Manx Financial Share Discussion Threads

[smithie6] 26/9/2024 11:10

.."As anticipated, PAL has had a difficult start to this year, despite.."

why was this not communicated to shareholders ??

the previous accounts said nothing about this !!

& risks or expected reduction in profit at a major subsidiary should be reported, no?

[smithie6] 26/9/2024 10:08

...I think Jim Mellon skipped a lot of his English classes at school

I think he meant to say that....

profit at PA Ltd fell in H1...and the profit at PA Ltd for '24 will be lower than in '23
but steps are being taken in '24 to increase the profitability.....so....in 2025 it should be higher than in 2024

(well, why weren't those steps taken earlier in '24 ?
..and exactly what steps are being taken, why are shareholders not informed of what steps are being taken ??)

(but....those steps include reducing the number of founders working full time as dirs....so their cost will reduce....but that is not very exciting for us shareholders..

..we want to see growth, in turnover etc !
& successful expansion in to other sectors but it looks like we can forget that)

[castleford tiger] 25/9/2024 20:44

As anticipated, PAL has had a difficult start to this year, despite recording a profit of £1.9 million (30 June 2023: £1.5 million), but we have every confidence that our remedial actions will be successful, leading to a renewal of profitability in 2025. Despite this, I fully expect this business to still have a major positive impact on the Group's full year results.

If anyone can explain this para please.
It’s completely contradictory .
Tiger

[smithie6] 25/9/2024 17:15

Douglas Grant. CEO

he costs
~£2k/day !!!!!!!!!!!

while he is not delivering imo

if he doesn't have the golden touch to deliver the results (eg. profit down at PA ltd) then either slash the renumeration or get someone new in.

Noting that most small financial companies are doing well, eg. Time, WISE, Equals, FCH, .....

-----
very easy for an incompetent renumeration committee (on high salaries) to just throw money at exec. dirs claiming that it brings results. Just like spinning a coin imo. random. Look at Boohoo, massive bonus package, the dirs have not delivered & the share price has fallen. (or at Thomascook...)

[smithie6] 25/9/2024 17:05

share buys by non-execs.

non-existant !!

[smithie6] 25/9/2024 17:02

..while on one hand we have disappointing news wrt PA Ltd

...is the share price perhaps underpinned at this low share price because the share is cheap on valuation for p/e and in comparison with TNAV/share & NAV/share ?

[smithie6] 25/9/2024 16:59

the seller

odds on imo it has to be Zeno Capital
(is it Tortosa, British Virgin islands ?
...was that a base for Blackbeard or for Drake/Raleigh ? (1 of the 2 ran about the Caribean)

which popped up with ~5% during the first rise from 8p to ~15p.

-----

Are they perhaps close to having sold all their shares now ?
..on various days we have seen trades reported of 500k. which adds up over time.

[smithie6] 25/9/2024 16:52

mikeep

criticism of the non-execs.

Can't argue with that.
Lots of non-execs, & happily giving loads of benefits to the CEO even though he is arguably not delivering.

---
and one non-exec. gets ~£110k/year !
what is that about ?
at a microcap company with a cap. value of ~£18m.

Surely the highest paid non-exec. at any AIM company with a cap. value <£20 million.

Ok, he has contacts on the IoM & a track record in the IoM financial system, but that financial system is based on the UK system & is perhaps just 5 people !, so is a pay level of >£100k really justified.
If it is 6 board meetings per year for MFX that is ~£17k/meeting !

I'd turn up for that sort of money, even hiring a helicopter if needed !

And MGX/Conister is the only IoM based bank.
Barclays, Natwest, Lloyds, Halifax, HSBC are unlikely to mount a major competitive challenge to increase their market share on the IoM !!

[smithie6] 25/9/2024 16:12

btw

Douglas Grant

renumeration in '23 of £385k
including a bonus
& ~£150k of MFX shares for free in '24

and in return he does not go to the bod meetings at PA Ltd

and PA Ltd has dissapointed shareholders with its performance, profit is down & the planned expansion in to other sectors has failed.

and the share price for MFX is at a low.

Is the renumeration committee right or is the market right ??

The mkt is clearly not very impressed at this moment.

[mikeep] 25/9/2024 15:48

I can't help but think the BoD know who the seller/s are. For several years share price has been depressed by negative or non existent press. And by a seller at a time when us lowly shareholders are hoping or expecting a re rating. There is a big picture plan we are not party to. The non execs have not been doing their job for years whether it be in preferential terms for bod or news more widely

[castleford tiger] 25/9/2024 15:10

the seller is still active.

How many rules are they breaking ( the seller) by failure to declare each % point reduction.

The market should be having a proper go at them. They are clearly off shore

tiger

[lennonsalive] 25/9/2024 13:02

Note that 500,000 transaction today

[lennonsalive] 25/9/2024 10:37

I think that spells out all you need to know. It's a vessel for the staff to be paid a salary then. Private punters won't mean much

[smithie6] 25/9/2024 10:11

so...

