Merchants Share Discussion Threads

[mister md] 23/9/2020 11:10

342p-348p bid-offer

[mister md] 22/9/2020 19:22

Gateside, due to the UT trade. Will show normal price tomorrow at the open.

[zac0_4] 22/9/2020 17:18

See attached link. Latest fund manager's commentary towards bottom of the page. Some encouraging comments regarding resumption of a number of dividend payments. hxxps://www.merchantstrust.co.uk/Portfolio-and-Performance

[gateside] 22/9/2020 17:03

Why the big drop at the end of the day?

[gateside] 22/9/2020 15:26

Well tobacco doing very well today, which should help boost MRCH

[chc15] 22/9/2020 13:42

Yep no choice but to average down here. I keep hearing value will come back, who knows, it's a new world now, we'll see.

[mister md] 22/9/2020 11:06

The shareprice performance has been very poor. But I will continue to hold & add at these levels. Covid-19 will eventually disappear, economies will eventually recover, dividends will eventually continue to increase and also I expect some of the enormous shift into Tech stocks (Nasdaq) to reverse back into value stocks. One of my first trades 20 yrs ago was buying the much unloved Unilever as Tech stocks rallied. Turned out to be a pretty good investment. All IMHO, of course.

[superiorshares] 22/9/2020 07:59

The Capital destruction continues . Don`t worry though you will get a Divi. Paid from your own money , please note nerja post 873

[nerja] 16/9/2020 18:53

Mrch has issued several millions of shares in apr ,may and June to what end I don’t know, but there has been two divis in that time however.

[tim 3] 16/9/2020 17:01

Nice one you are much better at timing than me am in from £4 unfortunately!!Fortunately bought some VUSA (S&P tracker) not long after the crash which was much better timing!

[essentialinvestor] 16/9/2020 16:45

Hi Tim, bought a very small amount today,however prefer IVI and EDIN.

[tim 3] 16/9/2020 16:43

Agree on both points issuing shares to pay the dividend would be pointless.Morals aside I really can't see tobaccos outperforming in the future although in a market like this reliable dividend payers are in short supply.

[essentialinvestor] 16/9/2020 15:15

You can buy EDIN on an approx 13% discount atm. MRCH would not issue shsres to pay a dividend. Would also question the sustainability of some of Merchants holdings, for example BATS and IMB. You also need to look at total return and not just yield.

[nerja] 16/9/2020 10:19

Edin has been buying it own shares to the extent it has 22 million of them in treasury, so would appear to have plenty of cover in them for the divi. Mrch has the option to issue up to 16.5 million shares at any time under its block listing policy, which again could be used to cover the divi if they wished.

[poikka] 16/9/2020 09:34

Re 864, the top ten all appear to be fairly safe divi payers, St.JP I don't know but I guess they shouldn't be adversely affected by covid, and they comprise 40% of the portfolio. Likewise, EDIN have some 37% of divi payers in their top ten, except for RDS. When I last checked, MRCH Revenue Reserves covered the divi by 1.1x, while EDIN covered the divi over 1.5x. Just have to await their Interims, but I'm factoring in cuts. Still, I can't complain.

[tim 3] 16/9/2020 09:27

Its trading at 2.6 discount to NAV which has increased recently.

[gateside] 15/9/2020 22:07

It you look at their larger holdings, many are still paying a dividend. Utilities, Tobacco, BA., GSK, BHP so the dividend at MRCH might be safer than we think.

[tim 3] 15/9/2020 21:49

Very good point Polkka. The problem is I suspect one of MRCH main selling points is its dividend record and they may do everything to keep it even when its probably best to drop it for a year or so.

[speedsgh] 15/9/2020 21:47

Slightly O/T but relevant to previous post 861... I reckon there is more than 50/50 chance that EDIN's dividend will be cut in the not-too-distant future. This was from the new Investment Manager's commentary in EDIN's final results in June... "Thus the medium term outlook for dividends remains uncertain. Much will turn on the rate at which economies recover. While we expect the companies in the portfolio to emerge from this crisis stronger, it is unclear at what rate their dividends will grow. We do not underestimate the economic damage of the COVID-19 recession, which sadly is likely to be far ranging and severe. In such an environment, even the strongest of companies will, sensibly, seek to preserve cash even if that means reducing or cancelling dividends. Your Company’s dividend income will also be under pressure compared with historic norms. While we have some short-term flexibility to support dividends through use of its distributable reserves, we will be working with the Board in the months ahead to help the Board decide what might be a sustainable level payout for shareholders. We expect to be able to say more about this by the time of the Interim results in November."

[poikka] 15/9/2020 21:31

Going to be touch and go for a number of ITs for revenue to rise enough to enable pay-outs to be held. Some have already said that they might dig into Capital Reserves. EDIN, WTAN, BUT and BNKRS got better cover. Might be a good idea to stick a few bob into companies that have ditched their divis and seen their SPs drop dramatically. Ok, you miss a year or so's divis, but assuming that they recover, which not having to pay a divi should help, you could be in for a very tidy yield - eventually. ITV & BT SPs are already recovering, but are still at giveaway prices. BAB, too, but that feels a bit dodgy just now, IMO.

[speedsgh] 15/9/2020 20:57

Dividend Crisis: Peel Hunt spies ray of sunshine for Edinburgh and Merchants - HTTPS://citywire.co.uk/investment-trust-insider/news/dividend-crisis-peel-hunt-spies-ray-of-sunshine-for-edinburgh-and-merchants/a1400811

[gateside] 15/9/2020 17:40

It's top 10 shares are doing well, but MRCH just refuses to go up.

[tim 3] 15/9/2020 11:34

Just can't seem to pull away from £3.50 can it maybe waiting for the results.

[gateside] 14/9/2020 20:44

Q2 results were on 17th September last year, so are we expecting results this week?Just says September on their website, which is a bit vague.