513 days ago
Having initially “refuted” the allegations made by Hindenburg Research and said it would provide its own detailed response, Chris Cleverly’s billion bucks fraud Tingo (TIO) has changed tack and brought in law form White & Case to review the claims. This is a bluff from the fraudsters’ playbook.
773 days ago
I refer to this amazing exposé by Snopes HERE into Max Polyakov, Ukraine’s Elon Musk. Why does it matter: I recall Cupid and the great establishment cover up. Thjis is crime plain and simple and the board knew about it and covered it up. KPMG covered it up. The Nomad did nothing and so too did the Oxymorons at AIM Regulation. The SNP has been lobbying hard for Polyakov. They are all beneath contempt. Then I ask if share buying at Bluebird Merchant Ventures (BMV) is legit. It is. Then I discuss why a whistleblower may or may not have a story about another AIM company, look at Made.com (MADE), Sosandar (SOS), Tern (TERN) and Bidstack (BIDS): two placings , one a pea shooter, one possibly (but probably not) a bazooka.
1002 days ago
A number of readers have noticed that their comments on the comments platform here are being liked by good looking birds and wonder if these birds want to hook up with them. I am afraid not, this is a Cupid style scam affecting the whole of disqus not just this one small website.
1955 days ago
In today’s bearcast I look at Anglo African Oil & Gas (AAOG), Management Resource Solutions (MRS), the syphillitic welfare funded client of Cupid (CUP), Albert Technologies (ALB), Optibiotix (OPTI) and Dev Clever (DEV).
2410 days ago
Having exposed all the big stockmarket frauds of the past five years on this website (Quindell, Globo, Cloudtag, MySquar, blinkx, Gulf Keystone, Naibu, Daniel Stewart, Sefton, China Chaintek, Aquatic Foods, Cupid, Avanti and the list goes on and on and on) I never cease to wonder at the stupidity of some folks who invest in such stocks. But Frontera (FRR) shareholders are managing to shock me - truly some of them are the dumbest fucks on this planet.
3349 days ago
Sadly for us bears most of the slam dunk mid-cap AIM shorts have already gone our way. We have had great sport with Monitise, Tungsten, Quindell, Range Resources, LGO Energy, Cupid, Globo (still more to come there), Gulf Keystone, etc. We won. The Bulletin Board Morons lost. Only Avanti Communications is still left to topple. It will. But now I think we have a new quarry to stalk: Boohoo.com (BOO) looks a slam dunk short at 33p.
3530 days ago
In today's podcast I reflect on all the moron comments on Bulletin Boards every time Ive been threatened with legal action by crony capitalists or outright crooks. I forgot to mention Angus Forrest of Tern in that list but it did not work out to well for him just like threats from Globo, Range Resources, blinkx, Quindell, Cupid, Sefton, TXO and now Worthington as well as the clowns in charge of the LSE Asylum all ended up badly for them. Get used to it folks, I pick my targets carefully and I win! I then have a shock revelation about TXO before going on to discuss eServGlobal, Rosslyn Data, Mosman Oil & Gas and more.
3532 days ago
I have had a few battles with Foxy Bex and her colleagues at Redleaf Polhill over the past two years because of its willingness to represent absolute liars and criminals such as the Cupid gang and Rob Terry of Quindell. Redleaf (and indeed Foxy herself) has now taken on another client which they know full well is run by a liar and a charlatan and which is an investment disaster waiting to happen.
The corporate advisor to this POS Company has taken on board what I have had to say and returned calls in a polite and professional manner. But Redleaf has avoided doing so for a period of eight days. I am constantly told that the team representing this company is “in meetings” but my calls to them and to Redleaf boss Emma Kane are just not returned.
Eventually
3636 days ago
I am in a good mood today. I shall be seeing the Mrs soon and almost as good I get three kills: Quindell, Maple Energy and Cupid. All three are covered as are the next raft of kills: Naibu, Pressfit, China Chaintek and Camkids. Also on the agenda are Enegi Oil and Petropavlovsk
3696 days ago
Once again this website has exposed fraud, lies and deceit on the AIM casino – with regard to New World Oil & Gas (NEW). The statement from today vindicates everything that we have written and it has vindicated our approach. To the Bulletin Board Morons who attacked our articles as they averaged down I have no sympathy. You were warned but you insulted us. And you know who is next….
