As seen in this month’s Master Investor Magazine. James Faulkner: Thanks for taking the time to speak with Master Investor. To begin with, please introduce yourself, and the company you represent, to our readers. Kobus Paulsen: My name is Kobus Paulsen, and I am founder and chairman of Cognosec. Since 1999 have I have acquired and…
18 December 2015 Dear Mr Morrison Just a short note to commiserate you on your demotion from the capitalist Premier League, the FTSE-100 index, today. I note that your shares have been trading downwards since this outcome was announced, even despite rating upgrades by the so-called brokers. At the beginning of 2015 your shares (LON:MRW)…
The market was evidently stirred (but not shaken, of course) by Sainsbury’s (SBRY) first half results, which arrested the slow but drifting decline in the share price. It demonstrated that the market has discounted much and that the share responds positively to good news. In the six months, Sainsbury’s did the unexpected thing of maintaining…
Dixons Carphone (DC.) results for the half year to 31st October have been released and look encouraging. Going to the top line first, I see that like-for-like sales rose by 5% in Q1 and by 3% in Q2. That suggests an improved competitive position for the company and an excellent way to help bottom line results.…
Royal Dutch Shell’s remarkable build up of cash, and the strength of cash flow in relation to dividend cost, suggests that Royal Dutch dividend bulls have a rational argument to support their bullishness. Sometime in the summer of 2014, the share price of the Royal Dutch Shell Group rose a bit above 2,400p –…
Looking back, one of the most useful concepts that I learned at Business School was that of the Company Lifecycle. Just as there is a Product Lifecycle so companies themselves, like all organic beings, are born, grow, mature and then decline. At last, they die – or they are taken over by other companies. True,…
Of the two major British tobacco players, Imperial Tobacco seems the sounder investment and the former now the more dangerous investment. A bid by BAT for Imperial would almost certainly be rejected by the competition authorities, in my view. The concentration of market share in Europe would be too great. I would therefore hold Imperial…
As featured in the October issue of Master Investor. When Neil Armstrong became the first person to walk on the moon, it was (as we all know) “one small step for a man, but one giant leap for mankind.” However, it was also a giant leap that for a long time wasn’t followed by many…
As featured in this month’s magazine. It can’t be can it? Is it really nearly Christmas again? Frankly I feel Scrooge-like about it. Bah humbug! I hate the cold, the dark and all that. And those annoying TV ads. And… look you don’t want me spoiling it for you; I’m off to Dubai for some…
10 December 2015 Dear Mr Sainsbury On behalf of the Tonbridge WI, I would like to congratulate you on the quality of your Sainsbury’s Exceptional Mince Pies this year. Last year, the ladies opined that they contained an excess of cinnamon, and our Treasurer, Mrs Bland, who is allergic to unnecessary foreign ingredients, experienced palpitations.…
