4 days ago
I am being lectured today by a hipster accountant who says that I really need to get down with the kids and understand social media influencers, after my podcast yesterday. Perhaps it is because I am something of a dinosaur, or at least someone who looks back to the 1980s with a nostalgic longing, that I have always been a perma bear of technology stock Bango (BGO) which has today served up a ghastly trading statement. But it is not just the content but the wording which, at every level, is a red flag.
46 days ago
As a perma bear of whisky curator and provider Artisanal Spirits (ART) today’s sales and lack of profits warning comes as no great surprise. It was just 12 weeks ago that the company reiterated its was comfortable with calendar 2023 consensus forecasts. Boy have things changed quickly.
66 days ago
In today’s podcast I look at why charting is folly, musicMagpie (MMAG), Tintra (TNT), Empresaria (EMR) and numerous lessons we can all learn and Lift Global Ventures (LFT) run by brown envelope man Zak Mir and why its results are so utterly misleading.
80 days ago
In 2022 Nightcap (NGHT) warned on 3 November that (piss poor) results would be out on 10 November. So far this year we have had no news on the numbers and it is blindingly obvious that Sarah Willingham’s company is pregnant with the current year’s lack of profits warning. Good news travels fast, bad news is always delayed. So instead of any news on the results/profits warning, to sugar the pill, we have another piece of bad news dressed up as good.
80 days ago
In today’s Bearcast I cover Predator Oil & Gas (PRD), Ben’s Creek (BEN), NightCap (NGHT), Naked Wine (WINE), WeWork, Scotgold (SGZ) and Actual Experience (ACT).
81 days ago
You cannot say that we have not warned you time and time again about Naked Wines (WINE). The chickens are really now coming home to roost and sooner or later there has to be a “run on the bank” with customers ( the Angels) withdrawing the cash they deposit with Naked as prepayments on its booze. And that will be game over. For now the Fat Lady is not booking a gig just yet but Naked has to be on her watch list.
100 days ago
Dragon’s Den star Sarah Willingham can run but she cannot hide. Consumer confidence is visibly waning, the train strikes continue and similar companies , consumer facing discretionary spend outfits, such as Mexican Tortilla (MEX) have already done the decent thing and ‘fessed that they are behind budget. Yet la Willingham who normally loves the sound of her own voice, is silent. But shares in Nightcap (NGHT) are sliding and, at 6.75p, are now at an all time low, almost 50% down on the last placing just a few months ago. I warn you this is looking almost terminal.
107 days ago
I warned about this company before its 2021 IPO and I warned just a couple of days ago that it was due yet another profits warning. Call me fecking Mystic Meg because this morning Procook (PROC) has coughed up the warning.
109 days ago
Other than the real dross on the bottom rungs of AIM or on the sub standard list Companies tend to stick to a routine timetable. Results in the 4th week of April, AGM late June, trading update October, etc etc. We saw with Bidstack (BIDS) where the delay in publishing its annual results to take it way outside the normal zone for doing so was a portent of bad news. Good news travels fast enough to not disrupt a timetable established over many years, bad news is delayed.
114 days ago
So in this short podcast I start by explaining confusion of birthdays and death days, long covid is my excuse. The Israel and Whataboutery. Then Optiva has not gone bust, setting the record straight. Finally a daft idea from Labour to bail out folks like Sarah Willingham. PS Sarah when is the lack of profits warning?
118 days ago
Dragon’s Den star Sarah Willingham and her debt laden nightclubs group NightCap (NGHT) is in real trouble: it must be sitting on yet another profits warning and the balance sheet is clearly creaking. It is only a matter of time before La Willingham is forced to ‘fess. The last profits warning was on 9th June. The next will accompany full year numbers and has to be worse.
161 days ago
It is not for you or I to judge the guilt or otherwise of Mr Russell Brand. I realise that when I suggested that it was wrong for Mr Philip Schofield to shag a runner on his show and to use TV station cars to ferry around a young lover that was, on my part, homophobic. That Mr Brand is alleged to have done exactly the same and far worse with girls is therefore all grounds for legitimate condemnation without fear of being homophobic. Whatever. What is fascinating is that it is now universally agreed that Brand has always been a foul mouthed ignoramus who treated women badly. Yet…
273 days ago
One can almost picture the scene at the house named after Saint Monbiot this morning as one shareholder started his day…
274 days ago
“Resigned” from his last job at WPP after a scandal involving claims about expenses and a £300 hooker, Sir Martin Sorrell is still the BBC’s go to man as a great and the good fellow to opine on matters such as Brexit (bad), global warming (man made) and being a business visionary. Shares in his latest venture S4 Capital (SFOR) were 800p 22 months ago. They are now 116p after yet another dire profits warning. I wonder of the visionary foresaw that?
278 days ago
IPO’d by Sam Smith, the woman celebrated by the sisterhood and woke media as the postergirl for feminists in the City, at 27p per share, shares in FinnCap (FCAP) are just 7.75p today after the publication of shockingly bad results for the year to March 31. Smith stepped down in September and within weeks there was an awful profits warning and the new CEO had to start slashing costs to survive. Then came a merger with also suffering Cenkos (CNKS), two drunks propping each other up. This is the legacy of Sam Smith, who told the Daily Mail she only stepped down to start getting some “how’s your father.” The reality is Smith fecked it up.
285 days ago
I start with some macro matters, base rates, house prices, the madness of Malcolm in buying housebuilders, etc. Then it is on to Currys (CURY) where Chris is wrong about the shares and where my experience as a customer is not good. Then its cash crisis ahoy at Colin Bird’s Bezant Resources (BZT) and finally when is it a good time to stand down as CEO and what can it mean, I refer to FinnCrap (FCAP) and to Pod Point (PODP) PS I reckon that FinnCap is due another profits warning PDQ as is its proposed merger partner Cenkos (CNKS).
289 days ago
I question the net wealth claimed by two former Dragons in the Mail on Sunday. Linney’s claim is a joke following the demise of Outsourcery (OUT) as is that of Sarah Willingham of Nightcap (NGHT) which I look at after its latest crap acquisition and lack of profits warning. Then it is onto Wandisco (WAND) and the proposed bailout at just 50p, to Eurasia (EUA) where nothing at all adds up. Then onto today’s ouzo moment, the suspension of Eight Capital Partners (ECP), the insolvent fraud Supply@ME Capital (SYME) and Canadian Overseas (COPL) whose shareholders’ reactions to my latest piece show themselves to be as unpleasant as they are stupid. When Canadian, already 90% down since my first big bear call, heads towards 0p as it will inevitably do I will have no sympathy at all.
297 days ago
It’s ouzo on cornflakes this morning for the Sheriff of AIM as Audioboom (BOOM) has served up another dire, and, I suggest, misleading lack of profits warning. For fanboy Gary Newman it looks like cold cabbage water tonight. And if anyone is thinking of bottom fishing as the shares have slumped by 23% to 216.5p. Don’t! Things will get worse.
383 days ago
I start with a warning that travel may interrupt play tomorrow as I am off to Greece overnight. Then I look at the tossers at Reabold Resources (RBD), Supply@ME Capital (FRAUD), Cineworld (CINE), Versarien (VRS), VSA Capital (VSA) – where is the frigging lack of profits warning? And then one of the many disasters spawned by Andrew Monk’s VSA, that is to say Tungsten West (TUN).
400 days ago
The FCA and Aquis Regulation are already investigating this scandal and so, with a hat Tip to in-house BB genius PL, I post the question as to whether on two counts, VSA Capital’s (VSA) star client Silverwood Brands (SLWD) has twice breached the Companies Act. If it has, surely VSA’s CEO Andrew “have I mentioned that I went to Oriel College Oxford, Monk needs to issue a profits warning.
410 days ago
For years supporters of IQE (IQE) such as thirsty Paul Scott and our own Malcolm Stacey argued that it was a tech play and this justified fancy doo-dah valuations. I argued that it was simply a manufacturer operating in a cyclical commodity space and a not very good one at that. Today comes another dire lack of profits warning which will be enough to turn the bulls to drink and is a good reason for this sober bear to enjoy a small ouzo tonight.
430 days ago
Oh dear. Oh dear. The words “strategic review” are always bad news. What they mean is “we are screwed will anybody buy us.” But let’s start with a lack of profits warning from Purplebricks (PURP) and, as ever, it is what it does not say that should worry the muppets who still own the shares.
450 days ago
Another quarter goes by and another blow for long term Gear4Music (G4M) fan Malcolm Stacey, another profits warning. The real issue, as I have noted many times before, is the balance sheet.
450 days ago
How many times has cyber security group Corero Networks (CNS) lead its shares up the hill with ramptastic announcement after ramptastic announcement only to admit that it was running out of money, needed to do yet another bailout placing and seen its shares slide back down the hill again? Corero has been listed since 1997….
