Pcf Share Discussion Threads

[graham1ty] 25/5/2021 16:58

So not exactly withdrawing from sight. They have always said they have retail funds “on tap” and can turn them on and off depending where they sit relative to other providers.

[cc2014] 25/5/2021 16:45

I see this afternoon PCF hit the top of the savings best buy tables for 1 year and 18 month bonds.

For 18 month they are offering 0.95% which is 0.15% higher than any other provider
For one year they are offering 0.90% which is 0.04% higher than any other provider

Curiously they have withdrawn their 2 year product.

[cc2014] 25/5/2021 13:15

Got it thanks. Just looking at it.

[graham1ty] 25/5/2021 10:52

CC, have sent you long DM

[solarno lopez] 25/5/2021 07:47

No its not, as I keep saying they will not issue anything until they are 110% sure they have all the facts.

[graham1ty] 25/5/2021 07:21

And still silence.......this is treating shareholders with contempt.

They may not have all the answers yet, and it might not be enough yet to come out of suspension, but some statement of the rough parameters must be made soon.

[cc2014] 24/5/2021 10:20

I think the challenge is that PCF have a unusually shareholder Somers owning about 65% who no doubt exert some level of influence over the board. So, if Somers want to provide the minimum level of information to the market that's what we get.

I guess at the end of the day the most likely reason for the lack of information is because the outcome is binary and PCF haven't established which outcome is it yet.

If it eventually turns out there's nothing fundamentally wrong then why worry the market with the grubby details...

[seasidehippo] 24/5/2021 10:03

The word "review" no longer seams appropriate given the passage of time and the resignation since it was first used. Surely we need another RNS/update?

[cc2014] 24/5/2021 09:25

I was surprised to see no RNS this morning. Maybe they are all on zoom disussing it now.

I am still scratching my head about what's going on. Having checked PCF have no wholesale debt and all the funding comes from savers deposits and the BOE term funding schemes so they have no immediate problem here. I'm sure they are in touch with the regulators but I can't see them allowing PCF to write new loans and take on more customer deposits for much longer (say a week) unless the PRA have sight of some information which gives them comfort.

I would guess this would be some form of capital reconstruction with funding from Somers.


Going back to the actual issue, the longer this goes on the more one has to imagine there is a big hole in the accounts. By big hole I have to imagine something well above £10m else whilst £10m would be upsetting for shareholders, it's not the sort of amount that would disrupt the business or require any significant financial injection. Certainly it would not require the suspension of shares.

But the further puzzle is that I don't think I've ever seen a RNS so vague about the reason for the suspension. Reviewing financial controls and reporting processes? Reviewing them because they've found some "financial irregularities", reviewing them "because they don't add up", reviewing them "because the numbers reported to the Board don't match the numbers in the accounts", reviewing them because of fraud, reviewing them because they've applied an accounting policy wrong. Reviewing them becauase some of the assets can't be verified. I could go on...



Clearly there's something not right. They've lost their accountant and their CEO and their MD. Their MD excerised 750k of options 3 weeks before he retired only in March. He'd been sitting on them for years. Thing is Somers could have just pushed them out for no other reason than that's what big companies do.



Other thing is the above paints a difficult position for shareholders. On the other hand it could be nothing that affects the profitability but might do in the future. Or perphaps the opposite they've been doing some fancy accouting which makes the figures look better than might be prudent but doesn't affect the cash at all.

Or perhaps the reason might just be as simple as the accounts are so complicated that both the new accountant and the auditors don't know if they are right or wrong and have to keep going to the accountants bible to work it out. All of which would take time...

[graham1ty] 24/5/2021 08:45

Equally staggered and depressed that after four days they still have nothing to say......

[graham1ty] 24/5/2021 07:31

The only crumb of comfort I holed is that there is nothing on the PRA website about PCF. No warning, or other notice. That may just be bureaucratic PRA slowness, but for the moment, a crumb of hope

[graham1ty] 24/5/2021 07:12

Still no RNS this morning ? Not that I can see.....

[seasidehippo] 23/5/2021 12:02

Probably good news if nothing is included in the press. It at least suggests the review is watertight.


On a brighter note, dependant on the nature and magnitude of the issue(s), removal of the suspension could present a good buying opportunity if the market overreacts.

[dandigirl] 23/5/2021 09:24

Haven’t seen any comment in the financial press. Have I missed it?

[che7win] 21/5/2021 20:04

htTps://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/saving/article-9605327/Best-buy-savings-bank-PCF-suspends-share-trading-chief-exec-resigns.html

[graham1ty] 21/5/2021 18:44

Nothing tonight.......stand by your beds 7am Monday........

[solarno lopez] 21/5/2021 16:16

If it does it will be an after hours announcement

[geraldus] 21/5/2021 16:10

I would expect to see this drama come to a conclusion today.The screw is tightening.

[cc2014] 21/5/2021 16:04

PCF only do fixed term bonds.

I suspect most depositors don't have a scooby about the share price or the health of the bank.


And tbh unless the issue is unbelieveable large Somers will shove in some more cash in one way or another although the terms may be onerous.

[solarno lopez] 21/5/2021 15:54

Agree but when there is concerns such as this, history shows us there is 'a run on the bank'

[cjd190573] 21/5/2021 15:50

I would much rather be a depositor than a shareholder at this precise moment in time.

[solarno lopez] 21/5/2021 15:40

I wonder if depositors have started removing their money ?

[cc2014] 21/5/2021 13:38

Indeed Graham.

We can only speculate but it does seem he's resigned rather than being suspeneded and one wonders whether there is some Board room power struggle going on over the handling of whatever this issue is and Scott felt his position so far removed from the rest of the Board (or more likely Somers) that he felt he had no choice.

What we do know is that the company is following a path of "least information possible". Indeed I am not even sure the first RNS was legal within AIM in that you can't just suspend without a reason and I don't think suspending because you are going to announce the reason later on counts.


One of Scott's strengths is his open communcation and sharing of information. Of course, I am sure he knows how to duck and dive a bit, but the current path of minimal information just doesn't feel like the way he operates.


Of coruse maybe it's different. Maybe they've had a problem with the accounts for months and Scott has been assured the Board and eventually it's come to a crunch point.

[solarno lopez] 21/5/2021 13:28

They will not give information until they are completely satisfied that no stone has been left unturned

[graham1ty] 21/5/2021 13:14

The phrasing of the RNS suggests Scott resigned, rather than was pushed. If there was fraud or worse, he would have been out on his ear.

Yet, if he is “taking responsibility”; for something discovered, say rubbish systems, or a junior disguising write offs. Would he not be the one to put it right ?

I am unclear why the Company cannot give a preliminary findings RNS, while leaving the Company suspended.....