operational Update”, notes “mining revenue” up to $3m but bottom-line financials dare not speak their name

 

ASC

ASOS (#ASC) – FY increased even adj. loss, net debt £297.1m

 

SOS

Sosandar (#SOS) – homeware range licensing agreement with Next (#NXT), no financials (natch!)

 

AFRN

Aferian (#AFRN) – notes H2 revenue improvement, “continue to expect a reduction to net debt by year-end”

 

MGAM

Morgan Advanced Materials (#MGAM) – warns current outlook deterioration, expanding “simplification programme” and commencing “up to £40m” share buyback

 

WEIR

#WEIR – “order pipeline converting as expected”, FY guidance reiterated

 

TCAP

TP ICAP (#TCAP) – Q3 revenue +9%, “comfortable with FY 2024 market expectations for adjusted EBIT, subject to the impact of FX movements”

 

HFG

Hilton Food (#HFG) – notes Q3 progress, “confident in delivering our full year in line with our expectations”

 

ABF

Associated British Foods (#ABF) – FY adj. EPS up to 196.9p, DPS to 90p including 27p special dividend

 

CTG

Christie (#CTG) – sale of its Orridge stocktaking business for initial £4m and up to a further £1m

Monday »

EMR

Empresaria – states a disposal as part of “previously announced plan”, but how useful?

 

TST

Touchstar – trading update, value realisation potential?...

 

FDBK

Feedback plc – argues “successful fundraising”. Er, what about the 55% discount?!

 

Gold

Video with Rick Rule: The Inevitability of the Gold Price Rise

 

PRD

Predator; when is the discounted bailout placing? Target from 6.25p, 3p within months

 

ENSI

EnSilica – “pleased to announce” a new debt facility now, I wonder why…

 

PBX

ProBiotix Health – wins at requisitioned General Meeting, now time for reconciliation

 

Gold

Video: Mining Stocks Haven’t Been This Golden Since 2001

 

Bearcast

Tom Winnifrith bearcast: a trans moral quandry for daughter 2

 

VNET

Vianet – half-year update argues “in line with management's expectations”, but suggests demanding second half requirements!

 

FDBK

Feedback (#FDBK) – proposed bailout fundraising for up to £6.3m

 

FDBK

Feedback (#FDBK) – FY loss £3.3m, cash down to £3.9m

 

ENSI

EnSilica (#ENSI) – “new debt facility to refinance its existing external loan facilities”, “up to £9 million… to November 2029”

 

CPH2

Clean Power Hydrogen (#CPH2) – following prior licence agreement termination, GHFG legal action now also terminated

 

ZTF

Zotefoams (#ZTF) – Q3 update, expects FY “to be in line with current market expectations”

 

VNET

Vianet (#VNET) – H1 growth “in line with management's expectations”, looking ahead with confidence

 

WIZZ

#WIZZ Air – October booked passengers +4.1% YoY, load factor +0.4ppts to 92.9%

 

DPP

DP Poland (#DPP) – Q3 update only emphasising sales growth, states “expects to be in line with market expectations for 2024”

 

WATR

Water Intelligence (#WATR) – reacquisition of Dallas franchise for initial $5m and up to $12m with also stock options

 

DSW

#DSW Capital – acquisition of primary care solicitors DR for £6.1m in cash and shares

Sunday »

NEXS

Nexus Infrastructure – diversifying acquisition and recovery potential, our share tip is ahead but still a BUY

 

Clown

A failed fund manager explains falling gilts post UK budget

 

Professor

Visual Aid: Which Countries Are Most Prepared For AI?