We do not produce 72 page Gotham City Research style dossiers when we go after crime on the AIM Casino. Our style is to unpick what is going on bit by bit. It might take 200 articles but we will get there. We do not waste our efforts where there is no wrongdoing whether it be grotesque stock overpromotion or outright fraud. We only go after the bad guys. Sefton, Range, Vialogy, New World, Cupid, Gulf Keystone, blinkx – we have been 100% vindicated. And you all know who is next…..
3706 days ago
Interim results from Cupid (CUP) were predictably disastrous and show why it had to see its dodgy Ukrainian dating businesses. In part that was because, despite the KPMG whitewash they were clearly engaged in unethical practises. But Cupid also needed the cash.
What remains are some fairly dull UK websites where customers are leaving on drives and not coming back. I sense that the model that works for dating now is free to access and advertising based. Subscription websites like those of Cupid are a busted model. Hence ales from the ongoing operations slumped from £9.4 million to £7.2 million in the half calendar year. The company may witter on about new site launches but that’s a Victor Meldrew for me…I just don’t believe it.
3780 days ago
On twitter, on various bulletin boards and on the comments section here on ShareProphets and elsewhere we have come under sustained attack for 24 hours – let me set the record straight. And then I can get back to dealing with the snakes, rats and bats that infest my home for the summer in Greece.
3812 days ago
You could not make it up. Some folks cannot but help pick overpriced glamour stocks which crash. Meet Mike Bowen who tweets as @lookatbowen and who first spring to my attention as he tweeted @tomwinnifrith the only person certifiable is you Tom – Oooh er missus. I guess he owns Quindell (QPP) then.
For the avoidance of doubt I am prepared to accept that there is a case to be made that I am certifiable. Warning folks about overvalued stocks does not make you popular. Buying shares in Quindell just to go to the AGM and ask hard questions might be construed as foolhardy. But whatever. I prefer the description “eccentric.” But as it happens on a portfolio of all the stocks the Bulletin Board Morons love (blinkx, Globo, Iofina, Cupid, Gulf Keystone, Coms, Range Resources, Sefton and of course Quindell) I was RIGHT to be bearish.
Now meet “sane” Mike Bowen.
3991 days ago
I have a bad feeling that it will be me rather than my young apprentice sending a £50 donation to Woodlarks as a result of losing our Christmas spread betting challenge. The force is not with me on this one.
4006 days ago
I had never done a spread bet in my life until eight days ago. But I have just completed my fifth trade – selling Cupid (CUP) at £4 a penny at 54p. My stop is set at 64p.
Steve Moore & I have both opened accounts with ETX and been given £50 to trade small cap shares. If we were to trade Forex or indices we could get another £450 free. This is not a special deal for us you too can get your free trades with ETX starting right now.
THIS OFFER HAS BEEN EXTENDED TO DECEMBER 13 SO TO GET YOUR FREE DOSH OPEN YOUR ACCOUNT NOW!
All you need to do to trade is to open an account which you can do in minutes – CLICK HERE
Any profits that I make on my Christmas trading challenge will go to the Woodlarks charity. So far I am afraid to say I am ahead on my Range short but behind on my @UK ( now called Cloudbuy – CBUY) long. So there is no Christmas windfall for Woodlarks. Yet.
Why short Cupid? We have zero earnings visibility here and the recent departure of founder and CEO Bull Dobbie is very odd as Lucian Miers explained here
Anyhow, for me Cupid shares will slump. It is not a matter of if but when.
Most spreadbetters won’t allow you to bet on stocks as small as Cupid. ETX will which is why we teamed up with them.
