Gli Finance Share Discussion Threads

[makinbuks] 29/4/2019 12:58

I believe Somerston will get their cash 30th June

[makinbuks] 16/4/2019 14:19

I've lost track of the complexities of this business, but if Somerston sell 11m shares in SSIF as was supposed to have happened by 31st March does any of that find its way back here?

[makinbuks] 25/3/2019 12:41

Completely agree fenners, breathtaking! Plus they halve their valuation of the platforms again blaming everyone but themselves. And yet pump another £2m+ into them

[fenners66] 25/3/2019 10:21

"operating profit before credit losses at GBP0.75m (2017: GBP0.1m) and operating losses for the year at GBP2.3m"

This is a credit lending business - so this operating profit is meaningless .

More spin and rubbish.

Bit like making an operating profit on selling sandwiches - before bread costs....

And if they say some of the credit losses are down to adopting Accounting Standards - more BS they are there for a reason same as everyone else.
IF you have enough collateral and none of the lendings need to be moved down the provision spectrum then credit charges are not necessary.

What a MESS!

[fred187] 11/2/2019 11:40

Because the RNS says: "The Directors wish to advise of the following share dealings by members of the Company's senior management team receiving ordinary shares in the capital of the Company in connection with the 2018 year-end bonus payments:"

And as others have mentioned on this string, the company has in past as part of its discretionary annual bonus scheme paid directors bonuses typically half in shares. See last years annual report. Shares are awarded from Treasury shares hence reason they do not show in trading. Non-Executives have purchases shares in the past but these often equate or are less than their directors fees.

[cerrito] 10/2/2019 13:37

fred187
ref your comment that they are bonus payments.
I have to say I found both the transactions and the RNS wording rather odd and I have just checked the LSE website and they say Friday share trading in GLIF was 764k ie less than the amount of shares referenced in the RNS.
That said as a matter of interest why do you think they were part of the bonus payment?

[james188] 08/2/2019 19:59

I highly doubt that the director purchases were a share price support operation. There are very few PIs left and most of the stock is with instis and family offices - most conspicuously Somerston. It is a special situation that could go either way. The judgement call is how much ongoing financial support to provide for the FTV division from the Sancus BMS division - i.e. is it good money after bad or is there any value at all left in FTV?

[fred187] 08/2/2019 19:49

The shares are part of the bonus plan where a % must be taken in shares. They are not investing their own money into the business. These are shares given to them as part of their compensation bonus arrangements.

[mad foetus] 08/2/2019 19:40

This business was set up by John Davey who was CEO at Spearpoint (later Brooks Macdonald) and his modus operandi was using client assets to underwrite dodgy IPOs: Squarestone, NCCL, Origo, Invista etc. It is unfortunate but not surprising that this, like everything else he has been involved with, has ended up with him being the only one who makes money

[cerrito] 08/2/2019 18:30

yes of course good that the three bought such large amounts but one wonders at their business judgement that they paid such a high price and did not foresee the price would fall so much. Indeed one wonders without them spending £225k between them what the price would have ended up at.
Given market conditions their comments on their fintech investments should come as no surprise but their £1.1m bad loan was rather a surprise.
Good to see such strong revenue growth and too bad no comment on profits, in light of their plans to become profitable by year end.
A good case could be made for buying more at this price; I myself do not see myself buying more as I have very little feel for who they are. True they publish good financial report but for me they have not followed through on their 2018 aspiration to improve stakeholder communications. Actually, their shareholder register is not bad and includes Investec, Axa and Artemis.
Well done to those who sold first thing.

[bluemango] 08/2/2019 17:05

Director buys reported after market close. 3 directors including CEO Andy Whelan.

Not insignificant amounts, either.

[kenny] 05/10/2018 18:53

Gary - good luck with all your investments. I am sticking with RAVP because of the tax advantages of their scrip dividends.

[garycook] 04/10/2018 03:04

Kenny,Thanks again for advising me to sell out of GLIF at 15p.Should have sold sooner in the 20,s.Also sold out of RAVP at 147p,for better growth stocks eg PSN,now yielding 10%.

[kenny] 03/10/2018 16:12

Read post 652 above and make your own judgement.

[makinbuks] 28/9/2018 17:25

Is the provisioning on their lending book "admirable" or optimistic?

[skinny] 24/9/2018 07:36

Liberum Capital Buy 8.50 16.30 17.20 Upgrades

[skinny] 24/9/2018 07:35

HIGHLIGHTS



Group Highlights

· Group revenue increased by 26% to £7.2m (June 2017: £5.7m).

· Significant improvement in net operating profit to £1.1m (2017: loss of £0.5m) driven by strong revenue growth and continuing cost discipline.

· FinTech Ventures portfolio valued at £23.9m, (Dec 2017: £29.6m) following revaluation.

· Group Net Asset Value ("NAV") is £64.1m (Dec 2017: £74.8m).

· In accordance with the Group's stated policy of paying dividends out of net cash generation, no dividend will be declared for the period. The Group remains committed to recommence dividends as soon as practical.

