Henderson European Share Discussion Threads

[goonertone] 23/5/2006 17:17

Share Options

RNS Number:4560D
Home Entertainment Corporation PLC
23 May 2006

HOME ENTERTAINMENT CORPORATION PLC (the "Company")



23 May 2006



Share Options



The Company was informed today that Anthony Skitt has renounced 182,500 share
options, issued under The Home Entertainment Corporation PLC 2001 Executive
Share Option Scheme, with an exercise price range of between 168.5p and 222.5p
per share, exercisable in tranches between 24 October 2004 and 27 October 2013.
Anthony Skitt has been issued 300,000 new options over ordinary shares, issued
under the above Scheme, with an exercise price of 78.5 pence, exercisable
between 23 May 2009 and 23 May 2016. He now holds a total of 300,000 options
over the ordinary share capital of the Company.



Christopher White has renounced 37,500 share options, issued under The Home
Entertainment Corporation PLC 2001 Executive Share Option Scheme, with an
exercise price range of between 168.5p and 222.5p per share, exercisable in
tranches from 24 October 2004 to 27 October 2013. Christopher White has been
issued 100,000 new options over ordinary shares, issued under the above Scheme,
with an exercise price of 78.5 pence, exercisable between 23 May 2009 and 23 May
2016. He now holds a total of 100,000 options over the ordinary share capital
of the Company.







I would have liked the strike price to be a little higher but to make any meaningful money from these options they still need to get the shareprice well north of its current position.

GT

[jtcod] 22/5/2006 23:22

Sporticus
The company hasn't changed in the last week. Only the markets have changed.

HET is still way undervalued imo and I think it has held up pretty well over the last week compared to the oil sector for instance.

My experience in the past has been that stocks like HET (when bought at very low P/E's) have fallen less than their sector, on the drops and bounced higher when bargain hunter's have returned. Let's hope that trend continues.
JT

[sporticus] 22/5/2006 18:59

Something is very very wrong with this company and no news again.

JT Cod, Ive lost over 70% on this share. Stupid I may be, but I really believed in them. A few words of wisdom please.

[goonertone] 18/5/2006 08:07

Now thats what I call a spread

[jtcod] 16/5/2006 18:35

Cheers GT

So poster's to this thread still hold a decent slice of the free float.

Ask them if they have contemplated a marriage with AMU.;-)

[goonertone] 16/5/2006 18:05

Website has been updated.

Revised list shoes 87% which would seem to be more like it.

Got to give the company credit where its due. I emailed them out of the blue yesterday morning and by yesterday close they had corrected the calculation and today they have been out talking to the registrars and updated the website accordingly.

So what shall I ask them next :)

GT

[jtcod] 16/5/2006 09:14

The thing I like about the share spit is that the management can't get 90 % of the shares in issue with a silly offer via an MBO.

They would have to pay the going rate if they wanted to launch an MBO imo.

[goonertone] 15/5/2006 17:25

Just been advised that they are in contact with registrars and hope to have a definitive list on the website tomorrow.

GT

[goonertone] 15/5/2006 10:15

I emailed them first thing to point it out and also asked where the figures came from. I'll let you know if I hear anything back.

GT

[bletherer] 15/5/2006 10:01

They have now amended their "principal shareholders" list so that it adds up right - 93.3% total instead of the 96.3% they gave previously.

[knowing] 14/5/2006 23:47

There are quite a few out there such as;

IFM
RGM
AAIR
DCS

[jtcod] 14/5/2006 23:42

CHNS has 79.53 % tied up by directors.

I also hold 192,898 about 1 %


AMU has 72 % tied up, including directors holdings.

I also hold 218,570 about 1.25 %*

Edit 16/5/2006 now hold 236,697 (1.375%)

[jtcod] 14/5/2006 23:26

The figures must be wrong. It's obviously a very tight market but not that tight imo. It needs an audit. Could be that there is a 'duplicate', where they have shown individual holding but also shown it in a trust vehicle, which is quite common.

I notice now that the sneaky mm's eventually back-posted my 2nd purchase on the correct day and time:

10:24--(3/05)--80p--63432

Together with my original purchase: 09:19--(24/04)--65.5p--303500

I hold 366,932 shares

[goonertone] 14/5/2006 11:12

BB

I'm just to trusting!!

