[ShareScope] Small-Cap Spotlight Report: BRAVE BISON

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22 March 2026
By Maynard Paton

Oh dear. This ShareScope report has not turned out as I first hoped.

I had wondered whether Brave Bison — an £83 million “next-generation marketing and technology partner for global brands” — might have been a dynamic small-cap suitable for my portfolio.

You see, Bison suddenly loomed into view the other week after acquiring a 28% stake in System1 — an advert-testing business in which I am a shareholder — through a somewhat remarkable transaction.

System1’s founder John Kearon exchanged his entire System1 shareholding for Bison shares worth £7 million, and effectively told the market Bison had become a better investment than his old company.

I therefore asked myself whether I should follow Mr Kearon and switch from System1 into Brave Bison as well.

Indeed, Bison — unlike System1 — appears to be performing very well at present. The group’s January update confirmed net revenue, adjusted Ebitda and net cash had all finished 2025 “ahead of consensus expectations“.

But after delving into Bison’s history, I just could not get comfortable with what has been a very hectic acquisition strategy. Simply put, I don’t foresee Bison delivering the progress necessary to re-rate its shares to a premium valuation.

Let’s take a closer look.

Read my full BRAVE BISON article for ShareScope >>

Maynard Paton

[ShareScope] Screening For My Next Quality Winner: AJ BELL

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21 February 2026
By Maynard Paton

Last month I revisited a ShareScope screen that applied two ratios favoured by ‘quality’ investors — operating margin and return on equity (ROE).

The filtering then returned 19 matches and I opted to study Hollywood Bowl.

This month I have re-run the same ShareScope screen and once again received 19 matches. As a reminder, the primary criteria of this screen are:

  • An operating margin (latest and 10-year average) of 20% or more, and;
  • An ROE (latest and 10-year average) of 20% or more.

Any business with a margin and ROE of at least 20% is probably quite special.

To narrow the field down further, I also sought companies that carried net cash (i.e. net borrowings excluding IFRS 16 finance leases of less than zero):

(Source: ShareScope)

This time I selected AJ Bell, primarily because I have been a customer of the investing platform for 25 years. ShareScope also shows AJ Bell registering a wonderful 40%-plus margin and ROE since 2023:

(Source: ShareScope)
(Source: ShareScope)

Let’s take a closer look.

Read my full AJ BELL article for ShareScope >>

Maynard Paton

[ShareScope] Screening For My Next Quality Winner: HOLLYWOOD BOWL

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23 January 2026
By Maynard Paton

Today I have revisited a ShareScope screen that applies two ratios favoured by ‘quality’ investors — operating margin and return on equity (ROE).

The exact criteria I re-used were:

  • An operating margin (latest and 10-year average) of 20% or more, and;
  • An ROE (latest and 10-year average) of 20% or more.

Any business with a margin and ROE of at least 20% is probably quite special.

To narrow the field down further, I also sought companies that carried net cash (i.e. net borrowings excluding IFRS 16 finance leases of less than zero):

(Source: ShareScope)

This time the filter returned 19 matches, including Games Workshop, IG Group, Rightmove, Plus500, Polar Capital, Cerillion, Tatton Asset Management, Record and Jarvis Securities.

I selected Hollywood Bowl because ten-pin bowling did not strike me as an activity that could lead to super operating margins and robust capital efficiency.

But sure enough, ShareScope shows Hollywood Bowl reporting an average 21% margin and average 21% ROE since 2016 — despite the group suffering badly during the pandemic:

(Source: ShareScope)
(Source: ShareScope)

Let’s take a closer look.

Read my full HOLLYWOOD BOWL article for ShareScope >>

Maynard Paton

Why I Have Stopped Blogging About My Shares

02 January 2026
By Maynard Paton

Sad news I am afraid. I have decided to stop blogging about my shares and portfolio.

This decision has not been easy. But my portfolio’s woeful 2025 finally confirmed something I have contemplated for some time…

…that my modest long-term gains do not justify the time and effort I dedicate to publishing this blog.

Something has to change, and I wish to step away from the spotlight to determine how to improve my returns.

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Q4 2025: Down 24.4% For 2025

02 January 2026
By Maynard Paton

Happy 2026! I really hope your shares performed much better than mine last year.

A summary of my portfolio’s 2025:

  • Total return of -24.4%*;
  • Individual returns ranged from up 51% for S & U to down 62% for System1;
  • Two shares were topped-up: Bioventix and S & U;
  • One share was sold entirely: Tristel;
  • No shares were top-sliced, and;
  • No new shares were purchased.