 

Gold

The View From The Montana Log-Cabin As Gold Takes A Bump And Reeves Thieves

 

Professor

Sunday Long Reads: Scamming Parents, Bauyesian Superyacht, Cyclopean Cave, Bitcoin Mining Nightmare, Meeting the Voice in your Head

 

Quiz

The ShareProphets Sunday Pub Quiz #265

 

Top-10

Notes from Underground – Most read articles for the week ending Nov 2

 

Trump

Tom Winnifrith US Election podcast, fake news, rogue polls, a Harris surge and the Dems murder Peanut the squirrel

 

Newsboy

Photo Article: Bonfire Night at the Welsh Hovel, Rachel Thieves up in smoke for a party of 20, Tom Winnifrith

Saturday »

Bearcast

Tom Winnifrith Bearcast: Farewell Big Dave Lenigas

 

Price-Vs-Value

ShareProphets readers tips for 2024 prize competition – (just under) two months to go update

Friday »

MIN

Minoan – Financing Update Offers Jam Tomorrow. Maybe It Will Be, This Time?

 

Bearcast

Tom Winnifrith Bearcast: How clever is Doc Holiday and how mendacious is the fake news FT?

 

SAAS

Microlise – “Notice of Cyber Security Incident”, at no one watching o’clock?

 

OPTI

BREAKING: The whole Steve O Hara health story Optibiotix is still not telling you

 

TM1

Turd polisher Harry Chathli, very poor form as Technology Minerals shares suspended

 

AMRQ

Amaroq Minerals – 2024 exploration update, remains an upcoming production and exploration Buy

 

RTOP

Regtech Open Project – now formally suspended until it files audited accounts for period to 30 June 2024. It won’t!

 

GEX

Georgina Energy: a letter to broker Jerry Keen about his resignation

 

BPM

B.P. Marsh & Partners – interims, positive again from this hugely winning share tip

 

AMRQ

Video: Amaroq Part 2, the reasons why I plan to buy more shares at 81p

 

Beggar

Photo article: Oxfam, 100 million Euro of your cash for this? Dad spins in his grave again, Tom Winnifrith

 

Welsh_Flag

Halloween Photo Article of angels and a wannabee Rachel Reeves pumpkin at the Welsh Hovel, Tom Winnifrith

 

BOO

boohoo (#BOO) – appoints Dan Finley, currently CEO of its Debenhams business, as group CEO

 

CEG

Challenger Energy (#CEG) – CFO Gagan Khurana “has resigned… for personal reasons, effective immediately”

 

OBI

Ondine Biomedical (#OBI) – proposed fundraising to raise “not less than” c.£8.5m at 8.5p per share

 

CPX

CAP-XX (#CPX) – £2.5m placing at 0.11p per share, up to a further £0.275m “retail offer”

 

ADME

ADM Energy (#ADME) – further results delay, states now expects to publish “in the coming weeks”

 

AEG

Active Energy (#AEG) – further loan, directors Max Aitken and Jason Zimmerman “step down” and appointment of Zeus Capital as joint broker

 

EML

Emmerson (#EML) – engages litigation counsel and formally notifies Morocco government of investment dispute, “is examining various funding avenues”

 

HUM

Hummingbird Resources (#HUM) – “advanced discussions… to partially restructure its outstanding debt and to reschedule payments due”

 

SOLI

Solid State (#SOLI) – acquisition of Q-Par Antennas USA for $1.5m and a further $0.5m earn-out

 

CLCO

Cloudcoco (#CLCO) – completes disposal of its CloudCoCo Connect business

Thursday »

Bearcast

Tom Winnifrith Bearcast: Failing Rachel from accounts

 

NXQ

Nexteq – profit warning on revenue “expected to be 10-12% below previous market expectations”. And what about those previous expectations?…

 

GEX

BREAKING: Antony Hamilton of Georgina energy slated by High Court Judge for misleading court

 

Clown

A failed fund manager says budget a nothingburger

 

VRS

Versarien – Dog eaters welch on £242,000 due today. Tits up in 3 months?

