Tclarke Share Discussion Threads

[bsdjj] 18/4/2024 08:08

I assume they are not there just to collect the 4.5p dividend......

[bsdjj] 17/4/2024 17:28

Someone bought 1.7%??

[janeann] 16/4/2024 15:28

well i first bought these in 2013 ..... at 62p, but very disappointed at todays price. bit of a rollercoaster ride but plenty of dividends on the way. A very sad day

[igoe104] 16/4/2024 13:08

Salpara, your moaning about a price of £1.60 for a takeover, but you and lots of others weren't interested in buying these in the mid 120s. 🤷

[dr biotech] 16/4/2024 12:46

Well I sold out last week after 2 years of underperformance. Impeccable timing. Seemed to be a vanity project with high turnover, low profits and fat director salaries. Much to my annoyance its seems another company sees value where I didn't

[salpara111] 16/4/2024 12:07

Watched this for some time but never took a stake.
I am amazed that the BOD are recommending this really poor premium when the share price was near a multi year low. The only conclusion one can reach is that current/forward prospects are not anywhere near as positive as the market has been led to believe.

[edmundshaw] 16/4/2024 08:56

Not entirely the fault of pension funds after Gordon Brown's raid on dividends...

Got to agree this is a poor price. Wincanton went for a fantastic premium after a second bid came along... so maybe worth sticking around?

[igoe104] 16/4/2024 08:49

Pension funds are to blame, uk Pension funds only invest 4% in there home market. Whilst overseas Pension funds invest 20% on average in there home market..

[owenski] 16/4/2024 08:39

This country has been a financial disaster since Brexit, Covid didn't help but either. Interestingly the people who moan about companies being bought out on the cheap - because there seems to be no investor appetite - are the ones who voted for it. Suck it up.

[petes5] 16/4/2024 08:34

Another one gone. Lots of research, numbers look good and then cannot understand why the price stays low. Then gets bought out cheap. There will be no companies left in the UK. Makes you think this is what the people in charge of the UK want.

[kneecaps2] 16/4/2024 08:29

I agree this is a very poor bid. T Clarke were trading at well above 160 in 2022 and only last month the directors were saying how bright the future was! I think they are worth over £2.

[janeann] 16/4/2024 07:24

not impressed ... seems to be a sign of the poor UK market

[igoe104] 16/4/2024 07:23

Bad news for me as its one of three companies I hold outside a ISA or Sipp wrapper. And allowance is only 3k now..

[18bt] 16/4/2024 07:20

Really disappointing price - not quite sure how Cavendish can have advised the Board to recommend it at that low valuation. Difficult, but not impossible to see a competing bidder arise.

[rivaldo] 16/4/2024 07:16

So Regent are to acquire CTO for just over 164.5p. A good result for me investment-wise, but a very poor one in terms of CTO's worth, and taking advantage of the one-off dip following the very unusual contract difficulties last year.

Regent have 21%, so 24% including the directors' shares. Maybe not enough to win through if there's significant opposition or to defeat a rival bidder?

Yet another example of listed UK companies being extremely undervalued, especially a top quality company like CTO given its increasing exposure to data centres, healthcare, ESG and the like.

[rivaldo] 04/4/2024 13:44

News - interesting to see CTO growing and getting trade approval for an "in-house panel manufacturing division that builds control panels for medical imaging equipment OEMs such as Siemens Healthcare, GE Healthcare, Philips Healthcare, Canon and many more":

[bsdjj] 27/3/2024 16:03

At least somewhat aligned with shareholders EPS / TSR measures.Let's hope the directors make a lot of money because we will too....

[cwa1] 27/3/2024 14:29

Jeez, have these guys NO shame??