You can start spreadbetting small caps with ETX right now HERE but to get up £500 free to trade with you need to open an account TODAY
4107 days ago
I see that some poor students with useless degrees are saying that they cannot get jobs. No! They cannot get the jobs they want and so would rather suit on welfare bleating. I open fire in my weekly video postcard number 44
My weekly financial video postcard covers companies that use the law to try to bully critics (notably Sefton & Cupid) and also the abject failure of the piss poor AIM regulation team and it can be viewed here.
4136 days ago
So AIM Cesspit listed Cupid (CUP) the BBC last night accused you of defrauding your customers and showed why the KPMG enquiry was a whitewash – are you going to sue it for defamation?
AIM listed Cupid was accused by the Kiev Post of employing folks to create fake profiles to entice lonely punters to sign up to its paid services. KPMG was hired to investigate but DID NOT interview the reporter who filed the story.
The BBC has now uncovered stacks of fake profiles and HAS interviewed foxy Svitlana Tuchynska on camera.
4141 days ago
AIM Cesspit listed Cupid (CUP) has announced that it has sold its casual dating (i.e. casual sex) sites for £43.1 million. Paid for researchers Edison have published a note giving this the full spin. But watch out. All is not as it seems.
The sites being dumped were the ones where it was alleged that Cupid was doing dodgy things in the Ukraine. Of course the KPMG whitewash (I mean independent report) cleared Cupid of all wrong doing but since KPMG did not even speak to the reporter who uncovered all the alleged wrong doings and who has not been sued for libel, that report was a joke. But now Cupid can distance itself from that sort of thing by flogging the sites to their founder, Max Polyakov.
For £43.1 million? Er no.
4159 days ago
I have seven hours to kill before catching the bus from Corfu to Athens. Having bought my ticket I have wandered into the Old Town of Corfu to my favourite restaurant on this island. Head past the main square where they play cricket (there seems to be no game today) and behind the main poart of the old town and wander outside the City wall and you are here.
The restaurant is on a spit looking out to see straight ahead and to my right is the old palace where Prince Phillip was born. It is a little bit more expensive than the main tourist gaffes in the centre of town but the food is wonderful and it is relatively quiet. Occassionally a large ferry passes by and the wash ripples ashore creating a bit of disturbance but that is about it.
As I sip my first frappe of the break I open up my email in box to receive this cracker from a prize dickhead called Mark Mcelney.
One thing I would like to ask is why have you been publishing such lies on cupid and others and how much are the hedge funds paying for this?
Hmmm, Mark care to list the lies? I think you will find everything I have written on Cupid and others is factually correct. As to payment from hedge funds? Would you care to show us your evidence for this claim of yours? Hmmmm you have none. Because it is pure hogwash. You are a paranoid delusional dickhead.
And with that it is time to order my first lunch in Greece of this break.
4161 days ago
Earlier this year an undercover reporter from the Ukraine Post applied for a job with AIM Cesspit listed Cupid (CUP) and claimed that she was told that she would be paid on a freelance basis to pretend to be a dolly bird interested in dating ugly Western men in order to get them to pony up for a Cupid paid for service. Cupid denied the charge but commissioned an independent review by KPMG to investigate and today it has published its findings.
4169 days ago
In the June edition of spreadbet magazine I penned a long pice on Cupid (CUP) the AIM Cesspit listed online dating website. You can download the publication for free by hitting the image below.
4171 days ago
Today's AGM statement from AIM Cesspit listed online dating business Cupid (CUP) throws up far more questions than it answers. It does nothing to ally my bearishness as I have explained in numerous articles on the website and elsewhere. But to get the ball roiling here are two questions for the Cupid-ites to answer.
The first concerns cash.
4177 days ago
Saturday is always our quietest day at Real Man Pizza, our Celtic Italian restaurant in Clerkenwell. Folks come in throughout the day but it is rarely hectic. As it happens, despite the rain, it is far busier than usual today but still there is time for me to amble down the street to replenish my supplies of (legit) tobacco. Generally Saturday is a catch up on writing day.
