Weds Morning Review

Good morning! FTSE futures looking a bit more healthy this morning - pointing to an open UP about 23 points, at 5468, which is a pleasant change.


Lots of company results, so as usual I've selected a handful which caught my eye whilst munching on my muesli.


Plastics Capital (PLA) has put out preliminary results for y/e 31 Mar 2012 here;
http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201206270700072030G

They are fairly close to broker consensus (which is for 10.45p EPS), having announced 10.1p EPS today, slightly down from last year's 10.2p. This puts the shares on a cheap-looking PER of just under 8 (at 79.5p/share, £22m mkt cap), however once the £10.1m of net debt is factored in, the debt-inclusive PER is about 11.4, which looks about right to me.


A maiden final divi has been declared, making 1.0p in total for the year, and unexciting yield of 1.3%. So I was hoping to get excited about this interesting niche plastics business, but for the time being it's only going on the watch list. Although I will revisit it once economic recovery begins in earnest, as it could quickly look cheap once growth in EPS is factored in. Outlook statement sounds OK but not exciting.


£2m mkt cap SocialGo (SGO) has announced some small issuance of shares, including one to its broker in lieu of fees. Hmmm, so looks like they're strapped for cash again, so expect another fund-raising for this cash burner. However, if they do manage to get traction for their social networking software, then it could be a serial multi-bagger. A high risk punt at best, but I'd be a buyer if & when they show some decent sales growth.


Remember Scotty Group (SCO)? The former dot.com boom era darling is still going, and has actually delivered a small profit today (£349k for y/e 31 Dec 2011) - errr hello guys, it's end of June, why has it taken so long to produce the accounts? Such a long delay rules it out as an investable stock for me. Outlook statement warns on H1 profits, but says outlook for H2 better. I've always thought this company was over-hyped, and am not tempted even at £7m mkt cap.


Sarantel Group (SLG) has always looked interesting technology (high quality mobile device antennae) but serial disappointer on sales & profits. The mkt cap is only £3.4m now at 0.41p/share, and 2 contract wins announced today look quite good, but lack financial info.The figures are dire, but somehow they managed to get a £2m loan from HSBC a little while ago. That aroused my interest. Have not invested, and it's very high risk, but potentially interesting.


Glanced briefly at results for PHSC (PHSC), a £2m mkt cap, 2p final divi makes a yield of just under 10%. Could be interesting, but why on earth have a Listing for something this small? It's evaluating acquisitions apparently.


OK, run out of time. I like to publish these updates before 8am, so that's it for now. Have a good day all!
Paul.