Good morning. Apologies for slightly erratic service lately, should be OK to do a report every day for the rest of this week hopefully.
I hold shares in Walker Greenbank (WGB), a luxury interior furnishings group that looks a good value situation to me, on a fwd PER of about 8. Slightly irritated with their RNS this morning which just mentions them having won a magazine award, with no financial information mentioned at all. The RNS is not for PR, it's for proper financial news!
However, I shall forgive them providing they keep delivering good earnings growth as they have done for the last 3 years.
Troubled regional newspaper group, Johnston Press (JPR) has issued an IMS which says that they expect full year operating profit performance for 2012 to be broadly in line (i.e. slightly below) market expectations.
That's all very well, but they are really not making much inroads into their gargantuan debt pile at all, which has only reduced from £352m at the start of the calendar year, to £336m at 31 Oct. Just servicing the debt seems to be absorbing the lion's share of their cashflow.
When you take into account the declining nature of the business, I remain of the view that the equity of Johnston Press is probably worthless - as I don't believe that the business will generate enough cashflow to ever repay its debt. Therefore these shares do not tempt me at any price - why take the risk?
Whereas Trinity Mirror (TNI) is a much more convincing newspaper story, with debt reducing so fast that it looks set to eradicate its net debt by 2014 (although a big pension deficit will remain there, but largely offset by freehold property assets).
(I hold neither long nor short positions in either JPR or TNI).
Interim results (6m to 30 Sept) from international fastenings group, Trifast (TRI) look pretty respectable, with underlying EBITDA up 50% to £4.6m, and adjusted EPS up 25% to 2.3p.
The full year forecast (per Stockopedia, which I am now using for my fundamentals data, and have to say am finding it an excellent reference site) is for 4.5p EPS this year, rising to 5.2p next year, so at 42p a share that puts the PER on about 9 falling to 8 next year. Given that they have £7.7m of net debt, and that it's an unexciting low margin business, that valuation looks about right to me. The divi yield is under 1% too, so not of interest to me when 5%+ divis are available elsewhere for similar companies.
The maker of Triton showers, and Johnson Tiles, is a group called Norcros (NXR). I like the value characteristics of these shares, with a PER of about 6, and they fixed their debt problems a few years ago, which is now under control.
Their interims to 30 Sep look solid - underlying PBT is up 11% and underlying EPS up 22% to 1.1p, so assuming no seasonal bias that equates to 2.2p for the year, not bad considering the shares are only 12.5p to buy, and looks to be a bit ahead of broker forecast.
There's also a decent 4% divi yield.
On the downside, they have a pension deficit that has grown to £22m, due to the discount rate being reduced (a problem with almost all pension funds right now, as a spin-off from QE). However, with that representing only a small percentage of the £366m scheme assets, it's not difficult to see that deficit just melt away once interest rates normalise in the future. Depends on your point of view.
Their South African business has moved back into profit. They also have some surplus property pending disposal. There is net debt of £20.2m, but as they point out, this is only 1.1 times EBITDA. Which makes the mkt cap of £72m look pretty tempting when you consider that their cashflow should pay down net debt pretty rapidly. I like Norcros as a long-term value play.
Interesting to see that the retail bond market is going from strength to strength, with Stobart (STOB) being the latest Listed company to offer a bond to retail investors, with a 5.5% rate of interestm repayable in 6 years.
I can see the attraction, given that deposit accounts pay peanuts in comparison.
Still, with banks reluctant to lend, then surely retail bonds are a useful way to help our economy grow out of recession, so a positive thing.
The headline numbers from Real Good Foods (RGD) don't look at all good. I've never understood why this company has such a large & enthusiastic private investor following, cannot see the attraction at all myself. Seems to be a high turnover, very low margin business, with rather a lot of debt.
Right that's it for today. See you back here tomorrow!
Regards, Paul.
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Thu 8 Nov (part 2) - IND
Hello again. Oh dear, today is not panning out quite as I had hoped.
