London Property Bonds plc offered unregulated bonds to the general public* paying quarterly interest of 8% per annum “to benefit from the property market in Wimbledon and surrounding areas”, using the expertise of Robert Holmes & Co estate agents. The investment was an offshoot of the estate agents, with the eponymous Robert Holmes as Chairman, and London Property Holmes plc 100% owned by Nicolas Holmes, who I presume is his son. The offer closed in 2016.
The company was renamed LP Bonds plc in December 2017 and has now filed its first accounts with Companies House, up to 30 November 2016.
The accounts reveal that the company raised a total of £489,000 via its 8% bonds, well below the £1 – £3 million it was targeting in 2016.
As at November 2016, the company’s liabilities exceeded its assets by £466,000 – but of course, with the bonds not due to be fully paid back until 2021, it is very early days. The company made a net loss of £479,000, mostly representing administrative expenses.
To enable LP Bonds plc to continue to trade, in August 2017 Robert Holmes gave it $500,000 worth of shares in a bank located in the Autnomous Island of Anjouan, Valens Bank Ltd. (Anjouan is a small island in the Indian Ocean with a population of 277,500.) LP Bonds has also received an undertaking of unconditional support from Holmes lasting until 31 May 2019.
The accounts reveal that the company was effectively taken over by Holmes Investment Properties plc in September 2017, after it acquired 90% of LP Bonds plc’ share capital, and that James Robert Holmes now effectively controls LP Bonds plc. Holmes Investment Properties plc is listed on Börse Berlin’s Open Market and at time of writing its shares trade at 7/10th of a eurocent.
What an Anjouani bank has to do with the property market in Wimbledon is not clear.
*”issued to the general public” is the directors’ own words from note 10 in the accounts.