Work Service Share Discussion Threads

[topvest] 20/2/2021 16:42

Rubbish interim results. Same old mediocrity and poor investment decisions.

[russman] 20/2/2021 07:40

Can only think LFI/WSE is a Marshall SA dividend tax avoidance plan.

[topvest] 10/2/2021 10:26

Agreed - why offer a good deal to Marshall & Co where their historical track record is poor. More likely to be called by poor investment propositions, that others won't touch.

[topvest] 09/2/2021 20:41

It doesn't matter whether he's in the city loop or not. Buffett does pretty well in Omaha! Marshall & Co. basically have no investment edge. You would have thought they might have worked this out by now!

[topvest] 08/2/2021 20:24

WSE have increased their stake in Bilby. They really don't learn do they? You would have thought they would have clinched an understanding by now of what companies and sectors constitute a high quality investment and which should probably be avoided. OK, Bilby might be cheap. It might go much higher, but its also a reasonable candidate for going bust in the next few years as its a poor company in a horrible sector. Even if it does go higher will they exit or just await the cliff edge when things go wrong again as so often they do in this particular sector? Historical experience suggests that they would top-slice a few bit eventually lose the whole investment. I've lost my patience - change is needed here. The whole investment set up of LFI and WSE is a charade of mediocrity (at best) with the Marshall's profiteering at everyone else's expense.

[russman] 30/11/2020 08:57

Shame about the son; met him a few times over the years. He was their heir so not sure what succession Marshall is planning. Presume some retirement/tax planning will eventually occur.

[smithie6] 30/11/2020 00:01

the structure of course of LFI is to provide a higher return to the Marshalls compared with them just investing their own money privately. By being listed & having WSE under LFI control they can have control over more assets for a fixed amount of their own cash. & the income from "all" the assetts helps pay their dirs. fees & travel costs, expenses, med. cover .....whereas otherwise they would have to pay all of their costs themselves. (before 1 son sadly passed away there were 2 Marshalls receiving directors fees... & I think the LFI owned London flat (now sold) was rented to the Marshalls , & below the mkt rate...) & wer/are any wives/girlfriends also on the payroll ?? so, owning 30-40% to have control of 2 entities ...& receive dirs feed etc, is beneficial vs just investing that 30-40% privately.

[smithie6] 29/11/2020 23:40

Russman/topvest I see you are both still in LFI or Western glad I got out !...& I waited for too long... amazes me that the bod dont seem to be able to learn !! & yes, Bilby....who in their right mind would have invested in that at its flotation price, nuts phps similar to Creston, the bod got blinded by the person selling the story ----- Hartim food exports ....The main business of the Marshalls is in food exports/imports, from S.A. yet despite the 'skill' & experience of the Marshalls helping them ....& the Marshall's import/expert business having an office in London & lots of food business contacts....(with Hartim being a microscopic business on an ind. estate over in Gloucestershire area) .. the Hartim business still went down the tube...(or Western has decided it is just about to, so they left the bod) & that was after Western putting in more money to save the co. one time before !! ----- imo the dirs. haven't got the touch, the instinct, gut feeling, the touch for investing & are not willing to realise it or to appoint an experienced investment advisor on full time or part time basis. Mr Marshall senior phps still thinks that it is 1960-80 & investing is just about buying some good blue chip shares, with a decent divi %, & some strategic investments that look ok & then just relaxing & over time you make lots of money. In the 70s, 80s that was phps an ok policy. But those days ended years ago. ----- I'm sure that 'we' have all outperformed LFI & Western, & by miles.

[topvest] 04/10/2020 11:00

David Marshall is 76 though so maybe he's planning to tidy some of his holdings up before he retires!

[topvest] 04/10/2020 10:58

Agreed from a shareholder perspective. Unfortunately from management's perspective it has a few attractions: historical attachment, director fees, something to do and a vehicle to continue to hide the City Group cost base.

[russman] 04/10/2020 10:02

WSE has no raison d'etre anymore.

[topvest] 03/10/2020 12:53

I would be happy with a merger first of all, so that we just hold shares in the LSE listed Lonfin. We are all trapped in WSE where the bid / offer spread is ludicrous. Why they ever moved onto Ofex (then Plus and now Aquis exchange) is anyone's guess. Maybe it was to cause an intentional trap! I have noticed though that a few disaster shell companies (held for over a decade) have recently jumped in price. I have actually sold a few duff companies at what I consider to be a fair price on Aquis in the last week which is odd. Nice to tidy up the bottom end of my portfolio from a more speculative style 20 years ago! I still hold lots of Gledhow Investments and Western Selection though, and will patiently await an exit opportunity. The unfortunate thing about Lonfin or WSE is that whenever they have a strategic investment, I am convinced that this has a negative impact on the share price of the strategic investment. I would guess that Brand Architekts starts flying now that WSE have exited!