Taken in isolation, the AGM Statement from IndigoVision (IND) is reasonably positive - Q1 sales up 6% vs last year, and order intake up 10%.
However, on the negative side, gross margins have reduced (doesn't say how much) due to product mix (which is what they always say when margins fall!), which was not expected.
Furthermore, by stressing that this will be an H2-weighted year, they are effectively delivering a mild, veiled profits warning for H1, which is what has triggered a sharp fall by about 50p to 350p a share.
I think that's a tad overdone, as there really wasn't much (if any) premium built into yesterday's share price for out-performance anyway. This only puts the shares on a forecast PER of about 10 for this year, hardly demanding.
Although I do think that IND could have managed shareholder expectations better. Giving away their cash pile in a special dividend (never been done before by IND) is naturally taken as a sign of confidence - which was reiterated in the Scottish press not long ago.
Furthermore, the last results announcement talked of 20% market growth, and planning on achieving at least that growth rate, so they talked up expectations to a level which have not been met in Q1.
I apologise for calling this wrong in the short term, but believe that my reasoning was logical, based on the facts available. They are talking positively about new product launches for H2 but the fact remains that sales at IND are difficult to predict, with relatively short visibility - something they've admitted before. Hence the shares being volatile - they shoot up on positive news, and shoot down then the news is less positive.
Bottom line here though, is that the valuation is modest (only 7.5m shares in issue remember), so mkt cap only about £25m. Hardly demanding for a profitable company that has potential to out-perform. Just frustrating that, yet again we return to taxiing along the runway, with another attempted take-off aborted! But on a PER of about 10, I think the downside risk is very modest, hence am happy to park this on the back-burner.
Taken in isolation, the AGM Statement from IndigoVision (IND) is reasonably positive - Q1 sales up 6% vs last year, and order intake up 10%.
However, on the negative side, gross margins have reduced (doesn't say how much) due to product mix (which is what they always say when margins fall!), which was not expected.
Furthermore, by stressing that this will be an H2-weighted year, they are effectively delivering a mild, veiled profits warning for H1, which is what has triggered a sharp fall by about 50p to 350p a share.
I think that's a tad overdone, as there really wasn't much (if any) premium built into yesterday's share price for out-performance anyway. This only puts the shares on a forecast PER of about 10 for this year, hardly demanding.
Although I do think that IND could have managed shareholder expectations better. Giving away their cash pile in a special dividend (never been done before by IND) is naturally taken as a sign of confidence - which was reiterated in the Scottish press not long ago.
Furthermore, the last results announcement talked of 20% market growth, and planning on achieving at least that growth rate, so they talked up expectations to a level which have not been met in Q1.
I apologise for calling this wrong in the short term, but believe that my reasoning was logical, based on the facts available. They are talking positively about new product launches for H2 but the fact remains that sales at IND are difficult to predict, with relatively short visibility - something they've admitted before. Hence the shares being volatile - they shoot up on positive news, and shoot down then the news is less positive.
Bottom line here though, is that the valuation is modest (only 7.5m shares in issue remember), so mkt cap only about £25m. Hardly demanding for a profitable company that has potential to out-perform. Just frustrating that, yet again we return to taxiing along the runway, with another attempted take-off aborted! But on a PER of about 10, I think the downside risk is very modest, hence am happy to park this on the back-burner.
Thu 8 Nov - TNI, DPP
Good morning. Busy day today, with trading statements from several companies I follow. Firstly, Trinity Mirror (TNI) report on the 17 weeks of H2, to 28 Oct 2012.
The most important line is this one;
"...adjusted operating profit performance for the current year to be broadly in line with 2011 (£104.5 million)."
I also like this comment on cashflow & net debt reduction;
"The Group's robust operating profits and strong cash flows during the period enabled a further £19 million reduction in net debt, giving a total reduction of £59 million for the year to date, to £162 million."
