Crystal Amber Share Discussion Threads

[wbodger] 25/10/2023 09:34

Results out. No surprises (except ALM. Sam Dobbyn gone native?)

Requesting continuation into 2024 at what seem to be high management fees. 2023 fees £690,000 to be pro-rated over 12 months even though portfolio value is much reduced. Seems expensive. Should be £40,000 a month on the reduced Fund. There is also a bonus.

[wbodger] 24/10/2023 13:42

24/10/23 Post taken off with release of results.
(I'll put it back if relevant)

[feuille] 22/10/2023 23:34

if the NAV is nearly £1 per share , pay out now, stop hanging on for fees.

after 2 years, there is no fire sale, just my lost investment opportunites.

DLAR was £1.40 19 months ago ffs

[wbodger] 22/10/2023 13:00

From RNS 15/2/22 Posting Of Circular:

On 22 December 2021, the Fund provided an update following the results of its 2021 AGM where the resolution that the Company continue as constituted received a majority of votes, but did not achieve the required 75 per cent. majority of votes cast and accordingly was not passed.
…
As a result of the continuation vote not being passed, the Board believes that it is in the interests of Shareholders as a whole for the Fund to adopt a strategy of maximising capital returned to Shareholders by way of timely disposals, including trade sales of the Fund's strategic holdings, where appropriate. Such change of strategy is subject to Shareholder approval at the Extraordinary General Meeting.

The Fund has accumulated several strategic holdings: since 2013, the Fund has been a shareholder in Hurricane Energy plc (it currently has a 28.9 per cent. holding); since 2016, it has been a shareholder in Equals Group plc (it currently has a 13 per cent. holding); since 2017, it has been a shareholder in Allied Minds plc (it currently has an 18.2 per cent. holding); since 2018, it has been a shareholder in De La Rue plc (it currently has a 10 per cent. holding) and it has been a shareholder in Sutton Harbour plc for more than a decade (it currently has a 10.8 per cent. holding). Given the substantial progress achieved by the Fund with its activist strategy to date on these holdings, the Fund expects to have realised these investments by 31 December 2023. Within this timescale, the Fund also anticipates selling its holding in Board Intelligence plc, an unquoted company in which it has been a shareholder since 2018.

For the record the Fund now asserts that it only holds four named holdings:
-590 million residual Prax DCUs, currently traded in a Matched Bargain Facility which values them at about £11 million if they could find a buyer, but should be worth £35 million if Prax pay out the maximum;
-Listed DeLaRue shares that CA think should be worth £1.02/share in a takeover (60% more than trading Market Value, about £20 million);
-General Dynamics Debt Instrument, which last year they proposed to distribute in kind to Fund shareholders using the CRS listing, after divesting other holdings; and
-Allied Minds unlisted shares (value unknown).

There is also a cash balance, perhaps from the part of the Hurricane dividend that was not paid out in the 25 pence dividend.

Which of these four investments do you think could be realised in a fire sale?

The EGM when shareholders passed the Resolution to implement that was held on March 7 2022 less than 19 months ago. Less than two years on the only holdings not divested are ALM, DLAR and General Dynamics.

It is baffling what you think the Fund could do to get full value for those holdings that they are not doing?

[feuille] 20/10/2023 20:37

That is just today's date. There is no recent info.
Time to stop stringing this out. Nearly two years .......

[wbodger] 20/10/2023 19:30

Strategy and Performance update presented under today's date.

hxxps://crystalamber.com/about/majorholdings

[cousinit] 17/10/2023 11:10

UBG announced this morning that any potential transactions are at an early stage. It's almost 3 months since RB injected a small amount of equity to keep the lights on there for a bit longer.

I do wonder if that's intended to be CA related? (or son of CA). Coordinating any news with the results release might have been the intention.

[wbodger] 17/10/2023 09:56

I phoned them yesterday. I understood they were preparing to release the accounts for last reporting year within a few days. (I had to challenge a woolly answer, but clearly they are targeting this week.)

They confirmed my understanding that they have to submit accounts by the end of this month.

[feuille] 16/10/2023 20:12

99.7 NAV end Sept.

[feuille] 10/10/2023 22:50

tumbleweed

[wbodger] 04/10/2023 16:45

End-August NAV 95.8 compares to End-July of 92.6. That will not include recent cash payment of £1.82 million on the Prax DCUs, which was paid at the end of September (worth another 2.18 per CRS share).

[feuille] 29/9/2023 17:27

Time to return to shareholders.

[wbodger] 20/9/2023 15:01

End-July NAV 92.6 pence, on CA website.

[feuille] 04/9/2023 14:37

I don't have a short , I wish to realise the current NAV.

[wbodger] 04/9/2023 14:35

There is no need for a fire sale. Wait for the half year results and meanwhile close your short if you have one. I expect an NAV over £1 when the end-August number is announced.

[feuille] 04/9/2023 14:29

High time to return £1 per share by the end of 2023 and wind up.

[wbodger] 04/9/2023 13:54

Isn't selling Hurricane and EQLS, and delisting ALM (which would have had no value if it had remained listed) running down?

They stuck to the announced plan and told us they would update on the wind up in the second half of 2023. I'm waiting to see what else they will do, in the half-year results which should be presented this month.

I calculate risking £3 million more on De La Rue will have gained them £11 million in extra NAV. I also expect the news on the De La Rue pension plan will be good, so CRS estimated NAV should go up. (I have no quarrel with eking out the De La Rue position because selling out when the share price fell to 30 pence would have been stupid.)

(Sorry I misunderstood your post.)

[feuille] 01/9/2023 20:03

Obviously not. This is supposed be in run-down , not eke out.

[wbodger] 01/9/2023 18:52

#777 obviously posted on wrong board.

[feuille] 30/8/2023 17:04

Running out of patience with this.
It is just being strung out for as long as possible.

[wbodger] 30/8/2023 16:04

NAV at 30/6/23: 93.3 pence per share after the 25 pence distribution in June. (On Crystal Amber website.)

Should get (first) £1.59 million half-yearly distribution from Prax DCUs at the end of September (about 1.9 pence per CRS share) as long as Hurricane division of Prax generates tax-relieved profits.

[dealoftheday] 04/7/2023 15:31

Obviously RB thought the results were sound enough....

[wbodger] 29/6/2023 08:15

DLAR results should be well received. Sombre but realistic with a glimpse of sunny uplands. Well out of Portals contract now and Poly might have good prospects.

[dealoftheday] 28/6/2023 15:15

Fair point on waiting till tomorrows results... My 1st time investing in a fund but been watching CRS for last 2/3 years whilst invested in Hur.