Touchstar Share Discussion Threads

[cocker] 10/1/2025 10:47

Can sell 30000 on line with ii with firm quote and yet max buy is 500 @90p before no fixed quote

[dolittle1] 09/1/2025 14:38

Code 1 and unable to get buy quotes at 90p

[pavey ark] 09/1/2025 14:37

Well my trade has just gone through......topped up on the fall.

At 90p I am buying below the two year average and on almost 4% yield.

If we get no deal it could dip to 80p but that would give an EV for the company of c.£3.5m and that would be rather silly....even for this market !!

If we get a deal it will be well north of 90p

You pays your money you takes your chance.

[s2lowner1] 09/1/2025 13:38

Down another 5% now on about £20000 of trades still no news

[cocker] 03/1/2025 20:42

Well we had some sort of TU in October and not a single contract announced on Web site since September. With regards to dividends, any company can only pay a certain amount against profit unless special ones are paid. Share buybacks were implemented to allow one holder to exit, but not a lot since. A buy out at a decent premium seems to be less likely as every day goes by, but we can live in hope I guess.

[davidosh] 03/1/2025 14:07

A few questions...

Do we think there will be a trading update considering we are in a bid situation but already past the year end?

We have good growth and profits are increasing but we do not seem to attract new investors and never did the buybacks that were promised so why not pay huge dividends to attract income seekers as we do have plenty of cash ?

At least that would show us a stronger share price on which to bargain with buyers. We should be given an update as this has gone on for four months now

[cocker] 23/12/2024 23:25

I guess an offer pre Xmas is not on the cards then!

[pavey ark] 18/12/2024 14:41

Re budget.....life goes on in spite of "heavy burdens heaped"....just a tad dramatic there.

TST is either worth buying or not and that judgement is based on many factors but the most important one is will it make money at an acceptable level to justify a particular purchase price.

Working on this rather basic principle I bought more at 85p.

As far as any update goes we don't need to be told who (if anyone) is interested in buying the company or the price or the terms but a minimum would be a broad update.

My holding (number of shares)is still slightly below that of a year ago so quite relaxed but wouldn't mind a sudden and substantial rise in the share price......please.....if that's not a bother !!!

[varies] 18/12/2024 11:05

The lack of news is certainly disappointing.
The investment climate has deteriorated in the last few months with heavy burdens heaped on small companies in the budget and it may be that parties interested in buying TST 3 months ago are less interested now.
These are grim times for many AIM companies but TST looks much more secure than most and l shall stay put, hoping for the best.

[pavey ark] 18/12/2024 09:16

Now anyone who had the cash and actually bought shares would have no reason to be anxious............having taken advantage of the recent price fall.....whining , do nothing people may feel differently.

The reason for contacting the company was to remind them that they can't really make the announcement then leave private shareholders in the dark for three months....they can ...but they shouldn't.

Not looking for great detail ....just a broad outline.

I now hold a reasonable number of shares here....some will hold more some less but it has a tiny market cap so I tend to look closely.
On this theme..... given the projected year end cash TST had a TOTAL market cap EV of £4m at 85p.....now that was difficult to resist !!

[cocker] 17/12/2024 20:26

Not getting brown trousers are we my friend, but quite rightly so to ask the one million dollar question

[pavey ark] 17/12/2024 19:46

Well I left a message with the company today and if anyone from TST or their advisers/brokers reads this then please note we are most certainly entitled to some sort of update .....this week !!!

We are certainly due some information as to the progress (or otherwise) of this review and a brief update on the approximate year end situation (cash, turnover, orders) would also be welcome.

[pavey ark] 12/12/2024 20:29

Well that was strange....not sure I would buy such a small number of shares if it involved filling in a form ....anyway we did see the price move on a tiny volume.

So where are we !!??

TST is not a large and complicated company and I would think that any prospective purchaser has had time to look and decide by now.

The "glass half full" is that if there was no concrete interest then the company could issue a statement....."there was plenty of interest but indicative offers were below our valuation....time to move on "

If there is a live offer situation then the current time scale is still reasonable.

