(binned per thread starter's request) The big... IF

M&G High Income investment trust today annouinces its final interim dividend of 0.5p
http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/market-news/market-news-detail/MGHU/13137878.html

Those of you who bought income shares ahead of the ex-dividend date in October will receive a total dividend cash payout of 3.65p per share.
Ahead of 20th October the buy-price was ~49p, giving a dividend yield of 7.4%.

Today's ex-income NAV for the Income shares is 56.5p. Assuming that those shares deliver 56p at wind-up in mid-March the total profit for 5 months will be 21.7%.

Awaiting mid-March...

Hey Ex had a speed read here, you clearly know your onions, well above my head, so leads me to to think you must have a nugget or two to share ! ?

Been losing investing in the stock market for 20 years. Learned the hard lessons, also learned enough to know that there are always more lessons ... running 3 accounts to spread the broker-risk.

Running two other accounts, a 5-figure account for my SO and a nearly 4-figure account for my eldest foster daughter ... it would have been 4-figures if she kept her fingers out!

This morning's exercise was checking the performance on SO's account, who happens to own a slab of MGHI.
37% since ~September 2013, I have annualised that at 11% because I can cheat....

She hasn't done as well as me, but then I don't give myself earache when I lose (just a sore head).

Nice results mate.
I cut my teeth with AIM early in 90's and did ok, looking back I may have just been lucky. Think that was on an IBM compatible 286 and was coal fired!
My brother worked in offshore oil industry and mostly always got paid in US$, so we used to discuss timings for sterling conversion so he didn't have to take it in the short, then that interest developed, then when retail platforms started flying I was in and the attractive thing was not having to do homework on different stocks, just sticking with 1 pair (cable) at the time and getting to know it like your first girlfriend. Before full-time I used to dip in and out as still enjoyed working but eventually I packed in because I couldn't get young lads who wanted to graft in all weathers, so increasingly only taking on smaller and smaller projects that I could do by myself, until finally say Fcuk it. I did miss it, mainly in the summer but as we have so little summer I'm over it now.
Share a nugget at my depository if you get chance, I'm sure you'll have a couple tucked away you have all but forgotten.

EDIT: I still have a ZX81 and one day you may see me at the Antiques Roadshow with it.

Cure For Insomnia

So there I was, researching a new placing program from a company in which I invest, and wound up searching for the 'additional risks' statement.
The placing program closes around the end of March, do you think I have enough time to read this.....!

Further to previous postings, today M&G HIIT published their terminal values.
The Trust was a type-3 company as described here (https://www.forexfactory.com/showthread.php?p=9492638#post9492638).
I had a lot of money in at an average buy price of slightly less than 54p, so I'm happy because a) I got back more than I put in and b) I have been absorbing the 12.6% yield for at least 2 years.

So the final tally for those who might have bought the Income shares @49p before 20th October when I hinted:
3.65p in received dividends ( yield 7.449% )
terminal value 57.796p ( capital gain 17.95% )
Making a total yield of 25.4% (rounded) .... not bad for 5 months waiting.

...of course I don't get the money until Tuesday next week...

The Terminal Asset Values calculated on Wednesday 15 March 2017 were as follows:
Zero Dividend Preference Shares (p) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 122.832240
Income Shares (p) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 57.796035
Capital Shares (p) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ nil ...............
Income & Growth Unit (p) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 57.796035
Package Unit (p) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 180.628275

Good job E!

25% return in 5 months is excellent

This is the first time I have felt so blind at the winding-up of a Trust, and it is not even the first time I have lived through such an event.
So it is with a little relief that I discovered some generous cash deposits have arrived in my various accounts just before close of market today.

The terminal per-share value was indeed 57.796p, so the computation in post #346 above is correct.

I just bought a few shares in Electra Private Equity.
This morning the company has published this announcement (http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/market-news/market-news-detail/ELTA/13169962.html).
I was tempted.

The dividend is so huge by comparison to the share price that it was just too much to pass.
Now I am wondering whether I will still be feeling smug at the end of April.
The thinking is that the price will recover after any drop, back to about 80% of current price.
So we shall see.....

>>

Electra Private Equity PLC

Special Dividend

London 24 March 2017 The Board of Electra Private Equity PLC ("Electra") is pleased to announce that it is today declaring a special dividend* of £1.0 billion, representing 2,612p per share, to be paid on 5 May 2017 to shareholders on the register of members at the close of business on 7 April 2017.

>>

What???

They are paying a 50% dividend?

Something is wrong...

Potential issue.

The Net Asset Value of this equity firm is £2 billion. The current market cap of the company is 1.5 billion.

By giving that back to shareholders they are reducing the NAV to £1 billion, in theory the share pricing should cut by 50% to reflect this 50% haircut for NAV.

