gallant02
06 Nov 2015
Re: not my fault OC, in fairness frauds are rare, but the historical debate over GBO's accounts demanded a more diligent audit approach in my opinion. Having said that there was a massive red flag when BDO withdrew because they couldn't agree the audit parameters - as we now know Costis had something to hide, he justified it on cost grounds at the time and we fell for it.Also the debate over cassh seemed stupid to me when competitors were losing $ tens of millions. Bottom line is I got in low and could have cashed out numerous times making double, treble, even quadruple my money and ignored most of my usual rules.Furthermore I have a place in Greece and keep getting screwed by them, so should really have paid heed to the old "beware Greeks bearing gifts etc".I cannot believe my short sightedness on this one and will beat myself up for a long time. I simply don't need others to do it... At the end of the day I like to support young, growing companies and will continue to do so, very selectively with the few bob that I've got left! I'm relying on OPG to bale me out, results yesterday solid as always so my one ray of sunshine in what is looking to be a dismal winter.
Richygm
05 Nov 2015
Re: Grant Thornton "those shorters rely on their sixth sense or did they have inside knowledge?"As I understand it, the American co was alerted by Evil Kneivel (who was short), and my guess is that he was alerted firstly by his sixth sense, which he confirmed with a bit of research. Such as using Google Earth to check out a few addresses, and/or making a few phone calls.
the wheeler
05 Nov 2015
Re: Grant Thornton The way I saw this was that there were a number of concerns over the audit/auditors of this company. First littlejohn were removed then there was a fallout with BDO. Grant Thornton were appointed and they must have labelled this as a very high risk client and done more audit work than would be normal. There is no way they will have not verified the cash in the bank figure, it will have been correct at the year end date , of that I'm sure, but I would guess that immediately before the year end the directors transferred a whole load of cash in to the company from other sources they control and a few days later it was transferred out again. That in itself must be a huge red flag to an auditor that the directors are trying to manipulate the figures. Some of the ramping on this board, and the shooting down of anyone with an even mildly negative view was cringeworthy. There are some posters on here that were buying all the way down if you believed their posts. A good tip might be to find what else they are buying and stay well clear! Any price drop is the result of those evil market makers, or shorters in their eyes. Having said that, even though I was only riding profit in the end , I did seriously think of buying some more once GT had signed the audit report off. That to me should have been the signal that the accounts were sound after all the doubt if the past. I place a lot of my research on the financials , as well as whether I instinctively feel whether the company and its products have the ability to grow. This company ticked both boxes. The pe was way too low for the fundamentals and it was a screaming buy on paper. I don't criticise those journalists who said so based on this analysis. They are entitled to rely on audited accounts. I think their is every justification in Grant Thirnton being brought to account. Thankfully my sixth sense kept me away from buying more , with the Greek thing and the unqualified FD most preying on my mind. One final thought. Given on paper this was such an undervalued stock, find those shorters rely on their sixth sense or did they have inside knowledge?
Orchard Gate
05 Nov 2015
Re: not my fault I don't disagree that GT looked to have missed an obvious fraud and should suffer (they were also complete cowboys as Nomads and were warned by LSE many years ago about that).I'm not protective of anyone, I just hate this creeping Yank thing where people buy a share and claim they're geniuses if it goes up and want to make a claim if it goes bust, blaming anyone they can think of. People need to take responsibility for their own decisions. Those like Hardboy who claimed a company cannot be a fraud if it has audited accounts (seeming to forget that ALL companies have audited accounts) are fools.
IAmShareCrazy
05 Nov 2015
Did You Short Globo? Just wondering if others who shorted it are going to get paid out on the 6th when it gets delisted and marked as zero. Although they said a position will remain open until everything gets declared. Spreadex said they will wait until they hear from their broker. Let's hope they are ok when they are losing like when they are winning!!!!
holycustard
05 Nov 2015
Re: Class Action Remove the word 'getting' from my post below. (Incompetent fool that I am)
holycustard
05 Nov 2015
Re: Class Action I too have signed up. Many thanks gallant02 for getting sorting all thisCheersHC
Gerald99
05 Nov 2015
Re: Class Action Thanks Gallant I have registered with Sharesco
gallant02
05 Nov 2015
Re: Class Action Hi Gerald, our action is being co-ordinated by Sharesoc, we now have more than 200 holders registered, which you do by the following:[link] haven't appointed a firm yet, this will be handled by a committee of 4 that as now been appointed. We are still awaiting legal opinion, meetings expected within next 2 weeks.
