Motley Fool: Lending Value

ShareHitachi Capital (LSE: HCU)Websitehitachicapital.co.ukPrice256pMarket cap£109mDirectors own<1%Other majors65%Eps y/e 31/03/0626.4pHistorical P/E9.7Div y/e 31/03/0611pHistorical yield4.3%Tangible book 30/09/06138pP/TBV1.9Eps forecast 31/03/0727.6pEps forecast 31/03/0829.5pForward P/E 31/03/079.3Div forecast 31/03/0712pDiv forecast 31/03/0813pForward yield 31/03/074.7% Hitachi is a finance company, lending money for business and consumer purchases. It is not a pyad play for two reasons. Firstly, it trades well over book with a P/TBV of 1.9 and secondly, it does not have net cash. Companies involved in money lending rarely have net cash because they normally finance the majority of their lending via debt. The effect is that gearing is enormous and way above any kind of usual value criterion.

Motley Fool: Doing The Splits

I’m pretty sure that most Fools wouldn’t even consider investing in split cap investment trusts. And that’s understandable. Many investors — including a member of my family — were persuaded to buy shares in the trusts on the basis that they were lucrative but low risk vehicles. Sadly, many such investments proved to be disastrous.

Motley Fool: The Next Market Threat

Around two years ago private equity companies spent around £100b buying up assets around the world. But today, it is estimated that over two thousand private equity companies have raised around £300b to fund their continuing spending spree. What’s more, since private equity firms like to supplement every pound of investor money with another £4 of debt, they may have over a trillion pounds waiting to unleash on global markets.