The trends on advertising & circulation revenues are said to be improving, but the headline figures don't look good - group revenues show that advertising is down 12% and circulation down 16% in the 17 weeks. Although prior year comparatives are tough, because it covers the period when NotW had been closed, but before the Sun on Sunday had been opened, I think.
Adjusting for this factor shows circulation revenues down a more sensible 4% at the Nationals division.
The only mention of phone hacking is to say this (which seems odd - why did the lawyer concerned publicise the issue of legal action, if he hasn't actually filed the claims?
"Following the extensive publicity given to recent claims of alleged wrong doing by Trinity Mirror journalists, the Board can confirm that no such claims have yet been served, nor have any particulars of such claims been provided. As a result, we are today issuing notices requiring claim forms to be served."
Overall then, TNI's valuation still looks very cheap on fundamentals, with them being on track to have repaid net debt pretty much in full by some point in 2014.
The big unknown of course is the phone hacking issue, and what it will cost them. Information in the public domain suggests that TNI were heavily involved in phone hacking, and the Police are investigating, with prosecutions expected in 2013.
So it remains to be seen whether the dam will break, and what information comes out. But the reality is, that TNI has a lot of potential liabilities for phone hacking compensation which have not been provided for on the balance sheet. Until we know what the likely cost is, the shares are difficult to value.
I do not currently hold TNI shares, and am awaiting clarity on the phone hacking issue before considering whether to reinvest.
Excluding an acquisition, digital revenues are going nowhere, so they clearly need to come up with a better digital strategy.
The most important line is this one;
"...adjusted operating profit performance for the current year to be broadly in line with 2011 (£104.5 million)."
I also like this comment on cashflow & net debt reduction;
"The Group's robust operating profits and strong cash flows during the period enabled a further £19 million reduction in net debt, giving a total reduction of £59 million for the year to date, to £162 million."
The trends on advertising & circulation revenues are said to be improving, but the headline figures don't look good - group revenues show that advertising is down 12% and circulation down 16% in the 17 weeks. Although prior year comparatives are tough, because it covers the period when NotW had been closed, but before the Sun on Sunday had been opened, I think.
Adjusting for this factor shows circulation revenues down a more sensible 4% at the Nationals division.
The only mention of phone hacking is to say this (which seems odd - why did the lawyer concerned publicise the issue of legal action, if he hasn't actually filed the claims?
"Following the extensive publicity given to recent claims of alleged wrong doing by Trinity Mirror journalists, the Board can confirm that no such claims have yet been served, nor have any particulars of such claims been provided. As a result, we are today issuing notices requiring claim forms to be served."
Overall then, TNI's valuation still looks very cheap on fundamentals, with them being on track to have repaid net debt pretty much in full by some point in 2014.
The big unknown of course is the phone hacking issue, and what it will cost them. Information in the public domain suggests that TNI were heavily involved in phone hacking, and the Police are investigating, with prosecutions expected in 2013.
So it remains to be seen whether the dam will break, and what information comes out. But the reality is, that TNI has a lot of potential liabilities for phone hacking compensation which have not been provided for on the balance sheet. Until we know what the likely cost is, the shares are difficult to value.
I do not currently hold TNI shares, and am awaiting clarity on the phone hacking issue before considering whether to reinvest.
Excluding an acquisition, digital revenues are going nowhere, so they clearly need to come up with a better digital strategy.
The pension deficit has reared its ugly head again, with the fall in long term interest rates meaning that it has risen by £73m at the half year to £283m just 3 months later, at 30 Sep. Not helpful, but typical of final salary schemes, as QE is playing havoc with pensions by pulling down Bond yields (hence inflating pension liabilities' present value liability calculations).
Overall I'd say this IMS is mildly negative for TNI, although its valuation on a PER basis is so low, that arguably it already accounts for the negatives such as declining turnover, net debt, and pension deficit.
I see that DP Poland (DPP) has refinanced, with a discounted Placing at 15p. This is the Dominos Pizza operation in Poland, which has yet to prove that it has a viable business model. But this £10.5m fund-raising gives it a pretty credible pot of cash to keep trying.