· Post period end, £7m of cash received from the sale of BMS Irish assets which can be deployed within the Group and be used to acquire more ZDPs.

Sancus BMS Highlights

· Strong performance by the Sancus businesses.

· Revenue growth of 42%, excluding The SQN Secured Income Fund ("SSIF") dividends.

· Net operating profit up 193% to £1.9m (June 2017: £0.7m).

· 12% growth in managed loan book to £246m with actual loss rate of under 0.5% reflecting strong underwriting controls.

· The special purpose lending vehicle established in January 2018 with a £50m lending capacity, backed by a £45m credit facility with Honeycomb Investment Trust plc ("HIT") is proving a success. £22.9m had been drawn as at 30 June 2018.

· Improved performance by Sancus Finance and Sancus Funding (together to be referred to as "Sancus UK") with operating loss reduced by £0.3m to £0.5m. Sancus Finance performance was behind forecasts for the first half of the year but targeted break-even by the end of 2018. The regulated business will commence property backed lending before the end of the year.

· With Sancus Finance having performed below target for the period and being integrated with Sancus Funding into one Sancus UK business, goodwill of £2.1m relating to Sancus Finance has been written off.

FinTech Ventures Highlights

· The carrying value of FinTech Ventures portfolio is £23.9m (£29.6m at 31 December 2017).

· NAV per share for FinTech Ventures portfolio 8.6 pence (31 December 2017:10.0 pence).

· The write down in the period of £8.3m includes a £4.1m write down in one of our prioritised platforms. The platform is close to finalising a significant investment from third parties which will result in a painful dilution of our holding. Whilst clearly disappointing to take a large write down, this new investment will help to ensure and accelerate the long-term prospects of the platform.

· 29% increase in loan origination across the portfolio companies compared to prior year.

· Three platforms have successfully raised new equity from third parties during the period. Several of the others are looking to raise equity over the next twelve months and we have conservatively approached the valuation of those platforms with this in mind.

· Further investment of £2.2m made in four platform companies during the period, primarily in the form of convertible loan notes.

Andy Whelan, Chief Executive Officer commented:

"The Group has seen good progress during the first half of 2018, improving revenue, successfully securing a new funding line and reducing costs across the business.
We are pleased that Sancus BMS, the key operating unit within the Group, has delivered some strong results during the six-month period. The lending businesses that comprise Sancus BMS are strong, well managed, and have the ability to deliver a very attractive return on capital. We were delighted to have secured the £45m credit facility from HIT announced in January 2018 and this has helped us significantly grow the loan book. The new management team in the UK is making excellent progress in integrating the businesses, and delivering synergies. Whilst Sancus Finance's loan book has grown materially since last year, it has fallen short of where we had hoped it would be at this time.

We are very disappointed to have had to take a further material write down on the FinTech Ventures portfolio. Whilst FinTech as a sector continues to grow strongly, increased competition is making it increasingly difficult for smaller players, particularly those that are loss making, to raise further equity. Given the plethora of investment opportunities, investors are often able to negotiate favourable terms. With competing demands for our capital, we often haven't been able to follow our money, and this has resulted in situations where we have been significantly diluted. Several of our platforms are looking to raise equity over the next twelve months, and given our conservative approach to valuations, we believe there is upside potential if these raises are successful."

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of EU Regulation 596/2014.

[james188] 12/9/2018 15:31

Cerrito, You will have seen that Augmentum have also been pretty active of late. The problem with the previous CEO’s strategy was that much of what was acquired - both debt and equity positions - proved to be overpriced rubbish or totally worthless and so there was massive damage to the balance sheet, coupled with completely misleading NAV statements, particularly in late 2015, which was an awful period for the company. As to information now and treatment of retail investors, I have always found the company very helpful, but there is a lot to digest as the lending business expands whilst they try extract some value from the various equity positions, which are housed separately. You might try the Sancus Finance website for some further information. Ditto the Liberum broker notes which I guess will be updated after the interims are out. I think the vast majority of PIs have probably exited stage left and so the main focus is likely to be on the institutions, family offices and the like. It explains why this board is extremely quiet of late.

[cerrito] 12/9/2018 14:56

For my sins I have a few of these left over from the glory CLO days.
Reading about Funding Circle and other Fintech developments shows that Mr Miller's instincts were right however optimistic was his execution; it seems I was wrong not to sell out of these earlier.
For someone like me we are in a place where they see no need to go after retail investors so there is little PR and they are happy to remain in their comfort zone- though that said I am happier now than in the past with their financial disclosure.
Need to read the Interims and see what I should do.

[bluemango] 07/8/2018 11:11

Similar pattern to June announcement, now Antler Investments (registered in British Virgin islands) takes 5% stake.

[makinbuks] 27/6/2018 18:39

Jesey registered I see. No surprise

[makinbuks] 27/6/2018 18:37

Any idea who they are or why?

[bluemango] 20/6/2018 15:33

DBH Global Holdings declare a 5% shareholding, 15,603,285 shares.