The 2020 Bargain Shares Portfolio has handed back some of its gains following some profit-taking in recent weeks, but has still delivered a healthy 30.2 per cent total return, a decent outcome considering last year’s stock market crash came just 11 trading days after the portfolio’s launch. The total return is more than three times higher than the 7.7 per cent return on the FTSE Small-Cap index, and also outperformed the FTSE Aim All-Share by six percentage points and its benchmark FTSE All-Share index by a healthy 38 percentage points.
As always there have been some big winners, but more comforting is that the two laggards – beauty brands company Brand Architekts and specialist bank PCF – both have strong recovery potential to recoup paper losses. The fact that I consider all 10 shares buys at current levels tells a story, and one that should reward loyal followers in due course.
| Simon Thompson's 2020 Bargain Shares Portfolio Performance | |||||||
| Company name | TIDM | Market | Activity | Opening offer price 7.02.20 | Bid price 02.02.21 | Dividends | Percentage change (%) |
| Xaar | XAR | Main | Industrial inject technology company | 42p | 135p | 0.0p | 221.4% |
| Metal Tiger (see note two) | MTR | Aim | Investor in natural resources | 11.8p | 20p | 0.0p | 69.5% |
| Creightons | CRL | Main | Computer hardware | 44p | 65p | 0.0p | 47.7% |
| Cenkos Securities | CNKS | Aim | Corporate broker | 56p | 61p | 0.0p | 8.9% |
| Anglo Eastern Plantations | AEP | Main | Crude palm oil producer | 570p | 598p | 0.4p | 5.0% |
| Northamber | NAR | Aim | Computer hardware | 54.9p | 60p | 0.3p | 9.8% |
| Chenavari Capital Solutions (see note one) | CCSL | Main | Closed-end investment company | 61.4p | 35p | 0.0p | -1.0% |
| CIP Merchant Capital | CIP | Aim | Closed-end investment company | 57p | 55p | 0.0p | -3.5% |
| Brand Architekts | BAR | Aim | Beauty products | 160p | 120p | 0.0p | -25.0% |
| PCF | PCF | Aim | Challenger bank | 33.3p | 22.5p | 0.4p | -31.2% |
| Average | 30.2% | ||||||
| FTSE All-Share Total Return index | 7,796 | 7,124 | -8.6% | ||||
| FTSE Small-Cap Total Return index | 9,274 | 9,989 | 7.7% | ||||
| FTSE Aim All-Share Total Return index | 1,099 | 1,357 | 23.5% | ||||
| Note 1. Chenavari Capital Solutions made a compulsory capital redemption of 34.73 per cent of the share capital at 85.72p a share in March 2020, and subsequent compulsory capital redemption of 21.9 per cent of the share capital at 72.93p a share in July 2020. The total return takes into account the capital redemptions. The company delisted its shares from Aim on 30 September at a closing bid-price of 35p. Approximately 17.9 percent of each holding was then redeemed on 9 November 2020 at 65.26p a share. The board plans to make further compulsory capital redemptions in due course. | |||||||
| Note 2. Metal Tiger shares consolidated on the basis of one share for every 10 shares previously held on 1 July 2020. | |||||||
| Source: London Stock Exchange. Latest prices taken at 1.30pm on 02.02.21. | |||||||