The mystery of the extra money in my account.

I did an audit on my investment portfolio because of a discrepancy. There seemed to be an extra $2,200 which was deposited into my savings account. OK, I guess when there is more money, it is a "good" discrepancy to have but I don't like not knowing where the money is from.

As I am very much a pen and paper person and all my trading and income records are hand-written, it took me a while to flip through them as I checked line by line. Strangely, everything seemed correct.


Then, I dug out the Tax Invoices sent to me by my broker and checked them against my records. After going back some 12 months, I found the problem.

I am happy to say that the money, all $2,200 of it, is legitimately mine. Whew!

So, what was the matter?

I actually added to my long position in SPH last year in August when its share price plunged after the counter went XD (with regards to the Special Dividend of 18c per share). 

I got 10 lots at $4.03 per share. Some of you might have increased exposure too as SPH's share price went on to touch a low of $3.91 back then. Now, I remember a joke on my FB wall about how buying a few bids lower than AK's price can't be wrong. Good lesson for me. LOL.

Of course, these shares were not entitled to the special dividend and, somehow, I forgot about making an entry in my own records.

Since then, SPH has paid dividend twice, 15c a share towards the end of last year and 7c a share earlier this year. That makes 22c a share and explains the mysterious "extra" money of $2,200.

The feeling is similar to discovering a stray $5 note in my piggy bank when I was a boy months after emptying piggy of all the coins to buy a toy I was saving up for.

Related posts:
1. When to buy SPH's stock?
2. Tea with Mike: An analysis of SPH.

NeraTel: What is a sustainable dividend payout?

I was having a conversation with a friend this evening and he asked whether a 6c dividend per share is sustainable and I remember I replied to a similar question on my FB wall not too long ago. So, for those who do not follow me on FB, here it is:

"One of the assumptions I had when buying into NeraTel was a sustainable dividend payout of 4c per share. So, when I got in at 42c to 63c, I was looking at a yield of 6.3% to 9.5%. At 68c, when I added to my position, the yield was 5.88%. Even at 73c, the yield was 5.48%.

"As a company tries to grow, it is possible that dividend might reduce. However, being a net cash company, NeraTel could sustain higher dividend payouts if they want to. However, this will be essentially a return of capital if DPS should be higher than EPS."

Related posts:
1. NeraTel: 6 points to note.
2. NeraTel: Added to my long position.