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Neil Woodford's most disastrous stock choices – a roundup


Britain’s most famous stock-picker Neil Woodford has been hit by an investor exodus, forcing him to block investors from pulling cash from his flagship fund, the Wooford Equity Income Fund. His listed fund, Patient Capital Trust, fell as much as 20% on Tuesday. Here is a roundup of some of his worst stock picks and their performance over the past 18 months.

Kier minus 80%
Woodford’s funds hold more than 20% of shares in Kier, the troubled construction company. His flagship fund was suspended on the day Kier issued a surprise profit warning, sending its shares tumbling 41% to their lowest level since early 1999. Woodford’s funds lost £37m during the day. He was still buying Kier shares as recently at 16 May. Kier carried out an emergency fundraising in December to avoid the fate suffered by rival Carillion, which was forced into liquidation in January 2018.

Prothena minus 80%
Woodford has been invested in the Dublin-based biotech firm since it was spun out of biotech business Elan in 2012. The fund manager, who holds 30% of the shares, continues to rate its management team and its expertise in neuroscience “highly”.

Allied Minds minus 79%
Allied Minds, which invests in start-up tech and biotech firms, faces calls from activist fund Crystal Amber for a breakup of the company after its share price collapsed. Allied’s founder Mark Pritchard is backing this campaign, arguing that Allied’s board has “lost direction”. Woodford’s funds own 27% of the company. .

Provident Financial minus 78%
The doorstep lender, which is listed on the FTSE 250, accounts for nearly 5% of Woodford’s equity income fund and is facing a £1.1bn hostile takeover attempt by another Woodford investment, Non-Standard Finance. The fund manager owns 25% of the Provident. The “Provvy” has not yet recovered from an ill-fated attempt to overhaul its 130-year-old business model by cutting staff and replacing them with technology. Its shares slumped by two thirds in one day in 2017.

Purplebricks minus 71%
The online estate agency, which does not have any branches, is pulling out of Australia and scaling back its US business. It ousted its chief executive last month, and its chair apologised to shareholders for the firm’s poor performance and mistakes, including over expansion. Its shares are now just above its flotation price of 100p, when Purplebricks debuted on London’s junior Aim market in December 2015. They peaked at nearly 500p in July 2017. Woodford is the largest shareholder, with a 28% stake.

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AA minus 68%
Woodford has invested in the breakdown service since its flotation in 2014 but admits on his website that “after a promising start, the investment case has not played out as originally anticipated”. There have been a series of profit downgrades. Last year the AA blamed a “pothole epidemic” caused by the “beast from the east” and low road maintenance spending for a drop in half-year profits. Woodford has 14 % of the shares.

Imperial Brands minus 44%
Smoking rates are declining around the world, hitting Imperial Brands and other tobacco stocks hard. The FTSE 100 company, which makes Gauloises and Davidoff cigarettes, has branched out into vaping products and heated tobacco products (which produce aerosols containing nicotine and are inhaled). However, sales of these next-generation products have been weaker than expected. Woodford owns 3.4%

Share price declines are based on changes between 1 December 2017 and 31 May 2019. Stocks held by Woodford Investment Management funds.



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