Wolfson Microelectronics Share Discussion Threads

[pjw956] 01/3/2011 19:54

now at these prices wlf begining to look very interesting - a number of tega2 products launch in coming days - nexus s mobile now also available from vodafone should give them a lift - LG optimus 2 launch also in coming weeks all looks very interesting.........

[domtheone] 28/2/2011 17:31

OK that'll do ;-)

Many thanks.

[boadicea] 26/2/2011 23:20

dom - I had fondly assumed the employee share fund largely held shares that would be awarded under a SAYE scheme.
However, regardless of the exact use of the shares, whether or not it is better for us shareholders than issuing new shares on the award date depends mainly on the cost of the bought in shares compared to the share price on the award date.
If the share price is then higher than now, we will be better off (except for any interest lost on the earlier cash investment in the shares) than if the share price declines between now and award date.
The eventual cost to the company is the difference between strike proceeds and the buy-in price. As you note, there is the advantage of no dilution of existing holders BUT (and for the same reason) the awarded shares will also have a marginally higher value to the awardees than new ones.

On a simplistic asset backing view (assumes share price corresponds to NAV which is rarely the case), if the company can buy in at the same cost as the strike price, the award is virtually self-financing and there is no dilution.
If the buy-in cost is equal to the share price at the award date then there is virtually no advantage as against issuing more shares - provided that the awarded shares are a small proportion (say 10% or less) of the total issue.
If shares are bought in at more than the share price on the award date, new shares would have been a better option, at least for existing holders.

I could illustrate it with figures but you're probably already nodding off!

[boadicea] 26/2/2011 23:15

(Double posted - see below where an intended edit resulted in a repost.)

[domtheone] 26/2/2011 11:20

Ref the latest RNS re the Wolfsen Employee Trust Fund.

Forgive my lack of knowledge on the subject but I believe that the share fund buys Wolfsen shares in the open market at market rate (indeed it holds nearly 5% of the shares which would make it one of the biggest shareholders in WLF).

Now i believe that it's been stated that these shares are for future share awards to staff (well Directors) down the line and, that rather than issue more shares (which dilutes our holdings) they just buy existing ones.

Who then decides when to buy these shares. How many to buy and at what price. The cash must be coming straight out of WLF's bank account, thus reducing the ultimate value of the company so how does one really calculate whether it's better or worse than issuing more shares.

[domtheone] 25/2/2011 16:33

Being walked down again on zero volume. Small buy order in at 275.

[keybored] 18/2/2011 17:32

Yip that was a belter

[domtheone] 18/2/2011 16:37

Hefty sell gone through today.

Might be what's kept the lid on the share price this week.

[fabzzz] 10/2/2011 18:38

Very interesting product announcement today for a couple of reasons (programmable DSP, noise cancellation and power efficiency) - already press below. I'm not entirely clear if this signals a licensing/royalties model move in this area - more knowledgeable minds than me out there plse (hate to mention the A.R.M name, but...)?

[nellie1973] 09/2/2011 14:20

Broker upgrade

[glyn10] 09/2/2011 13:58

500p, ah that was a happy time for me !!!

I quite agree a nominal dividend would be good and as you say not going to cost much.

Nice piece in the Daily Mail and I am sure3 many others

[domtheone] 09/2/2011 10:44

It was asked by one of the analysts (dividends were on the agenda for the sector as a whole apparantly) and the CFO said it was an issue that they were aware of.

They've been sitting on a large cash pile for some years now (AFAIK) so i'd like to think that if they (As they say they will) return to profit in 2011 and their forecast for 2012 is good, perhaps, even if it's a nominal amount (a penny would only cost a couple of million quid!), they may look into it.

Having said that, if the share price is 500p by 2012 then who cares about a 1p div lol.

[glyn10] 09/2/2011 10:02

boadicea got a bit carried away sorry !!

Dom, CSR have just announced dvidend payments, not sure if and when WLF will.

[matt123d] 09/2/2011 08:27

265p, 270p and 272p are technical support levels. 230p and 240p below that.

[keybored] 09/2/2011 01:42

support at 250p ?

[domtheone] 08/2/2011 23:46

Yup. Compared to the last webcast I listened to, the tone was significantly more optimistc.

Nice to see somebody raise a question about dividends too.

[pjw956] 08/2/2011 20:09

listening to webcast sounds more optimistic to my ears
wlf seems to have a number of design ins ( as they call them) coming through and working with a number of key companies - I would expect support around the current level and push back up to the 300 level - they are in a number of expanding markets for 2011 -2012

[matt123d] 08/2/2011 19:47

Wanted in size at 272p in the closing auction.

Technically should find further fresh demand at these levels. A number of widely watched technical indicators converging at this price.

[keybored] 08/2/2011 14:45

clicked the audio link just now .... but its not there

[domtheone] 08/2/2011 12:36

Massive selloff looking at the volume, not!

Anyone heard the presentation yet?

Too busy at work so going to listen tonight.

[glyn10] 08/2/2011 09:26

better results than I expected and more optomistic for the future than previous statements

[glyn10] 08/2/2011 08:00

a lack of future catalysts??? are they on drugs??? Oviously a lack of research by Citigroup. Ever heard of Nvidia guys??? maybe try typing it in to google.

[pjw956] 08/2/2011 07:59

Commenting on the results, Mike Hickey, CEO of Wolfson Microelectronics, said:

"We achieved strong growth momentum in 2010, delivering the second-half step-up in revenue and return to underlying profitability that we promised. We further strengthened our product portfolio, and our Audio Hub architecture is being adopted in the most exciting and fastest-growing consumer electronics products such as smartphones, tablet PCs, eBook readers and the latest gaming devices. These developments, together with another record breaking year of design-ins, give us confidence that we can achieve further strong revenue growth in 2011 and beyond."

more optimistic....