Obviously we don't have any information but I find it strange that we are almost at a two year low with the company up for sale and a 30%(minimum) bump in the share price a possibility.

[pavey ark] 22/11/2024 09:39

Well I bought 5k more yesterday at 86p and it will come a no surprise to most here that the dividend payment of 1.5p had little to do with my purchase.

If I assume £3m cash going forward and round down every estimate and expectation I still get an EV figure for PE of under 5 in 2025 and a yield of 4%.


This latest purchase now brings my recent buying equal to my four sales from April 23....but does not include the purchases I made during the Covid price collapse (39p-50p)

If the company isn't sold then Ian Martin will still hold over 10% I honestly can't see him walking away completely.
My view is that serious interest has been shown in buying all or part of the company but if nothing happens I would still be happy to hold.

[cocker] 21/11/2024 20:22

Does one get the feeling that the fire sale may well not come to fruition? Divi's all round today and yet barely a buy.

[pavey ark] 19/11/2024 19:35

"Our intention is to reach a conclusion to this review this year."

Well time moves on and we are into the tenth week since the announcement.

I don't see them waiting until late December so .....any time soon?

[pavey ark] 08/11/2024 11:18

Russman , I did not really think I was quoting anyone and was indicating dialogue.
I feel I must give a nod to Punch magazine where your quote first appeared.

Big fan of Mark Twain and his pithy and very wise sayings but I have never read Huckleberry Finn...... however it looks like he did read Punch.

Superbobo,
I think it was me who suggested that Hardy would be leaving but there is no indication that this is actually the case......I simply pointed out that a sale may suit him rather than a big change to the company organisation.....there is no indication that he is not prepared to carry on as is.

As far as investing goes we simply have to look at the information available and base our decisions from that.

A strategic review is a For Sale sign and Ian Martin has been approached in the past so I'm guessing that he is expecting offers......whither he gets them or not is the question.....I think he will.

NB I have been wrong before !!!!

[superbobo] 08/11/2024 09:57

Of course in the ideal scenario the strategic review is about deciding if an offer is good enough or which offer to choose. What I am saying is that if the offer is not sufficient(i.e rejected) or even worse no offers come forward then the outcome is not looking great given the change of leadership required and the uncertainty this would bring both to staff and customers in the short term. I hope you are right and it is just a case of choosing which of the offers to accept.

[russman] 08/11/2024 06:49

''Huckleberry Finn,''and you pays your money and you takes your choice! ''

[pavey ark] 07/11/2024 14:09

I did see that but "by the end of the year" could equally be seen as before the end of the year.

It should also be noted that they are not obliged to say if they are talking to/negotiating with any potential buyer during this period so the period of the strategic review is rather meaningless.(my half hour Google dive into strategic reviews has rather obviously made me an expert !!)

It is clear that the company has put itself up for sale and I would suggest that from their point of view the the only strategy involved in the strategic review is
1. do we have an offer ?
2. do we accept it ?

[varies] 07/11/2024 12:40

Looking again at the announcement of 26 September, l see that the intention is to complete the strategic review by the end of this year.

[pavey ark] 07/11/2024 09:27

Before I'm accused of over egging this I feel I must point out that even after my recent buys I still hold 20%+ less than I did two years ago.
I should also point out that I have been in and around since the BVM days (I can remember when they bought the Access Control unit !!!).

It is good to have a reasonable knowledge of a company even if you are not fully invested at a particular time.....I was happy to jump in during the Covid sub 40p period.

Having said all that I spent some time looking at Strategic Reviews, the background and regulations/requirements surrounding them.

In my opinion the company is up for sale AND they have people interested.

The first part is a bit of a given but the second part is gathered from wording and tone so not quite such a given.

Certainly just my opinion ...hunch !!

"you pays your money you takes your chance "

[cocker] 06/11/2024 19:11

Ian's plan for some time was to move on & now it's up for sale, perhaps the end game is in sight and the smooth transition with him there a plus. With regards to Mark Hardy, well all I can say is if not sold, the quicker he goes the better. Agree, the looming sale is a put off for any company looking to do business with TST, but should be concluded shortly & again, perhaps would have been better being up for sale after what is normally our busiest period.