[rivaldo] 19/3/2024 15:00

FYI here's Cavendish's summary from their new research note, forecasting 24.1p EPS this year, with a 6.5p dividend and £16.6m net cash:

"High quality projects across a range of sectors

TClarke’s FY 2023 results and forward-looking commentary are in line with the November trading statement, and we make no changes to our forecasts. Revenue of £491m in 2023 exceeded the 3-year plan to double revenue from £232m in 2020 and management have confirmed the group is well positioned to achieve growth plans for 2024 and beyond backed by the £943m order book (up +70%). FY 2023 PBT of £7.6m is down from £10.3m in 2022 due to the previously highlighted measures to protect the business from the current, very challenging construction market conditions. These measures included changing some supply-chain partners mid-contract to protect project completion dates, and the early finalisation of project accounts where customer risk had been identified. All projects are expected to be delivered according to their schedules but the one-off costs of these measures restricted the operating margin to 1.9%, below the target 3.0% (2022: 2.7%, 2024E 3.1%).

We reiterate our view that on a 2024E P/E of 5.3x (vs peers 9.1x who are subject to the same market challenges), dividend yield of 5.1% and net cash of £19m the valuation underestimates the company’s long-term growth potential, and market and financial position. The key driver for the share price will be increasing evidence as the year progresses of forecast deliverability.

- Order book up 70%. The strategy of organic growth focused on five core market sectors whilst building market presence in data centres, large projects outside of London, smart buildings and healthcare is delivering. Data centres now account for £346m within the total £943m order book. This total compares to £1.1bn at October 2023 due to the normal seasonally lower win rate at the end of the year being offset by orders completed (H2 revenue was up +37% on H1).

- Net cash £19.3m up from £7.5m. Key movements were: equity raised £10.1m, dividend cost £2.5m, and free cash flow £4.1m. Importantly, given the market conditions, bad debt expense was only £0.3m and in line with the group’s historical average. On the balance sheet contract assets increased by £30m as one of the large, multi-year contracts ramped-up activity, offset by a £30m increase in trade creditors reflecting the strong cash characteristics of this contract.

- Dividend raised 10% as expected. The 2023 dividend was raised to 5.9p from 5.35p reflecting the progressive dividend policy, net cash and growth prospects.

- Medium-term target price 197p, +55% upside. Our medium-term target price is based on a -10% discount to the broad peer group average 2024E P/E. The discount reflects the impact of the larger, highly rated renewals and infrastructure operators within peers. We do not expect construction market conditions to significantly improve in the short term and expect the share price to be driven by increasing confidence in TClarke’s revenue, margin and cash flow forecasts as the year progresses"

[tole] 18/3/2024 20:54

https://masterinvestor.co.uk/equities/small-cap-catch-up-fan-cto-and-stvg/Analysts Andrew Gibb and Guy Hewett at Cavendish Capital Markets estimate that the year to end December 2024 will see £600m revenues, with adjusted pre-tax profits rebounding to £17.1m, hoisting earnings up to 24.1p and amply covering a 6.5p dividend per share.For 2025 they see £650m, £19.1m, 26.9p and 7.1p respectively.Those estimates easily back up the analyst's Medium-Term Price Objective of 197p for the group's shares.At the end of last week, the shares, which hit 159p last June, were fractionally lower at 122.50p – at which level they are a strong hold for existing shareholders and offer a bargain for newcomers.

[elsa7878] 15/3/2024 19:23

I agree. Looked at this several times but the board remuneration is beyond outrageous.

[owenski] 15/3/2024 18:43

Agree with that, the board certainly use the business to pay themselves rather well, CTO isn't exactly a cash machine as it's results testify. It's a low margin business that's now on even lower margin.

[rimau1] 15/3/2024 17:34

Small Caps Live gives a pretty damning verdict (apologies Rivaldo usually posts smallcap live updates so this is likely a duplicate). 3 key points. 1. EPS is on a downward trajectory; 2. executive pay at 6m is excessive in the context of profits of 7m; 3. thin margins and slower trade payables mean they are only a couple of onerous contracts away from being in serious trouble.