London Finance & Investm... Share Discussion Threads

[smithie6] 04/12/2024 10:17

"Why are shareholders totally in the dark ? "

yes, very strange

(& despite one of the directors (EB) being on the committee for Good Governance & regulation for decades !!)

[smithie6] 02/12/2024 08:55

..wind up & cash payout

which should be ~73p/share imo

hence the Marshall in charge was buying shares at ~50p.

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The main Marshall business is I think Monteagle......which is a holding company, with subsidiaries, mostly import/export & property investing I think I recall.
If they see better returns over the next 10 years from a sector where 1 of the Monteagle subsidiaries is working then be logical if they want move cash to that. (while, sure, buying shares at ~50p to then get 73p/share cash payout only a few months later, that is great % low risk return)

The performance from LFI has been dismal & has not kept up with inflation so it is very understandable to give up the LFI strategy.

Sadly it does not look like LFI needs cash to fund construction costs of housing at the ICH subsidiary, if that was the case LFI would not have sold its ICH shares.

[kinwah] 29/11/2024 16:30

Kneecaps I think you are assuming the board know what they will do next. They have liquidated the portfolio therefore the options look like a) winding the company up b) having a massive tender offer to take out 90%+ of the shareholders at close to asset value and then delist and re-register as a private company, c) merge with another company, d) acquire a trading business e) do nothing. I think the Marshalls have other companies and I don't know how that could affect their plans for LFI. I think if someone had a cunning plan for LFI then they should suggest it to the board. My expectation is a) or b). They have done a lot of tidying up by, selling the flat, closing down Western Selection, slimming down City Group and selling the share portfolio so I don't expect LFI has long left as a listed company.

[kneecaps2] 29/11/2024 15:04

We are obviously not important enough because their statement today at 1311 says precisely nothing new about what they intend to do with all the £23 million they received from selling all our stock exchange investments which is disgraceful!

[forensic] 29/11/2024 10:40

Any news from the AGM?

[kneecaps2] 25/11/2024 11:40

Perhaps the board might bother to tell Shareholders at the A.G.M this Thursday if we are important enough!

[smithie6] 25/11/2024 10:39

...has LFI stated what its plans are ?

to change from an investing company to a non-investing company is a major change that surely must be communicated (in advance) to shareholders, no ?

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LFI & Western provided good annual income & payment of expenses to the Marshall's over decades
...so, its a bit surprising if the Marshall's decide to give that up....but it looks like they might be...

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prelim annual results said
"The Board continues to pursue its current Investment Policy and will advise shareholders of any proposed changes. "

.....appears to have been completely untrue..since "all" the investments have since been sold, only weeks later !!

[kneecaps2] 05/11/2024 16:13

Thanks Coolen I hope they also follow my second bit of advice and return the money to shareholders which would make a nice Christmas present!

[coolen] 05/11/2024 15:51

Kneecaps, they seem to have taken notice of you. What do you think may follow ?

[kneecaps2] 18/10/2024 17:41

Thanks Kinwah, I wish Lonfin would sell everything and return the money to long suffering shareholders as their investing has been very poor over the years.

[kinwah] 18/10/2024 16:58

Kneecaps, lots of reasons for shareholders not getting a say. It looks like an arm's length transaction with the director of another company. Also the changes to the listing rules now allow a lot of transactions to happen without any shareholder vote. Also £50k would be below any threshold even before the changes to the listing rules because less than 1% of the company's assets.

[kneecaps2] 17/10/2024 09:10

Why didn't shareholders get consulted about the ICH share sale?

[kinwah] 17/10/2024 08:55

The ICH director was Christopher Latilla-Campbell who was associated with the two entities which bought the ICH shares. Probably for his kids or even grandkids as it may take a long time to get planning through.

[smithie6] 16/10/2024 11:10

who ?

========

And ICH
so many years (20 ?!!) trying to get permission to build houses....& despite the supposed massive demand for more houses....permission is never obtained !!
....seems a bit strange to me.

If a director of ICH bought the WSE/LFI stake (29% if my memory is correct) then they think that permission will be granted one day. (or perhaps they get , or will get, enough pay back via fees (and/or jobs for family) to make the expenditure worthwhile ......)

[kinwah] 15/10/2024 12:00

As expected the Annual Report in the related party disclosures section reveals where the ICH ended up - with a director of ICH. City Group continues to provide head office and company secretarial services to ICH.

[kneecaps2] 04/10/2024 17:43

I think more likely it has gone to the family but that is only a guess!

[kinwah] 04/10/2024 14:19

Smithie, the Annual Report may give us more information on where the ICH has ended up. I'm surprised there was no mention of the potential for some compensation from the MWB holding they had but it may be too much of a long shot.

[smithie6] 03/10/2024 18:05

what is the situation with Industrial & Commercial Holdings ltd ?

it held some land in sunny Scotland & the co. have been trying for ~15-20 years to get planning/building permission for homes, in which case the land would be worth much more.

In 1 bit of LFI text, LFI bought the Western Selection stake (30% ?) for £50k....but then sold it for £50k. (if so it might infer that LFI saw no likelyhood of a rise in its value.

Anyone know anything ?

[kinwah] 03/10/2024 16:17

Callumross, I didn't read it that way. They have the problems of increasing costs and dull investment performance and would like LFI to be a larger entity. Having a South African listing as well makes a UK delisting unlikely in the short term. I hope the larger non-Marshall shareholders keep up their lobbying to return value to shareholders with either a share buyback or a transformative deal.

[callumross] 03/10/2024 13:13

Why would anyone invest in this when they have given the clearest hint possible in their annual results that they are going to delist?

[kinwah] 10/8/2024 12:48

I haven't tried to calculate the hidden upside but the City decision on MWB should result in some compensation to former MWB shareholders such as LFI from the non-bid. This could potentially delay any winding up but lead to more value for LFI shareholders. Google MWB takeover if you have no idea what I'm talking about.

[rolo7] 04/7/2024 19:41

No they got cash from western sale that they have reinvested in the markets. I tried to buy some a few months ago no luck