Evil Knievil: Clarity at Clear Leisure

Clear Leisure (LON:CLP) is very hard to value and, since my family owns many tens of millions of shares, I cannot even claim to be dispassionate into the bargain.

However, yesterday, CLP gave shareholders an update which strikes me as very positive. Surprisingly, turnover was a trivial 9m shares at around 0.34p.

But being sensible it is a fair bet that CLP’s existing portfolio is worth £2m or more even after netting off debt. (Be it noted that there are c. 700m ordinaries in issue giving a capitalisation of c. £2m.)

But the jokers in the pack are the possible recoveries through litigation. CLP reckons that one claim alone comes to E10.8m. As to how much of this is CLP’s if the claim proves successful remains to be seen. But Francesco Gardin, the CEO of CLP, obviously thinks that there is a fair chance of a recovery.

Secondly, there is this astonishing claim by CLP against the Piedmont Region for E39m. This is not going to be easy but its pursuit is entirely at the expense of the receiver of a subsidiary of CLP. Put another way, CLP has no further liabilities in respect of this recovery. Even after deducting prior claims there is a colossal sum to distribute to CLP if the action proves successful. I know that this is a big IF. But the downside is zero and the upside might be worth several pence per share for CLP shareholders.

Faites vos jeux.