Gcp Infrastructure Inves... Share Discussion Threads

[spoole5] 26/5/2023 16:46

GCP Infra today announces that pursuant to the general authority granted by shareholders of the Company at the annual general meeting on 15 February 2023 to make market purchases of its own ordinary shares, it repurchased 250,000 ordinary shares at a weighted average price of 82.20 pence per share, to be held in treasury, on 26 May 2023

[spectoacc] 26/5/2023 16:28

Nowhere near having used the £15m - by my calc? First day without one yesterday.

[spoole5] 26/5/2023 16:25

Wonder why they've stopped buying back

[donald pond] 26/5/2023 09:33

I know Phil Kent well and he is very conscientious. The recent news on refinancing and locking in power prices was very positive. Part of the problem may be that many of the institutions invested here are income funds and so they are getting redemptions due to the risk free return elsewhere. But there is clear value here for the patient

[stewart64] 26/5/2023 09:18

I don't think you can lay any of this apparent undervaluation at the door of current management. They are the victims of outside forces (an inflation shock), you can safely lock cash at 5% now with an FSA guarantee and base rates look headed for 5.5%. I'm sure it's overdone, I did sell out prior to ex dividend as my faith in Cenral Bankers plummeted to an all time low. Now it's dawned on most investors that the BOE has been run by a bunch of imbeciles these last three years.

[donald pond] 26/5/2023 08:56

The yield is now 8.5%, discount over 25%, and there is no reason to think there is any problem at underlying asset level. Gravis seem to have problems with GABI and with Phil Kent running both I think he is spread too thin. Orix took a sizeable stake in Gravis a couple of years ago and are sending in support but it can't come soon enough.

[stewart64] 25/5/2023 16:43

This is the Market reaction I expected following the BOE inflation report that came out on ex dividend day ( the price then was 90p) I mistakenly ascribed the small drop to that report. The amazing thing is Bond proxies were unmoved even though the writing was on the wall and I said as much on that day. Thw report was sugared coated by BOE as always and misled the Market, nobody in their wildest dreams could have guessed then that Core inflation was going to come in at a 6.8% shocker a week later. Paraphrasing the Ripper regarding wall writings....Bailey is the man that will not be blamed for nothing

[spoole5] 25/5/2023 15:40

No point lending anymore with the shares on a 25% discount, may as well use the capital to buy back.

[williamcooper104] 25/5/2023 09:52

Yep; high end resi can be done by smaller house builders/and individuals but increasingly no one can compete with the volume house builders - they can build c£20 cheaper than anyone else - which on a £300 psf end value is massive Of course the cost of that is identikit housing estates across the country

[spectoacc] 25/5/2023 09:41

Guess it certainly is for RPI, but not for recent/current inflation. Also interesting inflation generally low when house prices are rampant, and housing lower when inflation rampant. But that's interest rates of course.

On a side note, it's very difficult to build cheaply now, irrespective of land cost - probably why only the volume housebuilders are able to do it successfully. Materials/skilled labour costs are through the roof (no pun intended).

[hpcg] 25/5/2023 09:34

Spec - energy pricing is volatile and thus a high frequency component of inflation. Shelter is an underlying low frequency permanent upward drift.

[spectoacc] 25/5/2023 09:06

Food prices were up 19.1% annualised, I'd question whether shelter is the driver of inflation.

Energy cost is the key driver of pretty much everything - it's the main input to growth.

The way out of the current mess is productivity, but good luck with that. Halving the size of the state would be a start. Again - good luck.

Student accommodation has definitely helped ease housing pressure around here - whole suburbs had been given over to students, and now no longer the case - so the London accommodation seems a good idea.

But social housing also needs to be built again by councils - another sector that's taken over private sector houses.

