British Empire Share Discussion Threads

[skyship] 26/2/2014 13:28

P - BTEM looks like mental luggage - cut them out, remove from your Monitor & do better elsewhere. Have you checked out what we've been discussing over at CDI. I added again today...

[praipus] 26/2/2014 12:22

Skyship mental accounting:-) And very angry with the way Asset Value Investors treat PI's. Especially giving false information. It makes me think Asset Value Investors are either
a) careless
b) Incompetent
c) deliberately trying to mislead PI's

Also makes me think if a genuine whistle blower was trying to call them to say their main investment had come off the rails the call wouldnt get through and we would all lose out...IMHO

[davebowler] 26/2/2014 12:08

Westhouse;
British Empire Securities (BTEM.L, -13.8%, Buy)
–
This fund remains somewhat unloved at
present given its rating, with a discount of more t
han twice the weighted sector average.
Once more, we believe that the fund has plenty of c
atching up to do in terms of recent NAV
performance, but we think there is value in this st
ock at present.

[skyship] 21/2/2014 12:58

Hi P - you say: "...and would sell if I could."

???

What prevents you exactly...presumably something other than price?

No need to answer, but if just price - cut and run; and make up the loss elsewhere.

[praipus] 20/2/2014 21:29

I'm not impressed with Asset Value Investors. As a Private Investor/BTEM shareholder I tried calling their office with a very simple question. I did a little more research and discovered the answer they gave was significantly and materially incorrect. I wont be buying any more BTEM shares and would sell if I could.

[1nf3rn0] 20/2/2014 20:26

On a 1, 3 and 5 year view of past performance this has been quite an awful investment versus the ftse all share index. A bog standard low cost tracker would've fared much better. I can't see any reason for that to change anytime soon either - looks like these guys have lost their ways when it comes to stock picking. And I'm sure they're paying themselves a handsome fee for such poor performance.

[davebowler] 20/2/2014 11:26

Westhouse;
British Empire (BTEM.L, -14.1%, Buy) –
While virtually the entire global growth sector
presently trades tighter than its 12-month ave, the
key exception here remains that of BTEM.
Relative NAV performance has improved over the last
quarter, though the fund's longer-
term figures are now a pale imitation of their form
er glories. Yet recent re-pricing has
benefitted a number of other global growth laggards
, so it could be argued that BTEM does
look somewhat isolated in drifting still wider.

[rjmahan] 30/1/2014 14:56

Just looked through this with the underlying discount and the discount to the trust you get about £1.50 of assets for every £1 invested.
Dont like Hong Kong property investments - I think the underlying asset is overvalued.

I also dont entirely trust the valuation of their private equity holdings.

More here:
hxxp://deepvalueinvestments.wordpress.com/2014/01/30/mining-british...ire-securities/

[davebowler] 23/1/2014 11:20

From the Interim Management Statement;
Discounts(4)

At the end of December the weighted average discount of the underlying portfolio (excluding liquidity) stood at 26.4% compared to 28.4% at the end of September. The discount calculation is a measure of how much the share price of each stock in the portfolio is below our estimate of its net asset value. The trend in the weighted average discount can be seen in the chart below:

Weighted Average Discounts in the underlying portfolio of

British Empire Securities & General Trust (ex liquidity)



Source: Asset Value Investors Ltd

[deswalker] 23/12/2013 16:00

They've been buying back shares in decent sized chunks for quite a while now.

There's no doubt that NAV performance has been sluggish in recent times but I'm betting on a reversal of investment fortunes and an associated narrowing of the discount.

The last time I sold these was when they stood at an 8% premium. I doubt they'll return to that level for a long time but you never know. They are my largest holding anyway.

[argoal] 23/12/2013 15:35

Just noticed the buy back on the 20th Dec.

The Company announces that it has today bought back 92,000 Ordinary shares of 10p each in the capital of the Company (SEDOL: 0133508 / ISIN: GB0001335081), representing approximately 0.057% of the issued Ordinary share capital, at a price of 482.56 pence per Ordinary share. The Ordinary shares bought back will be placed in treasury.

Hopefully this can help narrow the discount or at least stop it from widening. Wonder if it was a one-off purchase or will continue?