 

IEC

85p to 1p in 10 months, a Halloween special from Liam “the Toke” Murray

 

KNOS

Kainos – less than two months after “expects to deliver adjusted PBT in line”, now “expects… below current market consensus”. Hopefully my warning was heeded…

 

GEX

EXPOSE: Georgina Energy – materially non-compliant IFRS interims for a technically insolvent company

 

SEPL

Seplat Energy looks set to complete its acquisition - buy

 

SRT

SRT Marine Systems – emphasises “landmark contract” signed, but to now deliver sustained net cash generation rather than ‘jam tomorrow’?

 

GEX

Georgina Energy (#GEX) – H1 £3.3m loss and net debt and even net current liabilities!

 

GEX

Georgina Energy (#GEX) – ‘seismic data reprocessing progress and resource potential review’, attempted ramptastic

 

RGT

Argent Biopharma (#RGT) – “Quarterly Report”, ended quarter with just “A$311k of cash on hand”, since raised a further just A$0.2 million

 

VOD

Vodafone (#VOD) – MoU for potential acquisition of parts of Telekom Romania Mobile Communications

 

NXQ

Nexteq (#NXQ) – de-stocking and customer delays warning, Financial Controller Matt Staight to take over as CFO

 

FTC

Filtronic (#FTC) – “anticipate H1 to be stronger than H2, as the retrofit completes”, though confident of FY “in line with market expectations”

 

SYNT

Synthomer (#SYNT) – “volumes continue to improve from historically low levels, although at a slower rate than during Q1 and Q2”

 

HLN

Haleon (#HLN) – Q3 organic revenue +6.1% YoY, “well on track to deliver our full-year 2024 guidance”

 

KNOS

Kainos (#KNOS) – now expects FY revenue “moderately below current market consensus with the majority of the reduction flowing through to adjusted PBT”

 

SXS

Spectris (#SXS) – Q3 LFL sales -10% YoY and orders -6% as anticipated recovery “is taking longer to materialise”

Wednesday »

Bearcast

Tom Winnifrith bearcast: feeling so ill I thought it was Thursday and Halloween until just now

 

KOO

Kooth – directors share purchases, but how much confidence do they really have in this AIM Awards 2024 “Diversity Champion”?

 

LFT

Lift Global Ventures Plc – challenges facing Lee Lederberg in its upcoming audit

 

GEX

Bombshell Affadavit from Former Georgina Energy chairman

 

HTG

Hunting – after trading update, still a value growth Buy...

 

TMO

Time Out Group – full-year results and a placing “to fund capital investment”. Er, what about the currently further deteriorated balance sheet?

 

CEY

Centamin – My Replacements And Grrr!!

 

GEX

My letter Reporting myself and 4 others to the FCA asking for an investigation into market abuse

 

Bear

Thoughts on a Reversion to Mean – some things never change, Victoria and Petra are examples

 

GEX

The Shysters at Georgina Energy to report Tom Winnifrith to the FCA for market abuse:

 

Trump

Tom Winnifrith US Election podcast: big news in North Carolina and Minnesota

 

GEX

Georgina Energy (#GEX) – states “a number of recent blog and social media posts… contain a number of false and misleading statements”. Why not say who you mean?

 

ECK

Eckoh (#ECK) – recommended 54p per share offer from Bridgepoint

 

OPTI

OptiBiotix Health (#OPTI) – Peterhouse Capital refuses request for consent from company to be able to vote its shares at requisitioned General Meeting of ProBiotix Heath (#PBX)

 

EQLS

Equals (#EQLS) – possible 135p per share offer and 2p per share special dividend, necessary transaction documentation being ‘advanced’

 

CABP

CAB Payments (#CABP) – trading warning, states possible offer discussions with StoneX Group Inc. are continuing

 

AML

Aston Martin Lagonda (#AML) – Q3 still a loss, states “on track to deliver revised FY 2024 guidance, as supply chain disruptions are proactively managed”

 

NXT

Next (#NXT) – Q3 full price sales +7.6% YoY, upgrades FY profit guidance

 