[donald pond] 25/5/2023 08:54

There was a piece on you & yours on R4 yesterday about purpose built accommodation in London for professionals but on the student model: individual rooms with bed, fridge, microwave and en-suite but shared kitchens and communal areas. Those living there seemed to like it and the rent covered all bills and was comparable to student hall rents in LondonStruck me as a model that might have some legs. If governments would throw in some support it's the sort of thing Gravis would look at.

[hpcg] 25/5/2023 08:45

I was going to write this on the commercial property thread last night, but may as well here. It is shelter that drives inflation in this country because it is the main driver of wages and then the cost of other services. We'll have to build, not just family homes but also accommodation that pensioners will happily downsize into, and tax differently, much higher property taxes, lower income tax and remove VAT from services including energy, broadband and mobile telephony, all food, and most FMCG.

[spectoacc] 25/5/2023 06:56

Probably marginal in the scheme of things, but eg they paid 92.25p for 250k shares a fortnight ago.

Still think GCP looks interesting back down here.

[fordtin] 24/5/2023 17:31

“I think we did for the population nonsense :)”

QED 😦

[stewart64] 24/5/2023 17:30

Seem to remember the average was 85.1p...so they bought at the last bottom and then only 100,000 shares.

[spectoacc] 24/5/2023 16:56

I think we did for the population nonsense :)

Meanwhile - GCP's buyback perhaps not looking so clever. What was the highest price paid recently?

[fordtin] 24/5/2023 16:55

Ahh, fiat. Now we need to start a new thread.

[spectoacc] 24/5/2023 16:50

That it may be, but it's naff-all to do with population growth.

Your ire would be better directed at fiat money.

[fordtin] 24/5/2023 16:47

A minority of people get richer by increasing the population in the pursuit of GDP growth.
However, the majority of people get poorer as a consequence of associated reduction of GDP per capita.

The current economy is all about those who have, acquiring more. Those who have, don’t really give a sht about those who don’t.

[spectoacc] 24/5/2023 16:38

"...but we're barely at replacement rate and need more immigration, not less, if there's any hope of controlling inflation or filling the jobs most won't do."

With the level of debt - an ever-growing economy and ever-growing population (via immigration, below replacement rate in UK) is sadly the only way forward.

So I'd be intrigued to know your "solution" to that. Lower population kills the economy. You think it will concentrate assets more, but it actually concentrate debt & makes that debt much more difficult to service.

[fordtin] 24/5/2023 16:31

re “Population - not the thread to debate it”,

As I said previously, over-population is the elephant in the room. It is the root of all environmental issues nationally and globally.
GCP invest in environmental infrastructure as well as housing, but apparently the elephant should be ignored on this thread!

Google say's it's known as Pachydermophobia!

[spectoacc] 24/5/2023 16:17

There is no shortage of housing in this country, despite what everyone other than me says. There's a shortage in the right places, mostly difficult to solve.

Add more houses = add more households, and extra houses as investment.

[But to bring solutions instead - councils building again, it's a nobrainer when you look at the housing benefit bill.]

House prices are predominantly credit-led - the Spanish and Irish built like crazy during their insane boons. If borrowing is easy, who wouldn't want a 2nd (or 3rd) house.

Population - not the thread to debate it, but we're barely at replacement rate and need more immigration, not less, if there's any hope of controlling inflation or filling the jobs most won't do.

Agree on ZIRP points, and govnts using taxpayer cash to support the market - at what point does Help To Buy debt come home to roost for the taxpayer?

One final OT point - house prices are nowhere near back to the level they were just before Covid. Isn't that strange? Why should a gigantic blow-off top boom during Covid handouts (not least BBL's) not have been given back after this huge rise in interest rates?

(I think GCP's getting into buying territory - but only if it holds this previous low).

[hindsight] 24/5/2023 16:07

fordtin, I dont wish that on anyone either, but its already happening from the London young I speak to who were hoodwinked by Baileys ZIRP
As for house building, suggest you write to Gove who has pulled the need for Councils to meet 5 year targets