Personal injury firm Slater & Gordon has suspended the trading of its shares until it posts its half-year results. Trading will resume on 29 February for gamblers those that wish to invest in a roller-coaster of an opportunity.

The Australian firm has called for the trading freeze since it claims that "certain material items" in its interim accounts need to be finalised, including the assessment of "goodwill values for impairment of the British business" which S&G bought from Quindell. It all seems a bit mysterious and a Slater & Gordon spokeswoman did not respond to a request to elaborate.

The suspension of shares won't help the uncertainty and low confidence that investors have had in S&G over the last eleven months. When S&G acquired a division of Quindell in March 2015, Managing Director Andrew Grech said that "a very extensive due diligence process" had taken place. However, in June that year the Financial Conduct Authority began to investigate Quindell over alleged irregularities in its accounts. Investors got the jitters about the S&G/Quindell deal and the Australian firm's share price started to dip.

Matters got worse for S&G in July 2015 when Australian regulators subjected the firm to an investigation for overstating its accounts, causing the share price to plummet by 40% in 5 days of trading. And S&G took a further hammering in November when the UK government announced plans to limit P.I. claims, which resulted in its share price halving overnight. Having nose-dived, tripped up and fallen, the Australian firm's frozen shares currently lie prone at just AUS$0.83, which is a 90% drop from the high of AUS$7.85 in April 2015.

"So, Mr Slater, can you describe how this Quindell thingy made you have a nasty fall?"
 
 
The firm's problems in the market are reflected in the workplace too. S&G missed out on the Golden Turd by a whisker in this year's Firm of the Year Survey. Staff wrote in to complain about "money grabbing management" with "no regard for employees". Many questioned the strategy and implementation of buying other large PI firms "in a short space of time" but "failing to integrate them".  For others, the end is nigh, with one lawyer predicting that the firm is "about to shrivel up and die". On top of this, S&G has had to deal with allegations of bullying. On the plus side, erm, some lawyers say they can leave the office at 5pm every day, presumably because the work is drying up.
Tip Off ROF

Comments

Anonymous 26 February 16 08:25

The reason S&Green acquired Quindell was its obsession to be the largest PI firm in the UK, simple as. As an ex employee of the firm I witnessed the bullying, some of the staff that came over from Australia where so full of it "Look at my fantastic career, my parents were immigrants from Cyprus you know!" Well they have managed to screw up big time, Russell Jones &Walker down the pan, Pannone down the pan, Fentonso down the pan, Quindell they were already in the pan...

Anonymous 26 February 16 08:39

They won't be around to challenge for the Golden Turd next year at this rate. Slaters see you laterz.

markrobnolan 26 February 16 15:53

Oh Please don't blame the S & G lot entirely. The fatal mix of stupidity and arrogance already existed at and near the top at Russell Jones and Walker and I dare say they were just as bad as S & G were with each other. RJW was already doing it and it was them for whom this fatal mix of of S & A comes from for S & G.

Anonymous 27 February 16 11:10

Excellent news, I will start buying S&G shares next week to add to my portfolio. Every time my trader friends and I evaluate these companies "in trouble" we buy substantial numbers and we also hit gold within the space of six to nine months. Only downside is paying tax on gains but profit is profit. S&G are a perfect fit for us. They have made a big commercial mistake that has to be bottomed out, they have had a big line of detractors and doomsday predictors. That's all good. We have never purchased shares when they are being talked up when they are already starting to peak and we enjoy the negative talk. Great for a future windfall. Watch this space and sit back for a while, enjoy the steady climb back and then sell when they peak at our estimated price range of $6.20 to $7.15

Anonymous 28 February 16 17:05

Insofar as you trust the information on FT.com & Reuters last week - what 11.10 said. That data does not indicate a company about to implode.

markrobnolan 28 February 16 22:05

Isn't it a bit pathetic that the "anonymous users" on here are pretending to be "in the know" about "trader friends. I actually do have friends at Paternoster Square and they are laughing more than me at it. See previous post about arrogance and stupidity. Almost as desperate as trying to get your Jimmy Savile and Jeremy Clarkson cases on the front page when its too late....

Anonymous 28 February 16 23:10

Apparently "Mark" it's you who is "in the know". The others are just basing their views on publicly available information. As I said at 17.05 there's nothing in the ratios, financial statements or spread of forecasts available on FT or Reuters that would suggest this company is going under. Perhaps that's wrong. As an apparent insider why don't you enlighten everyone?

Anonymous 29 February 16 09:20

Dude, with the press they've been getting, you'd be certifiable to buy big on this firm; either as an potential employee, current employee, client or investor.

Still, good luck with the "sitting back".

Anonymous 29 February 16 10:31

Quick ratio of 1.1
Analyst sales estimates for each of the next 2 years $1,157m. Up from $587 last year. The most pessimistic being $987m
Majority of recommendations either buy or hold
Beta of 1.15

The question isn't whether or not to fill your boots it's when.

Roll On Friday 01 March 16 14:45

I bought some Barclays shares earlier today after their bad reporting day, but I wouldn't touch S&L with a barge pole. All very well buying on bad news, but you need to be comfortable that the company won't fold, which seems really quite likely in this case.

Anonymous 01 March 16 14:50

"The 10 analysts offering 12 month price targets for Slater & Gordon Limited have a median target of 1.25, with a high estimate of 8.73 and a low estimate of 0.75. [b]The median estimate represents a 296.83% increase from the last price of 0.315[/b]"

From today's FT.