NEXS

Nexus Infrastructure (#NEXS) – FY “in line with market expectations”, acquisition of Coleman Construction & Utilities for a net up to £4.38m

 

GHH

Gooch & Housego (#GHH) – acquisition of “precision optics” business Phoenix Optical for £3.4m and up to a further £3.35m

 

SDI

#SDI – acquisition of industrial measurement systems business InspecVision for a net £6.1m

Tuesday »

Bearcast

Tom Winnifrith Bearcast: Thank heavens Olaf is unemployed

 

BAR

Brand Architekts – full-year results, balance sheet-backed recovery Buy

 

ULTP

Ultimate Products – full-year results, “in line with market expectations”. Er, not the original expectations though!

 

Tom

Another black tie invitation from the Lord Mayor

 

SBTX

Cavendish Research Note: Skinbiotherapeutics at 18p worth 56p

 

CRPR

James Cropper – CEO “to retire from the company” and replacement appointment, “repositioned for growth”?

 

RWS

RWS Holdings – “ongoing price pressure” and net debt, is that really “a position of strength”?!

 

LFT

Letter to Lee Lederberg of Edwards Veeder: you are hereby put on notice re Zak Mir’s Lift Global

 

IQE

IQE: CEO fired, when is the lack of profits warning? Told y'all!

 

TERN

Tern – Rats, Sinking Ship: Two Thirds Of Board Walk With Immediate Effect

 

TERN

#TERN – two of three board members replaced having “stepped down… to concentrate on their other business interests”, hmmm

 

IQE

#IQE – CEO Americo Lemos “has left the company with immediate effect”. Er, why’s that then?

 

CRPR

James Cropper (#CRPR) – CEO Steve Adams has notified of intention to retire “in early 2025”, David Stirling appointed to succeed

 

KRS

Keras Resources (#KRS) – raises just £0.3725m at 2.5p per share

 

TST

Touchstar (#TST) – H2 revenue “broadly similar to the first half… below expectations”, though the half “still expected to be strongly cash generative”

 

IGR

IG Design (#IGR) – H1 revenue -11% YoY, argues to still anticipate “strong year-on-year improvement in both profit and cash flow”

 

ULTP

Ultimate Products (#ULTP) – FY adj. EPS down to 12.3p, DPS maintained at 7.38p, maintaining expectations though “UK trading remains challenging”

 

RWS

#RWS Holdings – H2 adj. revenue return to YoY growth at +2%, expects FY adj. PBT “within the range of market expectations”

 

PSON

Pearson (#PSON) – Q3 “underlying group sales” +5% YoY, “on track to meet full-year expectations”

 

FOXT

Foxtons (#FOXT) – acquisitions of primarily Reading-focussed Haslams for initial £7.6m and primarily Watford-focussed Imagine Property for initial £5m, further total £3.4m deferred

Monday »

Bearcast

Tom Winnifrith Bearcast: a day I really felt good about my work whatever twitter moron Neil said

 

SRT

SRT Marine Systems – “pleased to announce” contracts finance support package, but how sustained the ‘support’?

 

Flight risk, odd asset salesand unpaid bills, the liquidator reports back on broker Jub Capital and Adam Dziubinski

 

GEX

BREAKING BOMBSHELL for Georgina Energy: Grant Thornton investigation into wholesale expense abuse and fund misappropriation by Hamilton and Wallace

 

Roulette

AIM Market Statistics for the month of September: another disaster for the casino

 

CTAI

Catenai Klarian update: it's gibberish and it's placing ahoy

 

KMK

Kromek – full-year results argue “delivered on all our KPIs”, but why also an ‘Update’ announcement that dare not speak its name as to why an “additional loan” is needed?