464 days ago
Spending her 100% cash bonus for last year must be hard for former Dragon Sarah Willingham of NightCap (NGHT). With the company having abandoned its rollout plan because of a major cash crisis and as LFL sales plunged by 15% post year end, anyone with a shred of decency would be handing that bonus back. Not La Willingham, she spent Christmas on a luxury family holiday in Australia. Is she back yet? If so when is the (lack of) profits warning.
484 days ago
I explicitly warned you to dodge the Procook (PROC) IPO at 145p on November12 last year. Since then there have been a catalogue of profits warnings and today, just 40 days after the last trading statement there is another savage warning. It will not be the last and the shares, at just 28p, are for morons and financial masochists only.
554 days ago
I start with today’s two big triumphs especially the Worthington (WRN) one - I remind you of exactly what happened. Then I discuss the mendacity of the claims made about ex Chancellor Sunak that he is economically competent. I note that I have some bombshell Court documents involving an ex PM and the boss of a several hundred million quid capitalised company. I shall publish them later. Though the corporate boss is reported to be litigious, the Sheriff is not frit. Then to On The Beach (OTB) and Vast Resources (VAST).
556 days ago
Across the West if we are not already in a recession, we are teetering on the edge of one. And, as such, everybody who is reliant on advertising income must have known what was coming. Except, it seems Audioboom (BOOM).
571 days ago
I warned and I warned that this Mexican style fast food rollout would go badly and today shares in Tortilla Mexican Grill (MEX) have duly puked by 30% to 101p. It was just 362 days ago that this company joined the AIM sewer at 181p having raised £5 million for the company and £12 million for founders cashing in some of their nachos. Good call.
575 days ago
musicMagpie (MMAG), the company floated by COO and proven fraud enabler Ian Storey has – as predicted – served up a (lack of) profits warning which is bullshit heavy.
581 days ago
The photo below was of me at Sharestock talking about fraud. I discuss the day and ask those who attended to say which speakers I should drop for next year and to make any other comments. Then I discuss what profits warnings are inevitable a week on Tuesday. PS Thanks to those offering gifts of wine and ouzo yesterday. It is much appreciated although I am not inquite the right place to start on them today.
584 days ago
Oh dear, Oh dear, it is ouzo for myself but tears before bedtime for comrade Malcolm Stacey as Gear4Music (G4M) has issued yet another profits warning. That it does not update us on its cash (or lack of it) position should set the alarm bells ringing.
603 days ago
Lucian Miers may have become a big fan of Cake Box’s (CBOX) egg-free mega calorie cream cakes but it seems that others are taking a different view. You have been repeatedly warned that this was a disaster in waiting and today there is a catastrophic profits warning and it is only going to get worse. How jolly glad the CEO and his Mrs who sold 3 million shares at 350 to poor dumb sheeple fund managers last November and 3.75 million 170p in September 2020 will be to have banked £16.88 million as the shares are now just 98p. And things will get worse.
613 days ago
Bear raider Miles Dyson and I chatted the other day. Lucian Miers says that – apart from me – Miles is his new best buddy. His work on Audioboom (BOOM) suggesting fabricated user numbers is compelling as you can see here. But last night he unearthed a hammer blow which, as I shall explain below, will have devastating consequences for the share price.
616 days ago
Well you cannot say that this was not predicted here! Cineworld (CINE) has issued a lack of profits warning and says that when its balance sheet is deleveraged ( when? If?) shareholders will be screwed. The alternative, of course, is administration and a total wipeout!
632 days ago
After Fevertree’s (FEVR) recent profits warning, Lucian Miers says that he has closed his short. Not that he expects the shares to surge higher just that he sees greater opportunities out there for the teddies. I am not so sure.
637 days ago
Sacked from his last job as the boss of WPP (WPP) for allegedly visiting a £300 an hour West End brothel and sticking the tab on expenses, Sor Martin Sorrell’s new venture S4Capital (SFOR) has been doing very well until today’s shock profits warning. But it is the nature of the admission that really horrifies me.
641 days ago
Yes I fell for this scam sponsiored by the British and French Governments ands I mention this in the context of folks getting, wrongly, excited by news today from Novacyt (NCYT). Make no mistake: the covid testing bubble is over. I discuss Fevertree (FEVR) where I predict two more profits warnings – stay short. And then on the vicious attack on Richard Jennings by Ironveld (IRON). Jennings is a litigious fellow so may well be talking to his lawyer. I wouldn’t bother myself but cant think that Ironveld’s board is doing itself any favours with such antics.
650 days ago
Results for the year to April 3 2022 – out today from Procook (PROC) – were made irrelevant when, on 10 June this year, the company issued a dire profits warning. But for what it’s worth, the results are shite.
663 days ago
Pass the sick bag. You might think that Sam Smith opted to quit as boss of FinnCap (FCAP) the other day was because in the three and a half years since its IPO the shares have slumped by a third despite City advisers hauling in record fees for the past two years. But as the bear market growls it is a matter of when, not if, FinnCrap serves up a dire profits warning so it is better to walk now before the merde really hits the proverbial. But today’s Femail section of the appalling Daily Mail suggests there is a lot more to the story. For starters did you know that the firm Sam started was in the the FTSE 100?
704 days ago
If I was a shareholder in corporate advisor Arden (ARDN) and had, in late April, swapped my stock for shares in legal and accounting firm Ince Group (INCE) I would be calling my lawyer right now as Ince has only just served up a profits warning for the year ended 31 March 2022.
708 days ago
It is only ten and a half months since online furniture seller Made.com (MADE) listed on the Main Market, raising £100million by issuing new shares at 200p while existing shareholders lobbed out a cheeky £90 million of stock onto gullible institutions. Today, after a dismal profits warning, the shares are just 56p to sell. Meanwhile another rat has left the sinking ship as it burns through its ill gotten IPO gains ever more rapidly.
721 days ago
Some of those who know him say that Eenergy (EAAS) CEO Harvey Sinclair is arrogant and unpleasant. After the second profits warning of 2022 I supect that he is a bit less arrogant but as he ponders a looming funding crisis, probably more unpleasant. Advisers to this green energy play might be asking how I can suggest that there have been two warnings and why a bailout placing is almost inevitable. Here goes.
764 days ago
Young Steve has already written up today’s disastrous lack of profits warning from ActiveOps (AOM) but he misses out a key point with the shares now 97.5p. The fine firm responsible for this listing as Nomad and Broker was Investec. I wonder how much it earned.
780 days ago
Ten Lifestyle (TENG) describes itself as a “leading technology-enabled, global concierge platform for the world’s wealthy and mass affluent” . It is also a great believer in talking about adjusted EBITDA, aka bullshit earnings, begging the question of whether it wants to fool investors or itself. Today it blames Omicron for a “profits” warning.
785 days ago
I start with Ms Lingerie on Expenses after the latest bombshell. Then it is ADVFN (AFN), Union Jack (UJO) with its spoof from the Eurasia (EUA) playbook, Seraphine (BUMP), Peel Hunt (PEEL) and FinnCap (FCAP).
796 days ago
Today Morses Club (MCL) served up a horrible profits warning and announced that its CEO Paul Smith was leaving with immediate effect. The shares have crashed by 26p to just 15.95p. But last last week one lucky trader dumped 464,119 shares at 42.65p almost his entire holding. That lucky trader was Paul Smith. If this is not insider dealing I am a banana. Here is the timeline and why the FCA MUST feel Smith’s collar asap.
823 days ago
Given the pointless Plan B lockdown it is no great shock that JD Wetherspoon (JDW) will make a first half loss. But in spelling out just how bad things are, L4L sales down by 11.7% and total sales by 13.3% in the first 25 weeks of the year, heroic company founder Tim Martin has lashed out at the illogical policies of a hypocritical Government and at the hypocrisy and stupidity of fund manager Blackrock. The great man does not hold back and opines:
826 days ago
How I miss those days when the then boss of Rossyln Data (RDT) could not remember whether or not he was a former pornographer. His replacement, Paul Watts, might not be so colourful, but, like the ex-pornographer he still has the unpleasant task of trying to polish up regular turds of profits warnings.
889 days ago
The curse of former Tory MP, Tony Baldry of 3DM infamy just will not go away. When oily Tony joins a company, he will make a packet and the shares will tank. That is one of my golden rules of investing and slimy Tony’s record in this respect is unblemished. So to the latest warning from Westminster (WSG), a turd which Tony tries, and fails, to polish.
903 days ago
When I read Purplebricks (PURP) CEO Vic Darvey prattling on about a solid platform to achieve longer term targets my mind immediately switches to thoughts of Cheryl Cole. I feel that I too offer an increasingly solid platform (boom boom) and I have my targets too. Whatever … today Vic served up a ghastly profits warning and shares in Purplebricks (PURP) are in freefall. You cannot say that this site has not warned you all often enough. So what’s the story morning glory?
