As they used to say in union meetings back in the seventies: everybody out!
With the FTSE 100 down more than 2% over the last week it should, perhaps, be no surprise that all of the constituents of the “Bombed Out” recovery stocks portfolio have failed to keep up recent momentum, and have been ejected from the portfolio.
What is surprising is that a couple of stocks jettisoned last week have returned to the fold: NCC Group PLC (LON:NCC) and Rosslyn Data Technologies PLC (LON:RDT).
One other stock also makes the cut this week: Hydrodec Group PLC (LON:HYR).
So long, and thanks for all the dealing charges
- Bilby PLC (LON:BILB): Bought: 3,790 @ 69p each at a total cost of £2,592. Sold @ 65p each for a loss of £149.
- St Ives PLC (LON:SIV): Bought 2,850 @ 70p each at a total cost of £1,996. Sold @ 71.25p each for a gain of £22.
- Sound Energy PLC (LON:SOU): Bought: 4,900 @ 52.5p each at a total cost of £2,588.Sold @ 49.5p each for a loss of £178.
- Synairgen plc (LON:SNG): Bought: 23,390 @ 11p at a total cost of £2,588.Sold @ 11p for a loss of £30
As you can see, there was no serious damage from holding those stocks for a week – or two weeks of St Ives, which was sold at a profit – but the portfolio is in danger of suffering death by a thousand cuts while waiting for one or two big winners to turn up.
Will this week’s intake provide one of those winners? Given that two of the three have flitted in and out of the portfolio already, the likelihood is low, but we’ll cross our fingers.
In, out; in, out; shake it all about
Hydrodec Group PLC (LON:HYR)
The clean-tech industrial oil re-refining group announced today that it has been successful in its application for a new patent in respect of its transformer oil re-refining process.
The granting of a new patent benefits the group in ensuring that Hydrodec's technology continues to lead the field in this area for the foreseeable future. The successful application is expected to provide a marketing and operational advantage by extending the ability to claim patent protection over Hydrodec's process by a further 20 years from the patent priority date of 2014,” the company said.
None of which explains why the shares are off 4.3% today. The stock has lost 42% of its value over the last year, and the granting of a patent seems an unlikely catalyst for a turnaround, but we’ll see.
Bought 190,0000 @ 1.65p each at a total cost of £3,150
NCC Group PLC (LON:NCC)
The reboot of the “Bombed Out” portfolio has only been going a few weeks and this stock has been in, out, in, out and now is back in again.
If we’d just held the darn thing all along we’d be sitting pretty now, but don’t get me started on the madness of frequent trading.
As I am getting tired of repeating in these columns, NCC is a cyber-security specialist that has come unstuck with its ‘buy and build’ strategy. There has been a management clear-out this year, and the stock has been steadily rising since the end of April, presumably on hopes that the new management’s revival strategy will work.
Bought 1,425 shares @ 219.5p each at a total cost of £3,143.
Rosslyn Data Technologies PLC (LON:RDT)
Another Proactive favourite, the data analytics software provider should be a sexy stock in this era of Big Data, but apart from a brief rally in April when it snapped up rival Integritie, the stock has drifted steadily south.
That was until the end of July when it bagged three contracts worth more than £3.1mln in aggregate over a three-year period.
To put that into context, in its most recent full-year results, the company’s revenue clocked in at £3.9mln, so the orders are significant ones and seem to have alerted the market to the company’s potential.
The shares are up 36% over the last month, making this another previously owned stock where we would have been better off buying & holding rather than trying to second guess the market.
Bought 48,000 shares at 6.5p each at a total cost of £3,135
Here’s where we currently stand
Company
No. of shares
Total cost
Average price paid
Current bid price
Current value
Profit/ loss £
Profit/ loss %
Hydrodec
190,000
£3,150
1.66p
1.6p
3,040
-£110
-3.5%
NCC Group
1,425
£3,143
220.55p
219p
£3,121
-£22
-0.7%
Rosslyn Data
48,000
£3,135
6.53p
6.25p
£3,000
-£135
-4.3%
- Cash: £5
- Total value of original £10k portfolio: £9,166
- Profit/loss on closed trades and dividends: -£267
- Unrealised profit on current holdings: -£267
- Total profit/loss: -£833