Broker Network Share Discussion Threads

[geovest] 11/12/2007 08:46

Dreggs, the chairman is a pompous ass, ignore him. Nick Bolton is the the man. I am very excited by the new Yotta business with loads of potential for Council and road network business which could contribute some serious repeat business. Defence could also add some big chunkey contracts.
Geo

[dreggspicker] 11/12/2007 08:12

Geo, good negi points; Its always good to hear other peoples views.
I got out of omg earlier this year after a good run, when the chairman implied he didn't really know what they did, and didn't know what they will be doing in the future, but it will be good!!
dreggs

[geovest] 10/12/2007 22:10

Dreggs, I don't like Avon Rubber because they have an inconsistent trading history with up and down sales and profit over the last 10 years and margins below 5%. Selling gas masks to the military can vary substantially from year to year.

I don't really know NARS but I am always concerned when a company is highly dependent on o small number of customers and insurers have a habit of squeezing suppliers hard and they have to survive on tiny margins.

I haven't yet decided where to put my BNH proceeds as I am still catching up from the holiday, but will probably top up on a few holdings such as:
- Agrekko (AGK) - Temporary power
- CBG Group (CBG) - Insurance broker
- OMG (OMG) - Image products to the entertainment, life science, defence and infrastructure industries
- Rathbones (RAT) - Wealth Management

Still looking for the next BNH!

Regards, Geo

[dreggspicker] 10/12/2007 19:31

Geo,
mrs dreggs has decided to sell a load today,since they are over 1 & 2 years old, but I am going to hold out, as I do think we are being bullied into a fast sale by towergate, which is only coincident to the fact my 2 years is up just after the 20th.
Any ideas where the mrs can put her money? I have been looking at avon rubber (avon)gas masks, & national accident (nars) car repairs, both seem on the outside to be good runners, but with your critique accountant eyes you may see something I don't !
Hope you had a nice time away, did you go any where warm?
Regards, dreggs

[geovest] 10/12/2007 08:51

Hi Dreggs, I'm not 100% sure, but with normal transactions it's the date of sale that is used for CGT purposes, not the date of cash receipt. Following that logic, it should be the date the offer is declared unconditional (ie binding agreement) or the date of your acceptance of the offer if this date is later. Worth checking though!

Regards, Geo

[dreggspicker] 10/12/2007 08:05

Hi Geo, Iv'e been told by my accountant, it's the date when I get the payment that counts for the CGT, Is this not right?

Regards, dreggs

[geovest] 09/12/2007 21:26

Hi Lomax, had a wonderful break but nice to be back. With more than 50% acceptances at the announcement of the deal we can regard it as a done deal. I will accept the offer on the shares in my SIPP but will probably hold out on the rest until they disclose acceptances after the 20th Dec to see the dates for futher acceptances. The reason is to try and stretch the date to January as I will then qualify for the 75% capital gains allowance for a further chunk of my holdings. The bid/offer spread should narrow by 20 Dec if the offer goes unconditional.

At the moment the bid/offer spread is around 15p or 2.5% which is a bit high, but if you have a specific target to invest the proceeds it may be worth taking the hit as the target may rise by much more than that by the time you get the proceeds from Towergate. I have to do some catching up on some shares on my watchlist over the next few days before I finally decide. There seem to be some interesting alternative opportunities at the moment.

[lomax99] 08/12/2007 11:55

Hi Geo, welcome back from your hols! I would be v. interested to get your take on the current situation. I am considering selling some more of my holding to take advantage of opportunities elsewhere. Thanks.

[lomax99] 07/12/2007 14:44

Sold some of my holding the other day take advantage of the cut price sale at Clapham House (CPH)on Monday (bought at £1.35) - not that happy losing 2.5% on the market makers spread - fortunately CPH bounced from that level pretty quickly.

[lomax99] 07/12/2007 12:09

I had expected the bid/offer spread to close and gravitate towards £6.05, presumably this will do so when the cash offer becomes unconditional?

[galweybay] 03/12/2007 17:24

thanks btb2

[ramu231] 03/12/2007 11:20

Bigman,

Do you have a target price & timeframe for CBG & JELF? Thanks.

[btb2] 03/12/2007 10:48

Galweybay

Towergate is a private Company and not listed.....

Although talking to one of the directors at BNH they expect them to float at some time in the near future

cheers

btb2

[galweybay] 03/12/2007 09:18

Interesting to read views from you professionals about where to place BNH prifits. Agree about COBRA, CBG , JELF etc but what about the "risk taking" side of the insurance sector - Chaucer, Beazley etc - any views? Is Towergate quoted on AIM/Plus?

[bigman] 01/12/2007 09:01

i guess if the view is that one is being raped and nothing one can do, then lay back and enjoy it, i have made oddles of money out of this, yes i was in for the long haul and looking forward to a lot further in the long term, but it would be a year or so probably to get to this level and of course there is no longer a risk in the profit however slight that may be, any risk would have been market conditions etc of course not the business model as that is excellent, the thing now is where to stock the investment? to me it is simple, "you cant have enough insurance in your portfolio" so it is all going into CBG,Jelf, who are well established in a similar model a bit smaller but growing fast, and a bit into COBRA, the latest to come to market with similar model but not so well established or the track record of the other two. imho

[dreggspicker] 30/11/2007 19:04

Just what mrs dreggs & I think Geo, but I'am afraid we can't do a damned thing about it!

Of course Grant could have had his arm put behind his back by the large shareholders, and he would obviously would have thought "oh what the heck then" might as well grab the money, pay 10% tax instead of 18% next year, and get a juicy job to boot!!!

Regards, dreggs

[bigman] 29/11/2007 20:57

ramu have a look at CBG same sector similar model but not a network, i have invested ina portfolio of insurance sector it is doing great, cbg,jelf,BNH, THB,highway,cobra,there seems to be lots of corporate action by most of these and of course like bnh they will attract attention of the biger guys soon as they secure their market share, you just cant have enough insurance in your portfolio imho

[dan_dare] 29/11/2007 17:20

Yes I agree Lomax. I would have been looking for 750 to 800.

[lomax99] 28/11/2007 12:23

Pretty disappointing, given past/future growth prospects the price suggested does not include anywhere near enough of a premium.

Probably a done deal, although I note that the funds who have given irrevocable undertakings (20%+), are released from them if there is another offer at least 10% higher - almost certainly a standard clause, here's hoping......

[dreggspicker] 28/11/2007 08:24

That's how I had hoped Orb1t, it surely can't be done and dustered by the 12th surely?
I am only running scared because there is no mention of payment time tables in the rns yesterday. Of course if it were a larger company, there would normally be a deferred payment option but it probably won't be available to us
Regards, dreggs

[0rb1t] 28/11/2007 07:11

The offer period will be 21 days from the posting of the offer documents. These will probably be posted in about a weeks time. The offer will then be declared unconditional (90%) soon after that. For CGT purposes I guess that the declaring the offer unconditional and the distribution of the settlement is the key date (in about 7 weeks).

[dreggspicker] 27/11/2007 21:27

Can I wait till after Xmas for my money? As this would be better cgt for me. Any ideas?

[dreggspicker] 27/11/2007 19:09

All I can say is shame selling too soon.
Having said that, it's better now then the 7th of April, at least cgt is lower. Don't know what Geo is going to say about all this;

Regards, dreggs