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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 ...

Shorting Shares: Radio 4 programme

Mark Northway and Cliff Weight were interviewed as part of this programme which highlighted some of the benefits and issues surrounding short selling. Members may wish to listen to the programme which can be downloaded here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0b7fj3g#play "Falling Short - Fake News and Financial Markets File on 4 If fake news is poisoning public debate, then what is it doing to the financial markets? Short-sellers - investors who bet on a company's shares falling, not rising- have a mixed reputation. For some they play a vital ...

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 ...