 

BELL

More ballet tickets for Evil Banksta funded by Adam Reynolds: another shocking warning at Belluscura

 

GEX

Georgina Energy Shareholder Uwesp, the dumbest of the dumb

 

LFT

EXPOSE: Lift Global Ventures – who is the man behind Trans-Africa Energy Limited

 

Crime-Scene

Dominic White – life’s no Dolce Vita for his shareholders: where are the regulators?

 

GEX

BREAKING: Georgina Energy audit committee chairman accused of fraud and enrichment in Ben's Creek's law suit

 

Melania_Trump

Democrats playing the Hitler card on Madison Square Gardens rally - true desperation, Tom Winnifrith

 

WISE

#WISE – co-founder and CEO Kristo Käärmann £0.35m FCA penalty re. lack of personal tax situation notification

 

GOOD

#GOOD Energy – receives possible offer proposal, “is evaluating”

 

TLOU

#TLOU Energy – proposed AIM cancellation, to remain listed on ASX and Botswana Stock Exchange

 

NANO

Nanoco (#NANO) – receives GM requisition notice to appoint Rhys Summerton and Andre Tonkin to the board, “reviewing the content and validity”

 

HAYD

Haydale Graphene Industries (#HAYD) – raises £3m including at 0.1325p per new share, up to £0.5m “retail offer”

 

LLOY

Lloyds Banking Group (#LLOY) – notes recent motor commission Court decisions, “assessing the potential impact of the decisions, as well as any broader implications, pending the outcome of the appeal applications”

 

CCC

Computacenter (#CCC) – Q3 “broadly in line with the prior year”, now expects FY adj. PBT “modestly behind last year”

 

TRN

Trainline (#TRN) – upgrades guidance “following a strong start to H2”, but just provides net ticket sales, revenue and adjusted EBITDA

 

LORD

Lords Group Trading (#LORD) – acquisition of 90% of heat pumps and renewable energy products business Ultimate Renewables Supplies for initial £0.706m and up to further £0.196m

 

ROAD

Roadside Real Estate (#ROAD) – its joint venture agrees to acquire for £70m and leaseback a sites portfolio from Lidl

Sunday »

Bearcast

Tom Winnifrith Bearcast: BIG questions for Zak's auditor and why Ariana is such an amazing risk reward play and could be 20p

 

CARD

Card Factory could perform well going into the Xmas period and offers plenty of upside as long as it hits its targets

 

Gold

The View From The Montana Log-Cabin As Gold Heads For Another All-Time High

 

AAU

Ariana – Shares Rising As ASX Listing Nears but far more to come

 

Professor

Visual Aid: Real Home Price Changes in Bubble Markets

 

Professor

Sunday Long Reads: Tartarian Empire, Aphantasia, UK’s fastest thrill-ride, Modern-Day Library of Alexandria, Rare-Book Scoundrel

 

Quiz

The ShareProphets Sunday Pub Quiz #264

 

TERN

Tern – Wild About Wyld? Still A Bargepole Sell, Target 0p.

 

Top-10

Notes from Underground – Most read articles for the week ending Oct 26

 

Trump

Tom Winnifrith podcast: the US Election, extraordinary polls, the mendacious UK media and abortion

Saturday »

LFT

EXPOSE Zak Mir's Lift Global Ventures – is the TAE loan in trouble because of its apparent past links to a fraudster?

 

Bearcast

Tom Winnifrith Bearcast: the Shipman said, Optibiotix goofs again and Au Revoir Malcolm

 

Malcolm-On-Motorcycle

Malcolm’s most read article each year from 2013 to 2024

 

Malcolm-On-Motorcycle

After Nearly a Quarter of a Century, this (Very) Old Hand Says Goodbye - and Thanks for Everything.

Friday »

CDGP

Chapel Down – intra-day “Update on Strategic Review, Harvest & Trading” enough to turn its investors to drink!

 

Bearcast

Tom Winnifrith Bearcast: I am very relaxed about it but I cannot do a Kefi article every day!

 

CRU

Coral Products – CEO to leave, and further financial desperation?

