Company News

Premier Foods – it all comes down to strategy

Premier have now responded to the Oasis “decapitation” initiative with a posting on their website outlining the case for retention of the present CEO. Its worth a read through and you can find a copy here - http://www.premierfoods.co.uk/getattachment/investors/results-centre/Premier-Foods-Presentation-July-2018-(2).pdf.aspx Premier have taken each of the key areas mentioned by Oasis and outlined their own position on the matter. The pack summarises the past financial performance, the abandoned McCormick approach, the strategic review and Gavin Darby’s pay. And, to demonstrate that they DO have ...

Amati AIM VCT AGM and Retailers

Amati AIM VCT is one of those peculiar beasts – a Venture Capital Trust. Yesterday I attended their annual general meeting and here are some general comments on the company and the meeting: Amati AIM VCT (AMAT) is the result a merger of the two Amati VCTs. They had very similar portfolios so this made a lot of sense, and the result is a large VCT with total assets of £147 million. This figure was also boosted by excellent performance last year ...

The Battle for Petropavlovsk is over – for now….

So, the boardroom battle at Petropavlovsk finally reached a conclusion at today's AGM with the present board being ousted by the returning previous board. I note that the key votes were won by relatively small margins of a few percent and there was a very good turnout with c77% of all shares voted. So, is it a testament to true shareholder democracy or a disaster for the company's stability and future prospects with a rotating door at the top - what ...

Are Premier Foods about to be Stuffed?

Premier Foods (PFD), makers of the famous Paxo stuffing, may itself be about to be stuffed by one of its largest shareholders. Oasis Management Company Ltd who own nearly 10% of PFD, is encouraging all shareholders to vote for the removal of the current CEO, Gavin Darby, at the upcoming AGM on the 18th July. Oasis claim that: “Gavin Darby has driven Premier Foods into its current “zombie-like” state–he has no credible strategy to return Premier Foods to growth. Long-suffering shareholders need ...

Just Eat – Capital Markets Day

I recall other ShareSoc Members complaining about how some companies publicly announce “Capital Market Day” events on the morning that the event takes place. This ensures that private investors are excluded as only institutional investors are given advance notice. A very good example was that for Just Eat (JE.) yesterday. Given in an RNS at 7.00 am in the morning, with the event commencing at 9.00 am. Usually such announcements say something like “no new information will be provided”, or in this ...

Directors Removed But One Reappointed at Telit

More interesting events at the Telit Communications (TCM) AGM yesterday. This is a company that has been through troubled times of late with the departure of former CEO Oozi Cats under a cloud and lots of questions about their accounts being raised. But events at the AGM were even more surprising when the Chairman Richard Kilsby and two other non-executive directors were voted off the board on a poll. The meeting lasted all of ten minutes apparently. Existing non-executive director Simon Duffy ...

Scottish Mortgage Investor Meeting

Yesterday I went to the meeting for investors held by Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust (SMT) in London. This was a useful event as they normally hold their AGMs in Scotland. Needless to say this company’s name is now grossly misleading as it does not invest in mortgages nor in Scotland but is a “global” investment trust. It has a great track record in the last few years and has a focus on growth companies. Their top 10 investments are Amazon, Alibaba, ...

Update on Boardroom Battle at Petropavlovsk

The deadline for voting at the Petropavlovsk AGM on the 29th June (proxy votes need to be in by 27th June) is approaching fast. For those of you who are shareholders and are still undecided on the boardroom tussle that is taking place, and if you haven’t already read the cases for and against, you may like to take a look at the following sources of information: Firstly, the arguments from the incumbent board headed by Chairman Ian Ashby are available here - Petropavlovsk ...

Horizon Discovery AGM and Chrysalis VCT

Yesterday I attended the Annual General Meeting of Horizon Discovery Group (HZD) in Cambridge. This is a new holding for me, and I don’t often buy shares in companies that are not reporting profits, but I thought it was worth going along to learn some more about the business. The company’s primary focus is on cell manipulation tools (gene editing, gene modulation) which they sell to drug development companies et al. I am not sure I have great understanding of the ...

Boardroom Battle at Petropavlovsk

Those of you who follow Petropavlosvk (POG) will be aware that a boardroom tussle for control is taking place. Two institutional holders, CABS Platform Limited and Slevin Ltd, have requisitioned resolutions to remove the whole of the present board,  who have been in place since 2017, and replace them with 3 directors who were previous members of the board including the previous CEO, Dr Pavel Maslovskiy. The two requisitioners are supported by POG’s largest shareholder Fincraft. Proxy votes need to be in by ...

Hybrid AGMs and British Land

The British Land Plc (BLND) Annual General Meeting is coming up on the 17th July and I took the opportunity to review the agenda items as some are particularly interesting this year. One resolution refers to a change in the Articles which have been substantially revised. They include: A new resolution to permit “hybrid” General Meetings where some members can participate electronically instead of attending in person. But “all electronic” meetings are still not permitted. This is surely a good initiative ...

RBS Sale and Blackrock Smaller Companies AGM

The Government is selling off another tranche of its holding in the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). By selling another 8% it will reduce its holding to 62% of the company. The Government (or “taxpayers” as some described them) will face a loss of about £2 billion on what it originally paid for the shares. There were howls of protest from some politicians. John McDonnell, shadow chancellor, said “There is no economic justification for this sell-off of RBS shares. There should ...