Good morning, it's Paul here with the SCVR for Weds. Please see the header above for company announcements that have caught my eye.
Estimated time of completion: 1pm
Edit at 13:04 - we're mostly done now, but I'm hoping to add a few more brief comments later.
Edit at 15:57 - I've added a bonus section on Wincanton. Today's report is now finished.
I'm scraping the barrel now, in terms of pre-prepared content, but have a couple of sections which might be of interest, as follows;
AIM Inheritance Tax relief
This is a valuable tax relief, which drives some investors into owning AIM shares. If qualifying shares are held for 2 years, then when the owner dies, there is no tax to pay. There are a number of very good fund managers who specialise in this field, that I have come across in my travels, and been impressed with, including Fundamental Asset Management, and Charles Stanley. They select the good quality companies on AIM for their client portfolios, not the speculative junk.
Recent press reports suggest that this tax relief could be a target for the Govt, as soon as this autumn, as a way of raising more tax, in a way which will not hurt the average person in the street.
The problem with this, is that if such a policy change occurs, it could reverse the fund inflows enjoyed by IHT tax planning portfolios. They have been repeat buyers of the same stocks, when funds were coming in, arguably pushing up prices quite high. Clearly what might happen if that goes into reverse, is that there could be relentless selling of the same stocks, to meet redemptions. Maybe not immediately, as the relevant fund managers could point to their strong performance, and suggest clients stick with them. Or there could be mitigation measures re tax, e.g. moving shares into a trust. Who knows? But it worries me as a potential downside catalyst for the better quality AIM shares, which could see a headwind if IHT tax relief is scrapped. Hence why I’m flagging it, as a potential risk to be aware of.
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Rent furlough scheme?
Meetings were apparently held last week, between the hospitality sector, and the Govt. A scheme has been mooted for the Govt to intervene with top-up payments towards rents, for businesses which were forced to close, such as bars &…