 

Gold

Video: Why Shouldn’t the Dollar be as Good as Gold?

 

PRD

BREAKING: Bear raider Tim Kempster calls out Predator Oil & Gas for lying about its cash needs

 

KOO

Kooth – more contract controversy, though natch with it having the ominous combination of being an AIM Awards 2024 “winner” and that being “Diversity Champion”!

 

UKOG

UK Oil & Gas on Channel 4 News last night: did not sound good

 

LFT

Zak Mir: Charting did not warn me that lending most of my balance sheet to an insolvent company was a bad idea

 

OPTI

BREAKING: Optibiotix: another rule broken

 

AAU

Ariana Resources – review identifies significant further Dokwe project upside potential, Buy

 

BOO

boohoo (#BOO) – “clarification on certain matters raised by Frasers” (#FRAS), “continues the process of reviewing the requisitions”

 

LFT

Lift Global Ventures (#LFT) – investee Trans-Africa Energy has not received funding due, loans notes redemption with Lift further extended to 31st December!

 

LTG

Learning Technologies (#LTG) – possible offer discussions “have made material progress and remain ongoing”, deadline extension

 

ADA

Adams (#ADA) – “proposed realisation of investments and return of capital to shareholders”

 

KOO

Kooth (#KOO) – newsletter article “contained outdated information that underestimated the uptake and impact of Soluna in California”

 

CLBS

Celebrus Technologies (#CLBS) – H1 growth “in line with management expectations”, “confidence of another year of progress”

 

MCON

Mincon (#MCON) – “remain confident of earnings and revenue growth in H2 2024 compared to H1”

 

REC

Record (#REC) – Q2 AUM up to $106bn despite net flows -$1.7bn, “in line with expectations”

 

NWG

NatWest (#NWG) – Q3 EPS slightly up to 14.1p, argues “well placed”

 

WIL

Wilmington (#WIL) – acquisition of health, safety and environmental training business Phoenix Health & Safety for initial £30.25m

Thursday »

Bearcast

Tom Winnifrith Bearcast: libelling me, 'arry Adams and Stuart Ashman

 

Clown

A disgraced fund manager bullish on global equities but warns on the tech high flyers

 

SBDS

Silver Bullet Data Services – “Trading Update and Working Capital Facility”, how ‘positive’?

 

BOO

Boohoo: damning letter from Mike Ashley as he requisitions GM to become CEO

 

THRU

Thruvision – “disappointing” interims, “to operate within the level of current funding resources” for how long?…

 

GBP

Global Petroleum and the bankruptcy of executive officer Cecilia Yu.

 

SBTX

SkinBioTherapeutics – a Buy to double by Christmas

 

Bearcast

Tom Winnifrith Bonus bearcast: GOTCHA Optibiotix but its still lying, Skins playing it well

 

PBEE

PensionBee – argues placing “successfully raised £20 million”, how successfully?…

 

SYME

BREAKING: Supply@ME Capital, a second auditor resignation letter on the way

 

BOO

boohoo (#BOO) – receives EGM requisition seeking board changes including removal of John Lyttle and appointment of Mike Ashley as CEO, is “reviewing”

 

PBEE

PensionBee (#PBEE) – £20m placing at 185p per share

 

ABDN

abrdn (#ABDN) – Q3 Assets Under Management and Administration up to £506.7bn, though net flows -£3.1bn

 

LSEG

London Stock Exchange (#LSEG) – Q3 adj. organic income +8.7% YoY, “confident of continued growth”

 

BMY

Bloomsbury Publishing (#BMY) – H1 adj. EPS up to 24.68p, DPS to 3.89p, now expects FY “ahead of the current consensus expectation”

 

FOXT

Foxtons (#FOXT) – Q3 revenue +8% YoY, “trading in line with management's expectations”

 

ALU

Alumasc (#ALU) – trading momentum means “confident of delivering another year of growth, in line with its expectations” despite sector demand headwinds

