Northwest Investment Group – heading for the knackers’ yard?
With ZAI Corporate Finance losing its Nomad status on Thursday, its client companies are running out of time to book in a replacement to avoid suspension. And that brings us to ShareProphets AIM-China Filthy Forty play Northwest Investment Group (NWIG) – the investment company which, after seven years, has invested not a cent.
- By Nigel Somerville, the Deputy Sheriff of AIM |
- 17 October 2017, 06:31 |
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Tom Winnifrith Bearcast: the horrid truth behind Doorsteps.co.uk, a crowdfunding scandal and hot Telit gossip
Yesterday I discussed Doorsteps.co.uk which claims that it will flog your house for £99. I now look more closely at its history and the utterly shameless way that Crowdcube raised £400,000 for it; at the fact free and unquestioning BJ's its 19 year old founder has received from Fleet Street and speculate about how bad its metrics really are. That it has raised cash so easily is bad news for Purplebricks as it is now funded to nibble at its market share and so will be others until they all go bust. But it will be too late for Purplebricks by then. I then have hot gossip on Telit (TCM) which shows up the FT's dictation from PR men taking hacks for the fools they are and reinforces the shorting case big time. I cover UK Oil & Gas (UKOG) and Conroy Gold & Natural Resources (CGNR), both need to place ASAP and in both cases it will be ugly. I also remind you again what UKOG is NOT saying.
- By Tom Winnifrith |
- 17 October 2017, 05:06 |
Interserve – shares falling again today, still a sell
Yesterday revelations on Sky and a company statement made clear that all is not well at Interserve (IRV), for all the positive noises about constructive discussions with its lenders, Sky revealed that a syndicate of lenders including Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC had called in Ernst and Young amid fears about the balance sheet. Noting also that the balance sheet is painfully thin, as per its recent interims statement, and the calamitous profit warning last month suggesting that the company had no idea of the eventual magnitude of the provision needed associated with its exit from its energy-from-waste business, as well as questions over current trading and you already have pretty good reasons to get out.
- By Nigel Somerville |
- 17 October 2017, 04:51 |
The Big Short: BCA and its leasing obligation burden
In my opus magnus on BCA Marketplace (BCA), the Big Short, I highlighted in Red Flag 4 point 1 the operating leases with no break clause until 2031 and noted that adding these to the balance sheet would double the apparent debt burden.
- By Tom Winnifrith |
- 17 October 2017, 04:37 |
Hornby – no longer offering bulk sales at a discount & profit warning, but would it have been profit warning anyway?
On a 3rd October announcement that Lyndon Davies had agreed to join as CEO, Hornby (HRN) non-executive director and Interim Chairman David Adams was “delighted to welcome Lyndon to the board”, adding “Hornby will continue with its turnaround plan”. There’s today a “Trading Statement and Directorate Change” announcement…
- By Steve Moore |
- 17 October 2017, 04:20 |
Merlin Entertainment - losing the magic?
I have never written about Merlin Entertainment (MERL) before but i have certainly visited one of its leisure facilities religiously at least once a year for the last five years or so. Yes, I can attest that Legoland is actually damn good, clean family fun and due to the fifty minutes I spent in the queue for the new Ninjago ride the other month I have changed my specialist subject for any future Mastermind appearance.
- By Chris Bailey of Financial Orbit |
- 17 October 2017, 03:03 |
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FRAUD: MySQUAR fesses up to error in profits warning but still will not answer the big question re FRAUD
What on earth is clueless Nomad SP Angel thinking? Its client MySquar (MYSQ) last week issued a (lack of) profits warning which means that it has either committed securities fraud or merely a massive breach of AIM Rule 11. Investors need to know what its sales were in July (as opposed to the July-September average given) in order to know how bad this will be. I have pressed SP Angel to force a statement and indeed the retained broker Beaufort has - to its enormous credit - also pressed but instead...
- By Tom Winnifrith, The Sheriff of AIM |
- 17 October 2017, 02:56 |
Falcon Media House: Funding confirmed – a £3.4 million death spiral!
I last wrote about Falcon Media House (FAL) at the end of July following its year-end results (HERE) in which it stated that more funding would be needed despite only coming to the market in March. This morning it announced the form of such funding and it’s not pretty.
- By Cynical Bear |
- 17 October 2017, 02:36 |
Nuformix: “Aberdeenman”, the LSE’s very own Daddy McPig is wrong again – listen to him at your peril
I was excited to see how Nuformix (NFX), the renamed company previously known as Levrett, would perform on debut yesterday as the LSE’s bulletin board in-house expert was predicting great things. Alas, it was all a bit of a damp squib but let’s hope at least that he managed to take a bit off the table during his ramp though.
- By Cynical Bear |
- 17 October 2017, 02:06 |
ZAI scandal: first clients announce new Nomad, but ten facing suspension on Thursday
Last week we had the shocking announcement of the culling of ZAI Corporate Finance as a Nomad by AIM, apparently due to a hip operation on one of its Qualified Executives. Of course, there is more to this than meets the eye, as discussed by Tom Winnifrith HERE. But aside from the actions of AIM as judge, jury and executioner – all behind closed doors – there is the issue of what happens to the clients of ZAI who use it as Nomad. Of twelve companies which announced they were looking for a replacement last week, we have now had two transfer – to Northland Capital Partners.
