RAB Capital Share Discussion Threads

[symphonie des grauen] 10/4/2009 16:08

25.03.09

By Rachael Gormley and Marietta Cauchi
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
LONDON (Dow Jones)--Asset manager RAB Capital PLC (RAB.LN) Wednesday reported a 69% drop in its full-year net income as assets under management plummeted, but said it was confident for the future and maintained its dividend.

In reaction, shares in the company rose some 27% in early trading, falling back to close up 2 pence, or 14.3%, at 14 pence, and outperforming the wider AIM market.

Analysts said RAB's assets results were in line with expectations and cash slightly ahead.

"RAB has substantial net cash, is maintaining its dividend and has a good operational platform," said Andrew Shepherd-Barron, research analyst at KBC Peel Hunt.

For the year ended Dec. 31, RAB's assets under management fell 74% to $1.9 billion from $7.2 billion a year earlier. The loss was split equally between redemptions and poor performance, Chief Executive Stephen Couttie told Dow Jones Newswires.

Revenue more than halved to GBP51.8 million from GBP125.2 million, while net income slumped to GBP43.1 million from GBP137.1 million last year.

RAB incurred a pretax loss after charges of GBP13.9 million compared with a profit of GBP51.1 million a year earlier. Excluding the GBP17.7 million worth of charges, the company made a pretax profit of GBP3.8 million.

Taking tax into account, RAB made a net loss of GBP17.1 million, compared with a net profit of GBP36.03 million in 2007.

The company declared a final dividend of 1.8 pence a share, which would give a total dividend of 2.4 pence, the same as in 2007.

Couttie said that redemptions had slowed considerably since the beginning of the year, with the continuing fall in assets under management to date due 50% to the closure of funds, some performance loss and about $100 million in redemptions.

The fund manager is close to completing a restructuring which leaves it with 14 funds, compared with 28 at mid-year in 2008.

Meanwhile the company, one of the first managers to lock-in investors, is maintaining lock-ins at its three largest funds, Special Situations, Energy and Octane.

While acknowledging that the outlook remained challenging, Couttie said he was confident that the company's "quality infrastructure" with regulatory authorizations as well as its liquidity meant it could take advantage of new business developments.

"We are in a better shape than we were and it is possible to contemplate new opportunities such as new funds joining our platform and boosting our distribution network," he said. Putting his 'money where his mouth is', Couttie subsequently bought a chunk of RAB Capital's shares at an average price of 14.97 pence per share. The purchase brings his total holding to 2,317,000 shares, or 0.46% of the issued share capital.

Company Web site: www.rabcap.com

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this is the bit i like the most : RAB are sat on excellent liquidity in these illiquid times. happy to buy up to 30P

"RAB has substantial net cash, is maintaining its dividend and has a good operational platform," said Andrew Shepherd-Barron, research analyst at KBC Peel Hunt.

[jammytass] 09/4/2009 18:48

25p plus this year!!!!

[iantc] 09/4/2009 18:25

only got in here the other day ,with a divi on its way and the markets starting to turn rab could well be a nice little earner long term ,and nice to see the share price start with a small rise this week

[cockneyrebel] 09/4/2009 16:33

A lovely chart. Broke out today and that looks like one of those lovely bowl shaped bottoming formations to me too.

CR

[madengland] 09/4/2009 14:44

Have just joined the club myself. Lots of reasons to believe the stock can move well up from here. Would appreciate anyone who sees the opposite giving their view....

[cockneyrebel] 09/4/2009 14:39

In for more today - with the way small caps are soaring the assets here must be rising well.


CR

[sportbilly1976] 09/4/2009 11:09

Chart looking very positive.....broke out through the resistance level and then back tested it as support...now moving upwards towards the next resistance level around the 20p mark, and then 35p...


free stock charts from www.advfn.com

[cockneyrebel] 08/4/2009 17:13

Co just bought back 6m shares :-)

CR

[olivercromwell] 07/4/2009 13:57

still a seller it seems. solid buying and then a small sell hits the bid and down it goes. patience required i suspect here.

:(

[crawford] 07/4/2009 13:52

Quite sizeable trades on the buy side today.

[crawford] 07/4/2009 12:33

Can't keep the old dog down, anybody out there?

[crawford] 07/4/2009 09:23

Is this breaking out? What price can we expect?

[sportbilly1976] 06/4/2009 14:29

On verge of breakout...

[cockneyrebel] 06/4/2009 11:21

Market cap £62m. Cash of £52m. Other assets (shares) of £60m.

Share price 12.75p and it pays a 1.8p divi if you're holding onm April 21 close of play.

What's more with all these small caps rising the assets must be too imo.

The directors are buying, they are doing buy backs - must be cheap and a bid target if nothing else.


Pays 2.4p div annually. If you buy before it goes XD you get 4.2p back in divi over 54 weeks!

