Good morning, am back from Paris now, and full of praise for the Eurostar service. I'll definitely be using it more often for short breaks. It's so quick & convenient, and my return fare only cost £69! Combined with a great quality hotel deal on Expedia, and eating out cheaply from sandwich shops, and with decent champagne only £9 a bottle from Carrefour (yes that was the reason there was no blog update yesterday!) you can't go wrong really. Plus of course any visit to Paris reminds you that customer service in the UK really is marvellous in comparison!
Long-suffering shareholders in brownfield regeneration company Inland Homes (LON:INL) finally have some good news today - as expeted, planning permission has been granted on the old Pilkington Tiles site in Hamworthy, Poole for a mainly residential development. Whilst house prices in the poshest parts of Poole can be astronomical (e.g. Sandbanks), Hamworthy is a dump. However, since the site is right next to Poole Harbour then Inland's development might begin the gentrification of the area?
I bought a few more Inland shares yesterday, on a small dip. Underlying NTAV is probably now at least 32p a share, so buying at 19.5p seems good value, especially as the Banks are now beginning to lend again in this sector, as reported at Inland's last eventful AGM, where many of us went along to protest at excessive Board Room pay, and unjustified bonuses.
Results from Artilium (ARTA), a telecoms software group, look pretty awful, and their financial situation precarious. So that's going on my bargepole list, as it looks moribund without another fund-raising.
Talking of which, someone told me something interesting the other day. I've often wondered why some fund managers continue supporting companies which are obviously rubbish, with repeated fund raisings (Earthport springs to mind). The answer I'm told is because it's to save their own careers - i.e. by supporting a rescue fund-raising, they can pretend that the company will deliver on its business model, so it kicks the can down the road for a year or two. Whereas if the fund manager admits it's been a rubbish investment, and writes it off, then his own job is on the line.
Makes sense now…
Hi Paul,
I know your time is precious but I've been looking at Photo-Me International (LON:PHTM). You highlighted their impressive results in December in this report and they issued an interim report in early March which was positive. Their share price has taken a tumble recently and I think it's due to director selling. The director selling appears to have been driven by a desire to free up some shares for institutional investors and to increase liquidity. Given this dip in the share price I'd be interested in your comments on their potential value.
I have no position, but what sparks my interest is the strong positive reaction to the price drop suggeting that there is a lot of bullish support that is likely to push things higher.
I understand that you're not a fan of charting however my Point & Figure analysis of the share gives a suggested price target of £1.06 if a close above 78p occurs.
Thanks
Phil
