The Lemon Fool

Back in June VSL indicated they would continue to pay quarterly dividends for at least a year at the current rate of 2p pershare.
I haven't heard anything to the contrary and so will assume we will see a December dividend of this amount. Has anyone seen a more up-to-date announcement?
NAV has ticked up to around 93 and discount is still around 26%
The market appears to be moving in VSL's favour (interest rates stabalising) so for anyone prepared to be
patient (4-5 year time horizon) this might be a good time to buy - if that's still possible.

I own some but will not be buying any more.

Y

yieldhog wrote:Back in June VSL indicated they would continue to pay quarterly dividends for at least a year at the current rate of 2p pershare.
I haven't heard anything to the contrary and so will assume we will see a December dividend of this amount. Has anyone seen a more up-to-date announcement?
NAV has ticked up to around 93 and discount is still around 26%
The market appears to be moving in VSL's favour (interest rates stabilising) so for anyone prepared to be
patient (4-5 year time horizon) this might be a good time to buy - if that's still possible.

Their August fact sheet shows a 68% exposure to the US, so the NAV is a bet on the US economy.

Even if the NAV is off, a 26% margin gives some comfort, with a gross running yield exceeding 11% it looks pretty tempting at the mo.
If buying in a tax-exposed account, bear in mind that the income is taxed as interest, rather than dividend.
I hold some and may buy more when I have headroom in my ISA.

V8

yieldhog wrote:If buying in a tax-exposed account, bear in mind that the income is taxed as interest, rather than dividend.

The only VSL I own are in my SIPP, so no tax consequences.
The only reason I'm not buying more is that liquidity is likely to disappear and at the moment we don't have much idea about how they are managing the liquidation. All the same, given the discount, the running yield and market, there is a possibility a buyer could make a total return of at least 40 - 50 % over the next 3 - 5 years.

I might reconsider when more information comes out ( 2023 Annual Report ?)

LSE stats show quite good volume around the 69 level this week.

Y

yieldhog wrote:

yieldhog wrote:If buying in a tax-exposed account, bear in mind that the income is taxed as interest, rather than dividend.

The only VSL I own are in my SIPP, so no tax consequences.
The only reason I'm not buying more is that liquidity is likely to disappear and at the moment we don't have much idea about how they are managing the liquidation.

Yes, the spread might widen. I think one should reckon on holding to extinction.

V8

88V8 wrote:Yes, the spread might widen. I think one should reckon on holding to extinction.

Greed got the better of me today. I couldn't resist buying a few more below 70 to average down my cost price. If they go down any more I still have room to average down again.

I was surprised how liquid they still are given that they are liquidating.

Before buying any more I will wait to see there is any payoff during the last quarter as they indicated earlier in the year. It will be interesting to see how the payoff is structured with respect to dividend and return of principal, not that it has much significance to me since I hold them in my SIPP.

Y

yieldhog wrote:

88V8 wrote:Yes, the spread might widen. I think one should reckon on holding to extinction.

Greed got the better of me today. I couldn't resist buying a few more below 70 to average down my cost price. If they go down any more I still have room to average down again.
I was surprised how liquid they still are given that they are liquidating.

I see the Oak Bloke ran an eye over them in October, based on their June portfolio. Positive pov.

V8

Oak wrote,

"I wish you well in making your own investment decisions."

That was a very reassuring article very well researched. Thank you for that.

Who knows, if more investors get to see the opportunity we may see the price edge back to nearer the NAV. The combination of more 10% + dividends to come and a price uplift might even allow me to get out with a decent profit. Other things being equal of course.

Y

I see that VSL has announced an unchanged dividend of 2p for payment December 21st, xd November 30th.
No indication as yet on capital repayments.

Y

What a difference a year makes.
A year or so.

The SP has tanked, the NAV turns out to have been a figment of the imagination.
Equity write-offs of 29%, loan write-offs 8%.

Should macro considerations have been considered more seriously? A share which lends money at high enough levels of return to sustain a 12%+ yield of course is susceptible to the danger of its customers, already burdened with expensive debt (from VSL) to implode when higher interest rates and rapid inflation tipped them over the edge. That’s entirely plausible and likely, and that is the lesson to learn here.

So, another victim of businesses that were only viable in times of ZIRP.

The Oak Bloke has bailed out.

The lesson for me is that the next time anyone suggests a fund can be liquidated at a premium, I shall call BS and leave them to it.

V8

That's a good lesson. I bailed earlier taking a 20% loss. My lesson is all heavily discounted funds are not the same.

What did I do with the proceeds - I put them in DGI9 - as it had gone down (a lot) further and I thought that over done. So relatively I am better off, right

Will just reinforce that this is with my longer term higher risk tranche of my SIPP so no hurry and whilst significant (for me) not material for my plans.