February Portfolio and Purchases

I was sitting on my hands until later in the month to see if the Brexit voting moved any of the prices of the shares I'm interested in - it did, a little. Mainly I think due to a slight pickup in sterling here and there which brought down the price of a few multinationals on the FTSE100. There were also a load of businesses reporting over the last couple of weeks of February - again I was mostly in spectator mode as not a lot on the shopping list looked particularly cheap.

Portfolio
On the portfolio front, up over 3.6% in February compared to my chosen benchmark which increased 2.3% - the benchmark being the Vanguard FTSE All Share Accumulation that I'm taking as a proxy for the FTSE All Share. If I'm buying AIM shares, I should probably take a different benchmark, but this will do for now.

Gold star for best performer of the month goes to Lancashire Holdings (LRE), +17%. Jersey Electric (JEL) went the other way -3%, so is on the naughty step.

Just a small speculative buy this month, with an eye to the future:

February share purchase: FCRM
Back to the AIM this month, for Fulcrum Utility Services (FCRM).  Fulcrum provide a range of services relating to gas and electricity connectivity, smart meters, but of more interest, electric vehicle charging points.They were listed on the AIM in 2009 and have a market cap of £100m.

The December interim results showed a continuing growth story, with an increased order book, increased revenues and a net cash position. They tick a number of boxes indicating continued growth, and nice to see an unused credit facility too. All of their business segments were showing increased revenue according to their interims.

I like the idea of investing in companies working to deliver cleaner energy solutions, including electric vehicles, hopefully we'll see the trend of increasing electric vehicle adoption continue. So Fulcrum get a thumbs up, as does their 4% dividend, also nice to see the board aiming for solid 2x dividend cover too. I'm expecting the markets to get a bit wobbly given the Brexit shenanigans in March, hopefully we'll see a few bargains pop up.