932 days ago
I sart with the unhappy young man. Actually he is in his 40s. But it is a tale which, I suspect, is being replicated across the UK. It will trigger abrain drain as we go back to the 1970s. Then I discuss the scumbags at Abingdon Health (ABDX) screwing PIs ahead of an inevitable placing, I ask when Sosandar (SOS) will warn as it surely must, I look at share trades in the fraud Chill Brands (CHLL) and what they mean and then ask what the xxxx (Matthew & dog please insert word) Luke Johnson is doing investing in the lifestyle business run by the upper class twit of the year that is Marechale Capital (MAC). I am sure it will do better as an investment than Patisserie Holdings (CAKE) but not that much better.
962 days ago
After the July lack of profits warning, you might have thought that interims today from Parsley Box (MEAL) could not make things any worse. You would be wrong. Anyone buying into the IPO on March 31 when the company raised £5 million and existing shareholders dumped £12 million of shares, would look at the unfolding horror and feel physically sick. This is what happens in bull markets, shit floats, smart folks cash out and fund managers show they are as dumb as anyone else and buy into it all, albeit with other folks’ cash.
1043 days ago
In trading, timing is everything and the board of Best of the Best (BOTB) look like they are the kings of the timely trade. On 31 March 2021 the company announced a heavily oversubscribed secondary placing. The RNS on April Fool’s day stated
1153 days ago
Perennial AIM casino disappointer TrakM8 (TRAK) started today’s statement with the good news: a modest contract win. But this company never fails to disappoint and so having hyped its H2 prospects before Christmas now we have the bad news.
1399 days ago
Blur Group (BLUR) floated at 82p and half a decade and a name change later delisted from the AIM casino at 0.23p. In its five years of AIM casino infamy led by CEO Philipl Letts and his ghastly Mrs, Kara Cardinale, who was the Chief Delivery Officer, it was slammed by the FRC for dodgy accounting, had numerous lack of profits warnings and bailout placings and was a case study in value destruction. As a reminder here is the track record during Letts’ tenure as CEO:
1470 days ago
I start with a note on Bidstack (BIDS), which I shall be taking up with AIM Regulation over the weekend and end with Future (FUTR) which needs to issue a profits warning. In the middle I go therough the very murky tale at AIM listed All Active Asset (AAA) which sees uber ramper Chris Akers in action and Peterhouse Corporate Finance boss Peter Greensmith make a £768,000 killing in his private vehicles while acting as broker and pulling the strings at AAA and also acting as broker to suspended AIM stock Asimilar which is involved in this strange tangle. Then it is onto Optibiotix (OPTI) and a small placing. But this is not a bailout as Cynical will no doubt claim but,possibly a gateway, to a mega re-rate as I explain.
1470 days ago
Want to placate your investors and even normalised EBITDA (bullshit earnings) still looks bad? Well here is a coffee mug for many FDs flagging up another possible adjustment. With a hat tip to Jim Mellon for this spot…
1501 days ago
I start with my first proper training walk for Rogue Bloggers for Woodlarks. Think of my sliding through the mud on my backside and make a donation HERE. The it is onto bailouts and wbhy you and I, ordinary taxpayers, should not bailout folks who own Carribean Islands and pay no UK tax, i.e. Richard Branson. Finally I look at when FinnCrap (FCAP) will serve up its next profits warning and why the shares, now just 17.5p, should plunge to 6p. And I am being generous.
1513 days ago
Are the deadwood press still blowing smoke up the arse of Sam Smith, the boss of FinnCap (FCAP), a woman showing the men how it’s done in the man’s world of broking and corporate finance? Maybe there will be less blowing after a shock profits warning today.
1622 days ago
I lose count of how many warnings cash guzzling chip producer IQE (IQE) has now issued in its current sequence but, as I predicted, another one has arrived. The worry must be now that iby Q2 2020 it will find itself right up against the limits on its new £57 million bank facility.
1629 days ago
Of course what Bidstack (BIDS) should be doing is issuing a trading statement via RNS. Does it still expect to have 24 games live by December 31 as forecast by Peterhouse. Or to have FY revenues of £5.75 million (having managed £26,000 in H1) or to achieve FY losses of just £500,000 (having lost £1.5 million in H1). The answer of course is No, No and No which is why the company should be issuing a formal profits warning and if Nomad Mark Brady at SPARK was not such an utter poltroon he’d be forcing the issue. Instead Lyin’ James Draper has issued a trading statement on LinkedIn. My guess is that his nose is just that bit longer as a result.
1640 days ago
In today’s podcast I look at the looming General Election, at a pathetic excuse from Hargreaves Lansdowne (HL.) for not commenting on Neil Woodford, at Sound Energy (SOU), the ramp du jour Euraisia Mining (EUA), at the scandals at Tern (TERN) and Big Dish (DISH) and what they say about the institutionally useless FCA and AIM Regulation and at the profits warning from Empressaria (EMR).
1643 days ago
Following weekend revelations HERE and HERE about the “rollout” of new restaurants signed up by Big Dish (DISH), this morning I have further bad news from Bristol and surely this means that the company must fess up with a formal trading statement/lack of profits warning now.
1659 days ago
Of course I only record this because I am in the pay of the Israeli and Russian Governments. Whatever. I start with the pathetic deadwood press and how Richard Jennings blows them off to his shame and my disgust. But this podcast is really all about Bidstack (BIDS). Its CEO lied to investors on August 8 as explain with more detail this time. Ther case is open and shut. Now the company needs to issue a formal lack of profits warning. Again that is not a matter poof debate as I explain, in case wretched Nomad Mark Brady of Spark is listening and wants to avoid getting into even more trouble after his August 8 failure. Finally I ask how soon it will need to place again?
1693 days ago
Yesterday AIM Casino listed Altitude (ALT) served up a very nasty lack of sales and profits warning relating to the six months to June 30th as Steve Moore described HERE. What absolutely stinks to high heaven are three share transactions made by founder and NED Martin Varley. Those trades would have had to be cleared by the board and the Nomad, hapless FinnCap, to whom I have written in today, copying in the regulators. There is another big issue that needs investigating too…
1719 days ago
In today’s bearcast I look at shitty little gold plays like Conroy (CGNR) and Condor (CNR) at their relationship to the gold price. I cover Burford (BUR) noting today’s interventions from two giants of the investment world: Carson Block of Muddy Waters and Roger Lawson of ShareSoc. I look at Providence Resources (PVR) a comedy set to end in tears, at Diversified Gas & Oil (DGOC) a tragedy set to end in tears and also at Neil Woodford and that Cenkos (CNKS) profits warning.
1741 days ago
We warned you two days before the most recent profits warning from IQE that one was on the way, HERE, and when it arrived it meant that the company was a slam dunk cert to need a bailout placing. Today we discover that Canaccord has been axed as Nomad and replaced by Peel Hunt while Citigroup joins the party as co broker. This can only mean one thing, that bailout placing is imminent. So with the shares at 52.4p on Friday (and overvalued at that) at what price do you think the placing will be at? Vote below with a deadline of midnight tonight.
1771 days ago
The Sheriff of AIM is surely entitled to a celebratory breakfast ouzo at his hovel in North Wales? On Wednesday I flagged up a profits warning from the Krauts at Siltronic and suggested that IQE (IQE) was likely to follow. Less than 48 hours later the Cardiff dog duly barks. As a long term bear I have repeatedly warned silly sell side analysts, Thirsty Paul Scott and others that this company is a crock…once again I stand vindicated. And so to detail….it is grim.
1810 days ago
I start with a tale from my early career and then cover Mosman Oil & Gas (MSMN) – the two are related – Iofina (IOF), Portmerion (PMP) and its profits warning, but is it a buy? And finally I look at Audioboom (BOOM) and worry that another placing will be needed soon. Finally, we are over £20,000 now but most bearcast readers are yet to donate to Rogue Bloggers for Woodlarks, If you have donated I thank you. If not, please go HERE TODAY
1811 days ago
Purplebricks (PURP) is notorious for sending fascist lawyers letters to folks who criticise it. But in the US libel laws favour free speech not heavy handed corporates keen to gag whsitleblowers. Ultimately a business model that is predicated on screwing both staff and customers is doomed to fail and I shall turn to the latest lack of profits warning from Purplebricks later today. However, for now, I inveite you do enjoy the world of Purplebrickssucks.com - read at your leisure and having done so I am sure you’d agree that only a true moron or Neil Woodford, would want to own shares in this company.
1835 days ago
As far as I can see, Management Resource Solutions (MRS) is insolvent so it does not matter how dismal its profits are, it is simply not generating free operating cashflow. As the old saying goes, profits are a matter of opinion, cash is fact. But for what it is worth Management owes us a profits warning…let me explain.
1856 days ago
Britain’s most conceited fund manager, Neil Woodford, has been catching the Purplebricks (PURP) falling knife all the way down and, as at October, his funds owned 29.25% of the company and so he really can’t buy many more shares. And the problem is that no-one else out there is daft enough to throw good money after bad and thus the stock continues to head south. At 123.8p to sell the shares are almost back at the level of the most recent profits warning on February 21. That tells you that another warning, a full year one, is one the way.