Might do a 2nd report later if not too busy.
Regards, Paul.
Monday, November 5, 2012
Mon 5 Nov - MAYG, SLG, IND, TNI, SWP, ARI
Good morning! A bit earlier than usual today, as a busy day planned.
Firstly, some comments on existing positions.
May Gurney (MAYG) is performing very well indeed, delighted with that one. It was flagged here less than a month ago at 138p, and has already risen to 173p Bid/180p Offer, so a rather ridiculous spread there, but a mid-price of about 176p, so that's a pretty impressive 27% gain already!
I double-checked the figures again, and in my opinion it still looks good value. EPS is forecast for about 25p, so I cannot see any justification for a PER of less than 10, or 250p a share. That relies on no more significant bad news coming out, of course. There could be more bumps in the road, although management did recently say that their 3 problem areas are ring-fenced, implying that the bad news is out.
With a dividend yield still over 5%, and not looking under any threat, I'm very happy to hold until the price gets to my 250p target. But as usual, this is just my personal opinion, not advice, and you should DYOR*
The trading statement from Sarantel (SLG) intrigues me, as I've followed this company for years, and remember speaking to the CEO a long time ago. It's a micro cap (c.£2m) that makes specialist, high performance aerials for mobile devices. It's consistently loss-making, and its finances look precarious (need for another fund-raising soon I'm guessing). So extremely high risk. However, sales do seem to be in the early stages of taking off - full year sales 35% up at £3m. Doesn't say what the loss is, although they only have £0.8m headroom left on a loan facility. But military customers in particular, are making repeat orders. Intriguing, might be worth a further look, with fun money only, given the very high risk.
I have high hopes for the IndigoVision (IND) AGM statement this Thursday, 8 Nov. Since they are in the process of giving away virtually all their cash pile through a Special Dividend, it seems inconceivable that their current trading statement this week will be anything but excellent. The shares are now ex-divi, and in my opinion this could be a favourable entry point at around 410p a share, which is only around £31m mkt cap - not much for a company which could be heading for £3-5m profit this year, and is in a market now growing at 20% p.a. compound.
I suspect 50p EPS is more likely than the broker forecast of 32p, based on the details given in the last trading statement (targeting sales growth of at least 20%). On 60% gross margins the operational gearing is remarkable. Time will tell whether my theory is right or wrong.
There is also an IMS from Trinity Mirror (TNI) on the same day, 8 November, so that will be a busy & exciting morning, although I no longer hold shares in TNI.
Have had a quick look at results from £13m mkt cap SWP (SWP), but can't see anything to get excited about.
Similar with Active Risk Group (ARI) - interims to 30 Sept look pretty poor - turnover is up a bit to £3.8m, but a £0.8m operating loss. Difficult to see how that is a viable business.
That's it for this morning.
Regards, Paul.
* For anyone not already aware, DYOR means "do your own research!"
Firstly, some comments on existing positions.
May Gurney (MAYG) is performing very well indeed, delighted with that one. It was flagged here less than a month ago at 138p, and has already risen to 173p Bid/180p Offer, so a rather ridiculous spread there, but a mid-price of about 176p, so that's a pretty impressive 27% gain already!
I double-checked the figures again, and in my opinion it still looks good value. EPS is forecast for about 25p, so I cannot see any justification for a PER of less than 10, or 250p a share. That relies on no more significant bad news coming out, of course. There could be more bumps in the road, although management did recently say that their 3 problem areas are ring-fenced, implying that the bad news is out.
With a dividend yield still over 5%, and not looking under any threat, I'm very happy to hold until the price gets to my 250p target. But as usual, this is just my personal opinion, not advice, and you should DYOR*
The trading statement from Sarantel (SLG) intrigues me, as I've followed this company for years, and remember speaking to the CEO a long time ago. It's a micro cap (c.£2m) that makes specialist, high performance aerials for mobile devices. It's consistently loss-making, and its finances look precarious (need for another fund-raising soon I'm guessing). So extremely high risk. However, sales do seem to be in the early stages of taking off - full year sales 35% up at £3m. Doesn't say what the loss is, although they only have £0.8m headroom left on a loan facility. But military customers in particular, are making repeat orders. Intriguing, might be worth a further look, with fun money only, given the very high risk.
