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Insurance companies and Kentz

With the attack by the Government on annuities in the budget and the revelation that the FCA is to look into the treatment of some policyholders such as those in "closed" funds, both investors in these companies and their directors must be somewhat incensed. Indeed the Financial Times reported this morning that half a dozen of the City's top institutional investors have consulted a leading law firm over alleged "market abuse" in the way the latter review was disclosed. It seems ...

ShareSoc Company Seminar Announcement

Our next seminar at which public companies will be presenting is scheduled for the 8th May in the City of London, with registration starting at 4.00 pm. Four companies will be presenting in May and answering your questions, which are: - Synety (SNTY): Business communication software and services. - Cambridge Cognition (COG): Cognitive assessment software for use in clinical trials, research and healthcare provision. - Netcall (NET): Software products for customer engagement. - Amara Mining (AMA): Gold mining in Africa. Refreshments and a buffet will be provided of course and the event ...

Blinkx rebuttal of blog allegations

Blinkx has today published an extended rebuttal of the allegations against the company made in a blog a few weeks ago. Those allegations called into question the ethics and business practices of the company and resulted in a major fall in the share price. As the blog author had been commissioned by investors, it has been suggested that this was a typical shorting attack, and might be market abuse (we understand more than one person has complained to the FCA on ...

SSE, Centrica and Energy Market Probe

The prices of shares in energy supply companies such as SSE and Centrica fell sharply last year after Labour threats to impose a price freeze for retail customers. For example SSE was as high as 1675p in May 2013, but fell back to below 1350p by November. It's 1508p at the time of writing and has shown a steady recovery in the last new months. That recovery arose because both the Government and the companies took steps to minimise future price ...

Shareholder Activism wins at Leaf Clean Energy

Leaf Clean Energy (LEAF) is an investment trust that specialises in "renewable energy and sustainable technology". It raised $386 million in 2007 but subsequently bought back some of its shares giving an effective net figure of $307m. At June 2013, net assets were reported as $183m, i.e. substantial losses have been made, and the latest interim figures announced yesterday (26/3/2014) reported another $1.8m of losses. A more extensive analysis of the issues at the company was given in the last ShareSoc ...