1864 days ago
In today's bearcast I take a very detailed look at IQE (IQE) and explain why the shares are worth 40p max, potentially half of that. I also cover Blue Jay Mining (JAY), Yourgene (YGEN), Tomco (TOM), Cloudbuy (CBUY) and F40 member POS Walcom (WALG). If you enjoyed this, I think, profanity free bearcast, follow a bloke from the Grim North who donated enough to buy a whole house in the welfare safari and support the Rogue Bloggers for Woodlarks HERE.
1880 days ago
In this bonus bearcast I comment on today's lack of profits warning from WH Ireland (WHI) and the bailout placing now underway which I had predicted. I look at WH Ireland and its woes but it is symptomatic of an industry in crisis. FinnCrap (FCAP) must warn sooner or later and most of the rest of the Nomad/brokers already have. What is needed is massive wage cuts across the board. Thankfully for supliers of coke and hookers, that will not happen which means a structural and cyclical crisis will claim more casualties soon. If you enjoyed this slating of the City's broken business model why not support the Rogue Bloggers for Woodlarks HERE.
1891 days ago
You cannot say that this site has not warned you repeatedly. But some folks like Neil Woodford knew better. Britain's top share blogger (mornings only), Thirsty Paul Scott, was also a fan and we know how accurate his analysis is. I don't know about Scott but Woodford has been averaging down aggressively. Neil always knows better which is why he is worth £37 million a year. Today we have another high profile horror story for Britain’s most conceited fund manager & yet another shocker for the nation's thirstiest share blogger, with a truly shocking lack of profits warning. I shall explain below why this makes the target price 0p....it is enough to turn a man to drink.
1899 days ago
With every other Nomad/broker in town having issued a profits warning in the past few months it is only a matter of time before FinnCrap (FCAP) has to 'fess up to. But quite amazingly the shares still trade at their IPO price of 28p valuing FinnCrap at £47 million which today’s ShoreCap (SGR) purchase of rival Stockdale shows to be a joke.
1918 days ago
As I predicted, IQE (IQE) served up another profits warning yesterday. I do a bit of number crunching in this podcast which also looks at the way Frontera (FRR) holders deal with their grief, given the Rolls Royces they were promised by the company's liar of a CEO
1941 days ago
In today's podcast I explain domestic disturbances caused by the need to move to the Grim Northern welfare safari and to be closer to my mother-in-law. Oh happy days. In the podcast itself I look at FinnCap (FCAP), IQE (IQE), UK Oil & Gas (UKOG), Amur Minerals (AMC), Cabot (CAB) and Corero (CNS) a most almighty sell however you look at it.
1964 days ago
I prepare for Joshua's first meeting with Santa in 2018 and discuss that. I look at Telit (TCM) and its latest wholesale breach of AIM Rules. Why does FinnCrap (FCAP) not care? I ask when FinnCap will have its first profits warning. I look at Purplebricks (PURP), Mysale (MYSL) and Bilby (BILB).
1978 days ago
Following a week of intense share price weakness, Audioboom (BOOM) has served up, what looks like, a panicked trading statement. It is long on blather but fails to mention the one thing that really matters: the looming cash crisis. This company could be out of money and insolvent by Christmas, indeed sooner, but free speech denying, family on the payroll poltroon of a CEO Rob Proctor fails to address that elephant in the room. I suppose that there is some good news.
1989 days ago
For a while it was going so well for TrakM8 (TRAK). Put out RNS’s saying you had cash when you had debt, record ramptastic interviews with thirsty Paul Scott and get him ramping hard, make really dodgy acquisitions that made no sense, generate no cash and watch the shares go ever higher. Then the Sheriff of AIM started to look underneath the hood and kick the tyres. The shares were 360p back then. They are opening today at just 23p to sell after a truly diabolical set of results and a (lack of) profits warning. If you were at the heart of the rampfest, it would be enough to turn a man to drink.
1992 days ago
I noted last night in my bonus bearcast that the real short position in IQE was, whatever the FCA says, probably well North of 20% and that as bears used the profits warning as a reason to close out what is clearly a “crowded trade” this would provide some share price support. And so it has come to pass. The shares are up 4p at 71p having fallen 29p in late trade Monday. IQE has also clarified its profits warning and that has offered some comfort. It won’t last. You see it is all about cash.
2004 days ago
Oh dear. When Neil Woodford spunked £8 million of other folks cash into the July 2017 100p a pop AIM casino IPO of yacht refitting company GYG (GYG) he thought this would be plain sailing. Oh no. Au contraire. The reverse Midas touch has struck Britain’s most arrogant fund mis-manager withy the second (lack of) profits warning in two months. Now I suggest the banks must be shitting themselves, the shares are 42.5p, sinking like the Titanic, as friendless as the Marie Celeste, and things are only going to get worse.
2032 days ago
Oh dear, oh dear. At what point will those who have backed this crock of shit decide that it is not worth chucking any more cash down this black hole. I know that free speech denying boss Rob Proctor and his relatives on the payroll need jobs but but this company is just a disaster zone. As he wakes up for a meeting with Karma today, Proctor tries to polish the turd but today’s lack of profits/almost out of cash warning is his worst yet. And that takes some doing given his track record of abject operational failure and of consistent value destruction
2054 days ago
My long term bearishness about TrakM8 (TRAK) a company that issues misleading RNS’s, makes ludicrous acquisitions as it racks up its debts and never translates profits (a matter of opinion) into cash (a matter of fact, unless you are an AIM China fraud) is well documented here. Of course, Thirsty Paul Scott had cosy chats with the management and knew better than a "nutcase of the first order". Today the shares have tanked to a new multi year low after another dire statement.
2055 days ago
After a share price slump yesterday on media speculation of widespread store closures and other nasties, Debenhams (DEB) has had to put out a trading statement and its use of language shows evil PR spinners Brunswick earning their fat fees as they do Satan’s work, dressing up a profits warning as nothing of the sort.
2132 days ago
Oh for the days when Rosslyn Data was run by that colourful chap who seemed embarrassed about his career in pornography. These days a boring bean counter is at the helm but the company is still a dog serving up a double profits warning topped with a meagre dose of jam tomorrow today. The balance sheet is a total wreck and surely another bailout placing is needed.
2156 days ago
In today's bearcast I celebrate six years of being a full time investigative writer not a crony capitalist. I take issue with Roger Lawson on the deadwood press and how the view me but agree partially with him on Inheritance Tax. I explain why there is a flood of Julie Meyer material and why it is justified. I look at Alfa Financial (ALFA) and its 1 year anniversary profits warning. I update on the African Potash (AFPO) class action against its Nomad Cantor Fitzgerald and how things are moving and why this could be my crowning achievement. Finally.. we are almost at £5,000. We are seeking to raise £20,000 for Woodlarks. that will be a game changer for a great charity. 95% of listeners have not donated. To those who have I say thank you. To the rest, I know you can afford a tenner. Please cough up now HERE
2237 days ago
You rather lose count after a while. The first 2017 profits warning was on August 7, when mortgage fraudster and fugitive from US justice Uzi Katz served up the interims. Thereafter with insider dealer Yosi Fait taking over Telit Communications (TCM) has served up so many profits warnings that I have almost lost count. And today there is another...
2338 days ago
After three profits warnings since August 7 and the forced departure of its founder and CEO, the Boston fraudster, Uzi Katz, Telit (TCM) is still not coming clean with us. Part of the blame for that must lie with its morally bankrupt Nomad FinnCap. And so I have 10 questions for it and offer up my probable answers since Telit does not do transparency.
2347 days ago
Yosi Fait sold all his shares in Telit (TCM) AFTER it breached its banking covenants which as FD he must have known about as he must also have been aware that first half trading was way below forecast. But the company's new chairman has taken external legal guidance and said Yosi did nothing wrong and so has appointed him full time CEO. Well that's alright then. But there is yet another catastrophic profits warning ( as predicted) which begs the question of how great is debt now and will bank covenants be breached again?
2352 days ago
React Group (REAT) admitted last week that it would miss forecasts for the year to 30th September. It states that the unaudited numbers show revenue of around £2.65 million and a pre-tax loss of around £400,000.
2357 days ago
When Fishing Republic (FISH) joined the AIM Casino at 15p in June 2015 it published an admission document bulging with red flags which I pointed out in numerous articles HERE. But brokers Northland pumped the stock shamelessly up to well over 40p to get away more placings. But today the shit hit the fan with a shock (lack of) profits warning but the maggots are only now starting to emerge. At 22.5p this is a zero in waiting.
2368 days ago
Just a short bearcast today as I had to rush off for my regular Thursday morning date with the Fit Young Mums. In today's podcast I talk about the IPO/RTO today of Sosandar (SOS) which we own shares in and I reveal the first of the celeb investors. Then it is onto Playtech (PTEC) and some wider thoughts on gambling regulation in the UK. Finally there is a look at Rosslyn Data (RDT) where - hat tip Roger Lawson - it is surely profits warning ahoy. I look back at the numerous Rosslyn red flags.
