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Having asked for readers tips for 2019 for the amazing prize of a meal with Tom Winnifrith (or the chance to fob it off on someone you don't like) HERE, the following is a monthly update on performance (to be eligible needed to have selected, on a per username basis, a buy & sell pick from the LSE or AIM Casino and the stocks not to have been suspended at the commencement of 2019)...
With the end-August portfolio listings coming out yesterday, it is time to update the story and it is not looking any rosier. In fact, quite the reverse. I think matters may be coming to a head here and I reckon Woodford needs a lucky break for once and pretty damn quickly.
Following the poor trading update last week from RM2 International (RM2) that I covered HERE, its interims were issued this morning and are largely as expected but still worth a quick look and it’s time to place your bets as to whether Mr Woodford is going to throw another $17 million in to the pot.
Woodford’s month from hell has got off to a strong start with an immediate dog’s dinner of a revenue/profit warning from uber-dog RM2 International (RM2) this morning. Let’s take a closer look and count up all the negatives.
I smiled at yesterday’s announcement from Woodford Patient Capital Trust (WPCT) summarising the “summer of milestones” achieved across the portfolio as I imagine that is just buttering up the audience before the bevy of bad news hits. From my point of view, September is going to be a hellish month for Mr Woodford so welcome to ‘I-Spy Woodford’s September Hell’
Turning to my third, and the most recent, quoted constituent of Woodford Patient Capital Trust (WPCT) this weekend, I thought I should give a warm welcome to Sensyne Health (SENS) that joined AIM on Friday at a very nice valuation indeed. It’s good to see that the words ‘healthtech’ and ‘AI’ are able to suck in as much dumb money from the markets these days as the word ‘blockchain’!
Neil Woodford doesn’t have many quoted stocks in Woodford Patient Capital Trust (WPCT) but I thought I’d look at three classic picks this weekend, two of which I’ve touched on before, the third being a brand new entrant. I’ll start by catching up with the two Norwegian quoted companies in the portfolio – first up, Idex.
Yesterday afternoon, Neil Woodford released his end-April portfolio updates so thought I’d provide a bit of commentary prior to a couple of headache inducing articles (for Neil) later on in the week. Not a huge amount of change; however, it’s good to see an open-ended fund getting stuck into the use of debt in such a cavalier way!
Just before Christmas, I asked the question whether Woodford-backed Xeros Technology Group (XSG) would be this year’s RM2 International (RM2) in dropping from a £200m+ valuation to something close to 10% of that. Today’s results confirm that it is well on track.
I ended my most recent piece on RM2 International (RM2) with a suspicion that Woodford was getting tempted to support these guys one last time and today a $36 million placing at 1p was announced, pretty much wiping out the existing shareholders and leaving him holding 67% of this uber-dog!
It’s amazing what can be done when one’s back is against the wall. For the third month running, the guys at RM2 International (RM2) have found some cash from behind the sofa and can put some money in the meter. Its RNS this morning is its most upbeat in a while although I'm not sure it will alter the long-term outcome.
I do try to be balanced from time to time and despite all his troubles, there’s been a few green shoots for Neil Woodford in relation to Woodford Patient Capital Trust (WPCT) in recent weeks, most notably with a substantial round at Atom Bank…….although much more funding is still required.
I appreciate that Steve covered the highlights HERE but it is worth providing a bit more information on yet another yapping Woodford pug as the tale is all too familiar and one that will no doubt be repeated again and again in the future.
After much digging and talking to those in the know I have managed to piece together how Neil Woodford and his team assess potential investments and have actually managed to access a transcript of a recent investment meeting that makes very “interesting” reading!
As I anticipated in my RM2 International (RM2) piece yesterday, the December monthly updates finally came out yesterday afternoon and I thought it appropriate to provide monthly updates on The Big Short in conjunction with those each month so here goes. Quick summary: it’s not getting any easier for Woodford.
Look, I’m trying to be nice. We were last told that it could be tits up for RM2 International (RM2) by the end of January and today we heard that it has found enough cash down the back of the sofa to last until the third week of February. Good news! The reality is that this is a cash guzzling uber-dog and highlights the predicament that Britain's most conceited fund manager Neil Woodford has got himself into.
As a natural bear, I’m always interested in finding the next £200 million plus business that could lose 90% in a year a la RM2 International (RM2) this year (see question 4 of my Alternative Woodford Christmas quiz) and I didn’t have to look far for the next possibility; just a bit further down the alphabetical list of Woodford’s holdings in fact, namely Xeros Technology Group (XSG).
A week ago, I noted that news was due from the disruptive pallet manufacturer, RM2 International (RM2) and doubted that it was going to be positive. Well, it finally came out yesterday and I wasn’t disappointed although assume Neil Woodford and the long suffering shareholders of this and his Patient Capital Trust (WPCT) probably were.
If I was Neil Woodford I would wake up each Monday morning thinking, for the love of god, please can this be the week with some good news to come out of the Woodford Patient Capital Trust (WPCT) portfolio. Unfortunately, I don’t think it will be this week as it looks like crunch time is approaching for the “disruptive” pallet-maker, RM2 International (RM2).
RM2 International (RM2) gets the silver medal in the Results Preview five horse race having released its interims this morning. I was keen to see progress on the funding but there is nothing definite on that front although there’s nothing to worry about out as the management have got it covered – yeah right!
I’m continuing my look at forthcoming interims with the horror show that is the Woodford-backed RM2 International (RM2), first pointed out as an excellent bear tip by Graham Neary (HERE). One has to ask what the hell was Woodford thinking here?
I covered the trading update for the Woodford-backed Eve Sleep (EVE) HERE but with interims out this week, it is worth taking a closer look to assess progress in its maiden year on AIM. In summary, I would give it a B+ grade for execution but only a D grade for “ability to show there is a viable business model here” and would keep a watching brief for now. Doesn’t stop Neil Woodford getting stuck In some more though – natch
When Neil Woodford launched his Patient Capital Trust (WCPT) to much fanfare in 2015, everyone waited expectantly to see how he would start spending the £800 million war chest and so one had high hopes in April 2015 with the announcement of the first investment for the fund, namely a £4 million investment in an exciting quoted biotech play, Sphere Medial Holdings (SPHR). As an announcement last night showed, it has been as successful (or not) as one of his other uber-dogs RM2 International (RM2).
Following my initial piece on the Woodford-backed Eve Sleep (EVE) two weeks ago, I thought I would comment on today’s trading update which outlined great growth but it’s what it doesn’t say that worries me a tad.
It was my great privilege to speak at The UK Investor Show this year, along with the illustrious bears and short-selling raiders Lucian Miers, Matthew Earl and Gabriele Grego. For my choice of bear tips, I again went for the easy target of Fastjet (FJET) (down by over 70% since I first mentioned it in November 2015), but my new tip was the rarely-discussed pallet company, RM2 International (RM2).
In a wide ranging podcast I once again praise the great share blogger Paul Scott, if only to annoy those Bulletin Board Morons who wish to see us be nasty to each other. That will not happen. Elsewhere I comment on LGO Energy (LGO), UK Oil & Gas (UKOG), Armadale Capital (ACP), RM2 International (RM2), London Capital (LCG), JQW (JQW), IMC Exploration and that scumbag Liam McGrattan of US Oil & Gas (USOP) infamy and what that says about Standard Listings, and also on Tungsten (TUNG).
