Carl D'Ammassa, CEO

DF Capital was founded in 2016 to support the working capital needs of manufacturers and UK dealers. Today, having received full authorisation as a bank in September 2020, we work with over 90 manufacturers and over 1,250 dealers in the leisure, commercial and powersports sectors. In 2023, we provided over £1.2bn of distribution and inventory finance across these sectors.

Ironically, Trump's erratic tariff-wielding tactics could drive capital AWAY from the USA, to the benefit of China, Germany and even the UK equity market.

And this week, a couple of UK stocks with "reasonable" news - Xaar and SRT Marine - saw 25%+ price moves suggesting that many stocks are priced for pessimism.  Gamma Communications delivered a solid 2024, and we think investors are more wary than they should be of German expansion.

Next week sees Chinese confidence data, European inflation and crucially US jobs...as well as 2 April seeing Trump's tariffs (probably....) come into effect.

Chris Lee, CEO

Claire Thomson, CFO

Chris Lee, CEO

Claire Thomson, CFO

Chris Lee, CEO

25:13 Q&A

The Pebble Group is a provider of technology, products, and related services to the global promotional products industry, comprising two differentiated businesses, Facilisgroup and Brand Addition, focused on specific areas of the promotional products market.

Facilisgroup: Providing an end-to-end order processing system, combined with a proprietary operating method, market network and community support to growth orientated promotional products distributors in North America

Brand Addition: An end-to-end creative branded merchandise agency that helps global brands build culture, awareness and meaningful connections with their customers, employees and communities

The UK, and arguably Europe, haven't yet seen much benefit from the outflow of capital from the MAG Seven, but remember, the whole German market cap is not dissimilar to the value of Microsoft - so there's a lot more to go for.

UK companies discussed include STV, Forterra, Van Elle, Secure Trust Bank, Cakebox, Care REIT, Hornby and Science Group/Ricardo.

Next week the big news is around interest rate decisions - in the USA, here in the UK and in Japan. Let’s hope for no surprises (especially from Tokyo). 

David McCreadie, CEO

Founded over 70 years ago, Secure Trust Bank is a leading retail deposit-funded specialist bank operating in four core markets: retail finance, vehicle finance, real estate finance, and commercial finance. Secure Trust Bank’s management has simplified the business through the sale/exit of non-core businesses, repositioning the loan portfolio towards lower-risk loans, and focusing on reducing operating costs to drive efficiency (Project Fusion).

In terms of the impact on Europe and the UK, Germany is stepping up and spending big, which is driving up both (European) stock markets and (German) borrowing costs. Trump seems to be ignoring the stock market and is probably happy that US borrowing costs are falling - crucial for the upcoming refinancing of a significant chunk of US government debt.

Closer to home, Severfield is seeing tough conditions, which reflect a sluggish broader economy, and XP Power's £41m raise shows that UK markets aren't completely closed.

Next week, we'll discuss US jobs data and inflation...unless Trump 2.0 delivers another surprise!

00:00 Opener

OTC Markets offers the ability for UK-listed companies to list and trade their shares in the USA.  The regulatory structure is almost unbelievably flexible, relying on the UK stock market regulations with little to no additional requirement.  The opportunity for additional liquidity and investor interest is significant, and a number of companies - large and small - are looking to the OTC to help them find a new pool of investors. 

George updates us on PLC awards winners – all well deserved and fingers crossed for none of those traditional subsequent share price declines.

Ian looks to Pinewood.AI and the issue of where the value really lies in AI. It looks to have paid a ‘full’ price for Seez, but it makes strategic sense, and if investors think they themselves can call the quality of the decision now, then they should be placing their bets elsewhere.

This leads George onto how AI is impacting the tech services companies and to where’s the real AI driven growth going to come from for the software providers.

Crash landing back onto planet small-cap, we touch on which stories are truly AI related, KX being a real one, and the damage that can be done to portfolios and companies when management find themselves ‘managing to the broking story’.