Achp Share Discussion Threads

[russman] 01/6/2020 10:16

Nice divi. Ta for update.

[topvest] 31/5/2020 21:55

Yes. 1.5p per share. Asta Capital is a quality business. Once the Lloyd's insurance market bounces back it should be sold for a decent amount. Otherwise, happy to collect the decent annual dividend. Still a business worth 20p/share in my view.

[horndean eagle] 31/5/2020 20:20

Got a decent return of cash at end April. Only just noticed it. Obv not complaining.

[topvest] 19/2/2020 20:15

Per Companies House, Asta Capital have repurchased c10% of their shares - £2,398k paid to ACHP and so we should be due another dividend shortly. At least 1p I suspect.

[horndean eagle] 08/5/2019 17:39

my broker hasn't received anything yet. do you have further details on the payment?

[topvest] 03/5/2019 16:52

1p interim 2019 dividend received today. That's a sign of how much ASTA CAPITAL is worth. 15-20p in my view.

[russman] 27/4/2019 08:40

Any ideas why the CEO of TAL got 50% pay increase last year. $458k seems a lot for a small unquoted ltd.

[topvest] 07/4/2019 17:07

Trading update
hxxps://www.ach-plc.com/assets/Uploads/contentblocks/pdfs/2019.03.13-ACHP-trading-note-QA.pdf
All a bit disappointing.
That being said, the net debt has gone, so we should be receiving dividends from 2019 onwards.
Net debt seems to have disappeared due to a £1.1m 15% share buy-back in Jan 2019 and presumably the receipt of a final dividend. Asta Capital continues to throw out cash and made a £10m EBITDA in 2018.
Asta Capital remains a nice company to list in my view, as I have said before.
I value ACHP at somewhere between 15p and 20p per share, but I'm going to continue holding in my portfolio at 10p per share, given its unlisted.

[topvest] 02/12/2018 19:35

Something going on?
hxxps://www.asta-uk.com/jardine-and-stevenson-to-join-asta-board/

[horndean eagle] 08/7/2018 22:43

It's not significant. I did sort of explain why ;-)

[topvest] 04/7/2018 18:12

Over and out for 6 months then. Let’s hope we get some good news late in the year or early in 2019. Until then...

[topvest] 03/7/2018 21:09

Well someone paid over 14p for 422,441. I would call that quite significant.

[topvest] 03/7/2018 21:08

I'm holding at 10p in my portfolio. Hopefully prudent, but we should find out within 6-12 months.

[horndean eagle] 03/7/2018 19:56

Wouldn't take too much notice. last day of trading. Someone moving stock probably.

[topvest] 03/7/2018 18:19

Interesting jump today. Someone is keen to accumulate. Patient investors will hope for a minimum of 15p.

[horndean eagle] 03/7/2018 16:32

PBT actually a couple of million better than that. They are amortising goodwill of circa 2m. Balance sheet valuation should hopefully hold firm. Its not a particularly demanding multiple and implies a liquidity discount given its a 30% share. hopefully other shareholders decide to carve it up at a reasonable price.

[topvest] 01/7/2018 16:53

Asta Capital accounts have been filed at Companies House. PBT £5.3m versus £6.7m in 2016, so a little disappointing. Largely due to £1m loss from associate, Pelican Underwriting which was sold post year-end. Think we are effectively looking at a £6m normalised profit before tax. 1/3rd of that should be worth £15-20m, less net debt and insolvency costs. Should be some upside and I will await the disposal.

[topvest] 01/6/2018 20:49

Well there is the delisting announcement. A bit disappointing, particularly late on a Friday, but in this case its probably sensible if the company is going to be liquidated. This means that they should be able to minimise any future costs.

The targeted sale of Asta Capital by the end of January 2019 is definitely a positive development though, and I suspect there is a willing buyer.

It will be interesting to see how much they get for a third of this highly successful company. The Asta Capital 2017 accounts haven't been filed at Companies house yet. I do trust management to treat minority shareholders fairly. They certainly have done on Tawa Associates to date, and its the same majority shareholder involved which is a massive French company.

