Shore Capital Share Discussion Threads

[sharw] 17/6/2009 16:52

Edinburgh office opened:

[ir35] 16/6/2009 21:02

Given the large director shareholding and the buying since the deal it does kind of point to this being the deal of the century. The market seems to like it as the shares are up 10% since it was announced. I bought at 15p with a long term view based on them doing better when the market recovers - maybe I dont have to wait so long for them to get back to their highs. If commercial property is at the bottom now then they are really cheap. Its hard to imagine that commercial property isnt near the bottom with yields near 10% in some cases and interest on cash yielding almost nothing.

[cockneyrebel] 16/6/2009 19:11

Yep, it's hard to know the ins and outs of the acquisition.

However I'm of the belief that directors tend to know a business better than most shareholders (tho it's not always the case).

Director buying has to be taken in context to existing holdings imo. The 90K buy doubled that directors holding, the 800K was the equiv of 30% of his original holding and the 100K buy today was a maiden purchase or at least he wasn't holding any prior to buying. Those are positive director buys imo, not a director with 10m shares buying 20K as a bit of attention seeking.

The chart has started forming an up-trend too - 40p looks a very reasonable expectation over the short term (month or so), assuming markets don't plummet in general.

CR

[sharw] 16/6/2009 15:45

IR35 - thanks for highlighting those figures. At the end of the day it is a matter of confidence in Howard Shore - he is on the board of Puma B and a subsidiary of SGR is advisor so there is no excuse for not knowing the company to be taken over inside out.

The report of Puma B to 31/3/09 is here:



It gives NAV per share as €1.47 which is about £1.24 and is being bought for 60p.

[ir35] 16/6/2009 14:22

What does anyone make of the deal announced last week to buy the remaining shares in Puma Brandenburg. It totally transforms the balance sheet.

Shore Balance sheet before the acquisition:

Fixed Assets 16.5M
Current assets: 95.5M (of which 48M is cash)
Current liabs: -18.5M
Loans: -27M

Pumas balance sheet looks like this (translated from EUR into GBP):

Fixed assets: 559M
Current assets: 85M (of which 83M is cash)
Current liabs: -39.5M
Loans: -539M

It will cost Shore 68M to acquire the remaining shares in Puma and I guess they will use the cash in Puma to do that so I reckon the combined balance sheet will look like this:

Fixed assets: 658M
Current assets: 112M (of which 63M is cash)
Current liabs: -58M
Loans: -566M

Total NAV 146M compared to the mkt cap of Shore of 70M. I guess it isnt quite that simple as Shore will ringfence the Puma subsiduary. However the company goes from a net cash position of 21M to a net debt position of about 500M. I hope they know what they are doing - and given that the Shore family own 40% of the shares it seems reasonable to think that they do.

[nurdin] 16/6/2009 12:30

I have joined you CR..those Directors buys look substantial and hence meaningful.

Looked at their last results..if I am not mistaken their net assets are at about £67m ,the bulk of which is held in cash.

'Strong balance sheet, cash balance of GBP48.7m at year end, after GBP11.2m of share buy-backs ' |

[cockneyrebel] 16/6/2009 12:15

Blimey - I love a quiet thread like this, everyone under a rock and hiding :-)

15 June: Director CRAIG COWAN buys 90K @ 24.2p

15 June: Director MICHAEL VAN MESSEL buys 842K @ 20p

Today, June 16: Director ALEXANDRE ABADIE buys 100K @ 28p.

And next week the stock enters the FTSE Smal Cap and All Share Index so tracker funds will have to buy.

Is that why the directors are buying?

All looks very positive imo and the recent trading sounds good too.

CR

[fse] 03/4/2009 16:34

I would not touch this company with a bargepole.... they appear to have an agenda that is hard to fit in with any rational business practice.
They still have not bothered to reply to any of the e mails I sent them other than to offer veiled threats.
I guess the business about transparency is lost on them.
In any event I do NOT hold shares in the company so hardly worth further comment.

[thehardestbutton] 03/4/2009 16:08

Strange

'Total funds under management as at the end of February 2009 were
GBP1.46 billion, equivalent at that date to $2.10 billion.'

and in 2008

'Total funds under management as at the end of February 2008 were
£1.46 billion, equivalent at that date to $2.90 billion.'


So over the last twelve months - will all the volatility and the poor performance of many of the funds the AUM measured in GBP is exactly the same???

Anyone else thinks that a bit odd!!!

[shawzie] 02/4/2009 11:51

Why is Shore still buying shares in Puma Brandenburg? Will Puma be sold at a substantial premium to current share price as its loans are not tied to LTV?

