Blogs

Latest Blogs

Chancellors Autumn Statement – How Does It Affect Investors?

The Chancellors Autumn Statement yesterday was effectively a cold shower for those who might be positive about the economy. Government debt is going to be allowed to rise so...

No More Dividend Cheques From Aviva

It has been brought to my attention that insurance company Aviva (AV.) are to stop paying dividends via cheque. Unless shareholders supply bank account information and accept direct payments into them, they will not get paid their dividends in future. This particularly affects those shareholders who hold their shares in certificated form or as personal crest members where payment by cheque is the default method. Another company that introduced this rule a year or two back was Vodafone, despite the objections of ...

Inconvenient AGM Times – DX Group

I posted only recently about the inconvenient time and location of the AGM of Dunelm. Another example is DX Group (DX.) who scheduled their AGM for 8.30 am in Iver, Bucks on the 6th December. But after representations from investors they have moved it to 10.30 am. It seems that they did not get many investors turn up for the AGM last year. But bearing in mind the share price collapse over the past year, more are expected this year. It is good ...

Aero Inventory – Deloittes Fined

There was a brief mention of the latest news on Aero Inventory in the recently issued ShareSoc Informer Newsletter, but here are a few more details. False accounts are a common problem in AIM companies (Aero Inventory and Globo are just two examples apart from the recent case of Redcentric). Let us hope the auditors of Redcentric (PWC) take note of the recent record fine imposed on Deloittes of £4 million in relation to their audit of Aero Inventory, plus £2.3 million ...

Learning from the Experts 2 – Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust

A previous blog post covered how one could learn from experts such as Harry Nimmo at Standard Life UK Smaller Companies Trust. Another company, but a very different one, I hold is Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust (SMT) and I thought this comment in their recently received Interim Report was worthy of note: "Outlook: There is a strong structural asymmetry in equity market returns, given the potential for a successful company to grow to many times its size. This means it is of ...