As I ambled down the road wondering how I was to conclude my (poisonous) Conviction sell of the month for Spreadbet Magazine I heard a loud female voice saying “hello Tom.” Rather startled and not used to strange women greeting me as I ambled, looking a tad “casual” down the road I turned around as blond woman, stuck out her hand “Emma Kane, glad to meet you.”
Emma, is a local resident but has so far declined my offer to pop into Real Man perhaps aware that regular customers include Lucian Miers and Aubrey Brocklebank. For Emma is the head PR bird at Redleaf Polhill, employer of foxy Bex, and indeed stepped into the void when Bex was on hols to look after Cupid. Emma is intelligent which among PR birds is a novelty but is she also psychic? Is she aware of what my sell of the month is?
Foxy Emma has promised to hook up at Real Man soon. I quickly scuttled back to finish my article on…..
4186 days ago
There is only one thing worse than being talked about and that is not being talked about. So said another writer of Irish descent, Mr Oscar Wilde. Noting erroneous comments made on the ADVFN Bulletin Board a couple of monmths ago that I have lost my marbles as a result of frequenting gay bath-houses I should say that the similarities between mysef and Mr Wilde really do end there.
I see that while it in its latest misleading RNS Cupid PLC describes me as a market commentator the daily Telegraph takes a different view. My new best friend, foxy Fleet Street hackette Harriet Denys gave our AIM Cesspit awards a jolly decent write up in her City Diary column yesterday and describes me as a "maverick share tipster."
Hmmm. Maverick was a classic TV show starring James Garner. I am horrified to see that it was shot before I was born so I guess I only saw re-runs but I was always a big fan of Garner, notably in the Rockford Files when he was also a bit of a maverick
I think I shall write to foxy PR bird Bex at Cupid and suggest that next time Cupid wishes to issue a misleading RNS about one of my articles they should refer to me as a "maverick market commentator." I like the sound of that.
4187 days ago
In for a penny in for a pound, another couple of observations on Cupid (CUP), the AIM Cesspit listed company that yesterday issued a statement in which it claimed my comments in an article that day were misleading. In fact it was Cupid that misled in that it deliberately did not address the point I made (cash minus net trade payables on July 3rd) but instead blathered on about cash (ignoring trade payables) on June 30th. Clearly Cupid are a bunch of scumbags. The question is how badly is its core business doing? And my new question is about cash as at July 31st.
4188 days ago
The last time that online dating service Cupid (CUP) commented on an article by me it just noted that it was comment. This time I have been promoted to the rank of “market commentator” in a statement out this afternoon. Next time? “the UK’s top investigative financial journalist?” Needless to say Cupid is talking utter bollocks and that makes its shares even more of a slam dunk short.
Its RNS is in response to an article I posted earlier HERE
Its statement reads: The Board of Cupid plc. has noted misleading comments posted by market commentators speculating that the Company’s cash position is markedly worse than reported in our RNS on March 25th. For the avoidance of doubt the Board would like to make it clear to the market that we expect to have a positive EBITDA in Q2 and that our cash position at the end of June is expected to be in excess of £10m.
Ends.
I start at the end. I discussed its net cash position (net of trade payables minus trade receivables) as at July 3rd – ie after paying the dividend. I did not say that its cash position would be markedly worse at the end of June. Cupid knows this full well because
a) Its PR team lead by uber foxy Bex (happy birthday again BTW) read the final article when it came out
b) Bex read it before it went out as I sent it to her for comment. I took on board two points she made – as I made clear in the piece – but she did not dispute other facts.
Let us assume, to make this simple
4188 days ago
AIM Cesspit listed Cupid (CUP) shares are off again today at 52p. There are some folks who blather on about the yield of almost 6% and the strong cash balance. But what exactly is the cash balance? And is the dividend sustainable? Well let’s do some sums.
On March 25th the company stated that its cash position was £9 million. So far so good. However I note that tax payable at the yearend + trade payables minus trade receivables was c£4 million. So the real net cash position may well by March 25th have been as low as £5 million. Foxy PR bird Bex who spins for Cupid points out that working capital could have moved either way between December 31 and March 25. So the real net cash position at March 25 could be higher. Or lower. We just do not know.