Bletherer

Based on our previous discussions on this matter I'm not sure there is any confidence in that 78% figure. Saying that based on BB's comment I'm not sure I have huge confidence in the current figure, although the date of 28/4/06 is very soon after the last RNS and these figures are included.

GT

[bent banana] 14/5/2006 10:48

% holdings on their web page add up to 93.29% not 96.3% not that it makes much difference.

[bletherer] 14/5/2006 10:47

GT - I don't think your theory fits the facts as the previous total of major holdings, as listed in late Jan, before Gyllenhammar started buying, was 78%; since then Gyllenhammar has added 18.72% and we now have a total of 96.3%. So very clearly the vast majority of his shares have NOT come from other major holders. This is what is so puzzling - it's as if the MMs magicked them out of thin air! At any rate I certainly agree with you that this makes them well worth holding on to for the time being. With a benign trading statement just past and a very friendly looking chart I can see nothing in the next few months that's likely to lead to a reversal, and even very modest amounts of buying could create a strong upward move.

[goonertone] 14/5/2006 09:06

Bletherer

He may have been accumulating for months before one of the bigger holders agreed to sell him a chunk thus catapulting him to his original 6.1%. Once it was known that there was a big buyer about it might have allowed some of the other big holders like the Chase nominees pension fund(name escapes me) to think that there was an exit for their large holding that hadn't been there before thus lots of behind the scenes transfers rather than open market buying.

All supposition and guesswork. All I know is that at a guess the posters on this messageboard other than JTC probaly make up 50% at least of the free float. Therefore if everbody has a don't sell philosophy then small amounts of buying could work miracles the reverse is also true but can't see an argument for selling at the moment now that I know that any pullbacks are more than likely just one PI selling up for whatever reason.

GT

[bletherer] 14/5/2006 08:48

Thanks, GT. So the mystery is finally solved - in part. But I am still trying to get my head round why in this case Gyllenhammar's buying did not ramp up the share price far more than it has so far as the other big holders held on. Are we to understand then that MMs were sitting on millions of these things waiting in hope for someone to come along and take them off their hands? I'm also intrigued as to what happens in a situation like this if Gyllenhammar says to his broker that he wants another 500,000 shares, which would seem quite possible given the appetite he's shown for them so far. Does the price then not spike up dramatically? There may be a simple answer to all this but I've not held shares in a company with such a miniscule free float before so this is rather a new situation for me.

[goonertone] 14/5/2006 08:12

I have just seen that on a share I own, HET, that the free float of shares, ie those not held by people owning over 3% or more each is, down to 3.7% of which another poster I believe owns 2% which leaves 1.7% of the company available for trading.

This has in HET's case led to a prolonged downturn in the shares and now a rally which despite a pullback on Thurs/Fri has been on a very low volume of shares.

I started this thread with an idea to get a list of those companies which are not only volatile due to the market they trade on, the majority would appear to be on AIM, but that this is multiplied due to the tightly held nature of their shares.

MRM and SRTS are two more thqat spring to mind though not to the same level.

These stocks have the ability to move rapidly and I would be interested to see if anyone has any other stocks with the same characteristsics as I would like to set up a watchlist of stocks of this type.

[goonertone] 14/5/2006 07:58

HET have updated their website, finally and rebranded it as choices UK.

Not particularily exciting but check out this page



Now if JTC isn't in this list, and he states 2%, which I currently have no reason not to believe then the current free float is 306,000 shares!!!!!!!!

I'll admit to 40,000 so thats then down to 266,000 shares that goes someway to understanding the large fluctuations on miniscule amounts of shares.

I'm struggling to to believe that I own 6% of the free float and 13% if you take out JTC.

GT

PS note the date on the list is after the last RNS holdings announcement

[scumdog] 12/5/2006 13:13

Realistically, can't see 4.5p final dividend - I'd be happy with 3p but 2.5p is OK.

[edmundshaw] 12/5/2006 11:34

Added a smidgeon today on the dip.

Probably won't get above 4% of my portfolio as it's unfamiliar territory, and there are the issues of pricing pressure from price deflation/competition. Other than that, though, it looks a steal; definitely Benjamin Graham territory!

4.5p would be a nice dividend! I'm hoping for that but expecting at least 2.5p. After all, they have said they would be cash flow positive and then put out a positive trading statement...