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ShareSoc Blog

This blog gives you the latest topical news plus some informal comments on them from ShareSoc’s directors and other contributors. These are the personal comments of the authors and not necessarily the considered views of ShareSoc. The writers may hold shares in the companies mentioned. You can add your own comments on the blog posts, but note that ShareSoc reserves the right to remove or edit comments where they are inappropriate or defamatory.

There is more news given in the News page of our web site and more analysis of news is provided in our monthly newsletter for members – see the Newsletters page.

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Mini Budget – Good but misses a chance

This article represents the views of its author and not necessarily those of ShareSoc. The Chancellor has taken steps  to drive forward the Government’s desire to simplify the personal tax system for individuals. This has included the removal of a new tax charge (the Health and Social Care Levy), the removal of an income tax bracket (the additional 45% tax rate) and the reversal of the 1.25% increase to dividend tax rates from April 2023. However, in his Statement on Thursday the Chancellor ...

Property Trusts and Supermarket Income REIT Results

The views expressed in this article are those of its author and not necessarily those of ShareSoc. Commercial property investment trusts should be a good defence in a market downturn – at least that is what the investment pundits have been saying. As the market heads south I have been selling overvalued tech stocks and retail stocks vulnerable to a recession and reduced consumer spending. Property trusts should be less volatile as although the property market has been changing in some regards, ...

Dunelm Results and Pay at Safestore

The views expressed in this article are those of its author and not necessarily those of ShareSoc. Dunelm (DNLM) published their preliminary results this morning (14/9/2022) – I no longer hold them. They were surprisingly good bearing in mind they are a homeware retailer – sales up 16% and EPS up 30%. Clearly the anticipated vulnerability to rising inflation and consumers being hit by a recession has not yet come to pass although forecasts for next year are lower. They say trading in ...

Earnings Per Share and Is It Well Defined?

The views expressed in this article are those of its author and not necessarily those of ShareSoc. Most investors rely on Earnings Per Share (EPS) as a measure of the performance of a company. In theory it’s a simple calculation based on post-tax earnings divided by the number of ordinary shares in issue as defined by the IAS 33 accounting standard (see link below). But the number of shares can be affected by the future exercise of options, convertibles and warrants so in ...

Comments on Possible Offer for GB Group

The views expressed in this article are those of its author and not necessarily those of ShareSoc. Announcements late yesterday and this morning (7th September 2022) indicate that GB Group (GBG) may receive a cash offer for the business from private equity firm GTCR. I have held these shares since 2011 – first purchased at 42p, closed last night at 522p. It’s one of my larger holdings and needless to say I have been very happy with my investment as it has ...

Energy Caps, Verici DX, Equals and Paypoint

The views expressed in this article are those of its author and not necessarily those of ShareSoc. PM Truss's proposal is a cap on prices, not on overall cost so people with big houses with large gas consumption will still pay more. Fracking is also being permitted to boost local gas production. Truss did not give in to calls for this largess to be funded through a windfall tax. She said this would undermine the national interest by discouraging the very investment we ...

Asset Allocation

This is the personal view of Cliff Weight and does not represent the views of ShareSoc. Cliff Weight is not authorised to give financial advice and nothing in this  article should be interpreted as advice. The 13 year Quantitative Easing* experiment has finished. Between March 2009 and June 2022, the Bank of England bought 57% of the £1.5trillion of gilts sold, according to the FT see https://on.ft.com/3xcx6mL I feel more comfortable. The laws of economics I was taught at university in the 1970’s ...

FRC guidance on AGMs

FRC guidance on AGMs The FRC AGM Good Practice Guidance was published in July 2022. Cliff Weight and Peter Parry were members of the working party that helped develop the new guidance. Cliff said: “This new FRC Guidance is another important step on the journey to wider participation and better engagement between companies and investors. Of course, it does not deal with shareholders who hold their shares via platforms – that issue is being addressed by the BEIS, the Law Commission and most ...

FCA Annual Meeting 10am 15 September – Virtual Meeting

This meeting is open to all. You can register here: https://webinars.fca.org.uk/annual-public-meeting-2022 You can also submit questions if you wish. I have submitted a question on behalf of ShareSoc: ShareSoc, a not for profit independent organisation, dedicated to supporting individual investors, has made a considerable investment in producing an attractive video series, designed to help new investors. Will the FCA help to promote this series, to ensure that the general public is well informed about the basic principles of sound investment practice? Will you meet with ShareSoc ...

Financial Ombudsman and FCA considered lacking, plus defective Insolvency Regime

The views expressed in this article are those of its author and not necessarily those of ShareSoc. The stock markets are in turmoil now everyone is back from their holidays and facing up to the realisation that with high inflation and looming recessions the stock market may not be the best place to be for investors. I have moved more into cash and more defensive shares but cash is not the place to be for very long when inflation is eroding its ...
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