Abacus Share Discussion Threads

[dumbarton2] 22/8/2008 10:14

More institutions dumping I reckon they are getting the jitters on slowing sales and rising euro plus weakness in euroland.

This has all the hallmarks of getting into severe financial difficulties and with a poor share price they would have difficulty with a rights issue.

[dumbarton2] 20/8/2008 16:09

The clock is ticking here with the euro strong again thats bad for euro debt. Worse is europe set to weaken.

Another prifit warning would knock this for six.

[philjeans] 14/8/2008 15:17

No significant sales AT all - VIRTUALLY ALL BUYS!

Dealers playing games - short of stock on this one.

Currency fluctuations are a fact of business life - they know the risks and will take proper steps to manage that risk, as we all do in business.

The fact is that this share price has been hammered too hard and will rocket on the next positive RNS.

But please yourself - I'm in for the long haul and can wait - not a five day shorter!

[dumbarton2] 14/8/2008 10:22

I have checked th trades over a longer period the institutions been dumping stock more than buying as for the euro its set to climb against the £ hence the ABU debt could climb yet again.

[philjeans] 13/8/2008 16:28

and vice versa!

[dumbarton2] 13/8/2008 14:35

As the euro clims so does their euro debt!

[philjeans] 12/8/2008 14:09

All possible SG but fully discounted in the price!

On it's back having fallen from 350p tp 23p - still very profitable, paying divi fully covered and debt reducing to plan.

Bon chance!

[simon gordon] 12/8/2008 13:35

'Some' debt - more like a 'mountain' of debt.

The market seems to now expect that Europe will have a harder landing than the States. ABU could see a fall off in business in 2009.

Good fortune.

[philjeans] 12/8/2008 12:44

Could be; but I think not - some steady persistent buying in recent days.

Well oversold and due a massive correction - see ECM in comparison. Similar business and has been very well supported recently.

This has some debt but it is being managed well and the div cutback will conserve more cash.#

Time to buy.

[dumbarton2] 12/8/2008 11:53

Dead cat bounce after bottom fishers!

[philjeans] 11/8/2008 11:15

Debt financing is well covered.

Must have had a mention somewhere; lots of Buys today.

[dumbarton2] 08/8/2008 14:43

Debt could be the killer here imo.

[mt67] 22/7/2008 11:27

Yep partly, ECM Q1 UK sales down 2%, Europe ahead 1% so not dire as yet but tough all the same. GDP is a lagging indicator so a recession is perhaps already underway and might get worse but time will tell.

I think management have enough nous to survive the downturn and prosper
when through the otherside. The director buys improved sentiment for me as
they've only really bought miniscule amounts in the past if at all...but even directors don't always time it right.

The debt is not overly burdensome to service i believe, so the odds favour a massive share price recovery at some time although the ride may be rocky. There is also the outside possibility of a bid.

TS September should confirm how vastly undervalued the situation is here or not as the case may be....i favour the former.

12-24months, 4-6 bagger !

[mesquida] 22/7/2008 09:20

Dramatic change of heart from your previous stance as posted on 20th June, MT67! Was it the statement from ELECTROCOMPONENTS that brought about this change of view or is there some other reason?

[mt67] 21/7/2008 08:35

Had a nibble on Fri here. I expect survival with more upside than downside now. Made plenty on the fall maybe now is the time to ride the upswing
ahead of the herd joining the party. As holders will know (that's if there is any still here) the rebound if and when it comes will be huge and swift.

More pain to come, that's the ? but @25p a nibble is enough for now. I don't think there will be a problem servicing the debt and the reward outweighs
the risk for me and the loss if it were to materialise is insignificant.

[dumbarton2] 21/6/2008 09:40

Debt is a dirty word annd its vert dirty here.

[mt67] 20/6/2008 14:06

Will open short position on any sustained bounce as insolvency has entered the equation, slowdown likely to hit hard, div will be slashed/passed as conditions deteriorate, cash is king and debt is a dirty word...Sell 20p target.

[dumbarton2] 19/6/2008 19:33

Dont know why the massive drop today but been bearish for some time. The high debt is a killer though.

[nigelwestm] 19/6/2008 18:15

Philjeans. How much have you lost on this now?

I got out of most of my holding around the 50p mark, although I was forced to sell in chunks of 1,500 cos my online broker is cr@p.

But given that you are posting so bullishly, you must still be holding and surely have lost a packet by now? Do you have money to burn or something? I ask only out of interest...

[philjeans] 19/6/2008 11:41

I agree the holdings are difficult to fathom - but it's clear AXA still hold a massive chunk, mostly bought far higher. I think they'll hold to see this come right.

4.1p pre exceptionals in the last six months - say 8p for the year - makes a P/E of less than 4 currently.

Divi was halved but still yielding a nice income and barring absolute disaster across Europe , this will recover over remaining months of this year.

[mesquida] 17/6/2008 17:54

Am I alone in finding it almost impossible to work out just what AXA have been up to recently? Both of their announcements are terribly confusing.

[philjeans] 16/6/2008 13:17

Nice tick up again today - looks like AXA have bought a few more.

Take-over coming here for sure - directors and Instis buying in volume.

[bletherer] 13/6/2008 15:35

Sizeable CEO buy announced today. I know directors sometimes do this just to try to generate confidence, but it's on the high side for that purpose - looks a bit more than a token gesture to me. Looks like 30 is going to mark the low for now, but of course the sell-off post-results did further serious technical damage and any rally will face significant resistance in the former support area from around 43-50.

[philjeans] 13/6/2008 13:29

Some more big buys going through - somebody's filling up whilst the price is so depressed.