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Earthport Hit By Apparent Fraud

I covered the position of Earthport (EPO) in the last ShareSoc Informer Newsletter in an article under the headline "Can these real dogs recover?". The article covered several companies where profits had been negligible over the years resulting in investors becoming disillusioned but there were some signs of improvement. I said in concluding about Earthport (Monitise and Tungsten were the other companies) that "it's fair to say that investors are losing confidence in Mr Uberoi (CEO) and are concerned about the ...

The Non-Financial Reporting Directive

While the debate over the EU and its bureaucracy is so topical, it's worth taking a look at the latest public consultation on an EU Directive that needs to be implemented into UK law. This goes under the snappy title of "The Non-Financial Reporting Directive". It's primarily about how companies report information to their investors and to the wider public on their strategy and operations - typically in their Annual Reports at present. There is already a requirement in UK company law to ...

It Could Get More Expensive to Die

It could get more expensive to die for the wealthy, or less if you are poor. There are proposals to raise the cost of filing for probate substantially for larger estates. It currently costs £215 in Court fees to apply directly for probate, or £155 if filed through a solicitor. That is a flat fee which is the same for everyone, unless the estate is worth less than £5,000 when the charge is zero. But the Ministry of Justice is proposing ...

Dunedin Enterprise (DNE) to Wind Up

Back in August 2015, I commented on the high discount at which Dunedin Enterprise Investment Trust traded - about 38% at that time. I subsequently wrote to the Chairman suggesting some action be taken. Well they have finally decided to do something about it. Namely after the disposal of one of their large investments they plan to wind up the company (subject to shareholder approval of course). This has caused the discount to narrow to 35% at the time of writing (according ...

Commercial Property and Brexit

In a previous article I discussed what might be spooking the commercial property market. Share prices of companies such as British Land and Land Securities are down by as much as 25% since last November. Was this due to the threat of changes to the tax allowances for debt finance? I surmised not. But there is one very good reason that has become apparent - namely the alleged threat of Britain's exit from the EU (Brexit). Capital Economics LLP have published a ...