Executive Chairman Jim Mellon

he can't be bothered to sit on the bod at PA Ltd & try to give it direction.

The vice executive chairman Denham Eke,

he also can't be bothered to sit on the bod at PA Ltd & try to give it direction.

The CEO of MFX, Douglas Grant,

despite recently receiving ~900k MFX shares for free, he also can't be bothered to sit on the bod at PA Ltd & try to give it direction !!

------

Does MFX have too many executive directors ....who are not willing to roll their sleeves up & do the work ?!

And are arguably just sitting back & taking the money.
(the bod has almost 10 members & costs 800-900k/year !!!)

[smithie6] 25/9/2024 09:50

let me give the answer

the director that departed from PA Ltd just 3 weeks in to H1 of '24 was the CEO of MFX !!!

Douglas Grant.

Very difficult to believe but it is true !!

I'm shocked !

At first sight it looks like gross incompetence.
If he doesn't want to do the work/job then put someone else in as CEO.

[smithie6] 25/9/2024 09:44

btw

H1.

Can anyone name the person that resigned from the bod of PA Ltd just 3 weeks in to H1 of '24 ?

H1 being the period when the profitability at PA Ltd fell by a notable amount & the period it first became known to shareholders (when reported in Sept '24) that the planned strategy to expand to other sectors (outside of vehicle garages & service sector) had not happened, at all.

And noting that PA Ltd is/was the most exciting thing to happen at MFX for many shares. And imo also the biggest ever & most important acquisition by MFX.

So, the operation of PA Ltd was/is very important for MFX shareholders & for the bod of MFX.

[devonlad] 25/9/2024 09:37

Smithie, try asking the bod? Also, doesn't that really imply that MFX are right to take over PAT, if the current directors are not performing, take the asset over. If they knew the business was going to be taken over anyway, which it was, why should the current PAT directors be bothered, think you are looking at it the wrong way around tbh, if I was running MFX, I would be doing exactly what they are doing!

[smithie6] 25/9/2024 09:22

(big dissapointment that PA Ltd had high growth in profit & had a high jump in staff numbers at PA Ltd (so, directors expected growth to continue)

and its performance was trumpetted in presentation(s) by the CEO of MFX...& with the expectation that growth would continue

(buy now & pay over 4 or 6 months, perhaps/probably the highest growth sectors in the financial sector)

& now, only a short time later the profit has fallen.
And no explanation at all has been given to shareholders.

What has happened ??

:-(

[smithie6] 25/9/2024 09:09

...was it a correct decision to buy the 2nd half of PA Ltd ?

With the fall in profit at PA Ltd & the failure to expand to other sectors would it not have been better for MFX to have left it to the PA Ltd dirs to try to rectify the situation ?

The PA Ltd are/were surely better experts, imo, at the PA Ltd business than the MFX directors sitting at a distance on the IoM. And to achieve a price of £5m the PA Ltd dirs needed an average PAT over 3 years of £2.5. And with ~£1.5m in this year '24, it would need to hit perhaps £3.25m in '25 & '26 in order to achieve a 3 year average of £2.5m.

At £1.5m/year PAT the price for the second half of PA Ltd would be £3m, rather than the £5m that MFX paid.

Was it the best move to pay £5m & get rid of most of the experts from PA Ltd ?

-----

If PA Ltd needs hands on directing to
- get the profit back up
- compete with any competition
- update the business with digitilisation
- expand in to other sectors

has it been wise to get rid of the leaders with years of experience in the sector ?

The MFX staff on the IoM have no experience doing what PA Ltd do.

[smithie6] 25/9/2024 08:55

...sadly the MFX accounts imo never give that type of info/detail

[stewy_18] 25/9/2024 08:50

It is a real concern Smithie. Why has PAL growth stalled? What are they doing about it? If they grow PAL by increasing in the same sectors they are currently in or by expanding into other sectors, it is not an issue to me, but they need to spell it out. This is what I was hoping to read in the strategy section of the interims. These questions will be asked in the next presentation

[devonlad] 25/9/2024 08:20

I am guessing that is why they have taken control of PAT, to drive it forward and give it direction. We shall see what the impact is.

[lennonsalive] 25/9/2024 07:04

Smithie didn't you pull apart the accounts last time? Perhaps you could be an auditor for them

[smithie6] 24/9/2024 19:48

btw

data for PA Ltd

PBT: PAT
2022. £1.03m : £0.84m
2023. £2.4m : £2.05m

H1 2024= : £0.74m PAT for '24 for 100% of PA Ltd
...inferring ~ £1.5m PAT for '24 for 100% of PA Ltd

A fall from £2.05m PAT in 2023. (to ~ £1.5m in '24)
a fall of ~25%.

Considering that money was invested in '23-'24 to use more digitilisation/automation of the processes & that 2023 had produced very high profit growth.....to change direction & see lower profit is not a good sign.

And clearly the stated strategy of growth in to other sectors has failed ( or did not even start, if so why not because it was the stated plan ?).