2377 days ago
Erik, your company MySquar (MYSQ) has committed securities fraud so I guess that makes you a fraudster. Do you think that is libellous or will you accept that I have a solid defence, viz I write what I have already proved to be 100% true: Go on you criminal low life scum please threaten to sue me? In this podcast I ask more questions about MySquar and suggest that Beaufort Securities might just put Erik out of his misery. The shares are now 1.8p to sell and 0p is inevitable.I also look at another zero in waiting BNN (BNN) where today's whitewash stinks., Finally we have a profits warning at Carpetright (CPR) which tells you all you need to know about the British consumer and his nightmare on debt street. I once again discuss BCA Marketplace (BCA) in this context. The big short.
2381 days ago
Roger Lawson of ShareSoc bought a few shares in Rosslyn Data (RDT) as a recovery punt in a placing. That he was able to get EIS relief added to the attraction although I still worry he will lose money on this company which I have highlighted many times (HERE) as a howling dog even by the standards of AIM. Lawson attended the AGM yesterday and reports back on what appears to have been a curate's egg in his mind. I think he is being well generous.
2387 days ago
Clearly no-one told Belfort Securities that its star client in the fraud sector, MySquar (MYSQ) was going to have a disastrous lack of profits warning today which exposed how it had massively misled investors for months. Because yesterday it urged its clients to fill their boots at 4.02p with a 21p target. At least this shows that at Belfort the Chinese walls between research and broking have no chinks in them. The shares are now 2.98p and are worth 0p. Over to Belfort....
2397 days ago
On the surface of it, the retailer Topps Tiles (TPT) looks cheap. Even after today's trading statement the shares, at 73p offer trade on a PE of just 10 for the year ended 30 September 2017. But do not bottom fish. Here's why.
2419 days ago
Interims from Strat Aero (AERO) today are dire. They show a company that was bust on June 30, one with zero earnings visibility and an ongoing cash burn. There is a lack profits warning and a tacit admission that a bailout placing is inevitable. I should cocoa. But even if there is a heavily discounted bailout this company is probably toast. The shares are worth 0p. SELL. This is, like most stocks promoted by the Sith Lord, Zak Mir, toast.
2420 days ago
No I am not talking about Sam Smith's beau, the CEO of Telit (TCM), white collar criminal Yosi Fait. Instead I am talking about betting on oil exploration calls. I cover Jersey Oil & Gas (JOG), formerly Crap Oil, Providence Resources (PVR) which has always been a crap company and I look at Stellar Diamonds (STEL). I then look at the ghastly profits warning at UP Global (UPGS) and the read across from that. There will be more on the Big Issue seller in the Silver Merc on my own website later.
2461 days ago
Oh dear, oh dear, it seems as if my old friend Jim Mellon had a bad day at the office on Friday. Hat tip to a reader who has just alerted me to a quite diabolical (lack of) profits warning from Regent Pacific which has many British shareholders thanks to its all share rescue takeover of AIM dog Plethora (PLE).
2491 days ago
A couple of weeks ago AIM uber dog Servision (SEV) warned that its calendar 2016 results would be worse than expected. Today we have those numbers and guess what? Not only was that June 15 trading statement a slam dunk lie but we also have a new (lack of) profits warning about 2017. Why the AIM Rule breaching delay in announcing that bad news. It gets worse...
2503 days ago
I have been deeply troubled by the most recent lack of profits warning from AIM listed worthless POS Servision (SEV). My initial view, expressed HERE, is that in not admitting to order slippage from December for almost six months it had committed a massive breach of AIM Rules regarding timely disclosure of price sensitive news. But I fear it may be far worse than that.
2508 days ago
Servision (SEV) the AIM listed POS has today slipped out a horrible calendar 2016 profits warning but the fact that it has waited five and a half months to do so is surely market abuse. AIM Regulations state that price sensitive information must be anounced as soon as it is known. How on earth can the company's hapless Nomad, Allenby, tolerate this state of play? Or does it not care as long as it is paid?
2621 days ago
All the shit I got when I warned y'all repeatedly what a crap company TrakM8 (TRAK) is almost seems worth it now after yet another awful profits warning. No doubt share blogger Paul Scott, crony capitalist PR Man Reg Hoare and uber-bullish analyst Lorne Daniel of Finncap have already ordered that crates of ouzo be sent to me at once as my top analysis is vindicated again. It is what this warning does not say that should terrify you. Things will get worse.
2644 days ago
I take a detailed look at fad investing covering the big California drone fraud but also Fitbit which had a shocking profits warning today, Fitbug (FITB) and Cloudtag (CTAG). I look at two China frauds on AIM in big doo doo, Jiasen (JSI), which is definitely a kill for the Sheriff of AIM, and Taihua (TAIH) which will be. Then I look at Guscio (GUSC), Greatland Gold (GGP), Andalas (ADL), Golden Saint (GSR), Amur Minerals (AMC) and finally LGO Energy (LGO)
2646 days ago
Coral Products (CRU) served up its interim results on December 8 with a bullish statement on the rest of the year. Today we are told that "a poor trading performance at its Coral Products Mouldings Limited subsidiary during November and December 2016 group profitability for the year ending 30 April 2017 is likely to be materially below management's and market expectations." WTF - how on earth was the December 8 statement not massively misleading? is that down to a deliberate wish to mislead or just incredibly bad internal financial controls?
2658 days ago
I have been alerted by various folk to the fact that a Fox Marble (FOX) customer Eboracum Marble has a First Gazette notice out against it which, according to the knockers, means it is going bust/is a fraud and that Fox will issue a profits warning. This has seen the shares drift to 7.75p. Sometimes before you hit the sell button it pays to make a few phone calls. Which is why you should buy the shares today.
2659 days ago
I have an awful cold so cannot speak properly and the Mrs is giving me grounds for divorce (again) with awful TV choices as I suffer from my ailments. In the podcast I cover insider dealing (ref Logica), buying after a profits warning (ref Red Rock & SpaceandPeople) and why the bulls are wrong even though the FTSE 100 is at a record high (ref Malcolm Stacey)
2659 days ago
Having been tipped at a 148p offer price at the start of 2013, shares in K3 Business Technology (KBT) have more recently exceeded 350p. However, they are currently back to circa 240p following a disappointing“Trading update” announcement.
2682 days ago
Today's end of year trading statement from Eden Research (EDEN) is a disaster. It does its best to distract you from a looming cash crunch and a profits warning but what it also makes clear is that the Terpenetech deal of August 2015 was a fraud. How do we know? Because it is not mentioned. It is swept under the carpet. FRAUD, FRAUD, FRAUD I say again FRAUD.
2725 days ago
Cynical Bear has already put Cloudtag (CTAG) to the sword after yesterday's no-one is watching O'Clock profits warning but I think he is going soft in his old age in that he is far too generous about this worthless fraud. There is a massive question which remains unanswered as the shares head to an eventual zero.
2730 days ago
There is a minor profits warning from JD Wetherspoon (JDW) today and thus I urge you to all go and buy a pint of its finest cheap lager to show solidarity with the company's founder and boss Tim Martin who has used his trading statement to point out how EU leaders are hitting their own people, not us, with the mad anti-Brexit actions. Over to hero of the day Tim Martin:
2845 days ago
Yesterday Avanti Communications (AVN) issued a dire lack of profits warning. Having warned folks in a special 25 minute session at UK INvestor (HERE) that this one was heading for the knacker's yard, the bear community is vindicated. Our big call is looking good. But have you seen how the existing debt ( in which Avantis drowning) responded. It says the shares - down 60% to 24p yesterday - are near as damn it toast. The target here is 0p or very close to that.
2859 days ago
Maybe the drift in the share price ahead of Monday's profits warning from tech recruitment firm Interquest (ITQ) was telling us something. If so I'm sorry we did not hear it. The statement caused the shares to really tank. To over-react in my view.
2860 days ago
Oh dear, all those posh kids who were too thick to do anything else and ended up working at upmarket London Estate Agents Foxtons are going to get fired. It is almost P45 time for the young toffs as a dreadful profits warning is out today which, utterly unfairly, blames Brexit. Bloody Boris Johnson. He's not only screwed half the woman in London now he's fucked Foxton's too. The rotter.
2869 days ago
Phil "InterX" Crawford is still to answer the question of the circumstances of his departure from Oracle. Meanwhile there are increasing questions about yesterday's £8 million rescue bailout, in addition to the ones posed HERE. Lets start with that profits warning on 19 April.
2917 days ago
24 hours to go to UK Investor and I am screaming at all comers, I really hate the days in the run up to the show. Anyhow (it will all be over tomorrow and I hope you have a great time. Can someone bring me a bottle of ouzo to dull the pain afterwards? On today's podcast I look at the Restaurant Group (RTN) and what its profits warning says about the economy and consumer behaviour. I look at David Lenigas associated shite Octagonal (OCT) and its rum and coke statement, Nighthawk (HAWK), London Capital (LCG), Igas (IGAS) and make a general observation about oil prices and oil stocks.