By the way, Happy Birthday Bex.
4192 days ago
This has been well spun by AIM Cesspit pin-up boy Cupid (CUP) but yesterday’s trading statement was a disastrous profits warning.
On March 5th folks were expecting half year EBITDA in excess of £6 million (up from £5.9 million in 2012). Just 86 days later we are told EBITDA will now be just £2.5 million which means a pre-tax loss. Bear raiders Evil Knievil and Lucian Miers are both short. Their current take:update#sthash.ZHiUiIbm.dpuf
4193 days ago
I have noted before that foxy PR bird Rebecca Sanders-Hewett (Bex) knows how to pick ‘em when it comes to clients from the Cesspit. Not only does she spin (i.e. not return phone calls) for Quindell but also for Cupid as well in her capacity as a PR fluffy at Redleaf Polhill.
I do hope that all is well with Bex as I note that while her name appears on the latest hot air release from Quindell it appears not to be on the profits warning release from Cupid – where the team is now fronted up by the top PR spinner at Redleaf, Ms Emma Kane.
Does Bex only do good news releases? Does Cupid feel that it needs a true heavy hitter on board and that Bex is just too soft and cute to deal with nasty writers like myself who are not intimated by threats of legal action and continue to warn that the shares are a sell? Will Emma, unlike foxy Bex, return phone calls or is it Redleaf company policy not to speak to journalists who do not kiss PR arse and ask awkward questions?
Anyhow best wishes to foxy Bex. I know that she is a keen reader of this blog so now that she has a bit more time on her hands maybe she might send me a full list of companies that she personally acts for. I wonder if she only acts for screaming shorts? I’d like to find out.
Meanwhile you can read my thoughts of a few days ago on Quindell ( a sell) HERE and a piece today on why Cupid shares should plunge from 61p to 10p in due course HERE
Hang in there Bex
T
xxx
4193 days ago
AIM Cesspit listed Cupid (CUP) is starting to unravel far faster than I imagined. A statement yesterday is really pretty grim. It contains three elements which I discuss in turn. But I first refer you to March 5th.
An online business must by definition have very rapid financial reporting functions. It knows how trading is going on an almost daily basis and so can comment on its trading performance very accurately at any point. And on March 5th when announcing calendar 2012 numbers Cupid stated:
Whilst it is still early in the year, we are confident that the business is well positioned for another year of healthy revenue growth, profitability and cash generation.
Wind forward less than three months to May 29th and we now have another statement. Firstly on trading:
4213 days ago
And so it is off to see the deluded lefties of Sheep Street, my family in Shipston, Warwickshire. It should be an easy enough trip from Paddington to Moreton in the Marsh on the 7.22. But that assumes that First Great Western are remotely competent. Oh no.
At 7.15 we were warned of 20 minutes delays due to “a failure of railside equipment” at Hayes. At 8 PM it was 35 minutes. And so on. It is now 9.24 PM and at least I am now on the train but I doubt, if my taxi driver is still awake at Moreton that I will make it to Sheep Street before midnight. First Great Western I detest you.
And so how to kill almost three hours at Paddington? I have written a couple of pieces which, like this, I shall load on Friday. But by chance I bumped into a well-known bear (who else would you meet at Paddington) and so we enjoyed a drink and a discussion about Quindell (QPP) and Cupid (CUP). I sense things are moving apace on both stocks, both of which – as it happens are represented by foxy PR bird Rebecca S-H. She does know how to pick ‘em.
More on both of those fine upstanding members of the AIM cesspit community to follow.