You would expect then that the market cap of the company will be £0.75 billion when the dividend is delivered - but the market might have different ideas.

...and that is the game plan!

The effects of inflation

When I was a youngster there was a UK coin called a "threepenny bit" (pronounced variously as threpenny or thrupenny).
The coin was made of brass and had twelve flattened surfaces at the edge, the Queen's head on one side and usually a portcullis on the other.
At the time, as I remember, it was nearly enough to buy a bag of fries (acknowledgements to US readers).
It was nearly enough to pay for a bus-ride into town, and it was nearly enough to buy half-a-pint of beer.

Today we have the new Pound coin admitted to UK circulation!
It has twelve flattened surfaces at the edge, the Queen's head on one side......
It is worth nearly enough to buy a bag of fries, nearly enough for a (short) bus ride, nearly enough to buy half-a-pint of beer.....



Acknowledgements to Yahoo (https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-launch-of-the-12-sided-1-coin-112508903.html)

Waah!
The second profit-taking beckons....



I really hate these new Yahoo graphs....

My latest exploit Igas Energy PLC

They have just restructured, or refinanced ... or whatever ...
IGAS is actually producing gas, the current output is around 2,500boe per day.

The company has undergone a capital restructuring. Some bonds have been redeemed, some have been debt-for-equity swapped, and some capital has been raised. All of which has resulted in a reduced total debt and a massive issuance of shares. The new-buyers of these new shares have therefore a significant holding, and accordingly have notified the LSE from the date of the admission of the new shares. Details are in Part A below, which includes a statement of holdings by directors.

There are now 2.426bn shares in issue.

Since the half-year results of September last IGAS has received planning approval for two new exploration sites in Nottinghamshire, at Tinker Lane and Springs Road. Details are in Part B below. The Springs Road application includes a development application as well as an exploration drill.

At the half-year results published on 30th September 2016, details in Part C below, the company declared a number of interesting metrics. The production costs during H1 have reduced to $27.5 per-boe. There is hedging on nearly 600k bbl at $44/bbl. An independent analysis of their reserves indicates shale assets of ~440mmboe alongside existing 2P reserves of 13.8mmboe. On the basis (my assumption) that they achieve 33% of those numbers, and using a bbl price of $45, there is (minus production etc. costs of $27.5) 87p or $1.09 profit per share after all expenses (which will be extracted over some number of years e.g. ten). There may be taxes to pay somewhere in all of this. The reduction to 33% of assets allows for errors in the numbers and rosy mis-stating of values by over-looking who actually owns all the assets (because some wells are partnered for instance).

I have therefore bought some more. I am not sure how the market will take all of this, it may view the whole thing with suspicion. IGAS is listed on AIM. A typical plan for this purchase would be to buy now at or below 5p (if possible) and then sell half of the holding when price gets to 10p. You should do this if you place a significant bet. Equally you could use stops but that does not protect you against bad news coming out over a weekend and the price opening down by loads. For a small bet it is not necessary to protect the investment in the same way.


Part A:

Part A contains a disclaimer about publishing the details in different parts of the world, so I will leave a link here and let the e-police sort it out.
http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/market-news/market-news-detail/IGAS/13181272.html
I will however leave the table showing which of the VPs has how many shares.

Upon Admission the number of ordinary shares with rights to vote which are exercisable in all circumstances at general meetings is 2,426,007,734 ordinary shares of 0.0001p each. No shares are held in treasury. That figure may be used by shareholders as the "denominator" for the calculations by which they will determine whether they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, IGas Energy plc under the Financial Conduct Authority's Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.
With effect from Admission the disclosable interests of the Directors will be as follows:



Part B:

These notifications of planning applications "contain inside information", so here are the links:
http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/market-news/market-news-detail/IGAS/13166700.html
http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/market-news/market-news-detail/IGAS/13035821.html


Part C:

The half-year results can be found here (http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/market-news/market-news-detail/IGAS/12984535.html), the full-year results were published in March last year so I expect that they have been delayed due to the restructuring that has taken place. Here is some of it.....

30 September 2016

IGas Energy plc (AIM: IGAS)

Unaudited results for the six months ended 30 June 2016

IGas Energy plc ("IGas" or "the Company" or "the Group"), one of the leading producers of hydrocarbons onshore in Britain, announces its unaudited half year results for the six months to 30 June 2016.