[skyship] 13/11/2013 16:23

Just posted this on the Private Equity thread - PE
==================================================

A very positive Holdings RNS from JPEL yesterday. The well-respected British Empire Securities and General Trust (BTEM) has increased its stake by 25% from 10m to 12.5m shares. Should help to hoover out the recent tap seller.

On a 36% NAV discount JPEL looks to be seriously good value:

[davebowler] 13/11/2013 11:04

hxxp://www.british-empire.co.uk/pdfs/british_empire_2013_nov.pdf

[davebowler] 16/10/2013 16:21

hxxp://www.british-empire.co.uk/pdfs/british_empire_2013_sep.pdf

[davebowler] 16/10/2013 16:20

Net Asset Value 564 p- Debentures
at market value:

[davebowler] 20/9/2013 13:38

Westhouse;
British Empire Securities (BTEM.L, -14.0%, Buy)
– The NAV performance dynamics of this
fund remain weak, though Westhouse Securities' mode
ls suggest that the short-term NAV is
benefitting materially from the Fund's positions in
both Jardine Matheson (JM SP) and First
Pacific Co (142 HK), leaving the Fund attractively
priced.

[davebowler] 23/7/2013 09:50

NAV 19 July 2013 was as follows:


Net Asset Value - Debentures at par value: 568.31 pence
Net Asset Value - Debentures at market 566.99 pence
value:

[davebowler] 11/7/2013 14:20

hxxp://www.british-empire.co.uk/pdfs/british_empire_2013_jul.pdf

[davebowler] 27/2/2013 10:03

Investec;
British Empire Securities and General Trust (BTEM)

¢ BTEM is a good quality global equity fund run by Asset Value Investors. As the manager's name implies, BTEM focuses on value plays, usually in equities which have implicit balance sheet value which their share prices belie.

Performance and positioning:

¢ BTEM has enjoyed strong performance of late. In Q4 2012 TR NAV was up 7.9% compared to MSCI World up 2.0% during the period. Year to date, NAV is up a further 7.5%.

¢ Vivendi, the largest position in the portfolio, has been a significant contributor to the outperformance over the period. It is likely that one or more of Vivendi's businesses will be sold and this should lead to a reduction in the discount of the French conglomerate. Orkla was another important contributor to returns. In Asia, Shun Tak, the Macau focussed gaming and property developer has started to re-rate as the prospect of permission being granted for its Cotai development property came closer to reality.

¢ During the Q4 2012 notable new investments include: ASM, Symphony International, Kinnevik and Dundee Corp.

¢ BTEM has reduced its commodity exposure by selling Sherritt and by taking profits in Amerisur after the stock had performed strongly on the back of an encouraging oil production update. BTEM also sold out of Japanese holdings in Showa Aircraft and Daidoh.

Valuation and view:

¢ BTEM shares trade on an 9.9% discount to NAV however in real terms the discount is much wider considering the underlying investments, which include holding companies and other closed end funds, which themselves trade at discounts to their implicit values. BTEM's manager, Asset Value Investors, noted in a recent IMS that the weighted average discount of the portfolio at 31 December 2012 was 25.9%. As such there is a discount on a discount here.

¢ We like many of the investments and themes at play within the portfolio currently and note for example the investment in Shun Tak as not only is this stock still deeply discounted but we like the fundamentals of Macau and the continued growth potential from development of the Cotai peninsula.

¢ We have also written in the past on Symphony International, a new position for BTEM. BTEM invested in Symphony in the deeply discounted rights issue and while we did not like the dilution for previous holders due price at which the rights issue was completed, the value in the underlying portfolio is compelling.

¢ We also covered BTEM yesterday due to the volatility of its largest shareholding, Vivendi. Portfolio company, Symphony Holdings has also continued to do well, releasing a strong set of results this week.

[davebowler] 26/2/2013 09:43

Investec;


British Empire (BTEM) Vivendi Up and then Down........

¢ Vivendi Universal is BTEMs largest shareholding, accounting for 10.4% of the net assets.

¢ Its results released this morning saw it beat analysts' estimates, with sales coming in above expectations (€29bn vs.e.€28.5bn). The overall 2012 adjusted net income was however, down 14% yoy to €2.55bn.

¢ The share price was up over 3% yesterday before the results were announced, while the stock is down c.3% this morning. This might be in part due to the market reaction Italian election results but also seems to be in part due to disappointment over a lack of detail from Vivendi over any realisations or restructuring.

