Mountview Estates Share Discussion Threads

[konradpuss] 25/11/2020 10:02

Great gig in the sky, I think it is very much a business. The skill of running this business is the buying. Then there is the management skills of holding the units and spending as little money as possible on repairs. Then there is the two yearly application to review the rents etc. etc. plus strategic management and trying to buy out tenants. There is currently no enthusiasm from any in the concert party to sell as they perceive this company is the goose that kept paying the golden eggs, which is only my soundings. I think in the long run the Murphys and some younger members of the concert party might will consider selling to the Peers Group. I might be very wrong mind. The tax consequences might well put them off.

[greatgiginthesky] 25/11/2020 09:29

Where I differ is that I do not regard buying regulated tenancies and holding them to ‘maturity̵7; is a business, any more than me buying a share and holding it for many years is a business. And where the comparison with an investment trust falls down is that ITs don’t have a blocking majority of its shares held by a family. Maybe the family will wish to reassess its position on the passing of the CEO. My point is that if the family then seeks to realise its investment, selling the company at a (reduced) discount to NAV is one option, whilst selling the assets and liquidating the company at no discount is another. Tax considerations excluded. No change in dividend expected tomorrow.

[konradpuss] 24/11/2020 21:07

Look at the performance of this company over time - and it is even run by what Warren calls "your stupid son-in-law'!

[jonwig] 24/11/2020 20:20

For any company (including an investment trust) with a large discount to NAV, there will always be someone interested.

[konradpuss] 24/11/2020 19:56

Great gin in the sky, the William Peers Group seem to have a different view from you. Their whole (very large) business was based on buying regulated tenancies. I think there might well be some M & A activity when the current CEO steps down or dies 'at the wheel'.

[greatgiginthesky] 24/11/2020 16:47

IIRC the Concert Party has an agreement that is occasionally renewed when it comes up for expiry. Back in 2015 it was renewed, but with a change and that was that members of the concert party were no longer bound to vote their shares as one body when it came to certain matters, like an offer. Regarding any takeover, why would anyone be interested? All they would be doing is buying a bunch of assets and liquidating them to get a return. That return would equate to the discount to net realisable value and why would any shareholder, me included, agree to that rather than have current management do it with no discount? Which is why the share price trades at such a large discount - the market believes there is no realistic prospect of any M&A activity. GLA.

[yieldsearch] 24/11/2020 15:53

Forensic Not giving you a definitive answer on the true NAV, however the annual report 2020 is disclosing the sales of properties (page 5), for 2020 see below: sale of properties £45.65m Cost of properties sold £17.69m so 38% of sold price same type of metrics for 2019. Bulk of the unit sold are below £500k in value so seems to be across the portfolio (not just one specific property) Clearly cannot really be extrapolated to the whole portfolio, however give you some basis

[forensic] 24/11/2020 13:20

Cheers jonwig

[jonwig] 24/11/2020 12:26

There was quite an active discussion here in 2015 (roughly post #200 onwards) and a general feeling that "true" NAV was around 2xbook nav. There were also rumours that Grainger was interested; when these came to nought, interest rather waned. The CEO Duncan Sinclair is 73 years old, and his departure (the job, I mean) could trigger M&A activity?

[forensic] 24/11/2020 11:54

Thanks jonwig. Anybody like to guess what the current true net asset value might be?

[jonwig] 23/11/2020 18:53

This carry-on surfaced around five years ago. There was strong criticism of the board at the 2015 AGM. I think one faction of the concert party wanted to realise their investment ("true nav" a lot higher than stated). Others know the details better than I do, but the share price doesn't seem to get hit by the fallout.

[forensic] 23/11/2020 12:50

Interested to know if anybody knows what the family spat is all about? Most unusual.

[konradpuss] 12/8/2020 18:44

Oh! I did so miss the AGM. It is always funny to see a family 'popping' at each other in public. The management is over paid, however most public companies have over compensated management. The good thing is the business model is not exacting. The most important fellow is the buyer who is not even a board member. Eventually, the buying opportunities will expire and this will be a pure liquidation play. I think you might find a few old tenants were taken by the virus and the sale of those units will be O.K. so an O.K. year coming up.

[jonwig] 12/8/2020 15:37

AGM result: https://www.investegate.co.uk/mountview-estates-/mtvw/result-of-annual-general-meeting---replacement/202008121537479637V/ I see Ms M L Jarvis has changed her name to Ms M L Archibald. The shareholders weren't fooled - they still voted her out. So another meeting to ratify her! What a carry-on.

[konradpuss] 26/7/2020 07:40

Jonwig, I think there is actually a mini boom in the residential market going on right now. O.K. the 'residential market' is a very wide term. Certainly the London suburbs are doing O.K. I think the company will have an O.K. half year. After that who knows with unemployment rates going way up.

[jonwig] 26/7/2020 07:16

I found Benny Hill very funny (though the BBC wouldn't touch him today). Duncan not, of course. Yes, possibly more vacancies as occupants will generally be quite elderly But what about sale prices?

[konradpuss] 26/7/2020 06:52

I see that there will not be the usual family spat at the annual meeting this year as it will not be 'open'. I bet Duncan (I always think of Benny Hill when I see him!) will put off the valuation due to the virus. I wonder if the company has seen an up tick of vacancies due to the virus?

[jonwig] 16/7/2020 17:40

2020 Annual Report: https://www.mountviewplc.co.uk/AR2020.pdf

[jonwig] 19/6/2020 08:54

Maybe it will be this year, when things become clearer. They did see a big increase in receivables (£1.8m, cf £56k) which might have prompted caution.

[greatgiginthesky] 19/6/2020 08:34

With interest rates low and the property market affected this year I would be happy to see gearing ratcheted up. No fears for the dividend.

[nk104] 18/6/2020 09:25

Yes - good results. At least with Mountview there isn’t the worry factor.

[konradpuss] 18/6/2020 07:10

Jonwig, I bet the new Chairman who is much better than the previous wrote it for Duncan! The new Chairman at the last AGM was giving a good commentary on asking all the right questions of the company. The previous one was a real 'yes' man.

[jonwig] 18/6/2020 06:43

Yes, I found them OK. Gearing reduced a lot, a sound move. Investment properties: sale gain £1.174m, overall fall £0.969m; so remainder went up a bit. Mr Sinclair getting really prolix, and almost human in his sentiments.

[konradpuss] 18/6/2020 06:35

Nice results today. Plenty of real cash produced. Rents coming in and gearing down. Dividend remain the same. The next half year results will reflect the 'virus' period - those should be interesting. Now I bet Duncan puts off the revaluation because of the virus! The AGM is to be confirmed as to whether it will be 'in person'.

[konradpuss] 10/2/2020 19:50

jonwig, the Murphys will not give up. I would love to know how the two sides of the family fell out?