Welcome to FBDplc.com
This page has the latest news affecting the Company, and my comments.

Brian Marshall ATCL. - My CV and What I would suggest if I was on the Board

----- Share price: - As of July. 21st. 2023 - no open market deals done since the €1.91 a share buy-back announced.

FBDplc.com Shareholder Survey Results - the views of the 168 shareholders who replied since July 2018.

Latest News:- 27th June. The AGM approves the 14c dividend. The meeting heard reasonably good positive reports of how things are going, esp. in Spain, and with Holdings, and I believe that the Company now has at least a sustainable dividend at the 14c level going forward. I think our present Chairman Pat Murphy also is better minded to bring the Company to currently expected standards of Corporate Governance than has been the case heretofore, and some of the shareholder questions from the floor showed that there is shareholder appetite for this too.
Having Ann Moore on the Board is just a start. Our Constitution needs the rest of the changes I have been fighting for for 8 years !
A few negatives: - 1] Cost pressures are still very present in Irish hotels, and likely to stay. David Kelly doesn't foresee much progress next year from the good levels achieved in Ireland this year. 2] There is no functioning market for our shares at present 3] We are now paying slightly more on our debt than the Holdings Bond brings in. 4] We have taken a huge 40% writedown to Bulberry, and won't be selling it soon.

8th March. FBD Holdings announce profits of €81m and a €1 per share dividend.
This is great news for FBDplc holders, and should allow either another buy-in of shares for treasury or cancellation, and a dividend increase, or special dividend.

11 December:- FBD Holdings plc announces the following financial calendar for 2024:
Announcement of Results for 2023 - Friday, 08 March 2024
2023 Annual General Meeting - Thursday, 09 May 2024
Publication of Half Yearly - Friday, 9 August 2024

18th October - Update on Share Sale Scheme:- Farmer Business Developments plc has issued an update on its August-September Share Sale Scheme, saying the Company is pleased to confirm that the scheme was fully subscribed with over 300 applicants applying to buy over 3m shares.

25th August - The Company has bought/traded 1,907,034 shares in the latest, €1.91 per share, offering. The offer was 21% over-subscribed, but the Company increased the amount in the buyback by €640,000 and accommodated all selling shareholders.

16th August - The Company has not released details yet, but it has again purchased from existing shareholders, and is offering for resale to existing or new shareholders, shares at €1.91.

August 11th. FBD Holdings results : - KEY HIGHLIGHTS -- Profit before tax of EUR39m under IFRS 17 compared to EUR3m in 2022. - Special dividend approved of 100 cent per ordinary share. -- Insurance revenue increased by 4.5% to EUR195m. -- Written policy count increased by 2.6%. -- The Covid-19 related Business Interruption best estimate reduced by EUR15m to EUR27m net of reinsurance since year-end 2022 following conclusion of the test case. -- Retention levels of existing business increased by 0.2% year on year.

Following these results, FBD Developments intends to pay out the Holdings 'Special Dividend' to it's shareholders.

May 11th - FBD Holdings in line Trading Statement - "Overall, we remain confident in the underlying profitability, future growth prospects, capital strength of the business and in our ability to continue to provide excellent service to our customers.”

March 10th 2023. FBD Holdings results for 2022 - profit down but other metrics looking positive. €1 per share dividend

Feb. 3rd - The Official Company statement on Padraig's death is HERE


Feb.2nd - THE UNTIMELY DEATH HAS TAKEN PLACE OF OUR CHAIRMAN, PADRAIG WALSHE, ON FEB.1ST 2023
Although this website has in the past been critical of some of the Companys decisions, or lack of them as the case sometimes was, I am in shock at Padraigs passing. I always found him to be curtious and polite in all our dealings and exchanges, even if those exchanges were at times robust . His broad smiling face greeted everyone at the AGM, and a big firm handshake.
He was a strong, forceful leader, committed to his beliefs, surrounding himself where he could with those who shared his vision. The Company will not find it easy to replace him with someone who has the same business, and business of farming, experience. Nor will it be easy to replicate his circle of influence and network of contacts.
RIP Big Fella !!!!