¢ Continued interest in the stock is coming from the speculation that the constituent parts of Vivendi will be sold off to help realise value. In the results it was noted that an "ongoing strategic review will define precisely, and as and when appropriate, the right paths to increase the group's overall value and to best serve shareholder interests." This said, no concrete details were provided.

¢ Analysts have identified that breaking up the group or selling specific companies within Vivendi's portfolio could realise significant value for investors, and this could provide a large uplift for BTEM's NAV.

Investec Insight:

¢ BTEM has seen its performance boosted over the past few months by a narrowing in the discount of its underlying holdings as the market rally has improved investor sentiment.

¢ The same picture has been seen with BTEM's discount, which has narrowed from -14% in November, to the current discount of -10%.

¢ We believe further price outperformance will in part depend on continued positive investor sentiment, otherwise we could again see the discount widening, both in BTEM and its underlying holdings. This said, any positive moves by Vivendi to realise value in its underlying portfolio should help market sentiment toward BTEM and see a continued narrowing in discount.

¢ NAV performance from BTEM has seen its NAV outperform the FTSE World over the 1 year and six months, while it has lagged over the longer 3 year and 5 year horizons. The TER of the fund remains low at 0.75% and gearing is essentially flat.

¢ We view BTEM as part play on successful corporate action, and part play on a continuing narrowing of discounts in the underlying.

[rambutan2] 22/2/2013 00:27

Re above last sentence, picked up another 10m at $0.68 (spread on 19th was 0.69-0.71)...

[davebowler] 22/1/2013 09:27

Investec;
Very strong performance for BTEM over Q4 2012 with TR NAV up 7.9% compared to MSCI World up 2.0% during the period.

¢ Vivendi, the largest position in the portfolio, was a significant contributor to the outperformance over the period. It is likely that one or more businesses will be sold and this should lead to a reduction in the discount. Orkla was another important contributor to returns. In Asia, Shun Tak, the Macau focussed gaming and property developer began to re-rate as the prospect of permission being granted for its Cotai development property came closer to reality.

¢ During the quarter notable new investments include: ASM, Symphony International, Kinnevik and Dundee Corp.

¢ BTEM reduced its commodity exposure by selling Sherritt and by taking profits in Amerisur after the stock had performed strongly on the back of an encouraging oil production update. BTEM also sold out of Japanese holdings in Showa Aircraft and Daidoh.

Investec Insight:

¢ BTEM shares trade on a 9.4% discount to NAV however in real terms the discount is much wider considering the underlying investments, which include holding companies and other closed end funds, themselves may be trading at discounts to their implicit values. BTEM's managers, Asset Value Investors, note that the weighted average discount of the portfolio at 31 December 2012 was 25.9%, having narrowed from 30.2% at end of September 2012.

¢ We like many of the investments and themes at play within the portfolio currently and note for example the investment in Shun Tak as not only is this stock still deeply discounted but we like the fundamentals of Macau and the continued growth potential from development of the Cotai peninsula. We have also written in the past on Symphony International, a new position for BTEM, and while we did not like the nature or price at which the deeply discounted rights issue was completed, the value in the underlying portfolio is compelling.

[northernlass] 08/5/2012 04:42

Very Strong Track Record

British Empire Investment Trust (BTEM.L) Discount to NAV

British Empire Investment Trust has been added to my portfolio because it is uniquely positioned amongst funds at the crossroads of a number of themes that appeal to me.

- Discount to NAV

- Owner Operated Businesses

- Strong Track Record

- European Equities

- No Sell-side coverage/ Institutional Sponsorship

- Concentrated Portfolio

The British Empire Investment Trust managers believe that their edge is maintained by keeping a very small investable universe relative to most of their "Global" investing peers. They focus on conglomerates, investment holding companies, asset backed investments or investment trusts trading at a discount to their own NAV. They think that this area of the market is particularly susceptible to inefficiencies and mispricing because their universe doesn't possess any "natural owners" in the institutional world and often the stocks are quite hard to categorize or pigeonhole into sectors.

Read this informative article in full, here:



Also,

Here's a couple of links about SCLP, one of the hottest stocks at the moment:

[babylon3] 28/4/2010 12:58

Thanks for the comments - useful in my own deliberations.