GLOBO Plc Enters Administration: Was It A Fraud All Along?

The Motley Fool’s Head of UK Investing and resident small-cap whizz Mark Rogers weighs in on the GLOBO Plc (LON:GBO) debacle — will investors get anything back?

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The Motley Fool’s Head of UK Investing and resident small-cap whizz Mark Rogers weighs in on the Globo debacle — will investors get anything back?

In the latest of a string of staggering developments, yesterday afternoon embattled small-cap Globo (LSE: GBO) announced that it had entered administration, little more than a week after the company revealed shocking details of the “falsification of data and the misrepresentation of the Company’s financial situation”.

Prior to last week, Globo was a popular share among British private investors, commanding a market capitalisation of £300m in 2014 — but now it seems doubtful that investors will see a penny.

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Globo reported a cash balance of €104m only a couple of months ago. Where did that money go? Was it ever there to begin with? Was Globo a fraud all along?

Angry investors caught up in the scandal are demanding answers.

Globo meltdown

Here’s the statement in full:

It’s been an astonishing ten days for the “mobile application specialist”, and here at the Fool our sympathies go out to the ordinary private investors caught up in the mess. Many of those burned by the Globo scandal — much like the Quindell debacle last year — were everyday investors who saw value in the “high growth, low P/E” share.

But there were plenty of warning signs to take heed of in Globo’s case.

Reported profits were failing to translate into actual cash flow after using the trick of “capitalising” millions in hidden costs into intangible assets on the balance sheet. Despite reporting having €104m in the bank, the company attempted to borrow even more money at high interest rates — another serious “red flag”. I’d like to credit Stockopedia’s Paul Scott for his excellent work in flagging up these concerns on his daily small-cap blog.

No “Hidden Winner”

At The Motley Fool’s small-cap advisory service Hidden Winners, my team and I issued an official warning to our members to “Avoid” Globo back in early October, citing these worries about the company’s accounts. But I’ll be the first to admit that we couldn’t have predicted how rapidly things would deteriorate less than a month later!

I think it goes to show how important it is for investors to focus on “quality” when investing in small-cap ventures. It really is crucial for private investors to be extra cautious when it comes to reviewing small-cap shares, especially when the value on offer seems “too good to be true”. In the case of Globo, that was certainly the case — and with the shares on the verge of being cancelled from AIM, investors are looking at losses of 100%, no matter what price they paid.

At The Motley Fool, and in our Hidden Winners small-cap service, we’re not just interested in reported growth numbers or a “low P/E” — these are simply rule-of-thumb metrics to give a rudimentary snap-shot of value. You really have to dig deeper to ascertain the true value and potential of a long-term investment.

Small-cap investments can offer wonderful opportunities to grow your wealth, but you really do have to focus on the underlying business.

Pound coins for sale — 31 pence?

This seems ridiculous, but we almost never see shares looking this cheap. Yet this Share Advisor pick has a price/book ratio of 0.31. In plain English, this means that investors effectively get in on a business that holds £1 of assets for every 31p they invest!

Of course, this is the stock market where money is always at risk — these valuations can change and there are no guarantees. But some risks are a LOT more interesting than others, and at The Motley Fool we believe this company is amongst them.

What’s more, it currently boasts a stellar dividend yield of around 10%, and right now it’s possible for investors to jump aboard at near-historic lows. Want to get the name for yourself?

See the full investment case

Should you invest, the value of your investment may rise or fall and your capital is at risk. Before investing, your individual circumstances should be assessed. Consider taking independent financial advice.

Mark Rogers has no position in any shares mentioned. The Motley Fool UK has no position in any of the shares mentioned. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.

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