2929 days ago
Back in 2001 my Valentine's day was ruined by the first of a series of profits warnings from a company called InterX which eventually went bust. Its chairman Phil Crawford had told me so many great things when we met up with his PR bird. She swallowed anything Phil wanted. But the trouble was everything he said about InterX was just fantasy.Wind forward 14 years and Phil staged a coup to take the helm at dull but profitable Lombard Risk Management (LRM). It has not taken him long to weave his "magic" - today's (lack of) profits warning is dire.
2967 days ago
In its most recent profits warning Fastjet (FJET) used language deliberately designed to hide how close it is to trading while insolvent and how inevitable a bailout placing is. Its PR firm Citigate Dewe Rogerson then engaged in disgusting fascist bulling and smearing to distract attention from this pressing issue. But the truth will out and, indeed, here it is.
2970 days ago
I have exchanged a series of emails with Fastjet (FJET) to establish what the company is hiding in its most recent profits warning and whilst it offers excuses it will not come clean. I bet you a bottle of ouzo I know why. And it ain't good news if you are long and wrong.
2971 days ago
I warn you that there is a lot of bad language in this podcast. I start with the balls talked by D&D on Fastjet (FJET). I have put the company on the spot as to what $20 million cash available means and I await a response. It matters big time. Then there is Andrew Bell talking balls on Horse Hill ahead of placings ahoy across the board. Then those who denied placings at Pantheon (PANR) and the posh fuckwits who spin for Scancell (SCLP). Both denied my stories. Both placed today. Folks: you know where to send your ouzo apologies. I discuss those placings and also that of Armadale (ACP) - a pisser as we own those shares. Then I discuss dire results from Glenwick (GWIK), shares in which deserve to halve and which were ramped by the same sort of mothers who ramped CEB/Andalas. The result will be the same. And also a horrid profits warnig from Tandem Group (TND) comes under the spotlight. I also mention my articles today on greedy Junior Doctors ad the BBC's woeful Trump coverage HERE
3042 days ago
Paul Scott disappointed his army of fans with a refusal to pen a drunken 3 AM blog this Christmas. Shame. Shame. Instead he penned a very sober slating of the quoted brokers prompted by the profits warning from Panmure Gordon (PMR). I have been saying for ages that this sector is uninvestable and but Paul puts it far more clearly.
3048 days ago
Having slipped badly following its profits warning and the start ( yes start) of a process of scrutiny by the Sheriff and his posse, the share price of FastJet (FJET) is up by 20% to 52.75p today thanks to news that it is launching flights from Tanzania to Kenya. Fear not this remains a sell with a 0p target.
3053 days ago
Thank you Santa for this early present. Aussie poltroons Slater & Gordon (SGH) have issued another profits warning with its UK businesses, notably those bought from Quenron (QPP), blamed. Bankruptcy in 2016 now looks a slam dunk cert.
3069 days ago
At 5.47 PM Monday Brady (BRY) issued a dire profits warning. I missed it the and apologise. But having fooled me by sneaking out this awful news as I was drinking away at my Christmas Party I decided it merited a detailed look. This company could just be bust by June 2016. At any rate it is a slam dunk sell. Enjoy..
3109 days ago
Thanks for all your messages regarding the legal triumph, I comment en passant. Then the podcast turns to the nonsense that flip flop Ben Turney is spouting. I am beginning to think that Old Malcolm Stacey is not the only mad lefty on this website. Then onto Globo (GBO) and more news on "that report" and analysis of the potential for disaster at Cambian (CMBN) even AFTER today's dire warning. There is comment on what is happening at SIG (SHI) and Travis Perkins (TPK) and then onto events at Afriag (AFRI - when's the placing - and growing evidence that the Lenigas Cuba IPO is not exactly flying. Oh... and Northbridge (NBI) when's the profits warning?
3117 days ago
Given the disgraceful profits warning, disposal that made no sense, joke of a balance sheet and all round laughable state of affairs, AIM China play Vmoto (VMT) should have lost its Nomad and been suspended ages ago. Instead it has just announced that it is to leave the AIM casino and since it maintains a listing in Australia it no needs no permission to do so. Another one bites the dust.
3133 days ago
Quindell (QPP) fraudster Rob Terry told deluded followers of his new Ponzi Knob Park Estates that shares in Daniel Stewart (DAN) are worth 4.2p possibly 10p. Oh dear. They closed today at 1.4p (off 6.7%% for some reason) and well after hours we got a dire profits (or rather lack of profits) warning.
3147 days ago
On 14th July 2015 AIM Casino dog Iofina (IOF) made its last announcement – the usual bag of shite trading update. Its shares closed the day at c22p. The shares are now 14.5p having fallen steadily over the past two months but aggressively of late. So when and what is the bad news?
Obviously Zak Mir tipping the shares as a buy on August 8th was a bit of a kiss of death but there must be something worse to come?
3210 days ago
Warren Buffett says that anyone who uses EBITDA is either trying to fool you or to fool themselves and that brings us to a comedy profits warning from POS AIM casino dog Iofina (IOF) issued first thing today. What clowns.
3250 days ago
My last bearcast from the Greek Hovel starts with the UK Oil & Gas and Horse Hill mob suspensions. Then onto Rosslyn Data and a warning for Charles Clark, but it is not about his career in porn. Then I look at the profits warning from Scicys and what it means for others and then a discussion about running open ended funds and the problems Dave Newton has at Heliium, this covers Coms, Verdes, Optibiotix and Gable.
3277 days ago
My first visit to the Greek Hovel prompts a wildlife diversity report which will appear on www.TomWinnifrith.com later. Meanwhile I explain why the Tories ARE the party of social justice and look at New World Oil & Gas, Insetco, Daniel Stewart, China Chaintek, Independent Resources, Falanx and Just Eat. Postscript...
After hours on a day when we are all kanckered and so NO-ONE IS WATCHING Daniel Stewart has announced a) a profits warning b) that it now needs to raise an additional £1 million and c) that Beaumont Cornish has agreed to be its Nomad so shares can resume trading ( and will slump) but only:
3282 days ago
Having announced in March that “increased activity levels in the typically busier winter months for insolvency leave the group well placed to deliver the board’s expectations for the year as a whole”, Begbies Traynor (BEG) has now disappointingly updated that it “now anticipates that the outturn for the full year will be below market expectations” - pointing to a further decline in the insolvency market in the UK…
3300 days ago
Thank you to the uber-foxy PR bird for Symphony, brokers Tim & John, foxy bex and the PR spinner to David Lenigas for last night. This bear now has a very sore head and is feeling fragile. Notwithstanding that I go into battle today starting with the Horse Hill omnishambles notably in regard to Solo Oil, moving onto two Chinese POS stocks warning today, to that specialist in China Frauds Daniel Stewart and its own profits warning. I then look at why Kirkland Lake is to leave the Casino and then also at another China POS stock now on ISDX having been booted off the Casino. A second bearcast on Quindell & Slater Gordon is to follow.
3302 days ago
Philip Letts the CEO of Blur (BLUR) is clearly pretty crap at running a PLC. The latest profits warning and brush with the FRC is just another sign why he – and his grotesquely overpaid wife – should be given the tickety tack as soon as possible. But the man is not without his talents. He does irony well.
3303 days ago
Shares in AIM casino dog Mopowered (MPOW) now trade at just 2.5p having already slumped by 50% since the bailout placing at 5p last September. You may remember that just ten weeks later the company issued a grisly profits waning (November 24) but since then there has been radio silence. That is ominous.
3303 days ago
Today's profits warning from Blur is a shocker in every respect. It allows me to wander down memory lane to a date with Mellissa Hellberg in Mile End park, to a revised version of both Girls & Boys and Park life but also to examine this whole sorry saga from top to bottom. Warning: This podcast contains both singing and explicit language.
A reader from Banbury adds to the musical theme with his version of the Blur classic, Tracy Jacks, from the album Park life. The revised version is below:
(Philip Letts) works in public company
3307 days ago
Yes I know that it has just had a profits warning and that the old adage is that warnings come in threes. But I do not expect that to be the case with Stanley Gibbons (SGI) and so it is my third share tip for Easter at 249p.
3312 days ago
Stanley Gibbons (SGI) has disappointingly announced that “because a number of anticipated high value sales within the group's retail business were not completed in the run up to the (31st March) year end… it is expected that results will be materially below current market expectations”. The following updates with the shares now 8.5% lower in response at 241p-246p…
3334 days ago
Infamous bear raider Evil Knievil has open a small “dipping a fat toe in the water” short position in AIM Casino listed Mar City (MAR) following the recent shocking profits warning and details of related party deals, as explained by Steve Moore HERE.
