Mapeley Limited

[yieldhog]

Just got a nice surprise in the post today - a cheque for £1.76 per share dividend for my delisted Mapeley shares. Didn't see that one coming. The only downside is that I moved them out of my SIPP into certificate form, so the dividend will be taxable.

Y

[Minvest]

Me too. I have held my shares since 2009 delisting in a Barclays nominee account thinking they were worthless. A lovely Friday night surprise. Any idea if this is a special as I can’t believe this share is going to start paying out this size divi. It’s difficult to get any investor info/accounts. I will contact Barclays.

[yieldhog]

Minvest,

I called the company last week to try to get some more information but was told the person responsible was on holiday until next Monday. The woman I spoke with said they were getting a lot of calls asking about the dividend and were making a list so they could return our calls with more information. It would be a lot easier if they would either issue a Press Release or simply post a message on their Investor Relations board.

I notice they have disposed of several properties recently, so maybe this dividend is related to those events. However, why they would pay out such a chunk of cash instead of paying off debt is a puzzle. Could it be the start of winding up the company in an orderly way? The last NAV I estimated was for 2020 and from my calculations based on the 2020 Accounts it was £3-24 per share, so the £1.76 divi appears to represent more than half the NAV. Using the same calculation method the NAVs for the previous three years were 3.69,3.67 and 3.41.

Before delisting the shares traded down as low as around 50p. When I bought the shares out of my SIPP they were estimated to have a market value of around 70-80p, so my cost basis is in that range. My original cost price was of course much higher, probably nearer $10. If we get back £3-£4 per share in an orderly winding up of the company then at least we would have closure of the matter.

The 2021 accounts are due out very soon, so hopefully they will provide some clarity.

Y

[yieldhog]

My understanding is the 2021 Report and Accounts should be out sometime in June. The company website lists a number of property sales over the past few years and I believe the dividend probably relates to the net cash generated from the reduction of the property portfolio and associated repayment of debt. If my NAV valuations are correct and the company continues to reduce the property portfolio and pay down debt then I would hope to see more payouts. However, I understand the commercial property market is still very difficult and sales are taking much longer than normal, so it could be a long wait. The upcoming Annual Report should give us a clearer picture.

Y

[yieldhog]

Mapeley 2021 Report and Accounts arrived in the post this morning. A quick look through shows NAV increasing from 3.24p per share in 2020 to 3.57p in 2021, according to my calculations. The 1.76p per share dividend paid after the 2021 year-end will have reduced the NAV to about 1.81p per share.
Hopefully, property disposals will continue and we will get the balance a bit quicker than it took to get the first half of the NAV.


Y