Mad Cheap imo

CR

[cockneyrebel] 28/3/2009 13:08

RAB Capital snaps up its own 'good value' shares
By James Mackintosh

Published: March 27 2009 02:00 | Last updated: March 27 2009 02:00

RAB Capital bought 2m shares in its own listed hedge fund on Wednesday, proclaiming it "good value" after the shares plunged 85 per cent last year, writes James Mackintosh .

The RAB Special Situations Company, listed on Aim, invests its assets into RAB's flagship Special Situations fund, which fared badly last year.

However, shares of the listed vehicle are trading at a discount of more than a third to the value of the underlying assets, which include a stake in the failed UK bank Northern Rock and the troubled motor racing series A1 Grand Prix. The travails of RAB's main fund hammered its business last year, leading its co-founder Philip Richards to step aside as chief executive to focus on running the fund.

The bulk of its assets are in small, hard-to-trade companies, with a focus on mining stocks, which were hit hard as the market fell.

"We think it is good value," RAB said, declining to comment further. RAB increased its stake from 4.6 to 7.16 per cent, spending about £500,000 ($722,000).

Listed alternative funds, including hedge funds, property funds and private equity, saw their share prices collapse in the autumn as investors looked for safe assets. Several, including two of the biggest funds of hedge funds, run by Dexion Capital and Goldman Sachs, have had to call votes on whether to wind up.

But some have attracted the attention of activists trying to buy the assets at a discount. These include the Ottoman fund, which raised £150m in 2005 to invest in Turkish property, the board of which resigned en masse two weeks ago under assault from Toscafund, a London hedge fund.

[cockneyrebel] 27/3/2009 20:28

They were mulling share buy backs in Aug.

If you have £50m cash and £65m in shares and you take £34m here and buy back half the shares then your assets are then around 3 times your market cap instead of 2 times.

Loads of ways to boost shareholder value but I think the bestway is for them to keep doing what they know imo. AIM chart is turning up, Small cap index has bottomed.

CR

[mutley28] 27/3/2009 13:32

Some large bounces again today in the likes of TMC (RAB still hold a decent chunk) and many others that I should have bought but didn't - hey ho. Bought RAB yesterday after Mr Couttie's purchase of a few hundrand grands worth. Don't really envisage he is buying just to look good. Wonder if there is something more than market bounce here?

[cockneyrebel] 27/3/2009 13:27

Yep, I saw RAB have 10% of TMC this am - TMC up 34% today - will be a lot more of those imo

CR

[edmondj] 27/3/2009 10:03

Would think the more relevant issue in terms of 'bid for the assets' is whether the good fund managers reckon the RAB brand remains worth working under, or there is a steady departing of talent as it wriggles out of its contracts.

Although a revival in junior miners etc would be a key boost, see today's Special Sits Fund update:

[cardinal3] 27/3/2009 09:56

CR
with 50% owned by the directors it's hard to see any chance of a bid.

[cockneyrebel] 27/3/2009 09:50

Well Osprey fund have been bid for today - RAB must be looking mighty attractive with all that cash.


£68m mkt cap, still around half NAV. If this is a market bottom then that NAV is likely to increase.

Even after paying out £12m in divi the cash was still over £54m. Anothr £12m this year still leaves them with bags of cash.

All just my opinion but that chart looks like we are clearly through the botom imo.

CR

[cardinal3] 27/3/2009 08:39

I reckon the forward yield is unsustainable- they may have cash at present but they are also struggling with redemptions and are unlikely to be able to grow the business for a long while- who wants to invest in hedge funds these days? You still have to make a profit to pay a dividend and I have my doubts about this year. The biggest fund is in lock up for 3 years and a shocking performer by any standards.

I just wonder if this dividend is a clever way for the major holders to get their investment out? I am with adyfc on this one (post 9628)

[cockneyrebel] 26/3/2009 19:38

I bought today with a view to getting the divi.

The thing is you get 1.8p if you are holding at the close on April 21st. They are paying 2.4p divi next year again in all liklihood - that's 4.2p over 57 weeks or near 30%.

Yep, there will be an xd dip in the price but these dips look like buying opportunities to many despite them not getting the divi so bery ofthen the dip gets 'repaired' pretty quick.

With the chart looking like it has clearly bottomed if we are at the bottom of the market as a whole then RAB's assets are likely to icrease quite quick because it's the little penny small caps that tend to have been most oversold and where the punters go hunting the most.

Basically if I'm going to get 4.2p back in yield over 57 weeks then what's the chance of these being below 10p in 57 weeks time? I'd say extremely unlikely with the assets they have which means the downside risk over that time is pretty limited.

On the other hand if the market is bottoming there's every liklihoo dthese could be 20p+ in just over a year and I'll have had 4.2p a share out of it in yield.

CR

[vkx] 26/3/2009 18:08

jammytass - yes, fair point. Thanks for confirming my thinking though. Used to be in these a year or two ago when they were 60p+. Sad to look at the share price now, although it's the same everywhere. May have a punt in the next day or two. Thanks again