Low volume days and buybacks would on paper mean an appreciating share price. Not sure on the mechanics of that though, however sounds reasonable to assume. |
Ticking back up !! |
I believe the suggested date is in March. |
Does anyone know when the court case is going to take place? |
Don't think Metro bank is much to worry about, they lend off their own balance sheet so totally different business model and risk profile to FCH which is a platform facilitator of loans. |
Has there been another article? |
Metro bank is moving into FCH space,see Metro banks last statement. |
Even though the court case seems to be in favour of the company, there seems to be so much media speculation based on "what if's" rather than knowledge of what FCH does, I sold out first thing.
I'll wait until the case is settled and then see what the future brings.
GLA to current holders. |
Being able to buy at 92/93 for an hour after the RNS was as close to a sure thing as you will ever seeThat said, the company is pretty opaque. Richard Staveley of Rock wood communicates the business model much more clearly than FCH manage |
I saw some frankly ignorant discussion on Stockopedia on the day after the news article was published, i.e. the day of the price action. Some investors struggle with reading comprehension it seems. |
Well spotted Edmate, thanks. |
 An ‘overreaction’ to a court case has opened up ‘more value’ at Funding Circle (FCH), according to Deutsche Bank.
Analyst Robert Noble reiterated his ‘buy’ recommendation and target price of 180p on the lending platform for small and medium-sized businesses, which was trading up 3.8% at 109.5p on Wednesday.
This follows a 16% fall earlier in the week after it was announced the High Court will hear Azzurro Associates’ claims that issues in Funding Circle’s documents and processes left the debt buyer unable to pursue small business owners over personal guarantees.
‘The case does not challenge the fact that the loans are valid, that the loan agreement was breached, nor that the personal guarantee is valid,’ said Noble.
‘As such, the negative share price reaction on the news looks overdone and we reiterate our “buy” recommendation on the stock.’
He said the sell-off was mostly due to the more than 300% increase in the share price in the last 12 months rather than the risk from the court case.
‘We see a further 70% upside [to the close post the 16% fall]…and see no reason to adjust our price target.’ |
Regarding the court case, it must be about privity of contract - where to take action under a contract you have to be a party to it.
To transfer rights, all parties need to agree or be notified and that is perhaps where it went wrong. The UK has centuries of legal precedent on contract law and I find it hard to believe the lawyers got it wrong. We'll find out in March I guess. |
Nah, there was some profit taking towards the close. 350k shares bought today, which is higher than the entire volume on Friday, so the buyback will mop up over the next few days. I see from the trades report quite a few £250k deal, none of which seemed to disturb the price. |
Edging up quietly in the final hour. 4:25pm EDIT: Or maybe not! |
It seems to be clear that the documentation at fault is between FCH and Azzurro. FCH appears to say there is no problem with the documentation between them and the borrower and guarantor. For what it's worth I would have thought it would be easier to assign the debt back to FCH, if indeed it is necessary, and let FCH sue the guarantor.
As Azzurro is owned by a US hedge fund, perhaps they are looking for a deal. There is of course no question of them shorting FCH. |
Seems they thought they had got shot of a worry, seems they might not have. |
Great, let's hope the lunch time snooze, is followed by some more buyers to push this back into the blue! GLA and DYOR |
Took a punt at 93p Fibonacci (61.8%) sitting at around £126 retracement ! |
If debt can't be sold to another party then that is a trillion dollar issue for the entire financial system. A personal guarantee is just a form of security. |
But if successful it will be between AZ and FCH to sort. FCH could claim AZ took on the loans and responsibilities for those loans. Which would be fair no? |
Short attack gone wrong. Fighting to cover Back to 1.30 |
 Yes, it is a test case.
The case referenced involves a summary judgment (a legal ruling without a full trial) concerning two defaulted loans from March 2020 that were sold to Azzurro.
In that interim ruling, Judge Terrence Phillips said the two guarantors had a “real prospect of success” in establishing that money they had personally guaranteed was not payable to either Azzurro or Funding Circle due to alleged issues with documentation and processes. The implication is that the problem only affects those loans that were sold; not those that exists on FCH books.
Subsequently Azzurro have elected to go for a full trial. Should Azzurro fail then the implication is that this could have significant effect on FCH and the industry.
This case is pivotal because it challenges the legal foundations of debt assignments and the enforceability of personal guarantees, which are common in business lending. A ruling in favour of the guarantors could set a precedent impacting how debt portfolios are transferred between financial institutions.
FCH also said to be confident that even if any issues with its processes were to be established at the Azzurro trial, it would be able to resolve them. However they are not indicating how or what their potential liabilities is in so doing.
Most of these loans were transferred around 2020/2021 so they may have been taken out a year or more before then. My understanding is that most loans from FCH are for a 6 month to 5 year period. So I would have thought that the majority of these 'bad' loans have subsequently been settled.
Prelim results are likely to be issued in early March so expect more commentary from the company then. |
140k buys x 2 and still they trying to drop it |
good point, let's hope so. £1.10 next stop, then hopefully blue end of the day...DYOR....well done all those that called it in low 90s....DYOR |