I bet someone will be buying up shares as people bale ahead of the delisting. 800k sold at 5p or so today. Absolute madness as Asta Capital was valued in ACHP at 14p using an old valuation in November 2016. I'm holding onto mine as I will hope to receive 15-20p per share within a year!

You can always be cynical in these situations, but by taking the company private the directors can do the deal without any circulars or expensive costs. One of the options appears to be the buyer acquiring the ACHP shares, and this would clearly be very expensive for an AIM company in terms of transaction costs etc., so I am supportive. Another option is that Financière Pinault S.C.A. make an offer to buy out ACHP and clearly that's cheaper to do off the market. Again, I don't believe that they will treat us too badly, based on my Tawa experience, but the risk remains I suppose.

I will be inclined to hold at 10p in my portfolio as a private company, being a discount to the 14p net asset value. I suppose the range of probable outcomes is anywhere between 0p and 5p low-end and 20p to 25p top-end. 0p is unlikely. 25p probably equally so. Patience required and I would guess 10-20p is the most likely range of outcome.

They are also not just a forced seller. Presumably if the the price isn't good enough, one of the options is Financière Pinault S.C.A. taking 100% through buying the ACHP shares as vaguely flagged as an option in the announcement. So they do have some leverage to get a reasonable deal or stay invested in Asta. I will be very disappointed if we do not get value for our holding in Asta Capital which is a truly fine company and I suspect the other holders will be as well.

I note this as well which provides some reassurance... "Following the Delisting, no changes are planned to the board nor is it expected that the existing relationship deed between the Company and FinP will change. The City Code on Takeovers and Mergers provides that the Company remains subject to the Code for a period of ten (10) years after the Delisting. Under the relationship deed, FinP can vote on all the proposed resolutions."

[topvest] 13/4/2018 08:26

Results out. All very low key indeed and no meaningful update on Asta Capital. £17m net asset value is probably understated though as they haven't updated the valuation. Asta news flow appears positive
hxxps://www.asta-uk.com/asta-news/
See they have sold Pelican Underwriting in the year.
Asta 2017 results haven't been released yet.
Anyway I think that there is some value here. I was hoping for a reverse takeover or something. I am less confident on a reverse takeover now. Confident that we will monetise our Asta Capital shareholding positively though!
One thing is for sure - the Board aren't making much effort to promote the merits of the company. Main downside risk is a delisting, but I'm confident that shareholders would be fairly treated. We have been treated properly to date on our Tawa Associates investment.

[topvest] 15/10/2017 13:08

See from the interims that they have tidied things up a little. Asta Capital is worth £20m and trading well. Some positive news flow on Asta's web-site which indicates growth in the current year. Preference shares have been repaid. Share capital of Asta Capital was reorganised in the summer. Is this a precursor to a listing of Asta Capital?

This could mean a listing through a reverse takeover which is what I have always hoped...

"The strategy of the Company is to manage and monitor its investment in Asta while actively supporting Asta's strategic growth plans and to focus on minimising its cost base."

If it did happen it would probably be Q1 2018, I would guess, given that both companies have a December year-end. Equally Asta could list in its own right which might be a cleaner scenario, albeit you might have a position where ACHP needs to sell a large block eventually which wouldn't be ideal.

ACHP could stand for Asta Capital Holdings PLC - a coincidence or a marker for the future name change!?

Will need some dividends from Asta going forward to service the c £2m of remainder debt and cover running costs. Think some sort of strategic move is needed to optimise shareholder value here or else it will languish on a big discount to intrinsic value of its main investment. Personally, I think Asta Capital is probably worth closer to £100m if it IPOd in current markets.

[topvest] 15/7/2017 15:46

A very new odd name .....ACHP - very much looks like this vehicle could now be used to list Asta Capital, a lead third party managing agent on Lloyds. For some reason they have picked a very odd new name for the company. Looks transitional to me. Not announced either. Almost as though they are making no effort. Of course, they could be looking to delist, but TAWA have been fair to minority holders up until now and so I remain optimistic. Thoughts from anyone else?