Castelnau Share Discussion Threads

[chairman20] 15/2/2012 19:44

just holding above the December high
-I'd say the jury was still out about the trend

[timtom2] 15/2/2012 19:26

Uptrend still intact - at the moment.

[pip_uk] 15/2/2012 13:52

One to have and hold to get full value I think.
Nice divi though.

[chairman20] 15/2/2012 13:37

a philiosopher

ex div predictably ...

Its still a good looker - sorta

[timtom2] 14/2/2012 11:09

RB - normally options are exercised and re-sold the same day so their is no need for the holder to put his hand in his pocket to pay for them. The sale proceeds pay for the options. Options are not free - they have to be paid for at the exercise price.

If you exercise and don't sell the same day you have to find the full excercise price in cash to pay for them. You then end up with stcok in the company, on top of any other stock you may already own, a reduced cash balance & increased exposure to the company that also pays your wages and gives you bonusses. This is not good risk planning - typically.

This was a good strategy in dot come days in dot com companies - although extremely risky with hindsight.

Nowadays its normall exercise-sell same day with a single notification.

Excercise (pay for) and sell a while later is a ringing bell for the top of the stock ie) we now see the perfect time to sell but didn't before. That can indicate a time for other investors to exercise even more caution.

What they have done makes perfect sense, reduces risk & gives maximum flexibility. It can also encourage them to do it again - pushing the company forward for the next wad of options money on increased share price

Good luck to them.

As for your buying/selling - good luck - but don't be so sensitive.

[chairman20] 13/2/2012 22:56

reduced to looking for the slightest slips of (non) information here

'Tis a pity she's a ....

[richardbroughton] 13/2/2012 21:47

whelean, why not? Because they wouldn't sell £800K today if they thought it was going to be £1.2M tomorrow, would they? surely they will also lose a very handy divi. Always concerns me when Directors unload large amounts. As you say 'This is one business where the insiders know exactly what is going on long before it is reported.' No knowledge but £20M probably a drop in the ocean to SC.

[timtom2] 13/2/2012 21:47

No reason to sell that I can see and big money took ositions prior to the most recent run-up. Selling of options - no big deal in this case. Taking some money off the table when the price wil not suffer much as a consequence as price well supported by earnings.

[whealan] 13/2/2012 17:26

Some big trades going through this pm and announced that 2 directors(?) had sold vested option shares of about £800000 each (why not?) although SC has kept his 1m shares for a total shareholding of over £20m and still substantial for the others. I would only be concerned if SC started ditching a material amount but he appears to show no current inclination to do so. This is one business where the insiders know exactly what is going on long before it is reported.

[richardbroughton] 13/2/2012 13:31

MM's games, tree shake, as whealan says, be surprised if it's not back to square one or close by end of day although the Yanks may upset things. I topped up for div, this am and they tried to shake me out, unsuccessfully.

[brain smiley] 13/2/2012 13:26

19p dividend on Wednesday - surprised Catlin is falling back.

[whealan] 13/2/2012 13:09

Walked down by the MMs on tiny trades. What's the betting it will walk up again. Just a game?

[brain smiley] 13/2/2012 11:58

someone knows something..dropping away

[pillion] 10/2/2012 21:52

You should be OK to buy on Monday for divi

....will be paid on 16 March 2012 to shareholders of record at the close of business on 17 February 2012

Might top up myself as well

[tom5boy] 10/2/2012 20:55

Can anyone advise if shares are bought Monday will they be eligible for dividend?

New to this.

Thanks in advance.

[timtom2] 10/2/2012 11:15

Feels good. Good luck to all that added in the Sept/Oct trough 2011 -- divi well worth it. A buy and hold from those levels.

[brain smiley] 10/2/2012 10:46

For what it's worth,broker talk today.



Catlin: UBS ups target from 498p to 572p, buy rating unchanged; Nomura ups target from 462p to 506p, neutral rating kept.

[stevemarkus] 10/2/2012 10:17

Thanks for the correction on the combined ratio, jgold. Must be getting senile....

Cheers,
Steve

[brain smiley] 09/2/2012 15:57

Adds CEO comment from first paragraph.)

Feb. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Catlin Group Ltd., the second-biggest Lloyd's of London insurer by market value, said premium rates for property catastrophe policies will rise by more than 17 percent this year as insurers try to recoup last year's losses.

"By the time we get to the end of the year it wouldn't surprise me that the average weighted premiums in property cat exceeds 17 percent, ahead of what we achieved in January," Chief Executive Officer Stephen Catlin said in a telephone interview today.

Earthquakes in Japan and New Zealand, windstorms in the U.S. and flooding in Thailand cost insurers about $105 billion last year, making it the industry's most expensive year on record, surpassing the $101 billion paid out in 2005, the year Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, according to Munich Re. Insurers typically seek to raise prices to make up for losses following a costly claims period.

U.S. property treaty reinsurance rates increased 17 percent in January, when most policies are renewed, and international property premiums rose 12 percent, the Hamilton, Bermuda-based firm said in a statement today. The firm's average premium increase of 5 percent exceeded the 4 percent rise posted by Lloyd's competitor Amlin Plc this week.

Catlin said full-year pretax profit fell to $71 million from $406 million the previous year. That beat the $24.5 million median estimate of 17 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

"The underlying business looks strong," James Shuck, a London-based analyst at Jefferies International Ltd. with a "buy" rating on the stock, wrote in a note to clients today. The firm's "reinsurance program worked well in the second half of the year, differentiating Catlin from peers."

The stock rose 3.6 percent to 441.7 pence at 10:31 a.m. in London trading, valuing the firm at about 1.6 billion pounds