- By Nigel Somerville, the Deputy Sheriff of AIM |
- 17 October 2017, 01:42 |
Reach4Entertainment - finally gets its man, why shareholders should welcome Marc Boyan- BUY
This has been a long time coming but there is now a new CEO at Reach4Entertainment (R4E), in Marc Boyan. At the same time Lord Michael Grade will step up to become Non Exec Chairman. But it is Boyan who matters…no offence Lord Grade...
- By Tom Winnifrith & Steve Moore |
- 17 October 2017, 01:40 |
Pressure Technologies – indebted, follows profit warning with a placing… though claims it’s for “a number of benefits”
Engineering group Pressure Technologies (PRES) “is pleased to announce” the result of a bookbuild. This is of a gross £5 million placing at 122p per share. This comparing to a prior closing 126p share price and more than 140p prior to a most recent trading statement at the end of August…
- By Steve Moore |
- 17 October 2017, 01:31 |
Dial into this Bruised Telecoms Giant and You may Ring Up a Ting-a-ling Profit
Hello, Share Twangers. A share which has given me a lot of pain, though (thankfully) I don’t think I’ve recommended it to you very much, is a telecoms giant which has seen better days. In fact, under two years ago the shares touched a fiver. Nowadays, they are less than three quid. But analysts at Barclays have just repeated their fairly long-standing target of 450p, which would cancel a big chunk of my loss.
- By Malcolm Stacey |
- 17 October 2017, 01:05 |
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Operational Update from UKOG - 100% ramptastic shite, placing ahoy red alert
The shares are tanking said the PR man to lyin' Steve Sanderson, CEO of UK Oil & Gas (UKOG). How will we get the bailout placing away? I know said Lyin' Steve, let's put out a ramptastic operational update. And so lo and behold Lyin's Steve issued the release and the Bulletin Board Morons fell for it (again) and the shares zoomed from 4.05p to 5.35p-5.4p. It is placing ahoy.
- By Tom Winnifrith |
- 16 October 2017, 08:55 |
African Potash litigation update - now almost 100 claimants
There is another update on the potential claim against Nomad Cantor Fitzgerald for its negligence in allowing the fraud African Potash (AFPO) to post utterly untrue statements to ramp its shares ahead of a rescue placing. Peter Petyt who is co-ordinating a claim for more than 100 aggrieved shareholders writes:
- By Tom Winnifrith |
- 16 October 2017, 08:30 |
System1 Group – trading update, more lack of visibility concern?
Previously writing on the former BrainJuicer Group, now System1 Group (SYS1), in August I noted the lack of a Benjamin Graham ‘margin of safety’ biting as the shares slid to 635p and that I continued to avoid. The shares are currently at 530p on the back of a further trading update…
- By Steve Moore |
- 16 October 2017, 08:25 |
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Tom Winnifrith Bearcast: The FT takes dictation from PR man for Telit again and spouts hogwash ... and other morons
Remember when the FT said Inmarsat (ISAT) was going to bid 140p a share for Avanti Coms (AVN) then at 30p now at 7.26p offer? Today it had a scoop on Telit (TCM) which the company has commented on. There is a grain of truth in the FT scoop but so much of what it writes is just PR spin as I demonstrate in this podcast. I hope the journalists responsible feel soiled and dirty. As for Telit I explain the various scenarios and why the downside is huge whatever happens. I cover UK Oil & Gas. A moron reckons he is going to make money by not paying to read ShareProphets and buying more UK Oil & Gas shares instead. Since his silly email the shares have lost another 14% and are now 4p bid. Next stop 3p then 2p then whatever. Truly the moron will be rich. Not. Then I rant about how troubled Interserv (IRV) lied to investors regarding the reason why its FD left and why that matters.
- By Tom Winnifrith |
- 16 October 2017, 07:21 |
This party has been fun, this really is the most important note I have ever written
Germany's outgoing Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has warned that spiralling levels of debt, as well as the growth of liquidity across the world, risk creating a new financial crisis. Speaking to the Financial Times as he leaves his long-held post at Germany's finance ministry and becomes the Speaker of the Bundestag, Schaeuble said that his view is shared by economists around the world.
- By David Scott |
- 16 October 2017, 04:50 |
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Purplebricks - that race to the bottom: meet Doorsteps.co.uk & flog your house for £99
Will Purplebricks (PURP) ever generate real profits from its UK Business? No. I have noted before that its business model is flawed and one reason is the race to the bottom on pricing. Meet the UK's 18th largest estate agent, Doorsteps.co.uk, and flog your house for just £99.
- By Tom Winnifrith |
- 16 October 2017, 04:44 |
Interserve: more reasons to sell - the balance sheet, advisers called in by lenders
A little bit more of a look at main market listed Interserve (IRV) simply serves to underline my comment earlier that it is a sell.
- By Nigel Somerville |
- 16 October 2017, 04:11 |