4257 days ago
It was the articles penned by analyst Aubrey Brocklebank that started the sharp decline in the share price of Cupid (LSE:CUP). I have no more to say on that matter, my views are well known. But I just thought that I’d flag up that he is also looking closely at funeral business Dignity (LSE:DTY) and I do happen to agree with his conclusion. I explained the bear case myself a few weeks ago in a piece “Death is not a one way bet.” Given the new found prominence of young Aubrey (being interviewed by the FT today I gather) you may want to take note and read more about Dignity HERE
4258 days ago
It is normally crackpot lefties who bleat on about the short termist approach of some businesses which undermines capitalism, and so I venture into an area where I might find myself in the same ideological bed as gold grade loons like Polly Toynbee. Whatever… The old trout has – like the proverbial broken clock – got to be right now and again. My mind wanders into this area thanks to two companies on AIM: CPP (which is perhaps days away from going down the plughole) and Cupid which is not near the plughole. Yet.
CPP provided financial services support for big companies. The problem was that some of the services it provided were not just crap they were an outright scam. It was hugely profitable for CPP but in the end you cannot go around ripping off your customers forever because they walk. As it happens it did not get to that stage with CPP because the FSA stepped in, shut down a large part of the operation and slapped a huge fine on CPP.
4259 days ago
Cupid (LSE:CUP) has today issued a statement denying that it the Scottish headquartered online dating agency does anything wrong. I quote in full:
“Cupid plc strongly refutes all allegations that its business model or practices and procedures are in any way fundamentally flawed, inappropriate or illegal. The directors believe that there has been a great deal of misrepresentation and ill-informed speculation in the marketplace and the Company is currently taking legal advice on these matters.”
The critical allegations are those made in a Kyivpost.com article of 15th March. The journalist responsible has confirmed
4260 days ago
I may have become a bit of a chinless wonder on this video. Normally I cut off the top of my head. This time I did the reverse. But the light looks good and the sound works and the content...I think I am on form and this is one of the most interesting video postcards for ages. You may disagree. Whatever. It is 15 minutes long.
On the Agenda
1. How companies react to short sell advice or negative comment, lessons learned: Minmet, Cupid, 3DM, Sefton, Caradon
a) The FSA, Evil Knievil, Lucian Miers, market abuse
b) Spin re bids
c) The sordid PR person/established media axis of corruption
d) Play the man not the ball
2. Internet companies, commodity goods, no room for many players
3. The freedom to write - launch of new website.
4260 days ago
If I had £100 for every time that in my 25 year career that a CEO told me “our low share price makes us vulnerable to a bid” I would right now be sitting in a luxury mansion in the Bahamas. Very few CEOs whose company’s shares are on the up say this. But guess what, in the insider dealing infested snake pit that is the City the companies that receive bid approaches are not those whose shares are tanking but those whose shares are going up.
Those companies who peddle that “vulnerable to a bid” line usually do so in the hope that it will drive investors to buy not because they actually expect one. And so I refer to an article in the Scotsman out today (HERE) which blames me for the collapse in AIM listed Cupid’s share price on Friday
4261 days ago
On Friday I executed a volte face on online dating agency Cupid (LSE:CUP). I had tipped the stock but advised readers to sell and go short. Those who followed my tip on my Nifty Fifty website to buy at 185p would have sold at 112p losing 63p. Going short at the same price they would now be 63p ahead as the shares closed Friday at 49p. They have got their money back. But they will end up making money as this stock has a lot further to fall. In my view the potential downside per share is almost 49p.
4262 days ago
And so I advised folks to go short Cupid. Anyone who did so has already recouped any losses they got from my previous buy tip. A good day’s work and the right call. As ever if I had a position in a stock I write about I would declare it. I was not long of Cupid and nor was I short. Yet some BB cretins do not believe it. And so today’s Bulletin Board cretiin of the day is from ADVFN, an anoymous little turd posting as markt
Tom Winnifrith " I would be closing my long and opening a short at 112p." in e-mail missive just sent to distribution list (1 free share tip) --- 1) At least Tom Winnifrith will have made some money then. Is such action legal ?? "City Slickers" went I think to prison for pushing, via a national paper, shares they had just bought ...and then selling after punters followed their tip and pushed the price up ? (2 journalists)..... If TW sold at 112p and then closed today at say 70p...then that is a massive % profit in 1 day. MASSIVE.