The bear raider
3347 days ago
On February 6 2015 I asked if Rightster (RTSR) was a wrongster and flagged up material issues for it to address. On February 25th 2015 it issued a trading statement which was spun as being a triumph of growth but which was in fact a ghastly profits and sales warning. I unpick the true facts and the grim outlook for the shares in this podcast special.
3384 days ago
In the regular podcast for today I look at revenue recognition and visibility. This is prompted by the comedy/tragedy of a statement from Gowin New Energy - an AIM casino China joke POS - and the profits warning from Intercede. I also look at Weatherley International, Afren, TXO and San Leon
3388 days ago
Pressfit (PFIT) listed on the AIM Casino on August 1 2014. Its first profits warning came within three months. It was booted off the AIM Cesspit yesterday. It is Chinese. I name those responsible for this scandal - firms and individuals - and suggest that all concerned need steep fines and an immediate termination of their City careers and explain why.
3392 days ago
A vicious Bearcast at the weekend appears to have forced Northern Petroleum (NOP) into issuing a profits (or lack of) warning but it is still not coming clean with its long suffering shareholders – why does this company regard transparency as a four letter word? The shares are off again today to 10.5p but remain a sell with an initial 5p target.
Where do we start?
3402 days ago
Mark Howitt has today penned an article slating writers who write about shares they do not own. He is a young man, naïve of the ways of the world and – with respect – an amateur scribbler talking out of his arse and here is why.
For Mark writing is a hobby it is not his main job. He may earn a few hundred quid a month from writing but it is not a main source of income, not enough to live on. Other folks are professional writers, that is to say it is their sole source of income.
Some of our writers such as Steve Moore own quite a few shares. It can put him in a hard position for he knows that he can only sell 72 hours after advising readers to sell. And so if he owns shares in a company that issues a profits warning where he has written about it – declaring his interest -, he must sit on the sidelines and sell out at a much lower price than were he not to be a writer. That is his call.
Mark’s thesis
3413 days ago
The penultimate pre-Christmas bearcast and the profits warnings are coming through at a rate knots from across all sectors: Cloudbuy, Thorntons, Mountfield - what does that tell you? A brief look at the resources sector's woes and then another clue on what exactly is my Christmas treat for a senior Quindell staffer...when will I ruin his Christmas? Problems, problems...
3428 days ago
All my work since I first used the word Red Flag in April 2013 has been vindicated. My scoops of this weekend on Quindell (QPP) have been shown as true - today's statement is a total disaster for Quenron. Bulletin board morons who abused and threatened me get your sorry arses round to Real Man Pizza today to buy a large pizza and expensive bottle of wine and give my fantastic staff a large tip to say SORRY. The following points stand out:
3467 days ago
Shares in Foxtons (FOXT) have been sliding for a while – the market anticipating that sooner or later London’s poshboy Estate Agent would serve up a profits warning. Last week it duly obliged but even at 158p post warning the shares remain a pretty safe short for Christmas.
The warning was explicit:
3555 days ago
Nine weeks ago after the profits warning from ASOS (ASC), to much abuse from Bulletin Board Morons who looked at price not value, I warned that the shares would fall further from £33 - HERE. They have. But the shares have further to slide and I am today cutting my target price from £20 - see HERE - to £16 and here’s why.
The Bulletin Board Morons reckon that a share that was once £70 should surely be able to get back to close to that level. They say “it’s cheap relative to where it was.” They ignore the fact that it was grotesquely overpriced at £70 but now – on the basis of slashed earnings numbers – it is still rated as a glamour stock. Glamour stocks don’t issue profits warnings.
3555 days ago
Another day and yet another profits warning from AIM listed specialist engineering group Redhall (RHL). This is a zombie company in that from an investor’s point of view it is just dead money. But it supports an army of crony capitalists, directors and various City parasites.
So let’s start with the profits warning. Redhall stated:
3555 days ago
Sadly Thomas Cook (TCG) did not as I had hoped serve up a profits warning today. Its shares are broadly unchanged at 122p but its trading statement is far from inspiring and the City knives are still out for PR obsessed CEO Harriet Green. She cannot afford to slip.
Ms Green states:
3559 days ago
Early this month Monitise (MONI) served up a dismal profits warning. Delays in revenues were – in true Rob Terry fashion – viewed as being for good reasons but once again this company failed to hit targets. Now we see a weedy non-announcement and an Edison puffery research note all of which are Red Flags. Whatever Monitise says it is running out of cash and a placing is inevitable.
The non-announcement is of an extension of its relationship with IBM. Has that caused Edison to change its numbers? Er… well Edison says it is jolly good news ‘natch but its forecasts are unchanged.
Now to cash. In the profits warning Monitise stated:
3569 days ago
Naturally I am delighted to see bombastic uber-Welsh Avanti Communications (AVN) boss David Williams have to eat humble pie and serve up a profits warning on Friday. But what the statement says and what it does not say is just terribly confusing. I start on June 13th when Avanti stated:
“Avanti confirms that trading for the Full Year to June 30th 2014 is in line with expectations.”
Wind forward to July 18th and er…
3571 days ago
Quindell (QPP) did not issue an H2 profits warning for 2013. Instead it hit targets and managed to get away a £200 million equity raise. Without that cash it would have gone bust in January. But my attention is drawn to the recent Canaccord buy note (page 18) which begs the question of just how Mr 2+2 can =5, Rob Terry, managed to hit his numbers and avoid a profits warning.
Around two thirds of Quindell’s reported profits in 2013 came from Quindell Legal Services (QLS) with the number very heavily second half weighted. And in 2013 nearly all of Quindell’s business was RTA related. Now read what the Canaccord note (remember Canaccord is joint broker so “onside”) states:
3574 days ago
I have predicted it before but predict again – the imminent trading statement from Thomas Cook (TCG) will be a profits warning. Of that I am certain. My question is whether its self-important and image obsessed CEO Harriet Green gets a one way ticket out of the building the same day.
The share price chart implies that all is not well at Cook. The shares have nose-dived from 180p at the start of May to just over 120p now. Anecdotally I hear that most Travel Agents had a dire June as folks contemplated the World Cup rather than two weeks in Ibiza. I expect this to be confirmed by Cook shortly.
When Cook was a glory recovery play the fact that Harriet Green was obsessed with her own PR – as much as that of the company – did not matter. But now that the merde is hitting the fan she will find that that obsession of hers will make her vulnerable.
You may remember
3576 days ago
A couple of months ago I got a bit of a flaming from certain Bulletin Board Morons for suggesting that shares in Coms (COMS) were overpriced at 6.1p. It was not like I was saying that I had shagged their wife’s but the reaction was as if I had made that claim. I said – at the time – I’d buy the shares at c4p. After a profits warning on Friday the shares ae 4.33p. Would I buy?
I will cover this again in my video postcard later today if I can manage to transmit it from the Greek Mountain. Had Coms shares drifted gently down to 4p as a result of market ennui and a general realisation by all bar the most ardent of Bulletin Board Morons that the stock was overvalued I think I would have been tempted. But Coms shares have fallen because of a profits warning proceeded by an embarrassing restatement of accounts. As such the fundamentals have changed and so one must reassess the investment case and also ones entry point.
Some of what came out on Friday I knew was on the way. The hapless FD
3582 days ago
"S. Brian Mukherjee, Ed Bridges at FTI, ultra-thick hackette Harriet Denys, Citi Group, Numis Securities, Richard Eaton of bullyboy lawyer Twobirds, Roger Lawson--we have beaten them all. We have beaten them all. S. Brian Mukherjee can you hear me? S. Brian Mukherjee, I have a message for you in the middle of the share price collapse. I have a message for you: We have been 100% vindicated on your POS stock. S. Brian Mukherjee, as they say in your language in the boxing bars around Madison Square Garden in New York: Your boys took a hell of a beating! Your boys took a hell of a beating." Yes blinkx (BLNX) has served up a disastrous profits warning.
3604 days ago
I am an ASOS (ASC) bear and explained last week why I think the shares should be at £23 - HERE. Natch the City’s brokers all used phrases such as “buying opportunity” after the most recent profits warning. Heck they seek corporate mandates rather than handing out decent advice. But hat’s off to Morgan Stanley. It has broken ranks with a bearish note out today. Good on you fellas.
3682 days ago
Shares in AIM Cesspit listed Iofina (IOF) tanked yesterday on the back of a profits warning predicted just the day before by yours truly HERE. So guess who has now gone short and why?
3708 days ago
UKR Product (UKR) is an AIM listed company with a curious attitude to corporate governance (see here) and which is drowning in debt. In its most recent trading statement (i.e. profits warning) it said that debt was manageable if it saw an improvement in trading in 2014. Er…have you checked Sky News recently?
Yes, the company is a producer of dairy products in that current must visit holiday hotspot the Ukraine. It strikes me that the business climate out East might be a bit troubled right now. And it is not as if this loss-making company was in anything other than a very poor financial state before as I explained HERE.
