(ARGO) Argo Group

A few positives:

1) Prior to the first repurchase on 30/03/2010 there were 76,934,620 shares in existence. After the latest repurchase on 07/06/2011 there are currently 70,253,494 shares. That means that the number of shares has shrunk by approximately 9% over the last 14 months. This is a significant factor and bodes well for future eps figures.

2) The directors hold a 35% stake in the company, so their interests are clearly in line with shareholders.

3) The threat of litigation now appears to have ended.

4) The latest accounts showed a satisfactory year in difficult circumstances.

5) The shares yield around 9%.

On a negative point, I do think the company could improve on the communication front. The odd trading update between the interims and finals would not go amiss.

Also the benefit of reduced legal fees that they must've spent defending the claim. I dont know how much this has been, so I will take a closer look to see if they specifically reference a cost.

I dont know much detail of the case, but i'm sure that its sufficient to put people off, with the uncertainty of it all.

Ive just been looking at this;

http://www.cod.uscourts.gov/Seal.aspx

Cant see anything filed in the last few days of the month, but unfortunately dont seem to be able to look back any further.

We've all been waiting years for this case to end but does anyone understand how significant it is? As I don't know how major it is, I'm guessing its big to a certain extent otherwise it wouldn't really be mentioned but has anyone heard about any informationn from the company about it?
Would it make a major difference to the company or is it just one of them silly court cases that occur because someone is unhappy with a tiny detail?