Ferry discounts and cheap beer: the perks of being a shareholder

It’s obviously not a reason to invest in a stock, but shareholder perks can offer a little bit of an upside, particularly, perhaps, when your investment may be otherwise underperforming.

While many public companies have pulled back on these perks – back in the day the Smurfit Group used to run shareholder golf days, while the Gresham Group gave discounts of up to 20 per cent on food and accommodation – some still offer additional incentives.

Discount ferries: Irish Continental Group

Share price*: €4.085

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Performance over past 12 months: +38 per cent

Who knows when you might actually get to use it given Covid-19, but provided that you own at least 1,000 shares in ferry operator ICG, you will be entitled to a 20 per cent discount on the cost of a passenger- and car-ferry service between Ireland and Britain. In addition, you get a 10 per cent discount on passenger and car-ferry services between Ireland and France, and a 5 per cent discount on Irish Ferries inclusive package holidays.

To claim, you simply make your booking in the normal way. Then, once this has been completed, you send an email to shareholders@irishferries.com with details of your booking reference number and your shareholder number. The company says that your credit card will then be credited with the relevant discount.

Cheap books: Bloomsbury

Share price: £2.91

Performance over past 12 months: +43 per cent

If you’re an avid reader, then you could take a punt with Bloomsbury, publisher of Harry Potter, Ann Patchett and Colum McCann. Investors with just one share can apply for a discount code to get 35 per cent off a print copy of Apeirogon or The Dutch House or Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Readers take note – the publisher is “temporarily unable to deliver to EU countries”.

Free breakfast: Whitbread

Share price: £34.43

Performance over past 12 months: +34 per cent

Impress your fellow travellers when staying in a Premier Inn with the Whitbread shareholder benefit card. This entitles you to a free breakfast in the chain of hotels, as well as a 10 per cent discount in Whitbread restaurants.

You can claim a free breakfast for up to two adults and two children (age 15 and under) per room, for up to two rooms – and you must be staying in one of them.

You need to show your shareholder card at check-in to claim the offer, and it can be used with any of its booking rates.

To get your card, you’ll need at least 64 shares; it should be sent to you with the annual report mailing. Alternatively, you can email Whitbread@linkgroup.co.uk.

Reduced clothing: Next

Share price: £7.80

Performance over past 12 months: +100 per cent

Who wouldn’t like a discount card to be used when the shops finally open up again? British retailer Next offers a 25 per cent discount card to be used in its stores.

To qualify, you’ll need to hold 100 shares on April 1st; if you do, you’ll be sent the card automatically in May. The voucher expires the following October 31st.

Money-off handbags: Mulberry Group

Share price: £2.67

Performance over past 12 months: +64 per cent

You’ll need to own at least 500 shares to qualify for a discount with luxury retailer Mulberry Group. If you do, then you’ll get a 20 per cent discount to be used on up to £5,000 worth of Bayswater and Amberley handbags.

Unfortunately, its store in Kildare isn’t part of the offer, so you’ll to travel. Eligible stores include those in Paris, Amsterdam and New York, as well as a host in the UK.

Financial advice and shopping: Berkshire Hathaway

Share price: $378,700

Performance over past 12 months: +41 per cent

Depending on when you bought your shares, you may well feel you’ve benefited enough from Warren Buffet’s investment vehicle. From $430 back in 1980, the shares are currently trading at about $378,700.

Shareholders of its cheaper class B stock may not have fared as well, but the stock is still up by 39.6 per cent in the year cent to $250.75.

In any case, a key perk of owning stocks in the investment vehicle is the invitation to the annual meeting of shareholders, which – in a normal year, at least – takes place every March. And you don’t have to own the pricier class A shares to get an invite. Investors in B stock are also eligible to make the trip.

So you could go to Omaha, Nebraska, for the so-called “Woodstock for capitalists” to hear the sage himself expound on the issues of the day. And you might get even get the chance to ask him a question. Every year invited journalists pick questions from shareholders to ask at the event.

But the event is about more than just that. It also includes a shareholder shopping day, when many of Berkshire Hathaway’s more than 100 subsidiaries show off their wares in an exhibition hall, so you can expect deals on jumpers and polo shirts from Fruit of the Loom, Heinz mustard and ketchup, and cooking utensils from the Pampered Chef. There’s also a shareholder reception at Borsheims, a jewellery store in Omaha owned by Berkshire Hathaway, where you’ll get a 25 per cent discount.

The Sunday typically features a 5km run presented by Brooks Running, another wholly-owned subsidiary, and a shareholder steak night at Gorat’s Steak House.

Shareholders are entitled to four meeting credentials, so you can bring your friends or family along.

Discount hotel: Accor

Share price: €32.37

Performance over past 12 months: +23.6 per cent

French hotel group Accor has thousands of hotels around the world, and will be most known to Irish holidaymakers for its Mercure, Novotel and Ibis brands. However, it also operates a host of more upmarket hotel chains including Sofitel and Swissotel.

As a shareholder, you’ll be entitled to join the shareholders’ club, which means you’ll get a gold VIP card. This entitles you to an upgrade to the next room category, where available, and a 10 percent discount, among other benefits such as hotel tours.

Similarly Intercontinental, which runs a hotel in Dublin’s Ballsbridge, also offers shareholders discounts. In addition, the chain operates the Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza and Hotel Indigo brands.

Reduced-price food: Mitchells & Butlers

Share price: £3.27

Performance over past 12 months: +75 per cent

This will be good only for visiting the UK, as the owner of about 1,700 restaurants and pubs across the region, gives each shareholder a book of 12 vouchers every year. The voucher entitles each shareholder to a discount of 20 per cent off the total bill – for up to 10 people – in the company’s range of pubs and restaurants.

You’ll get the book automatically each January, provided you hold stock at that date. If you buy during the year, you’ll have to wait until the following year to receive it.

The company’s brands include All Bar None, O’Neills and Stonehouse Pizza.

Cheaper beer: BrewDog

Now for something a little bit different. If you’ve been consuming more beer at home than you otherwise might have over the past 12 months, you could consider popular craft beer brand BrewDog. It’s more of a crowdfunding investment, as the shares aren’t listed on a stock exchange, but it does offer a host of benefits.

These include owning a share of the brewer; a lifetime discount in its online shop (if you own between one and 19 shares you’ll a 5 per cent discount, rising to 10 per cent for ownership of 20 or more shares); and a free beer on your birthday each year. You’ll also get an invitation to the company’s agm each year, as well as other perks, such as getting your own tree planted in the BrewDog forest.

And there are additional benefits, depending on how much you invest. Four shares, for example, cost £100.60, and entitle you to a 12-pack of Trash Can Punk to gift a friend, while an investment in 78 shares (£1,961.70) includes a BrewDog branded Yeti cooler worth £250 and 12-pack of beer to fill it with.

So far the brewer has raised £21.7 million of its £25 million target, with about five months left to invest.

*Share price information was based on the stock’s main listing as of March 25th