As of today, bank withdrawals had been limited to $100 to stop a run on the banks. Those who should be working the fields have just been called up to the army. The PM says Ukraine is at war with Russia. Do I need to go on?
3767 days ago
I have noted before that the way that AIM Cesspit listed Ukrainian dairy products group Ukrproduct (UKR) announces bad news smells like a six week old pot of cream left in the baking sunlight of the Steppe in August. And so as 90% of share-watchers enjoy their last day off, the company has slipped out another dire trading statement.
You can read my comments on the curious way this company announces the departure of directors, all signed off as kosher by corporate adviser Mr Dick, HERE
Today’s statement confirms what we all suspected. EBITDA for 2013 will be sharply down on 2012. Blame higher milk prices, ripples in the soft cheese market, whatever – it is hard to imagine that doing business in the Ukraine right now is that much fun.
Worse still the heavy debt this company now carries means that the I (for Interest) number has gone up sharply. So what is the bottom line number (i.e. Profit before tax) going to be? I refer to today’s statement.
“Net income will be impaired by the sizeable increase in interest charges arising from the EBRD loan leading to the negative net profitability for the year.”
Put another way this company is loss making. It blathers on about how it “plans to return to positive profitability in 2014.”
You know what? I have made plans for 2014. After watching West Ham lift the Premiership trophy on the final day of the season following a five month run of 3 points from every game with Carlton Cole scoring hat-tricks every match, I am off on a one week romantic break with Cheryl Cole in the West Indies. I cannot wait. Neither, I am sure, can Carlton and Cheryl.
3840 days ago
It was less than two weeks ago that, well after market hours, Kenmare Resources (KMR) issued a profits warning and staged a £66 million rescue bailout at 26.5p. Those who ponied up then must be cursing themselves as the stock is now at 22.5p. As a bear for some time I predict that worse is to follow.
3943 days ago
I can reveal exclusively that infamous bear raider Evil Knievil has opened up a short in AIM Cesspit listed Cyan Holdings (CYAN) at 0.35p. Knievil’s old adage is “the best time to kick a man is when he is down” and Cyan is certainly down, if not yet out, following its (lack of) profits warning earlier this week.
3944 days ago
Bear raider Evil Knievil ( Simon Cawkwell) has been short of AIM Cesspit listed Avanti Communications (AVN) a good while and after today’s profits warning he says that he remains short, telling me that “Avanti is simply not investment grade material.” Cawkwell says that Avanti may turn the corner but equally it could disappear altogether. He says that he has no intention of closing his short.
3949 days ago
As you may remember, fully listed Office2Office (OFF) issued a dire profits warning earlier this week at 5.31 PM. Its shares duly collapsed the next day to 44p but it is not without friends. Commissioned research outfit GE&CR duly urged punters to buy the stock with a 104p target if only for a 13% yield. You are kidding me are you not?
3951 days ago
Fully listed Office2Office (OFF) served up a trading statement yesterday at 5.31 PM. Yes I missed it and so did many others and the shares have slumped by 45% today to 46p. Analysts at Panmure described the trading update as “dismal” and it is.
But why release it at 5.31 PM after the City has gone home?
4062 days ago
Kenmare Resources (KMR) is a company from Ireland that I have followed for ages. The company has from nothing managed to build a world class ilmenite mine at Mona in Mozambique. This was a penny stock. It is now , at 33p capitalised at £868 million and a member of the FTSE 250 Index. It has just released results for the year to 31st December 2012 which – following trading statements (the nice way of referring to profits warnings) were in line with guidance. But, there is always a but with Kenmare.
4084 days ago
I last wrote on AIM-listed printing company Printing.com (LSE: PDC) following its interim results in November. The shares then traded at 32p, but are currently down at 28.25p following the company announcing today that softer than anticipated European trading and increased marketing expenditure on new initiatives mean “that it is now likely that the company will be materially behind market expectations in the current year”. Oh dear. The following is my updated view…
4091 days ago
Densitron Technologies (DSN), the AIM-listed electronic displays company has served up a rather nasty profits warning, leaving the shares trading at 7.625p valuing the company at just £5.3 million. I recommended this stock on t1ps.com, the site I founded and edited for 12 years until this September delivering an average gain of 42.7% over 241 share tips before leaving to set up The Nifty Fifty. The t1ps share tip was at 11.75p in December 2010 since when 6p has been paid out in dividends (including one special 5p payment) so as disasters go this was no total disaster. But the speed of the backtrack at Densitron is not pleasing.
4107 days ago
Russian Oil Producer Ruspetro (RPO) has announced a partial debt for equity swap and refinancing of its remaining debts. This is good news. However before those who ignored my advice to sell at 83.5p on 4th January after an almost comical well after hours profits warning start to celebrate this company still faces serious issues. The shares have bounced back to 49.5p but while they are no longer a short I would still regard them as one to avoid.
The profits warning was release, as you may remember at 6.30 PM on the Friday of New Year week when nobody was meant to be noticing. Coming less than six weeks after an upbeat trading statement it left the management team with zero credibility and it will take an awfully long time for that to change. I flagged at the time that the company had serious balance sheet and ( lack of ) free cashflow issues and the latest announcement partially solves that.
4111 days ago
I am not a climate change sceptic. That is to say it is not that I doubt the theory of man made climate change. I am absolutely sure about it. The whole thing is complete and utter bollocks. And so, while it may cause some surprise round at the Met Office and the BBC, I am not that shocked that it is snowing and bloody cold in January. Weather happens. However, the political elite have been pretty much unanimous in their view that global warming is happening and have thus happily cut back on spending on things like gritters or flood prevention so that that they can piss away billions of quid of other folks’ money on subsidies for wind farms and solar panels.
The impact of these policy changes compounds the general trend of us all becoming more pathetic in the way we deal with the natural world: it is hard to imagine those who taught me thirty years ago bleating about a couple of inches of snow, citing “elf n’safey” and shutting the school down. In short I do expect the snow to have a material effect on the UK economy and you will see this with four categories of trading statement.
4114 days ago
Ahead of interim results expected in mid March, AIM listed K3 Business Technology (LSE:KBT) has, disappointingly, announced that “due to the deferral in signing certain significant retail deals, coupled with investment in the group’s Microsoft AX offering, K3 will generate pre-tax profits below current market forecasts”. This has seen the share price fall back to 112.5p. Is the reaction overcooked. I write as someone who recommended the shares at 148p before Christmas. Clearly my timing was not great.
4119 days ago
AIM-listed advanced plastics technologies company Symphony Environmental (LSE:SYM) has today announced that “revenues for the month of December were significantly less than anticipated on 5 December and as such the trading loss for the year will be materially higher than £1.1 million (previously expected)”. Unusually, the shares are currently trading slightly higher, at 3.5p, on the back of today’s announcement – though this represents a sharp decline from the 20.875p share price hit in April 2011. The following reviews today’s statement…
4124 days ago
Shares in AIM Listed gold miner Goldplat (LSE:GDP) have been hit hard by a profits warning. It is a minor profits warning and the market has over-reacted sending the shares down by 9.71% to 11.625p. At this price I believe you would be buying for a June 2013 yield of 6.9% rising to 8.6% for the year that starts in less than six months time. The market has over-reacted given how profitable Goldplat is and how much cash it has. This is a buying opportunity. The trading statement was clearly not helpful but looks at the bigger picture.
4127 days ago
I note that your esteemed editor was hoping to buy shares in Ruspetro at sub 60p on Monday following the company’s shock profits warning at 6.30 PM on Friday 3rd January. He was denied as the shares never got that low – they are now 63.25p. But I think the boss may yet get his chance… My helpful suggestion is that he declines to take it. This whole company stinks.
A reminder – On 19th November the company published a bullish trading statement saying that output was 7,853 bopd and that it was on track to hit 10,400 bopd by the calendar year end. Good news all round. Fill your boots. Congratulations to my fat accountant, Evil Knievil who was long (oops!). But then on January 3rd ( a day when few folks were working) the company announced at 6.30 PM (when even those folks were on their fifth pint at the pub) that output was actually 6,540 bopd and that it continued to “experience slower than anticipated production growth due to additional modifications required to surface field equipment and curtailed well completions in December.” It blames “technical challenges in stabilising condensate from hydrocarbons produced.”
4129 days ago
Ruspetro (RPO) has already served up a profits warning in 2013 and for its timing as much as its substance it is already in line to win an award for the biggest shock of the year. The share price at the close on Friday was 83.5p, valuing the firm at £278.4 million but given that the release went live at 6.30 PM the stock will be hit hard on Monday. At what point should you buy if at all?
6.30 PM? Yes that is not a typo. To release a profits alert on a 3 day Christmas week is band enough. After hours is poor form. But to sneak it out at 6.30 PM on a Friday when the few people who were at work last week were already onto their third after work pint is quite shocking behaviour. A management team that serves up such an announcement will need to prove itself consistently for a good period to regain the trust of investors.
What makes it worse is what the statement actually said.