(*Performance calculated using quoted bid prices and includes all dealing costs, withholding taxes, broker-account fees, paid dividends and cash interest)

Since I commenced this blog at the start of 2015 I have published a quarterly portfolio review. This Q4 post recaps my October/November/December activity as well as my 2025 performance. Here are my Q1, Q2 and Q3 2025 reviews.

From 2026 I will no longer blog about my shares or portfolio. I therefore trust you enjoy my final annual-performance recap.

Maynard Paton

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My Portfolio: Year In Review 2025

02 January 2026
By Maynard Paton

This post provides a ‘year in review’ of all my portfolio holdings.

I recap how each business performed during 2025 as well as provide a few remarks about their attractions, drawbacks and valuations. I have accompanied every write-up with a ShareScope chart to show how each company has progressed over the longer term.

I undertook the same review process at the start of 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025.

I have now decided to stop blogging about my shares and I trust you find this final annual review informative.

Maynard Paton

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Q3 2025: 1 Top-Up

02 January 2026
By Maynard Paton

Apologies! This Q3 2025 update is three months late, but has been published to ensure a complete set of quarterly portfolio reviews is available before I stop blogging about my shares.

A summary of my portfolio’s progress:

  • Return for the nine months to 30 September 2025: -21.9%*
  • Q3 trades: 1 Top-up (S & U at £18.71).

(*Performance calculated using quoted bid prices and includes all dealing costs, withholding taxes, broker-account fees, paid dividends and cash interest)

What an awful 2025 I am having. During the first nine months of the year, my portfolio has slumped 21.9% while the FTSE 100 has surged 17.7%. I am quite sure this relative performance is the worst I have endured since I started investing 30 years ago.

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[ShareScope] Screening For My Next Share Winner: GLOBALDATA

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20 December 2025
By Maynard Paton

I can’t be the only investor who likes to see directors aligned with ordinary shareholders by owning lots of stock.

Hence this revisit to an old screen to identify companies offering robust financials, respectable growth, a reasonable valuation… and useful insider ownership.

The exact criteria I redeployed for this search were:

  • Net borrowings less total leases of no more than zero (i.e. a net cash position excluding IFRS 16 lease obligations);
  • An operating margin of 20% or more;
  • A five-year uplift to operating profit of at least 50%;
  • A forecast P/E of 20 or less, and;
  • The board owning at least 10% of the company.

I applied the screen the other day and ShareScope returned only six matches:

(Source: ShareScope)

I selected GlobalData because:

  • The £770 million market cap was the largest on the list;
  • The 64% board shareholding was the largest on the list, and;
  • The shares were trading 56% below their five-year high.

ShareScope reveals the board’s huge shareholding is held by GlobalData’s chief executive, Michael Danson:

(Source: ShareScope)

Mr Danson’s stake is currently worth approximately £500 million, and was worth more than £1 billion last year when GlobalData’s shares reached 240p:

(Source: ShareScope)

Mr Danson might well be very motivated to return to billionaire status, or at least be very motivated not to see his immense wealth deteriorate further.

Let’s take a closer look.

Read my full GLOBALDATA article for ShareScope >>

Maynard Paton

[ShareScope] Small-Cap Spotlight Report: SCIENCE GROUP

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23 November 2025
By Maynard Paton

I love activists.

The investors who roll up their sleeves and:

  • Buy large stakes in underperforming companies;
  • Engage with boardrooms to instigate change, and;
  • Are prepared to call general meetings to eject sub-par directors.

In a small-cap market awash with tame fund managers, indifferent chief execs and docile chairmen, it seems only those stock-pickers willing to kick up a real fuss are currently able to generate excellent returns from UK smaller companies.

One of this year’s most high-profile activist campaigns was led by Science Group and centred on Ricardo.

Science started buying Ricardo shares during February and by April had invested £32m for a 20% stake. A series of acrimonious RNSs culminated with Science requisitioning a general meeting to oust Ricardo’s chairman and trigger a recovery:

“Following poor operating performance and ineffective governance at Ricardo, resulting in a significant destruction of shareholder value, on 30 April 2025 Science Group requested the Ricardo Board to requisition a general meeting (“General Meeting”) for Ricardo shareholders to consider a single resolution to remove Mr Mark Clare as a director of the Company and Chairman of the Board.

In effect, the General Meeting is a vote of no-confidence in the leadership of the Ricardo Board and to initiate change to enable a positive, shareholder-aligned recovery to benefit all Ricardo shareholders, large and small. The date has now been set for 18 June 2025 and a shareholder circular has been posted by Ricardo.”