 

TPK

Travis Perkins (#TPK) – “shortfall in the Merchanting segment”, “now expects FY24 adjusted operating profit to be around £135m”

 

ULVR

Unilever (#ULVR) – Q3 “underlying sales growth” 4.5%, “on track to deliver our 2024 outlook”

 

AT

Ashtead Technology (#AT.) – agreement to acquire “subsea electronics and ROV tooling rental and services” businesses Seatronics and J2 Subsea for £63m

Wednesday »

PBEE

BREAKING: PensionBee – placing, just “to accelerate investment in its US business”?

 

Bearcast

Tom Winnifrith bearcast: before bed my plan B for Optibiotix

 

FRAN

Franchise Brands – “Group CEO Appointment and Listing Consideration”, what about current trading consideration?…

 

CHSS

World Chess is ‘avin’ a giraffe yet again

 

Beggar-Stockbroker

30 MPs and green grifter Dale Vince display off the scale economic illiteracy

 

CRDL

Cordel – “AI Technology Certified by Network Rail”, share price rise justified or is the announcement again ramptastic?

 

RRR

There should be a law against doing an Andrew Bell, what is Fatty Cornish playing at?

 

STG

Strip Tinning – “delighted to announce” a new Glazing sales nomination, but what about recently with “significant wins” meant to drive growth?…

 

OPTI

Optibiotix FD walks and disgraced Neil Davidson dissembles on O’Hara health

 

Bearcast

Tom Winnifrith Bonus Bearcast: Will you help us sack David Bramhill at Union Jack said the email

 

Tom

Querying the health benefits of Tesco tinned tomatoes, Tom Winnifrith

 

Fake_News

Peak Guardian Fake News from Gaza, Tom Winnifrith

 

OPTI

OptiBiotix Health (#OPTI) – Finance Director Graham Myers to “step down”, David Blain to join as acting FD, only provides on CEO Stephen O’Hara “recovering after a short illness and expects to be back at work shortly”

 

CHSS

World Chess (#CHSS) – “announces plans to Launch World Chess Tour”, ramptastic

 

HOME

#HOME REIT – notes property auction sales, “sufficient proceeds to fully repay the outstanding Scottish Widows loan will be realised upon completion of the outstanding sale properties”

 

BLND

British Land (#BLND) – COO David Walker to become CFO “after a comprehensive search and review of internal and external candidates”

 

FRAN

Franchise Brands (#FRAN) – divisional CEO Peter Molloy appointed company CEO, “beginning to consider” move from AIM to Main Market

 

IGE

Image Scan (#IGE) – stronger H2 as anticipated, argues “confidence for future growth in FY25 and beyond”

 

WPP

#WPP – Q3 adj. LFL revenue +0.5% YoY, notes “Q4 facing a tougher comparative than Q3 and macro uncertainty”

 

BTRW

Barratt Redrow (#BTRW) – recent weeks “solid trading”, though considers “it will take some time for customer confidence to fully recover”

 

LLOY

Lloyds Banking Group (#LLOY) – Q3 profit slightly lower YoY, though still “confidently to reaffirm our 2024 guidance”

 

RKT

Reckitt Benckiser (#RKT) – Q3 LFL net revenue -0.5% YoY, taking current year’s to +0.4%, notes impacted by Mount Vernon tornado in July

Tuesday »

OPTI

Reader Poll: who should be chairman of Optibiotix?

 

Bearcast

Tom Winnifrith Bearcast: Ariana to 3.5p by Christmas?

 

TRC

The Revel Collective – full-year results from former Revolution Bars Group, is it now really “well positioned for future growth”?…

 

EMR

Empresaria – from argued “encouraging resilience” to performance “worse than previously forecast” in three months…

 

OPTI

Breaking: Has Neil Davidson at Optibiotix awarded himself a bumper pay rise while pretending it was still austerity all round

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