4bn acquisition last year of Germany's Reemtsma Since the trust will forever be at the mercy of a potentially feuding clan, there is no clear idea of where it may be taken.Look elsewhere.. The shares' discount to NAV has narrowed from 30 per cent to 21 per cent in the hope that the wind-up plan - voted down - would concentrate minds on shareholder value. Up more than 40 per cent since March, the shares were yesterday off a penny at 940p.The Cayzers own almost 50 per cent of Caledonia so investing in the trust means throwing in one's lot with that of a super-rich clan. While in some circumstances that can be a wise thing for the small investor, there is no cohesive Cazyer family view on the trust's future. If the rebels had held sway, it would have been wound up at the bottom of a bear market just to generate a bit of cash for some big shareholders. Caledonia saw its net asset value (NAV) increase by just over a quarter to 1,161p in the six months to 30 September. IVT has captivated plenty of small punters, who provide a dedicated following for Torotrak shares which, at 75.5p, are up fivefold since March. It has attracted less interest among major car manufacturers. Toyota and General Motors have both walked away from work on the technology.Torotrak and its enthusiastic chief executive, Dick Elsy, now believe the most likely route to market is via specialist gearbox manufacturers, and that is certainly a more realistic approach. Indeed, recent months have shown tangible signs of progress, since some manufacturers, having licensed IVT, have been talking up the product at motor shows. Mr Elsy has promised a major car maker will be designing cars using IVT by the end of next year.Maybe, but even after work to advance the technology in the past couple of years, it remains for anyone to put their money where Mr Elsy's mouth is and investors need to proceed with extreme caution.Torotrak reckons it needs 1 per cent of the world's automatic car market to use IVT for it to break even. We've not missed much.The loss-making company's Infinitely Variable Transmission (IVT) system is a gear system for automatic cars that adjusts to the most efficient level, improving fuel efficiency by a fifth and making for a less clunky drive.
In Germany, the government has finally discovered tobacco as a tax cow to be milked, but Imperial at least has the consolation of leading the roll-your-own market, to which some smokers are driven.Even with a costly German marketing push, Imperial is still likely to produce a 4.5 per cent dividend yield next year. Since demerging from Hanson in 1996, Imperial has grown dividends by an average of 15 per cent a year. For those with no qualms about buying into an industry that is barred from many ethical investment portfolios, its shares are as attractive as ever.Still too early to buy Torotrak even after two and a half yearsIt is about two and a half years since this column last looked at Torotrak, what with speculative technology developers being out of vogue until recently. This was made possible by the £2.4bn acquisition last year of Germany's Reemtsma. Imperial yesterday upped the likely annual value of the cost savings from £170m to £210m, and the contribution from Reemtsma lifted pre-tax profits in the year ended 30 September by 55 per cent to £656m.Challenges aplenty, though. Imperial is the company behind the Lambert & Butler, and Richmond brands. In the UK, where it is market leader, it lost sales as people were allowed to bring more fags from Continental Europe, but this seems to have stabilised. "Gazumping may be reappearing, particularly at the top end of the market in London."The survey showed the number of surveyors reporting rising prices outnumbered those seeing falls by 38 per cent - the widest margin for almost a year.The message from the report was supported by anecdotal evidence.Gary French of Friend & Falcke in London's Chelsea and Fulham areas, said: "The market is significantly improving with sealed bids occurring Generally offers are low but gazumping has crept in again.". But state-controlled radio in Harare accused white governments of threatening to tear the organisation apart because they opposed Zimbabwe's land reform programme. White-owned farms were seized without compensation for redistribution to thousands of poor, landless blacks. While some were redistributed, manywere given to government and ruling party officials.The South African President, Thabo Mbeki, had earlier argued unsuccessfully for an end to the suspension.Mr Obasanjo held a 40-minute meeting with Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of Zimbabwe's main opposition party the Movement for Democratic Change He did not comment after the meeting (AP). A major exhibition exploring the phenomenon of Ned Kelly, the outlaw, is to open in Australia, where the 19th-century bush ranger is celebrated as a national hero. |
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