Richygm
05 Nov 2015
Re: The Cash As I’ve said before, I did not invest in Globo. Although I looked at it several times, mainly because of ST’s recommendations in the IC, I never could bring myself to do so. There were several reasons for this. One was because this was an AIM company, and I’ve lost confidence in AIM. (Somebody asks whether the governance of Aim is fit for purpose, and, obviously, it is not. When a nomad is being paid tens of thousands of pounds to make a listing succeed, you can bet your bottom dollar that they will put their interests before yours, as TW on SP points out regularly.)The second reason was the company was run by a Chinaman or a Greek. And the third reason was it was being heavily shorted. (Okay, as somebody has said, the shorters might be wrong. My view though, is that if they are prepared to bet that heavily and that riskily - Cannacord, up to the 20th of November, was saying the company was worth 90p a share! - it is best to assume they know something you do not. Certainly, I was not prepared to be my hard earned cash against such people.) Then there was their changing of their auditor. The statement by the previous auditor told you, more or less, that Globo wanted to stop them doing something. This should have set the alarm bells ringing. As, of course, should the failure of the bond. Below, is what GT charged for the last audit. (From SP) :In the case of Globo (GBO) we seem to have a situation where surely every nook and cranny was checked and verified down to the last dot. For according to Globo's FY14 accounts, in note 9 - Auditor's Remuneration - we see that the most enormous amount of work must have been done. Here is the table of costs: payable to the company's auditor (Grant Thornton) and its associates: parent company and consolidated financial statements audit Eur 193,000 audit of subsidiaries Eur 94,000 audit-related assurance services Eur 28,000 tax compliance Eur 17,000 tax advisory services Eur 51,000 subtotal Eur 383,000payable to other auditors: valuation and actuarial services Eur 14,000 Grand Total Eur 397,000Seems like a racket to me.
Gerald99
05 Nov 2015
Re: Class Action Gallant,I would like to be part of the class action against GT. Am I correct that you have talk to Edwin Coe about taking the case on. Thanks in advanceGerald
gallant02
05 Nov 2015
Re: not my fault Globo had shown consistent growth for years and moved to GT under pressure from the market to have a "good name firm" do the audit. One would have thought in light of criticism of GBO's accounting and consistent question marks about cash generation that GT would have ensured their numbers were watertight - certainly confirming that cash being generated was in the bank accounts.When you combine this with Gartner and Ovum providing a consistent opinion that GBO could become a major player in this fast growth area, then it was possible to get caught up in the hype. Ever criticism of GBO's accounts was met with plausible explanations both from the company and bloggers, so it wasn't greed as much as a determination to prove the shorters wrong - they don't always get it right.Now that the truth has come out then of course those who lost feel completely foolish, but we have paid our dues and don't need people like you to act in this manner.GT messed up big time and if we can make them pay we will. You seem rather over-protective of them, were you one of the audit partners by chance...?
Ripley94
05 Nov 2015
sharesoc In yesterdays evening news re-Globo.They have questioned whether the AIM regulatory regime is fit for purpose.
Gooffy
05 Nov 2015
The Cash One of the reasons I invested was because it was cash generating and there was cash.As Auditors they should have seen evidence of the Cash, if not how can they agree it, I worked in a bank and we had to fill out forms for auditors.Just annoyed that I didn't heed the warnings.
winningstreak
04 Nov 2015
Re: not my fault Grant Thorntons are big accountants who command respect. Theirinvolvement with Globo, i.e. their preparations of Globo's accounts,could have led people to believe/assume that Globo's accounts might just be correct. ws
