London Finance & Investm... Share Discussion Threads

[simonevans] 08/2/2003 18:58

Has anyone calculated the NAV on this one recently. I've not done the sums in detail, but must be close to 30p a share (even taking account of WSE 50% discount to MV). Looks rather cheap at this price as lower MV than WSE now! I know that there is risk with MWB, but maybe this is being over-played as exposure is now only £1.5m versus £5m 18 months ago. Any views?

[8 ball] 07/9/2002 22:56

Disclosure of Interest

The Company received notification on 3rd September 2002 that Lonfin Investments
Limited had increased its interest in the Company by purchasing on 30th August
2002 1,500,000 warrants to subscribe for ordinary shares in Finsbury Food Group
Plc.

As a result of this transaction Lonfin Investments Limited now owns 2,933,333
warrants in Finsbury Food Group representing 51.39 per cent of the warrants in
issue

These warrants look to have been purchased from Fleming Mercantile Investment Trust Ltd.

Assuming they paid 5p each for them, the cost is only £75.000.
Add to this the fact that the initial holding cost them nothing, then this could turn into a great investment.

The exercise price is 30p, so if the share price rose to say 50p in 5 years.
Then these warrants would be worth about 20p.
3 million warrants at 20p (£600,000)
I expect LFI to look to increase the number of warrants as time goes on.

[rainmaker] 27/8/2002 13:59

If you kick out the (indeterminable)value of fixed assets and bring the value of investments into current assets subtract all liabilities then you are left with a sum that is 50 % greater than the current share price.


Regards

[specuvestor] 12/8/2002 23:09

Last year Marylebone Warwick Balfour (MWB) accounted for 45% of the NAV of London Finance. This year MWB is sinking like a stone, down 80% and falling. LFI's fortunes are so inextricably linked to MWB that shareholders may as well sell LFI and buy MWB for a recovery play. If you think that MWB is holed under the water you might as well leave the sinking ship and find another opportunity elsewhere. Either way there is no point in holding LFI.
Megalomania only accounts for 10% of LFI so if you think this cash shell is a good bet then why not buy Megalomedia as a 100% play? LFI management have lost the plot. They bought into Merrydown (Not exactly the most adventurous of plays) and then sold out after just a few months.
They have had enough chances, eroded shareholder value, commited their fortunes to a debt ridden company (MWB), and generally performed like a dog fund.
Deal me out.

[8 ball] 26/7/2002 19:43

Hello Bird of dawning.

Lfi is not a cash shell, it is an investment company, who hold shares in MGM, Who were a cash shell up until Monday when they reversed into a cake making company, and the price rose considerably.
Thus improving lfi's asset value.

This prompted me to look for other cash shells with the same potential.
I also liked the look of Lionheart, as you can see on the MGM thread.
Net cash of £1.60 against a share price of £1.30, however I think I will wait 6 months as I can not see much happening for some time.

[bird of dawning] 26/7/2002 03:14

This is a very interesting company. I have been making a few basic fundamental comparisons with another cash shell Lionheart (LNT). Lionheart appears to score favourably on Price to Cash PS at 0.78; Spread at 4.55% and also it trades at a 22% discount to NCAV. Nevertheless LFI scores better on Dividend at 5%; ROE at 10.76%; and Price/Bk at 0.44. I have a preference for shares trading at a substantial discount to NCAV less all long term debt and preferreds; also I like the net cash situation of LNT. I guess its splitting hairs, at the end of the day LFI's dividend is useful; during the interval prior to the market taking an interest. I believe I will eventually hold both.

Regards

[8 ball] 25/7/2002 21:38

A good source informed me that LFI's average price on merrydown is 39p.

[8 ball] 24/7/2002 20:05

Also noted that LFI have sold about 70% of their stake in Merrydown at 51p/share.
Not sure what the average price paid was, suspect it was much less than 51p.

Callum may be able to confirm.

[callumross] 24/7/2002 11:26

the 50% surge in megalomedia shares today following their return from suspension is great news for LFI holders as LFI hold 4.3m shares plus 1.4m of the shortly to be quoted warrants - this has added at least 3p to LFI's NAV at a stroke with the possibility of further appreciation

[rainmaker] 22/6/2002 13:32

Callumross-Many thanks for your original message.Thought provoking stuff!New to this Company and have yet to check things out fully before buying it's Shares,however I fully appreciate the main thrust of your piece.

An initial thought would be to take the Company's Share Holdings out of Fixed Assets into Current Assets then subtract all Claims,from the resulting figure, giving what I would call the Company's Net Working Capital.Roughly what sort of discount are LFI on this figure?

It would seem that LFI's abysmal rating can be largely explained by Investors current overwhelming pessimism towards Shares in general.Whilst I would not even attempt to try and predict the future direction of the "Market" I know that individual Shares that are bought on the basis of their patent and demonstrable undervaluation,derived from known facts,collectively will reap good returns.


I feel a further point worth making, is that LFI's Share Selection approach would seem to be broadly "Value" based with most/all? their holdings trading at less than their Net Assets Value and, given these relatively low ratings,therefore relatively immune from further drops in the FTSE 100.Although constituents like Merrydown are small companies in every respect and Investors cannot deal in larger quantities at the offer price I would buy if there was a substantial discrepancy or "Margin Of Safety" between the current price and the (indicative) value.

Regards

[8 ball] 21/6/2002 22:12

Cheers found it, that's not the first time ADVFN has failed to show an annoucement.
They appear to be brokers.

