The Evil Diaries: BCB and HSS

Little fish are sweet: I have been sat in BCB (BCB) for years. It’s Lord (Michael) Ashcroft’s Belizean toy bank. It reported last week, showing net assets of £38m as against a capitalisation at 7p of £7m. Further, annualising the first quarter’s results gives a profit expectation of £4.8m net of tax. Or put another way the PE ratio is of the order of 1.5.

I had a long chat with the erstwhile FD, Peter Gaze, some months ago and he cautioned me against rushing ahead since the politics of Belize are well to the left and, I was left to conclude (he was discreet), well capable of proving remarkably silly. But, however one looks at it, Belize has to have a bank which recycles savings and this business is extremely profitable since there is little competition to bid for deposits and, as always, no end of potential borrowers.

I still held back since the balance sheet holds advances to the Belizean government where the recoverability of such an advance is difficult for an external investor to assess. But, late on Friday afternoon last, BCB announced that it had bought back 550,000 at 5p. And I regard that as the signal that all is well. So I paid 8p for 100,000 this morning. All I now want is the hint of a dividend. 2p per share is easily afforded.

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At an investor conference on Saturday I again slagged off HSS (HSS), now 52p. There is only a little borrow but, pursuant to the update last week, it is still a safe short. Charge ahead.

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Tyson Fury is seriously fancied for BBC’s SPOTY. But, given his loony homophobic remarks, he has no chance of even being placed. It is true that political views are nothing to do with sport. But that’s how it is with modern Britain. Lay away.

More daringly, I stand by Jessica Ennis-Hill to beat Andy Murray. It is true that the whispy-bearded one seems to have caught the popular imagination but he has to win Wimbledon again and possibly much else besides before he picks up his peerage. He has of course already won SPOTY.

Finally, I noticed that Michael Fallon was not even quoted on Betfair’s market as to the successor to Cameron. This ISIS thing could be Fallon’s making in the people’s eyes. Betfair told me a half hour ago that they would be doing something. This is technology at work.