The general meeting did not take place because Ricardo agreed to a bid just a week before. The investment outcome for Science was very impressive:

Science’s £32 million investment led to a £24 million pre-tax profit within five months. Not a bad return for a business now capitalised at £240 million at 545p a share:

(Source: ShareScope)

Prior to Ricardo, Science had undertaken activist positions at two other quoted companies that necessitated RNS ding-dongs and general-meeting requisitions before the targets eventually relented.

Let’s take a closer look.

Read my full SCIENCE GROUP article for ShareScope >>

Maynard Paton

MOUNTVIEW ESTATES: 17% Fewer Disposals And Fourth Consecutive Sub-60% Annual Gross Margin — With A Particularly Weak H2 — Cuts FY 2025 Profit By 15% And Leaves £92 Shares Yielding 5.7% And Trading 11% Below NAV

Apologies! This MTVW FY 2025 review has taken somewhat longer than expected to produce. MTVW’s subsequent H1 2026 results were published on Thursday (20 October) and to avoid any reader confusion, an email alert has not been sent.

23 November 2025
By Maynard Paton

FY 2025 results summary for Mountview Estates (MTVW):

  • 17% fewer property disposals offset near-record sales prices and cut FY revenue by 9% and FY profit by 15%, with H2 faring particularly badly. At least the final dividend was maintained while net asset value (NAV) was kept at a record £103 per share.
  • Property sales delivered a sub-60% gross margin for the fourth consecutive FY, which increasingly suggests the inherent ‘reversionary’ gains from regulated tenancies have permanently reduced. The 48% H2 property-sales gross margin was particularly weak. 
  • Mind you, this FY commendably disclosed additional cost-of-sales information that showed properties bought following the 2014 Allsop valuation realised 34% gains. Perhaps MTVW can still therefore purchase regulated tenancies at 75% of their ‘vacant possession’ value.
  • MTVW’s new non-exec has yet to convince all shareholders — she attracted a 36% protest vote at her first AGM and has suggested some investors are too “fixated” on the 2014 valuation. Why the new non-exec has yet to take on her predecessor’s role of rem-comm chair remains a mystery.
  • Fewer disposals, deteriorating margins, potentially significant EPC costs and the absence of a follow-up valuation continue to suppress the shares, which at £92 offer a 5.7% income, trade 11% below NAV and may be worth more than £170 if the group’s properties were all sold today at their ‘vacant possession’ value. I continue to hold.

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BIOVENTIX: H1 2025 Revenue Up Just 1% Due To ‘Mature’ Markets Leaves £24 Shares Yielding 6%-Plus And Future Growth Seemingly Dependent On Promising Alzheimer’s R&D And Associated Royalty/Supply Arrangements

Apologies! This BVXP H1 2025 review has taken somewhat longer than expected to produce. BVXP’s FY 2025 results are due tomorrow (27 October) and to avoid any reader confusion in the morning, an email alert has not been sent.

26 October 2025
By Maynard Paton

H1 2025 results summary for Bioventix (BVXP):

  • A very unspectacular six months, showing revenue up only 1% to reflect what the company maintains are “mature” markets for diagnostic antibodies. Profit meanwhile fell 4% following greater external spend on R&D.
  • With neither the secondary application for troponin nor the biomonitoring projects attracting much commercial interest, future growth now seems dependent entirely on the Alzheimer’s R&D — revenue from which “increased” during this H1. 
  • “Large-scale” antibody manufacturing, further promising scientific papers, a royalty arrangement with a prominent researcher alongside a possible supply agreement with Beckman Coulter suggests the Alzheimer’s work has increasing potential to one day become a substantial commercial success.
  • Although the H1 dividend was (surprisingly) lifted 2p per share, FY 2025 earnings are forecast to decline slightly and leave dividend cover below 1x. The £5m cash position therefore looks primed to fund the greater R&D. 
  • The lack of near-term profit growth has left the £24 shares trading at a level first achieved during 2017 and offering their highest-ever yield at 6%-plus. They may also value the Alzheimer’s R&D at a very pessimistic zero. I continue to hold.

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[ShareScope] Screening For My Next Share Winner: MP EVANS

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17 October 2025
By Maynard Paton

I  can’t be the only investor who likes to collect a reliable dividend.

Hence this revisit to an old screen that pinpoints companies boasting a long-running payout, a meaningful yield and respectable prospects.

The exact criteria I redeployed for this search were:

  • A history of dividend payments spanning at least 20 years;
  • A 10-year dividend growth record of 5% or more;
  • A minimum forecast three-year dividend growth rate of 5%, and;
  • A forecast dividend yield of at least 4%.