Ends
I give up. I always say if I own a share which I am writing about and as I have declared many times have never opened a short in my life. There were some other contenders for BB moron of the day notably those folks who suggested that I did just what Evil told me to do. Why the f**k should I? I do not work for him and vice versa.
It happens more often than most BB tossers give me credit for but on this occasion I actually got the call spot on with today’s change of stance on Cupid allowing those who followed my original duff tip to recoup losses. Thanks for recognising that fact guys.
Markt clearly has a brain the size of a flea’s penis. I suppose that in BB land that marks him out as a bit of an intellectual giant.
4262 days ago
This article on Cupid was emailed out to users of onefreesharetip.com about an hour ago since when shares in Cupid have fallen by 11p to 101p. I do not normally reprint onefreesharetip.com articles. If you want them sign up to the service and be ahead of the curve. But in response to a few requests I reprint this one. This is a one-off. If you want ideas ( short and long) from a panel of 20 odd share tipsters, bloggers and analysts REGISTER HERE
The article reads:
My colleague Adnan Siddique wrote the other day here that online dating agency Cupid (LSE: CUP) was a binary bet. It was either going to double or crater. I agreed with that analysis and like him thought it was right to buy. We would both now stick with the binary bet call but would both advise selling and – in fact – would open a short position. The current short is, BTW, not 27% but perhaps 6% of the issued share capital. I think that number will get much larger pretty soon. This is not a stock to hold. I got it wrong but having read some fresh material last night am making a 100% volte face on this. What you have lost on the bull track you should aim to recoup on the bear tack by going short.
The bull case for Cupid (me getting it wrong) is presented HERE
4274 days ago
Shares in Cupid (LSE:CUP), the AIM-listed online dating business have tanked since some unhelpful media coverage in January. But calendar 2012 results last week should have silenced the critics. They did not. Neither did the CEO splashing out c£1 million to buy 865,000 shares at 114p. This is bizarre. What is going on?
4301 days ago
Shares in Cupid (LSE:CUP) have plunged in recent days. Belatedly the company issued a statement at noon on Friday which should have stopped the sell-off. It did not. Hmmm. The shares now trade at 135.25p valuing the business at £113 million.
The statement reads:
“Cupid plc notes the movement in its share price; the Company knows of no material reason for the movement. The Group confirms it is trading in line with expectations and that at the year end had approximately £14m cash on its balance sheet. As previously announced, the Group will be issuing its full year 2012 results on 5 March 2013.
4322 days ago
Online dating services group Cupid authorised a share buyback programme at its EGM on 19th December. The scale of the programme planned (and which was set to, and did, start on 7th January) was never made clear but it is now clear that it is surprisingly large. It will continue right the way through to results in March and effectively underpins the share price which remains hugely undervalued anyway. That is why the shares should be bought now as I shall explain below – I have increased my 2013 forecasts, formally introduced 2014 numbers and discuss two new target price scenarios accordingly.
As it happens I made this a share tip here at 166p the day before that EGM and so with the shares at 195p I am already looking pretty smart.
4329 days ago
I have tipped shares online dating websites group Cupid (LSE:CUP) a couple of times in recent months at prices ranging from 166p to 186p – the share price is now 196.75p but there is a good reason to buy the AIM listed shares even today. In fact there are three good reasons to buy right now both deriving from the share buyback underway. Timing matters and I sense that there is some urgency here and this is why.
4356 days ago
I have been enjoying a three week break from this website and to celebrate my return I offer a free share tip in the form of AIM listed online dating group Cupid (CUP) which holds an EGM tomorrow to authorise share buybacks. Oddly the stock has dipped ahead of that EGM which will be a formality and that presents a buying opportunity.
Whatever your views on social networking, the fact is that the shifting of social interactions is moving further and further online across the globe. Cupid is successfully tapping into this and whilst, on a superficial basis, the current price-earnings multiple may not look overly attractive, further investigation reveals that within a couple of years the current share price seems likely to be looked back on as a great opportunity. Having risen from a 60p listing price to highs of 250p just over a year ago, the share price is now 166p valuing the firm at £140 million.