I have high hopes for the IndigoVision (IND) AGM statement this Thursday, 8 Nov. Since they are in the process of giving away virtually all their cash pile through a Special Dividend, it seems inconceivable that their current trading statement this week will be anything but excellent. The shares are now ex-divi, and in my opinion this could be a favourable entry point at around 410p a share, which is only around £31m mkt cap - not much for a company which could be heading for £3-5m profit this year, and is in a market now growing at 20% p.a. compound.
I suspect 50p EPS is more likely than the broker forecast of 32p, based on the details given in the last trading statement (targeting sales growth of at least 20%). On 60% gross margins the operational gearing is remarkable. Time will tell whether my theory is right or wrong.
There is also an IMS from Trinity Mirror (TNI) on the same day, 8 November, so that will be a busy & exciting morning, although I no longer hold shares in TNI.
Have had a quick look at results from £13m mkt cap SWP (SWP), but can't see anything to get excited about.
Similar with Active Risk Group (ARI) - interims to 30 Sept look pretty poor - turnover is up a bit to £3.8m, but a £0.8m operating loss. Difficult to see how that is a viable business.
That's it for this morning.
Regards, Paul.
* For anyone not already aware, DYOR means "do your own research!"
Friday, November 2, 2012
Fri 2 Nov - no news today
Good afternoon. Sorry to report that there are literally no small cap results this morning which fit my criteria (i.e. >£10m & <£200m mkt cap, no resources, financial or biotech sectors, UK companies only).
On a more positive note, I see we've just gone over 100,000 page views here! That's absolutely phenomenal, I'm delighted my Blog has become so popular. Also I had a record month for ad revenues in October, and made £107.
So thanks to everyone who took an occasional interest in the ads. It may not be a fortune, but every little helps - it pays my mobile phone bill, and funds a couple of nights out at the Pub each month!
Have a smashing weekend & see you on Monday.
Regards, Paul.
On a more positive note, I see we've just gone over 100,000 page views here! That's absolutely phenomenal, I'm delighted my Blog has become so popular. Also I had a record month for ad revenues in October, and made £107.
So thanks to everyone who took an occasional interest in the ads. It may not be a fortune, but every little helps - it pays my mobile phone bill, and funds a couple of nights out at the Pub each month!
Have a smashing weekend & see you on Monday.
Regards, Paul.
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Thu 1 Nov - no report today
No report today, as I've been through the list of RNS results, and there is literally nothing that fits my criteria! Never mind, see you tomorrow.
Regards, Paul.
Regards, Paul.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Weds 31 Oct - TRCS, IND, SPA, VLX, LOQ, SPA
Firstly, I'm pleased to announce that I've linked up with Stockopedia.co.uk who are syndicating my content, which will now appear on their Home page, so a warm welcome to our new readers from there.
Also just a quick reminder that this is absolutely NOT a share tipping site, so nothing contained here is ever financial advice. It's just a place for discussion of small caps which interest me. The mantra here is Do Your Own Research! (DYOR).
Shares in Tracsis (TRCS) have performed very well, and am kicking myself for not having bought any when it was recommended to me by a friend some time ago. They are a small software company, supplying mainly systems to manage public transport, especially trains. Serial out-performing trading statements have brought it a loyal investor following & strong share price rises.
The shares are up 10p today to 143p, a mkt cap of £35.6m.
Growth is stellar, with turnover up 112% to £8.7m (only a quarter of the mkt cap though), and adj EBITDA up 164% to £3.3m.
Cash balances are very strong, up £2.9m to £7.6m.