FBD Holdings Financial timetable 2023 - Final results - Friday, 10 March 2023.
AGM Thursday, 11 May 2023. . . . . . Half Year Results - Friday, 11 August 2023

August 18th:- Farmer Business Developments plc pays out €4.4m to Farmer Shareholders in an increased Voluntary Share Buy-back Scheme.
This I view as a VERY positive decision by the Board. The original €2m scheme limit would have been totally inadequate to deal with the huge pent-up demand for a half-decent exit price. The Board should have foreseen this demand - I've been telling you all about it for years !!!
We now should have vastly reduced our number of "looking for an exit" small shareholders. 421 sold an average of just over 5000 shares each. Overall shareholder numbers are down by over 10%.
A good result, but that still leave almost 70 shareholders who were looking to sell 900,000+ more shares at that price. There are still a lot of potential sellers. It's time to enable new, willing, shareholders.
To that end we should scrap the Constitutional 3 year IFA membership and FBD user rules for potential new shareholders to make it much easier.

June - AGM PRESENTATION by Padraig. Things seem to be going reasonably well. I especially like that the Board have found and enabled a way of letting shareholders, especially smaller shareholders, sell their shares at a 75% premium to the 85c/90c that the Grey market was offering.
Of course, IF the Company had abolished the Constitutional 3 year IFA and FBD Insurance membership rule as I have repeatedly suggested, (as the Company vets potential shareholders anyway) all this would not have been necessary, as there would have been more new shareholders to drive up the shareprice.

David Kelly also gave a presentation [Read HERE] on what's happening at Property and Leisure, - which I view as quite positive in present circumstances

April 2nd - I will not be going for election this year. Even though my fully correct nomination was lodged by email by the closing date, my nomination letter arrived on April 2nd, so the nomination was counted by the Company as invalid.

March 4th. Holdings release very good full year results.
Profit before tax €110m . EPS €2.34. Capital ratio strong. Net assets per share up by over €2 to €13.38. DIVIDEND €1 per share
My Comment: - Given the strength of Holdings dividend, and the increase in Holdings Share price in the last year, there is now no good reason why FBDplc's shareholders should not get a final dividend of at very least 7c per share.

Feb. 14th FBD Hotels and Resorts buys the Killashee hotel in Kildare, for €25 Million.
My comment: - We still have lots of debt, and this adds to it. The wisdom of buying yet another hotel has to be questioned, especially one that may increase the total number of employees by 30%. Has the pandemic not taught our Board the dangers of putting all the eggs in one basket?
At another angle - Padraig has always insisted that this Company needs to retain its farmer shareholders owner basis because "that's what those who set up the Company wanted". Does he REALLY believe that FBDplcs founding shareholders envisaged the group becoming leisure property and hotels focused, (as opposed to FARMER BUSINESS DEVELOPMENTS)

Surely the present business structure of the PLC makes a mockery of the "you have to be a farmer for 3 years before applying" rule in the Constitution. IT'S HIGH TIME THAT RULE WAS SCRAPPED

ARCHIVE NEWS AND COMMENT 2021

ARCHIVE NEWS AND COMMENT 2020

ARCHIVE NEWS AND COMMENT 2019

ARCHIVE NEWS AND COMMENT 2018

ARCHIVE NEWS AND COMMENT 2017

ARCHIVE NEWS AND COMMENT 2016

So why have I set up this site ? I, as a shareholder with more shares than that declared by any Board member, am fed up with being in the dark as to how this Company is being run. I'm not happy about it, and neither should you be. I intend using this site to ask questions that should have been answered long ago, should be answered now, and may need to be answered in the future.

I also want to try to get enough backing from you the Farmer shareholders to possibly put AGM motions forward, to ensure openness and less secrecy.

& I will make suggestions to the Board on how to correct THE 2016 CONSTITUTION which is faulty in my opinion.
Although you won't get the Board to admit it, I believe it's in great part because of my pushing that we now have a female Board member at last !
I want to work for the good of OUR Company and I want ALL shareholders to know what's going on in OUR Company.