Rpc Share Discussion Threads

[beckers2008] 07/8/2018 16:40

Absolutely Correct DR_SMITH.
In the case of RPC on the day of the trading statement,an authority (can't remember which one)requested that RPC submit their accounts for inspection as they have concerns. That investigation is ongoing so this maybe another reason why there is nearly 9% of the stock being shorted and rising.

[dr_smith] 07/8/2018 16:02

My understanding from the media is that all the big auditors play the same game of putting their names to accounts, saying all is in order, when a company is not, CLLN being a case in point. I believe this is something Gov want to see changed, especially when Auditors are the mediary for investors in the big co's needing to know a company is being run as expected.

[beckers2008] 07/8/2018 14:50

M,

I am not suggesting RPC are engaged in illegal activity, I am merely pointing out that Auditors are on the payroll and they are therefore employed to ensure everything looks without blemish, what possible creative accounting goes on behind the scenes, who knows, but sure caught Tesco out and KPMG, a respected auditor who has been fined for not being wholly correct with the facts.

[mauricemonkey] 07/8/2018 14:17

You’re suggesting they’re engaged in illegal activity?
If so, that’s pretty brave of you...

[beckers2008] 07/8/2018 11:57

Two Short Fund Managers have increased their positions again;

PSquared Asset Management AG increased on 1st August to 1.84% of the stock;

DSAM Partners increased on 3rd August to 0.71% of the stock;

Total of 11 fund managers now shorting to the tune of 8.87% of the stock.

Do they know something we don't?

[beckers2008] 03/8/2018 15:45

Auditors are on the payroll.
They are led to reach an opinion and told what to do, if you don't believe this then take a look at Tesco's dodgy account prosecution, can't remember their auditors but KPMG have been successfully prosecuted.
Cash is king and RPC has much to prove.

[squidsgone] 03/8/2018 12:39

Beckers re #1950

There is no such thing as general provisions these days, they have to be specific and justifiable to auditors in order to (amongst other things) provide the transparency you suggest isn't available.

Are you saying the RPC auditors have been duped ...?

[beckers2008] 03/8/2018 11:12

M & P,

I hope for your sakes that RPC does not suffer the shorters tactics too badly, DYOR on some companies fate where the share price has halved in minutes not weeks.

After Aberdeen ramped up the SP,courtesy of the Telegraph!
As of the recent RNS he dumped some stock, will he pump & dump any more?

[phillis] 02/8/2018 21:00

Yes
Backers has no understanding

[mauricemonkey] 02/8/2018 18:27

No, I owe you x number of shares, I don’t owe you £1m. Shares are fungible.
If I did owe you £1m in x weeks there’d be no point in me shorting the stock in the first place.

[squidsgone] 01/8/2018 19:55

BouleverseeMany thanks - so these sound like further acquisition costs on earn out, or items recognised in negotiation of the acquisition price that RPC would spend rather than the target. Sounds reasonable to me, and will use cash either way.

[beckers2008] 01/8/2018 18:55

Not if they owe the lender who gave them the stock at a price for a given period. It is a contract between two parties. I give you xxx amount of shares for £1m. Whatever happens to that stock price you owe me £1m in say 8 weeks. If you are late you pay interest on top each day etc.etc.etc.

[mauricemonkey] 01/8/2018 17:18

hxxps://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/maintain-short-position-delisted-stock/

Investopedia says if the company goes bust, shorters owe nothing..

[sogoesit] 01/8/2018 16:10

Note 13 to the last preliminary accounts says this:

"Contract provisions are primarily adjustments relating to recent acquisitions and represent mainly out-of-market contract adjustments. Of the Contract provisions £6.0m are expected to be utilised within the next 12 months.
Environmental and Health & Safety, and Legal related provisions are also primarily adjustments relating to recent acquisitions and represent either provisions for environmental rectification, the cost of required procedures to bring the acquisition in line with the Group Health & Safety standards, or legal claims and other legal matters arising out of contractual obligations. These provision are provided for at their estimated settlement value and will be utilised as claims are resolved.
Other provisions comprise other contractual and constructive obligations around the Group, none of which are individually material."

Clear as mud, then.

The total provisioning on the balance sheet is £53.3 million as far as I can see.
That's 1.86% of Total Liabilities of £2,683.3 million.

Is that material?
I have no idea but 1.86% seems pretty paltry to me.

I went on the Northern Trust Capital Market site and typed in RPC which returned "no content".
I guess they withhold that stuff to feed to their friendly journos for "interpretation" since it could be dangerous in the hands of plebs like us.

[squidsgone] 01/8/2018 14:22

Re post 1941 from Soegoesit

Does anyone have any detail of these 'off-market contracts' are for? ie. what specific liability is the provision there to cater for?