In fact it has a cracking balance sheet, with current assets of £9.1m (incl. £7.6m in cash), and just £3.4m total creditors. So that gives them about £5-6m in surplus cash that could be used for acquisitions or divis/buybacks.
Stingy dividend though, only 0.55p for the full year.
The outlook sounds buoyant, but I wonder how sustainable these figures are? I don't know how much of the revenue is recurring, is there not a risk that at some point the large new contracts could dry up, and profits might vanish?
The bottom line is this. If profits growth can be maintained, then with 10p EPS in the bag for y/e 31 July 2012, the shares are cheap on a PER of 14.
OR, if those profits are unsustainable in the long run, then the company could be set for a fall. On balance I don't want to take the risk, so will pass on this one. But I can see the logic for holding, if you know more about the business than I do, and are convinced it can continue growing.
Note that IndigoVision (IND) - which is my largest market position - has gone ex-divi today, hence the 85p drop. A 5p final, and 70p special divi will both be paid on 30 Nov, if they are (as expected) approved at the AGM on 8 Nov.
To my mind, there is no way the prudent management team would be prepared to give away substantially all of the cash pile that they've carefully built up over 5 years, unless the company is trading its socks off.
Therefore I am expecting a positive AGM trading statement next week. I might well top-up with some more at 410p, having managed to buy a couple of cheap large blocks of stock at below market price yesterday for friends.
I'm surprised they've dropped by more than the divi amount today, but maybe the 17% fall due to going ex-divi spooked some small holders into selling, not realising that it was the divi effect accounting for 75p of the fall? Who knows.
It's back from the dead day, with CPP Group rebounding on news of a possible bid. The shares have risen to 28p, after recent lows of well below 10p.
Dismal (for investors, if not management) CD/DVD distributor Mbl Group (MUBL) has also recovered somewhat, up 21% to 14p today.
Shaft Sinkers (SHFT) is up 8% to 41p, on news that operations have resumed.
Finally, joke stock Pursuit Dynamics is trying to tap gullible investors yet again for more money - this time they want £6m at 3p a share. Wasn't long ago that this perpetual hype machine was over 600p a share.
So having veered away from that last paragraph using my bargepole, let's get back to some decent companies.
Volex (VLX) might be worth a look. They make electrical cables in the Far East, but it'a s UK company. They've had a lousy H1, to 30 Sept, reported today. But the outlook confirms full year revised guidance, and sounds positive for next year. So I'm tempted to dig a bit deeper here, as the fwd PER is showing as about 6, and there's minimal net debt. Could be a nice turnaround story? I shall report back if it floats my boat after more research.
Virtual queuing systems (for theme parks) provider, Lo-Q (LOQ) reports with an in line (haha, geddit?!) trading statement. It's delivered very well indeed, and well done to all my friends who've made a packet backing this one, but with the PER up in the mid-20s, it's difficult to see much value there in the short term anyway.
Had a quick glance at interims from 1Spatial (SPA) a management consultancy & software business. They just about managed to scrape into the black at the EBITDA level, so a £14m mkt cap doesn't look interesting to me.
OK that's it for today. Thank you again for all the kind donations to my charity fund-raising efforts in advance of my first ever Half Marathon attempt in Feb 2013. The training runs are going really well, and managed my longest & quickest to date last weekend, running 7.5 miles in 1hr 21mins. Not too bad, considering I'm 44, and 2 stone overweight, so not built for running! Your donations are certainly spurring me on, thanks! If you would like to show some support, please donate via this link to my JustGiving page.
Regards, Paul.
(of the shares mentioned above, Paul holds a long position in IndigoVision only, and no short positions)
Also just a quick reminder that this is absolutely NOT a share tipping site, so nothing contained here is ever financial advice. It's just a place for discussion of small caps which interest me. The mantra here is Do Your Own Research! (DYOR).
Shares in Tracsis (TRCS) have performed very well, and am kicking myself for not having bought any when it was recommended to me by a friend some time ago. They are a small software company, supplying mainly systems to manage public transport, especially trains. Serial out-performing trading statements have brought it a loyal investor following & strong share price rises.
