Burford Capital Share Discussion Threads

[hatfullofsky] 07/8/2019 18:12

Jefferies held its Buy rating on the stock with a 2,400p price target.

[bbmsionlypostafter] 07/8/2019 17:55

When do MW fire the second barrel? Tomorrow or when this has gone up a bit more?

[johnymakesit] 07/8/2019 17:06

Principals to buy stock





Burford Capital Limited Report Critique Meritless, Principals to Buy Stock
07/08/2019 3:30pm
UK Regulatory (RNS & others)

Burford Capital (LSE:BUR)
Intraday Stock Chart
Today : Wednesday 7 August 2019

Click Here for more Burford Capital Charts.
TIDMBUR

RNS Number : 2980I

Burford Capital Limited

07 August 2019

7 August 2019

REPORT'S CRITICISMS WITHOUT MERIT AND

BURFORD PRINCIPALS TO PURCHASE SHARES

The Board of Burford Capital Limited ("Burford" or the "Company") takes note of the short attack report issued this morning by Muddy Waters, a firm known for such tactics, and believes that the report's criticisms are without merit. Burford will issue a detailed response to the report as soon as practicable and, following that detailed response, will also convene an investor conference call, as to which participation details will be provided in due

[johnymakesit] 07/8/2019 17:04

It spiked as short orders were being worked on. 2 lots of 2m +400K, multiple 150K

That RNS saying they will release a statement and also buy gonna spike the share price back to 1000p+ possibly.

[brexitplus] 07/8/2019 17:00

Jefferies

“We would expect the company’s response to provide further information relating to individual investment return reporting, and to deal with the points in the report in greater detail. This should allow investors to assess the most important parts of the short argument better.

“Where Burford can most obviously make changes is, we believe, in governance and communication. We have long said that some form of guidance or quarterly updates could be given and we think these combined could go a long way towards removing uncertainty, particularly given that the company has no scheduled market communications between now and March next year.”

[datait2019] 07/8/2019 16:59

Really wardy.......wow just wow I can sleep better knowing that

[wardy333] 07/8/2019 16:58

ii told me this morning there was a 30 minute wait for trades to get worked.

[ilostthelot] 07/8/2019 16:55

I've taken a small punt at £6.

[datait2019] 07/8/2019 16:55

Well done wardy for that utterly useless bit of info

[wardy333] 07/8/2019 16:53

Did a few trades with ii and another broker, at times it was hard to buy , when rising easy to sell though.

[mastermatto] 07/8/2019 16:51

Side question to you day traders: are you are all using spreadbets? I found it extremely hard to pick up any stock today.

[williamcooper104] 07/8/2019 16:51

It's not the GW analysis Totally different point re Fair Value accounting

[brexitplus] 07/8/2019 16:50

Surely that depends on their response.

[williamcooper104] 07/8/2019 16:48

As in investment commitments need to be funded and they will not be able to tap up the bond market after today

[showme01] 07/8/2019 16:45

2x 2 million sells reported. Shorts closing?

[jakeah1174] 07/8/2019 16:44

Just rewatched the Bloomberg video. Block’s body language was awful as he floundered to try to explain his arguments towards the end. His hands were all over the place. He clearly had to do a good job of fronting it as he stood to make a fortune from this escapade.

[tsmith2] 07/8/2019 16:42

3 x 2mn trades!

[darius12] 07/8/2019 16:39

Whatever the outlook for the long term (we don't really care) shorters are likely to get burnt here tomorrow.

[brexitplus] 07/8/2019 16:39

MW has jumped on the false CG analysis and is using Woodford’s very weak position to push down the share price and try to make him a forced seller. Woodford is the weak link here.

Every set of figures can be interpreted to advantage, either good or bad, by selective choice of info. MW has chosen the latter.

It will be interesting to see the Burford response as top litigation lawyers.

[tsmith2] 07/8/2019 16:37

You do get a sense that we could have a huge rally tomorrow

[showme01] 07/8/2019 16:37

I've got no problems. Over £5k up on a day trade :-)))

[tsmith2] 07/8/2019 16:37

That would be very amateurish if that was the case

[chimers] 07/8/2019 16:36

Fallen star investor Neil Woodford's funds and his protégé; Mark Barnett's Invesco together hold about 23% of Burford's shares. Burford is the second-largest holding in the suspended Woodford Equity Income fund, and third-largest holding in both the Invesco High Income and Invesco Income funds.

Block, who also runs the hedge fund Muddy Waters Capital, flagged five key concerns about Burford in its report.

1) Burford's preferred performance metrics — return on invested capital and internal rate of return — are "heavily manipulated and greatly mislead investors about BUR's actual returns," Muddy Waters said. For example, Burford gives itself credit for recoveries when they may be uncertain or even highly unlikely, and ignores cases that are likely to be failures, the shortseller said. Burford's detailed investment data show that it has been "egregiously misrepresenting its ROIC and IRRs, as well as the state of its overall business," it added.

2) Burford "actively misleads investors about how its accounting for realized gains works," Muddy Waters said. Burford earns investment income from a mix of net realized gains and fair-value movements, but the vast majority of investors aren't aware net realized gains include previously recognized fair-value movements, the shortseller said. As a result, while Burford credited fair-value gains for about 55% of its total investment income in the first half of this year, Muddy Waters estimates they generated between 72% and 90%.

3) About 66% of Burford's net realized gains since 2012 have stemmed from just four cases, Muddy Waters said. One of those would have been a total loss but for a bailout from Burford's largest shareholder, Invesco. As a result, Burford's "broader portfolio lacks strength," the shortseller said.

4) Burford is at "high risk of financial stress" and "arguably insolvent," Muddy Waters said. The shortseller estimates its "real" invested capital to be around $880 million and its funded debt balance to be about $638 million, giving it a cushion of roughly $242 million. However, it pegs Burford's off-balance sheet commitments at $602 million, putting it about $360 million in the red, the firm said.

5) Burford has governance issues, Muddy Waters said. It has had five different finance heads in the past five years, and current CFO Elizabeth O'Connell is married to CEO Christopher Bogart. Its board members have also served for about 10 years, meaning they're no longer considered independent under the UK Governance Code, the firm said.