Operational Summary
DeGolyer & MacNaughton ("D&M"), the leading international reserves and resources auditors, has completed an independent evaluation of IGas conventional and shale interests
o Conventional 2P NPV10 estimate is US$287 million*
o Shale assets - using a deterministic approach and including recently awarded 14th Round licences, D&M has estimated IGas net shale gas risked prospective resources of 2.5 Tcf (440 MMboe)**
Delivering against shale Five Year Development plan
o Planning application for Springs Road (PEDL 140) in North Nottinghamshire
Planning officer recommendation for approval received on 27 September 2016; Planning Committee determination meeting due on 5 October 2016
o Tinker Lane (PEDL 200) - planning submitted and planning committee decision expected after Springs Road determination
o Results of 3D seismic in North West confirms shale potential
Anticipated average production for 12 months to 31 December 2016 is now 2,400 - 2,600 boepd; operating costs of $27.5/boe for 1H 2016 (six months ended 30 Sep 2015 (1H 2015): $31.0/boe)

Financial Summary
As reported previously, there was a risk of non-compliance with certain bond covenants in the second half of 2016. The Group is in constructive discussions with its key bondholders, including more recently with its new largest secured bondholder, and believes a consensual resolution is likely, due to the potential significant loss of value if this is not achieved
o The Group's current forecasts project non-compliance with its daily liquidity covenant in the second half of October 2016 and its leverage covenants which will be measured with reference to the Group's annual audited accounts to be published by the end of April 2017; in view of the forecast liquidity position the Group is reviewing a number of options including requesting a temporary waiver of covenants from its bondholders
o The Group continues to hold significant cash resources of $27.6 million (as at 27 September 2016), following a scheduled payment of interest and amortisation amounting to $9.6m (net) to secured bondholders in September 2016. IGas also currently holds $21.1 million (valued at par) of its own bonds. The current daily liquidity requirement is $25.9 million ($15 million liquidity requirement and $10.9 million in a Debt Service Retention Account)
585,000 barrels hedged to the end of 3Q 2017 at an average floor price of c.US$44 per barrel

*based on forward oil curve of 2017 $57.3/bbl; 2018 $63.6/bbl; 2019 $70.2/bbl; 2020 $77.0/bbl; 2021 $80.7/bbl

** assumes 5.8Mscf/boe

After the recent fright from MicroShaft, I have decided to convert to LINUX.

I started the process a couple of weeks ago, building my (spare) SSD and getting my 2nd favourite browser installed ... Iridium.
Iridium may become my 1st favourite browser after a bit more use....
Also I moved my email across to Thunderbird about a couple of months ago in order to become familiar before taking the plunge.

So here I am, Thunderbird profile moved successfully across complete with all the mail; even ported the calendar entries.
Browser history all moved, all 9 yards of it. Have an HTML copy of my bookmarks ... just in case.
LibreOffice bundled with LINUX, opens and runs all my OpenOffice documents and spreadsheets.

I have about ten days to decide that I am staying here, or move back to Windows. .....I'd like to say "no chance", but let's play safe for a bit.

Let's hope you don't need International Rescue, Virgil known to mess up now & again
https://youtu.be/SwnUjcpVnG4

Being someone who grew-up with 'free' TV, and of course with the BBC covering so much without advertising, I am absolutely determined to not pay additional fees for TV, ever.

That resolve was weakening this year when, at the start of the season, there was no coverage of motoGP due to a spat between ITV and BT Sport (who have exclusive TV rights at the moment). However, to the rescue has come Channel 5 who picked up the highlights coverage within minutes of the first flag of the first race ... it seems.

Therefore I am very pleased to discover the motoGP highlights here (https://www.my5.tv/moto-gp/season-2017), including full coverage of the main race. < hey! the chequered-flag is missing from the emoticons >

note: to non-UK readers, in the UK if you have a TV you must pay a licence fee. It costs about half of a basic SKY fee, and if you pay for SKY or whoever you still have to buy a TV licence.

Today I did something I have not done for a while. In fact the last time was when Wikipedia cried 'help!'

I paid a small sub to my operating system producers, Linux Mint 18 (https://www.linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=226)

I have paid for software many times in the past, and usually the user or purchaser is not aware that they are buying a software licence when they buy a PC. So apart from upgrades it is unusual for me to buy an OS.

I am so pleased with Mint, it outperforms everything that I have used previously (with the possible exception of DOS ). The most noticeable metric is the fan-speed. Usually the fan is silent except for a couple of sites. Here is one (http://www.digitallook.com/) that has always wrung the fan nearly off its spindle .... almost totally quiet when using Iridium (https://iridiumbrowser.de/) under LM. Maybe I will contribute to them too.

Today my last limit-sell of boohoo.com shares was unexpectedly filled at just over 180p.
That meets my target 1a and leaves me with a few in hand to see what next week's final results produce.

If I had closed out my entire holding today that would have been a 286% profit since August 2014.

I can relax with a smile, and forget about the market .... until Monday