The shares are up 10p today to 143p, a mkt cap of £35.6m.
Growth is stellar, with turnover up 112% to £8.7m (only a quarter of the mkt cap though), and adj EBITDA up 164% to £3.3m.
Cash balances are very strong, up £2.9m to £7.6m.
In fact it has a cracking balance sheet, with current assets of £9.1m (incl. £7.6m in cash), and just £3.4m total creditors. So that gives them about £5-6m in surplus cash that could be used for acquisitions or divis/buybacks.
Stingy dividend though, only 0.55p for the full year.
The outlook sounds buoyant, but I wonder how sustainable these figures are? I don't know how much of the revenue is recurring, is there not a risk that at some point the large new contracts could dry up, and profits might vanish?
The bottom line is this. If profits growth can be maintained, then with 10p EPS in the bag for y/e 31 July 2012, the shares are cheap on a PER of 14.
OR, if those profits are unsustainable in the long run, then the company could be set for a fall. On balance I don't want to take the risk, so will pass on this one. But I can see the logic for holding, if you know more about the business than I do, and are convinced it can continue growing.
Note that IndigoVision (IND) - which is my largest market position - has gone ex-divi today, hence the 85p drop. A 5p final, and 70p special divi will both be paid on 30 Nov, if they are (as expected) approved at the AGM on 8 Nov.
To my mind, there is no way the prudent management team would be prepared to give away substantially all of the cash pile that they've carefully built up over 5 years, unless the company is trading its socks off.
Therefore I am expecting a positive AGM trading statement next week. I might well top-up with some more at 410p, having managed to buy a couple of cheap large blocks of stock at below market price yesterday for friends.
I'm surprised they've dropped by more than the divi amount today, but maybe the 17% fall due to going ex-divi spooked some small holders into selling, not realising that it was the divi effect accounting for 75p of the fall? Who knows.
It's back from the dead day, with CPP Group rebounding on news of a possible bid. The shares have risen to 28p, after recent lows of well below 10p.
Dismal (for investors, if not management) CD/DVD distributor Mbl Group (MUBL) has also recovered somewhat, up 21% to 14p today.
Shaft Sinkers (SHFT) is up 8% to 41p, on news that operations have resumed.
Finally, joke stock Pursuit Dynamics is trying to tap gullible investors yet again for more money - this time they want £6m at 3p a share. Wasn't long ago that this perpetual hype machine was over 600p a share.
So having veered away from that last paragraph using my bargepole, let's get back to some decent companies.
Volex (VLX) might be worth a look. They make electrical cables in the Far East, but it'a s UK company. They've had a lousy H1, to 30 Sept, reported today. But the outlook confirms full year revised guidance, and sounds positive for next year. So I'm tempted to dig a bit deeper here, as the fwd PER is showing as about 6, and there's minimal net debt. Could be a nice turnaround story? I shall report back if it floats my boat after more research.
Virtual queuing systems (for theme parks) provider, Lo-Q (LOQ) reports with an in line (haha, geddit?!) trading statement. It's delivered very well indeed, and well done to all my friends who've made a packet backing this one, but with the PER up in the mid-20s, it's difficult to see much value there in the short term anyway.
Had a quick glance at interims from 1Spatial (SPA) a management consultancy & software business. They just about managed to scrape into the black at the EBITDA level, so a £14m mkt cap doesn't look interesting to me.
OK that's it for today. Thank you again for all the kind donations to my charity fund-raising efforts in advance of my first ever Half Marathon attempt in Feb 2013. The training runs are going really well, and managed my longest & quickest to date last weekend, running 7.5 miles in 1hr 21mins. Not too bad, considering I'm 44, and 2 stone overweight, so not built for running! Your donations are certainly spurring me on, thanks! If you would like to show some support, please donate via this link to my JustGiving page.
Regards, Paul.
(of the shares mentioned above, Paul holds a long position in IndigoVision only, and no short positions)
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