I applied the screen the other day and ShareScope returned 16 matches:

(Source: ShareScope)

I selected MP Evans primarily because the company has never cut its dividend during the last 33 years:

(Source: ShareScope)

The payout has in fact advanced by a near-20% CAGR during the last decade, while future income growth also appeared very reasonable.

Let’s take a closer look.

Read my full MP EVANS article for ShareScope >>

Maynard Paton

FW THORPE: Share Price At 2016 Levels Prompts Intriguing Buyback Remarks After ‘Marginally Ahead’ H1 2025 Discloses Welcome 65% Zemper Profit Growth Alongside £52m Net Cash

28 September 2025
By Maynard Paton

H1 2025 results summary for FW Thorpe (TFW):

  • As predicted, a “marginally ahead” H1 performance that reported revenue up 1%, profit up 2% and the dividend up 3.5% following mixed progress within the group’s divisions.
  • After a few subdued years, Zemper was this H1’s welcome highlight — the Spanish subsidiary reported revenue up 13% and profit up 65% to reflect the initial promise expected from the significant c£35m purchase cost.
  • Elsewhere, Thorlux was held back by SchahlLED, the Dutch businesses could not repeat their bumper efforts from last year while Ratio suffered increased losses that prompted the joint venture to undertake a debt-for-equity swap.
  • The accounts remain in very good shape, showing an acceptable 15% group margin, healthy £52m net cash, commendable stock control, a favourable tax charge and yet another small gain from selling surplus assets above book value.
  • Management remarks of undertaking buybacks if the shares “significantly undervalue” the group’s prospects are intriguing, given the 300p price was first achieved during 2016 and might be overlooking TFW’s distinguished operating history. I continue to hold.

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[ShareScope] Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: CHURCHILL CHINA

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18 September 2025
By Maynard Paton

I am once again looking for ‘value bargains’ and revisiting a screen that identifies companies trading at less than book value.

Importantly, this screen attempts to avoid ‘value traps’ by demanding the shares offer net cash, dividend payments and a history of trading above book value.

The exact filter criteria I redeployed were:

  • A price to net tangible assets of no more than 1;
  • A dividend being paid during the most recent year;
  • A 10-year average price to net tangible assets of at least 1;
  • Net borrowings less total leases of no more than 0 (i.e. a net cash position excluding IFRS 16 lease obligations), and;
  • A share price denominated in pounds sterling.

This time ShareScope returned 14 companies:

(Source: ShareScope)

I selected Churchill China because, among the 14 shortlisted companies, its shares had previously traded at the highest average multiple of net tangible assets.

Sure enough, Churchill’s 430p shares are priced at 21% less than the 545p per share net tangible asset value:

(Source: ShareScope)

And yet the shares have in the past traded at beyond 5x net tangible value.

Let’s take a closer look.

Read my full CHURCHILL CHINA article for ShareScope >>

Maynard Paton

S & U: FY 2025 Profit Down 29% Leaves Shares At 0.95x NAV To Offer Possible 10-15% CAGR Supported By ‘Minimal’ Exposure To Regulatory Redress, Post-FY ‘Above Budget’ Lending And An ‘Expected Resurgence In Profitability’

02 September 2025
By Maynard Paton

FY 2025 results summary for S & U (SUS):

  • An FY performance blighted by ongoing regulatory matters and an adverse Court of Appeal judgment, with FY motor-finance lending down 38% that prompted FY profit to drop 29% and led to yet another dividend cut.
  • Collection rates, up-to-date accounts and Stage 3 impairments within the motor-finance division all moved significantly in the wrong direction, but could soon recover following a shift towards lower-risk borrowers alongside a favourable Supreme Court ruling.
  • Indeed, SUS’s exposure to substantial regulatory redress now appears “minimal” while post-FY statements talked of an “expected resurgence in profitability” through “above budget” motor-finance lending on what has become a “level competitive playing field“.
  • The property-bridging subsidiary meanwhile delivered “excellent” progress, with record lending at higher rates leading to FY profit surging 50%, a possible 65% pre-tax return on equity and divisional loans supporting 35% of the group’s loan book.
  • The shares yield 5%-plus and are valued at 0.95x NAV, and may offer a 10-15% CAGR should the payout be maintained and future NAV growth eventually persuade the market cap to once again trade above book. I continue to hold. 

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ABOUT ME

Investing in shares for 25+ years. Former share tipster. ShareScope evangelist. Blogger. Webhost nerd. FIRE | Read more | Contact

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