This is a quick update to say that InvestingSidekick.com has had an update to the appearance. I hadn’t planned it but the website got compromised and a redirect to a malicious website was planted within the theme. Thankfully all my content and data was stored securely outside so has been unaffected, but it did mean I had to remove all the theme files and start again.
I changed all the passwords and upped security etc, but unfortunately my backups hadn’t completed correctly so my old theme was essentially gone. Hence you’ll notice it looks different as I have used a different, pre-made appearance.
Trades
And on more investing related matters, even though I haven’t found any new positions recently, I have done some trades. I sold Revolution Bars (LON:RBG), crystallizing a 46% loss in about 18 months of holding. Disappointing to say the least, and how I wish I had sold when a takeover offer was announced and later rejected (which would have netted me a 60% profit!) Oh how the shares have tumbled, mainly because the growth story looks almost over, and when I looked at the underlying financials and cash generation of the business, I wasn’t impressed. So I’ve cut my losses. No doubt the shares will rally again knowing my timing skills. I think it was a mistake to even enter this position as it didn’t really meet my usual criteria of being highly cash generative. It was more a growth story.
I have increased my positions in IG Group (LON:IGG) and SCS Group (LON:SCS) to 5.5% and 5.3% of my portfolio respectively. Both of these companies put out positive trading updates recently, yet their share prices didn’t reflect that.
In the near future I’m considering making Cenkos Securities (LON:CNKS) A much larger position in my portfolio. I wrote up my analysis of Cenkos previously, and they produced quite poor results last year and the share price is well down on my purchase price (Enterprise Value below zero). But as I predicted, it didn’t make a loss despite poor performance, because costs are staff related and flexible. It is still cash generative and returning a lot to shareholders in dividends. For example, in the last 6 years it has paid out £37m in dividends and the market cap is currently is £38m (plus it has a cash pile of £40m).
In general, my performance year to date isn’t great. Markets are all up >10% whereas I’m flat, and I have about 13% in cash ready for opportunities.
Disclosure: Author is long LON:IGG, LON:CNKS, LON:SCS, and has no position in LON:RBG
Investing Sidekick
Founder of Investing Sidekick. Works as a research analyst and is an avid value investor, always searching for undervalued shares.
Wondering what your thoughts are on Just Eat. A lot has happend in their market the last couple of months. I noticed you didn’t sell or add any shares. Are you still sure they are the right horse to bet on in this space?
That’s right I haven’t changed my position, though it is a smallish one at 2.5%.
I’m not so much worried about Deliveroo and Uber Eats as I am that Just Eat seems to be heading in the same direction as them, i.e. offering delivery services. The one thing I liked about Just Eat is that it wasn’t capital or labour intensive which is why Uber and Deliveroo are losing/spending vast amounts of money. I think there is a place for Just Eat to continue as it is but that doesn’t seem like the direction they want to take. I’ll be keeping a keen eye on their spending and cash outflows in the near future and may sell if profitability starts to suffer.
Those are my concerns as well. It might be all about who has the deepest pockets. Not sure that’s Just Eat. Will have to wait and see.
Just Eat is attractively priced at the moment. I wouldn’t be suprised if they’ll be involved in a M&A deal within a year or so. All that said, it’s on the risky side for my appetite, so I made it a max 2% position.