[beckers2008] 01/8/2018 11:01

mauricemonkey,

Not if the shorter brought/lent say £1m of stock to sell in the market, afterwards, Co goes bust, shorter can't buy them back to pay back the lender, so loses the lot plus interest!!!

Shorters do lend from the LTH's and interestingly, in the case of RPC;
Old Mutual PLC own 3.66% of the stock.
Now dig deeper and OLD MUTUAL GLOBAL INVESTORS (UK) LTD recently raised their short on 26th July increasing it to 0.72%.
Now I wonder where they lent those from!!

Once shorters get a foothold, they can keep a Co share price down for years as the 'rinse and repeat' continues until most are satisfied with their fill and move on, unless with Carillion the plug is pulled and the borrowers lose.

[mauricemonkey] 01/8/2018 09:47

Why did Carillion shorters get burnt?
If the company went bust then they made 100% right? They never had to buy back the shares and return them to the original holder is my understanding..

[sogoesit] 01/8/2018 09:21

My happiest stocks bouleversee?

Growth: PRSM, FEVR, BUR, SSPG, PPH, XPP, GVC
Big Companies/Defensives: RDSB, CSN

I do have some "dogs" too ;-). The ones I haven't "put down" yet or castrated.

Good strategy, in my opinion, Jeffian.
Definitely let winners run unless "the story" changes. A tactic that is contrary to most investment advice (bewilderingly). Who gives such advice and why I have no idea.

[beckers2008] 31/7/2018 22:51

bouleversee,

At the peak in July 17, the shorters owned over 25% of Carillion, some got burnt as 14% was still being shorted when they went belly up in January 18. But for sure they knew a bad balance sheet!
FYI - Interserve are currently being shorted to the tune of 7.3%, down from 9.23% in Jan 18, so some improvemnt.

It is a dangerous game, as LTH's of stock will even lend out a % of stock to a shorter for a period of time and charge an interest payment for the loan, then it is the shorter's call to Sell and Buy back the stock, my point here is that LTH's with sometimes over 5% of the stock are still prepared to loan out stock to make money.

[bouleversee] 31/7/2018 21:41

That is my approach, Jeffian, in it for the long term and if one of my hitherto well performing shares takes a bit of a tumble, support them and buy more; which is why I lost a packet on Carillion and am sitting on large losses in Interserve and various others. It seems to me that if a share is being heavily shorted, it is just possible that they know something I don't and I don't pretend to understand balance sheets. I don't worry about every downward movement and have so far never sold on one, but nevertheless I do worry that if a large number are heavily shorting one of my holdings, it is just possible they may know something I don't.

[jeffian] 31/7/2018 20:14

bouleversee,

Daytrading and short-term trading certainly display a 'casino' mentality, as do those chasing riches from pennies in highly speculative startups, bio-techs and miners etc with little to support them other than the hope that they will hit the jackpot with some world-beating drug or new gold seam. That does not mean that the market as a whole is a casino.

I regard myself as an investor. I am not seeking to make something out of nothing; I had capital to start with which I could have left in the bank or lent to Governments or sound corporations or, as I did, I could buy equity in companies I had satisfied myself were a reasonable risk (not always correctly!) and leave it there to grow and receive dividends. As an investor I am supporting the company with my capital and I always consider providing fresh capital via Rights Issues or Placings for the right reasons (i.e. for growth/acquisition, not just because they've run out of money!). I'm with Buffet when he said his investing timeframe was "Forever".

I first bought RPC shares in 1999 at 175p/share. I took up the Rights issue in 2011 at 143p/share. Around 2013/14, I had an epiphany moment and decided that instead of spending all my time researching and seeking new shares, I ought to review the 'winners' in my portfolio and, if they still seemed good value, buy more ("run your winners" and all that). RPC met the criteria and I plunged in buying more in the market in December 2014 at 586p/share to give me access to the Rights issue that month which I took up in full at 320p/share with further RI's in 2016 (460p/share) and 2017 (665p/share). It has become my second largest holding with a substantial 6-figure capital gain as well as a significant yield on my average historic cost.

I know this approach isn't for everyone, and certainly not if you worry about every downward movement, but history shows that a very high proportion of small investors who daytrade, trade short term, try to 'time the market' or 'buy the dips and sell the peaks' lose, or at least don't make, money. Despite some people treating it like one, the market is NOT a casino, it's a mechanism for companies to raise capital and provide a marketplace for their shares at a value set by the vast spread of buyers and sellers.

[beckers2008] 31/7/2018 19:07

The reason for the shorting is the accounting and in particular cash flow concerns/reduction in cash flow conversion.
I am not relaxed with nearly 9% of the stock in the manipulating shorters hands.

[bouleversee] 31/7/2018 18:53

I acquired most of mine through their t/o of British Polythene which had done v. well for me and have topped up twice since. I'm not worried about their products which are not the sort which choke the fish etc. but I simply don't understand the accounting and the reason for all the shorting.

So which are your happiest?