Philip J Milton & Co Plc
Sterling House
17 Joy Street
Barnstaple
North Devon EX31 1BS

Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]


Minimum commision: £17.50
Maximum commision: 1.8% on 1st £1,0000, 0.5% on next £9,0000 and 0.4% on excess
Annual fee: No charge

[callumross] 21/6/2002 21:45

check out www.ukwire.co.uk and search announcements under LFI

[8 ball] 21/6/2002 19:42

Sorry Callum you've lost me, which announcement.

[callumross] 20/6/2002 15:33

note the announcement today that Philip J Milton & Co Ltd have picked up a 4.5% stake - who are they and what is their interest. Companies House just says that they are registered in Barnstaple, Devon and that they are a holding company relating to "management activities". Interesting.

[8 ball] 15/6/2002 20:02

Merrydown tipped in IC this week.


Merrydown at 47.5p, cider and soft drink maker.
After several years in the doldrums, the group is finally showing signs of recovery with a solid balance sheet, lower cost base and a sharpened focus on fewer brands. A move into adult-focused soft drinks is paying off, with its Shloer brand doubling sales in the past two years, and while its Vintage cider faces tough competition it is still profitable.

Simonevans

Doctors direct are e mailing me a prospetus, you can buy direct from them.
If you or anyone else would like a copy forwarded, mail me at [e-mail]

[8 ball] 28/5/2002 22:21

I assume he is Dd investor relation's bod.

I asked WSE to pass my details on to the brokers; some month's ago.
However not received any prospectus, I guess they have all the required funding.
Will be interesting to see how the shares do after the float.

This is the response WSE gave me some month's ago.
Getting a response from them is not easy, as they are rather poor on issueg info.

Thank you for your message about the above IPO. We have forwarded a copy of
it to the brokers dealing with the issue and asked them to add you to the
mailing list.

The transaction has been delayed since we reported our involvement, but we
believe that the cause of the delay has been resolved. We intend to include
an update in the interim report for the half year to 31st December 2001,
based on the latest information available on Doctors Direct.

Regards

Mark Hodgson

City Group P.L.C.
25 City Road,
London, EC1Y 1BQ
Tel. [phone] Fax. [phone]
(Registered in England - No. 1443918)

[simonevans] 28/5/2002 22:06

Doctors Direct float - thanks for the update; interesting news. Who is Andrew Rae McCance? Do you know who is the lead advisor for the float?

[8 ball] 28/5/2002 18:32

So you were the buyer yesterday.

Well got fed up waiting for any info on Doctors direct, from Western.
So went direct and got a reply.

Many thanks for your interest in doctors DIRECT plc.

Doctors Direct plc now is the sole beneficiary of shares issued by sos doctors DIRECT and will float on OFEX the first week in July.

Western Selection PLC has committed to invest £500,000, with £650,000 being sought from private investors.

If we can be of any further assistance, please contact us again.

Yours sincerely,

Andrew Rae McCance.

[simonevans] 27/5/2002 21:53

Lonfin shares look excellent value to me...I have topped-up my holding. Don't think you can go far wrong buying this quality co. for 50% book value. Great asset value with speculative upside potential. I have confidence that this management team will find good deals in the years ahead!! As always DYOR.

[8 ball] 21/5/2002 22:40

Callumross,,,,,,

Yes comdirect, placed order yesterday and they failed to process, so phoned it thru tonight, only to be told 2500 was max.

[callumross] 21/5/2002 22:08

8ball - I presume you are talking about dealing online because my phone based broker got me 25000 at the prevailing offer price at the time - granted he came back to me and said the MM's wanted a penny extra for buying in that size but when I said I was not willing to pay a premium they miraculously were able to do the deal at the offer price - MM's are sharks in my opinion - mind you, I do recall that after my buy they marked the price up a penny immediately!

[8 ball] 21/5/2002 18:56

Is it just my broker who will only trade in 2500 lots?

[8 ball] 20/5/2002 21:59

Yes good day.

Value came out at 44p, then I thought about WSE, current sell price is 13p.
However net asset value is about 24p.

So based on that it should be 50p.
Plus what value do you put on the new MGM warrants, LFI will have 1.66 million.

Still think the logical thing would be for LFI to swallow up WSE.
Will start to buy a few for myself.

[callumross] 20/5/2002 08:53

8 ball - MWB up 6.5p already this morning worth £195k to LFI and MGM up 2p being worth a further £86k you're 43p estimate must be recalculated upwards by around 1.3p today already, never mind the general portfolio.

[callumross] 19/5/2002 00:11

8 ball - nice to see someone else has picked up on this beauty - it's a bit boring at times but these are just the stocks that when they move really fly - I would say you're 43p estimate is within a penny either way. What is really interesting is that megalomedia in which they own 4.3m shares announced results yesterday - no deal announced yet but guess what - all shareholders, including myself, are to get one free warrant to subscribe at 30p for every 3 shares held. The warrants are to be given a stock exchange quote when the reverse takeover of megalomedia takes place, probably in the next couple of months. LFI will therefore get 1.43 million free warrants to add to their net asset value. At todays megalomedia price the warrants will probably trade at ony around 6p taking into account the time value attached to the warrants which are exerciseable until 2007 but when the deal is struck the warrants may fly and as they cost nothing it will give a significant uplift to LFI's NAV when they are quoted. Both MGM and LFI are outstanding plays IMHO. Incidentally, don't touch the LFI warrants. The last time I checked their price they were around 12p and given the fact that they confer a right to buy at 25p it is all time value at the moment. Futhermore, they are barely tradeable in any numbers. I may top up my LFI holding on Monday since I notice that on level 2 only one MM is willing to sell at 25p, the other one is asking for 26p.