[russman] 01/10/2020 20:19

Marshall has lost the investment plot. The overheads have been excessive for decades with mediocre performance. Fold LFI & WSE together; retire the dead wood; chop overheads or relate to performance.

[topvest] 29/9/2020 18:10

This is a disposal at a very poor price. Peter Gyllenhammer has got a bargain, as usual. Let's hope that this is the beginning of the end for their investment strategy, rather than raising some cash for another strategic investment. This strategy has been going for 20 years or so now and it hasn't worked. Investment returns have been poor to middling before excessive costs. Even I have lost my patience with this one! Let's hope that they finally either return cash or get taken out by Lonfin to avoid the double costs! They had some reasonable initial investments, to be fair to them, but they have executed poorly and never made a sizeable profit on any. Always too interested in taking the director fees which must have clouded their objectivity & judgement. In my view, they should have learned by now that average companies are not hold forever investments. Fantastic companies may well be, but none of their investments have ever fallen into this category. Creston, Doctor's Direct, The Sanctuary Group, Northbridge, Hartim, Bilby, Finsbury Foods. None of these were awful, but The Sanctuary Group, Hartim and Doctor's Direct were total 100% losses in the end. Bilby was a mistake from day one. Awful sector to be getting into for anyone that has experience of construction contracts in the social housing sector. Creston, Northbridge and Finsbury Foods were all reasonable businesses but again they didn't get out at a good price and profit despite ample opportunity. Surely, as a Board there has to be a realisation that performance has been mediocre (at best). It's time to return cash and use the vehicles as a shell or something!

[topvest] 29/9/2020 18:02

The Company announces that on 28 September 2020, it sold 1,300,000 ordinary shares of 5 pence each in the capital of Brand Architekts at £1.0978 pence per share. Following the transaction, the Company no longer holds any ordinary shares in Brand Architekts. Edward Beale, a non-executive director of the Company, is a non-executive director of Brand Architekts. This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014 (MAR). The directors of the Company accept responsibility for the contents of this announcement.

[russman] 22/11/2019 09:20

Marshall empire is not that well connected to get first choice on good investments.

[topvest] 21/11/2019 21:27

No they have added at 11p in the placing. No surprise there in throwing good money after bad. I am on record on this BB saying it was a rubbish investment...the sector is a nightmare for anyone that has a reasonable handle on business. Getting their customers to pay a bill is always a big problem and they will hold up a £1m payment for some gripe over something or other for £100. Anyway, the placing may not be a bad move as long as they sell a stake on recovery. Doesn't get you away from the fact that they shouldn't have invested in such a low return competitive business in the first place though!!

[russman] 20/11/2019 17:59

WSE is a sub of LFI so more complicated. Just roll it into one. And for the record I don't rate Bilby as a good investment opportunity.

[coolen] 19/11/2019 20:48

As Russman has identified previously, a merger with Mr Marshall's sister-company LFI would be complicated by LFI's dual-South African Listing. A less costly solution would be to find a new investor/manager. As part of the exit agreement, Mr Marshall's "strategic" investments within WSE be transferred to LFI. Word has it that the former major shareholder and investment manager of El Oro (recently acquired by J P Morgan) is seeking just such a vehicle, should any of you guys be able to make contact.

[russman] 19/11/2019 09:14

Lobby does not work; we will be outvoted. The investment performance of both LFI and WSE has been poor. That is Mr Marshall's responsibility.

[topvest] 17/11/2019 12:47

Yes, but I would say their RNS was positive as Bilby was very close to going bust. It's quite positive that directors supported the fundraise. I guess that we will find out this week, through a holding RNS, whether or not WSE put some more in. WSEs investment strategy isn't working and we need to lobby for LFI to take it out.

[oooff] 16/11/2019 13:17

Another drop for Bilby due to fundraise at 11p per share.

[russman] 02/10/2019 05:34

Their business model is out of date. What value has been created for minorities over the last 20 year. A divi but not anymore. Roll WSE into LFI now please. Nothing WSE offers that we cannot do better.