Monthly Archives: April 2019

HM Government March 2019 Borrowings

Another month, guess what, take a lucky guess, it is the same old story, HM Government, spends more money than it receives via taxes and duties. Another deficit month, thus to bridge the gap, needs to borrow on the bond market.

In March 2019 , the HM Government had to borrow money to meet the difference between tax revenues and public sector expenditure. The term for this is The PSNCR: The Public Sector Net Cash Requirement.

There were “only” 3 auctions of Gilts (UK Government Bonds) by the UK Debt Management Office http://www.dmo.gov.uk/ to raise cash for HM Treasury:-

26-Mar-2019 0 1/8% Index-linked Treasury Gilt 2048 3 months £325.0000 Million
14-Mar-2019 1¾% Treasury Gilt 2049 1,724.9980
06-Mar-2019 1% Treasury Gilt 2024 3,414.7490

When you add the cash raised:-

(£325.0000 Million + £1,724.9980 Million + 3,414.7490 Million) =  £5,464.747 Million

£5,464.747 Million = £5.464747  Billion

On another way of looking at it, is in the 31 days in March, HM Government borrowed:-

£176.2821612903226 Million  each day for the 31 days.

We are fortunate, while the global banking and financial markets still has the confidence in HM Government to buy the Gilts (Lend money to the UK), the budget deficit keeps rising. What is also alarming, is the dates these bond mature 2024, 2047 and 2048. All long term borrowings, we are mortgaging our futures, but at least “We Are In It Together….

HSBC April Dividend.

On Monday 8th April, HSBC Holdings (The World’s Local Bank) paid its quarterly dividend.

www.hsbc.com

It paid, $0.21 a share, which is 15.9271p.

https://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/market-news/market-news-detail/HSBA/14022103.html

The total number of voting rights in HSBC Holdings plc is 20,094,409,314

Thus:

20,094,409,314 x £0.15.9271 = £3,200,456,665.850094

That is £3.200456665 Billion.

https://www.shareshop.hsbc.co.uk/shareshop/security.cgi?username=&ac=&csi=10048&record_search=1&search_phrase=HSBC

6% Yield

Assets of the Witan Investment Trust.

The Witan Investment Trust is a London listed investmen trust.

www.witan.com

£2.0bn fund.

Top 20 holdings (%):-

Syncona 2.3% of the fund
Apax Global Alpha 2.1% of the fund
Vonovia 2.0% of the fund
Unilever 1.7% of the fund
BlackRock World Mining Trust 1.5% of the fund
BP 1.2% of the fund
Diageo 1.2% of the fund
Delta Air Lines 1.1% of the fund
Charter Communications 1.1% of the fund
Lloyds Banking 1.0% of the fund
London Stock Exchange 1.0% of the fund
RELX 0.9% of the fund
Taiwan Semiconductor 0.9% of the fund
Rio Tinto 0.9% of the fund
Schroders 0.9% of the fund
Deutsche Lufthansa 0.9% of the fund
Citigroup 0.8% of the fund
UnitedHealth 0.8% of the fund
Tesco 0.8% of the fund
Princess Private Equity 0.8% of the fund

Top 20 Holdings 23.9% of the fund

Sector breakdown (%):-

-Financials 17.6
-Consumer Services 15.6
-Industrials 15.0
-Consumer Goods 13.7
-Technology 9.6
-Other 17.3
-Investment Companies 9.3
-Equity Index Futures 0.3
-Cash / Bonds 1.6

Witan use inhouse and externam fund managers:-

Lansdowne Partners Global 15% of the fund
Pzena Global 14% of the fund
Veritas Global 15% of the fund
Artemis UK 8% of the fund
Heronbridge UK 6% of the fund
Lindsell Train UK 9% of the fund
Crux Europe ex-UK 4% of the fund
SW Mitchell Europe ex-UK 4% of the fund
Matthews Asia Pacific 11% of the fund
GQG Emerging 5% of the fund
Direct holdings – 10% of the fund

http://www.shareshop.hsbc.co.uk/shareshop/security.cgi?username=&ac=&csi=10348&record_search=1&search_phrase=witan

GlaxoSmithKline April Dividend.

Today, the UK’s largest pharma company pays out its April dividend.

www.gsk.com

23p a share is the dividend.

Total number of voting rights in the Company is 4,987,643,129

https://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/market-news/market-news-detail/GSK/14024193.html

Thus:

4,987,643,129 x £0.23 = £1,147,157,919.67

That is £1.147 Billion.

https://www.shareshop.hsbc.co.uk/shareshop/security.cgi?csi=10042

That is 5% yield.

Merian UK Smaller Companies

The Merian UK Smaller Companies fund is a £1266.60m fund. Its aim is to provide capital growth from investing primarily in a portfolio of UK smaller companies.

Top ten holdings are:-

1 Ascential 3.16% of the fund
2 boohoo group 2.96% of the fund
3 Blue Prism Group 2.77% of the fund
4 Smart Metering Systems 2.70% of the fund
5 Clinigen Group 2.59% of the fund
6 Burford Capital 2.57% of the fund
7 Fevertree Drinks 2.52% of the fund
8 Johnson Service Group 2.23% of the fund
9 Onesavings Bank 2.02% of the fund
10 Workspace Group 1.91% of the fund
Launched on the 01/07/2011 at 50p a unit and now is worth 261.30p per unit.

Massive growth

Clever Quote: Stick to the fundamentals:

Investors should be skeptical of history-based models. Constructed by a nerdy-sounding priesthood using esoteric terms such as beta, gamma, sigma and the like, these models tend to look impressive. Too often, though, investors forget to examine the assumptions behind the models. Beware of geeks bearing formulas.

Warren Buffet