[thehardestbutton] 27/3/2009 17:24

Shore Capital Group plc announces that it purchased 2,183,069 of its
ordinary shares of 2p each at an average price of 14p per share on
Tuesday, 24 March 2009. Of the shares purchased, 263,989 shares will
be held as treasury shares and the remaining 1,919,080 shares will be
cancelled.


Hmm - well it's a better deal that the 3,000,000 of their own stock they bought back at 33p back in April. That was good use of a million quid!!!

To which I would quote:

Even though buybacks can be huge sources of long-term profit for investors, they are actually harmful if a company pays more for its stock than it is worth. In an overpriced market, it would be foolish for management to purchase equity at all, even in itself.
Instead, the company should put the money into assets that can be easily converted back into cash. This way, when the market swung the other way and is trading below its true value, shares of the company can be bought back up at a discount, ensuring current shareholders receive maximum benefit.

Didnt seem to do much for the share price either today....perhaps a few more months and they can buy their own stock for under 10p.

[ariesr] 20/3/2009 16:14

Thanks THB, FSE

Obviously you've both been here before! :)

[fse] 20/3/2009 14:36

The way Shore Capital is run guarantees it a place with the dinosaurs, quite simply the world has moved on and they are stuck back in the mid 1980's.
They seem to feel they can do what they want and put a finger up to all concerned .....
what effect is the share buy back having ?
I would agree with the 8p price as best guess ...... but who knows what is going on here it could be worse.
By the way they handle PGB Pilat Media which has just been taken over so theres another client gone... not that its that big a deal but ...

[thehardestbutton] 20/3/2009 12:34

ariesr - you won't get new management at Shore Capital. The bulk of stock is held very tightly by the Shore brothers and a few of their closest cohorts. Its effectively a closed shop.

No-one would look at a takeover either - the Icelandics had a sniff a few years back. And look where they are now.

As for broken up - not sure how you would see the split. They are cagey at the best of times about the breakdowns of revenue and I would be surprised if they looked at any options in this respect either

8p a share sounds like a good call to me as well. the next movement up or down from these dormant levels will be telling. I just don't like companies that do share buybacks...period

[ariesr] 17/3/2009 16:07

Let it drop further,
If it continues, it could get:

TakeOver
Broken Up
New Management

[fse] 16/3/2009 12:19

LOL.... told you so !
I can not see them turning this around when they can not even bother to answer their e mails .....

Financial Review


Revenue for the year was GBP19.7m (2007: GBP38.8m). This decrease reflects a
loss on balance sheet activities of GBP7.2m (2007: profit of GBP1.6m), which
principally arose from Puma Hotels, Puma Brandenburg and St Peter Port. This is
treated for accounting purposes as a deduction from revenue. The combined
revenue from operating businesses, primarily ECM and Asset Management, was
GBP26.9m (2007: GBP37.2m). Administrative expenses were GBP21.3m (2007:
GBP25.0m), a decrease of 14.8 per cent. As a result, the Group made an operating
loss of GBP1.6m (2007: operating profit of GBP13.8m).

[validata] 10/3/2009 22:30

IMHO this stock will be down to 8p by mid-April

[ariesr] 27/2/2009 17:46

Hey, at last........ some movement.

[ariesr] 18/2/2009 22:54

I was wondering why it has held up too. I'd go along with that and wait a month for further falls.

[fse] 17/2/2009 16:46

Repurchase Programme (Shore Capital)





TIDMSGR

Shore Capital Group plc - Repurchase programme

Shore Capital Group plc (the "Company") announces that it has entered
into irrevocable and non-discretionary arrangements with JPMorgan
Cazenove Limited to repurchase, on its behalf and within certain
pre-set parameters, ordinary shares in the Company, to be bought into
treasury or for cancellation, during the period commencing 19
January 2009 and ending at 4.20pm on 13 March 2009. This arrangement
is in accordance with Chapter 12 of the Listing Rules and the
Company's general authority to repurchase shares.

=--END OF MESSAGE---



FSE> begs the question if these might be a good short @march 14th.
One would assume the share price is only holding up due to the share buy backs.
After that expires ..... could be a big fall ?

[fse] 16/2/2009 16:06

LOL... I could honestly not care what Shore do as long as they provide intelligent comment on the company's they cover. I did contact Graham Shore but he just passed it on to a subordinate who failed to deal with any of the questions raised.
Trust in the financial community is at an all time low and not without good reason.
There needs to be more transparency and openess ..... sadly so far there is NOT.
I do not hold shares in Shore Capital.

[thehardestbutton] 16/2/2009 13:24

FSE - you weren't dealing with Graham Shore by any chance? He's in charge of their 'public relations and communications' in London. I would try their Liverpool office - the guys up there are much more communicative and approachable

Not sure who co-ordinated their share buy back program but with the shares at 14p a pop I'd be a bit miffed about company cash being used to buy back shares at more than double that price.

Fortunately not a share holder!!! :-)