Titon Share Discussion Threads

[argylerich] 07/6/2023 14:17

mansplaining ha ha ha ha ha ha

[claireritchie] 07/6/2023 13:49

Dear Mr Argyle,
When a response descends into condescension,’;mansplaining’ and references to Oscar Wilde it is time for me to politely withdraw. The company is my husband’s to comment on as Chair, the family is mine and I am certainly not going to discuss any personal family circumstances with you, so I will leave you to continue making things up if you wish to do so.
Again, I would advise all shareholders to contact my husband if they wish to ask any questions or discuss any company matters. His number is freely available on the website. I am not aware that you have ever done this prior to posting your opinions as ‘facts’ , Mr Argyle, so please do think about doing so, as that would be infinitely preferable to guesswork and speculation for us all. My thanks and best wishes go to all my fellow company shareholders. Claire Ritchie

[argylerich] 07/6/2023 09:34

Thanks for posting Claire, and I am in total agreement that facts are far better to have than news vacuums, which is exactly the point I’ve been raising.
There has been an utter void of news around this recent succession of negative news events and those vacuums are the responsibility of management, and as your post highlights so strongly, the 'family' which are intrinsically interwoven.
Like it or not, when a company goes 'public' for funds, there are obvious consequences of increased scrutiny from that wider set of investors. Questions that those investors are entitled to have answered fully and honestly.
The facts in the current circumstances do remain highly important: let’s look at them:
1) Fact. The company currently sits at 40% of the value it was 5 years ago. And yet it is now, at these apparently bargain share price levels, that sees members of ‘the family’ divesting their holdings with no other ‘connectedR17; parties putting their money where their mouth is and buying them. In fact, only in the last couple of days has some sort of organised trading come about to transition share ownerships to larger private investors.
2) Fact. Tyson Anderson as Deputy Chair no longer has any direct vested interest in the Company.
3) Fact. Your sister, Amanda Farrar, continues to divest her holdings in Titon and is likely causing a ‘stock overhang’ situation even at these ‘low’ share prices. We won’t know if and when she’s finished as she is no longer above the 3% notifiable threshold. The initial drip feed of shares was nothing less than shambolic for someone, as you highlight, that is so closely connected to the company.
4) Regarding: “this should refute any accusations of “the only remaining major female shareholder selling all her shares”. You seem to have entirely missed the point. The point was the departure of Alexandra French in such an acrimonious way, (the second such questionable departure of the CEO from Titon in only just over a YEAR!) was going to create a news vacuum and speculation. There have now been three CEO departures in succession at Titon, a number that even Lady Bracknell would struggle to find a negative comment of suitable gravitas for.
5) Fact. This period of shambolic relations between CEOs and the ‘family’ management is the responsibility of the ‘family’ management alone and should never have been allowed to happen in the first place. Good management is about smoothing the operations, not breaking them.

[claireritchie] 07/6/2023 08:28

Thank you Brian. Very happy to do so.

[briangeeee] 03/6/2023 22:50

Claire, I'm not a shareholder, but I applaud you taking the time to provide the information that you have.

[claireritchie] 01/6/2023 19:19

I believe it would be most beneficial to both shareholders and the company if the facts about the company, the directors and the founding family were correct when posting online, rather than merely surmised. You will note my name, & therefore hopefully accept the below information as reliable:
For the record :
- Amanda Farrar is not the daughter of John Anderson. She is his niece, and the daughter of Peter Farrar, who served as CEO and Deputy Chair until his death in 1999. She is also my sister;
- Tyson (not Tyler) Anderson, my cousin has not “given away his entire shareholding” as you state. The shares have already been owned for some time by his (now ex-) wife, and have merely been shown in the accounts in the past under Tyson’s name as a Director having an interest in the shares, following corporate legislation rules. On the finalisation of their divorce, he then fails to have a ‘connected interest’, and therefore the announcement was made this morning to advise people of this.
- There remain several major female shareholders – myself, my aunt, my (female) cousin, my sister and my cousin’s wife, all of whom retain complete confidence in the company and its management, and whose shares have also historically been shown in the accounts in the Directors’ connected interests numbers where necessary. I believe this should refute any accusations of “the only remaining major female shareholder selling all her shares”, or such like.
- From time to time, shareholders may need to liquidate some investments, as I’m sure you yourself do. This is a private matter, entirely for them, and may just possibly be absolutely nothing to do with the confidence, or a lack thereof, in an investment, but merely personal circumstances.

Chairman Keith Ritchie (my husband) is always available for any shareholder who wishes to have a conversation on any company matter (numbers on the company website).

[argylerich] 19/5/2023 09:21

Well at least if thet're paying divi's it may stop family members selling shares? ;-)

[kor_wraith] 19/5/2023 08:35

The paying of a dividend can only be described as reckless when considering the cash position of the company in this high interest environment. I can only imagine it was done to avoid the red flag phrase of "dividend cancellation".

When a company acts to manage its share price rather than its business it is wise to exit.

[wad collector] 19/5/2023 08:29

Oh dear the interims tell us that losses have increased, and there is an attempt to tell us that it is sector-wide.
I do wonder about the logic of continuing to pay a dividend when it is not being generated.

[bo90] 26/4/2023 23:01

She was my girlfriend :0

[bo90] 26/4/2023 23:01

That is her maiden name which isn't in use, no doubt she is selling to release capitol for her own up keep

[argylerich] 19/4/2023 16:17

Pug, apparently Amanda Farrar is Amanda is a member of the founding family ( John Anderson's daughter ) which just adds to the 'fun' as to why she'd be selling out now of all times.

[argylerich] 19/4/2023 12:01

French is on linkedin, along with Mat Norris and Tyler Anderson but too many Farrar's.

[argylerich] 18/4/2023 20:28

Tried the twitter searches for Farrar and French with no joy.

[pugugly] 18/4/2023 19:59

Anyone know anything about Amanda Farrar? There is an Amanda Farrar on Twitter but does not seem applicable.

[argylerich] 18/4/2023 18:48

Sadly as I predicted, another drop in share ownership from Amanda Farrar.

Is it a coincidence? Titon parts company with Alexandra French then it's only major female shareholder starts selling up?

From Mark Atkinson's interview we can see that the probable company explanation is a clash of cultures but as jane deer posted, previous explanations regarding Mat Norris don't look very good with hindsight.

As bos says, unless you're 'in the room' you're not going to know (strange question to start an account on a BB with though bos?? we're you in the room?).

One can only be certain that if Amanda Farrar has been tipped off about something that's not in shareholder view, then that's insider dealing.

[argylerich] 17/4/2023 17:04

Thanks for that Mark. It will be interesting to see how Rockwood's relationship with Titon evolves.

[pmeldrum] 17/4/2023 08:16

Great Interview MarkI laughed at your question re timings of RNS's after the timing of the CEO departure announcement But great insight of company I invested about six months ago after hearing an interview with Richard Staveley so delighted Rockwood have increased their stake . Actually just showing a profit

[markatkinson] 17/4/2023 06:56

My very dear friend Paul Kerin and I have just produced this episode following my recent visit to the AGM -

[argylerich] 14/4/2023 16:23

Because it's probably the costliest these days! "if"..

Whatever it is that's led to this situation, as cfro points out, it's history repeating itself.

[argylerich] 14/4/2023 15:43

Repetitive negative behaviours certainly don't reflect well, and lying to gloss them over definitely not.