Alent Share Discussion Threads

[weird_dave] 08/7/2015 10:03

I'm struggling to spot a reason for the drop in share price this week, have I missed something?

[robertfaulkner] 11/3/2015 15:58

Boo ho sold at 385, kissing 400p now, all on RNS of stake building

Every other share I didn't sell now well down

[robertfaulkner] 07/3/2015 13:22

Thanks Red

[redartbmud] 06/3/2015 20:11

RF

You never make a loss when you take a profit. Risk is off the table now.

red

[robertfaulkner] 06/3/2015 16:58

Sold out today, looks like to early.

At 15:27 @ 384.7, had a limit sell at 385p but took an at best.

Then it shoots up to over 390p and closes at high of day 392p

Ho hum.

Is something up or will it drift down again next week?

[robertfaulkner] 02/3/2015 13:15

Part of FinalResults, today 7am (RNS)

Overall pretty good, share price up 4% so far, hope it can hold to close




§ Continued outperformance against our principal end-markets

o Growth in NSV of 4.6% (at constant currency rates)

o H2 momentum with H2 2014 NSV up 5.4% versus H2 2013 (at constant currency rates)

§ Earnings and margin growth (at constant currency rates)

o Adjusted operating profit up 7.6%

o Adjusted EPS up 11.1%

o NSV margin up 60 basis points to 23%, reflecting margin improvement in both business units

§ Continued strong cash conversion at 90% of EBITDA and net debt down to 1x EBITDA

§ Final dividend of 6.0 pence per share; resulting in full year dividend of 9.0 pence; growth of 4.7%

§ New investment plan announced to accelerate growth strategy; 2015 CAPEX increasing to 1.5 - 1.8x depreciation



Commenting on the Group's results, Andrew Heath, Chief Executive said:

"I am delighted to have joined Alent as Chief Executive. My first impressions of the business have reinforced my view that the Company is well positioned in its chosen markets and has strong prospects for the future.

[rabbar] 02/3/2015 07:38

Will be surprised to see any upside in share price today as turnover down by 40m (on non constant currency basis). On the upside final dividend increased to 6p so worth holding.

[housemartin2] 01/3/2015 15:42

Rabbar - thanks for the back ground on Cervian. Yes they would certainly be behind SC departure.
I have high hopes for the push to better margin sales, though it did not work last year as these seem to have been the markets that were difficult. I will be particularly interested in what has happened and what is said in this regard on Monday.
Further treading answered my own query around raw material cost impact. The answer is v little as cost changes are passed on contractually to customers. Owned Raw materials are v small.

[rabbar] 28/2/2015 15:54

Housemartin -thanks for providing the breakdown of regional trade, I wasn't able to find this information.

Yes the sudden departure of Corbett was strange and unexplained. No information on this but wouldn't be surprised if cevian capital (the major activist shareholder) was behind this if they believed the company wasn't moving forward fast enough for them. I believe alent is supposedly the jewel in the crown for them and the main reason for their major investment in Cookson.
I am reasonably optimistic about an improvement in growth as they have exclusive contracts with Apple (and others) for using some of their products for the iPhone manufacturing contracts, prohibiting other products being used. This has been a very good year for Apple so hopefully it had impacted alent also.

The figures above show a very good profit margin so should be a good dividend payer for shareholders if nothing else.

[housemartin2] 28/2/2015 13:11

Rabbar - agreed, we do need top line growth (and this is of course a refrain throughout developed economies generally). Unfortunately only c25% (PY so may be more 2014) of business comes from US, the only economy really firing.

While they have borrowings in $US and EUR, currency is bound to be a general negative. In 2013 I see that revenue was split US 1/4, Chi & Eur 20% each, Taiwan 10%, Brazil 5%. In 2014 £ strengthened against most of these I believe.

Not sure how commodity price falls will effect ALNT as I am unsure how their accounting for this works.

I bought into this as it seemed to me to be a well run company with reasonable barriers to entry and keen to move up the value chain. However I was concerned over the disappearance of Steve Corbett in a really unexplained way. I have seen it said it was disagreements over distribution policy which I hope does not mean reduced R&D and short termism. Any views on this ??

[ih_434387] 27/2/2015 13:54

Results out on Monday, not sure which way this will go, but we need to see a top line improvement as well as bottom line for the share price to move up. This (turnover) has been falling year-on-year since split and may be due to the sell off of non core assets as well as currency movements.
As the table shows 655.7m of the 684.7m turnover was genereated abroad so currency plays a big part in the top line and so performance will depend to a large extent as to the currency they bill in.

[rabbar] 20/2/2015 12:17

I Doubt it.Should normally be treated as good news Vesuvius also paid the same amount and the case was of a quite serious nature and both cases settled for a lot less than was claimed by MacDermid. This share has a mind of its own and doesn't seem to follow any trend.

Statement from Cookson Demerger document

37. Contingent liabilities

Certain subsidiary companies of Vesuvius plc and Alent plc are defendants in two actions, brought by MacDermid (incorporated in the United States), which are pending in the Connecticut Superior Court and arising out of corporate activity involving the parties in the autumn of 2006. The first action was commenced in 2009 and the second action was commenced in August 2012. MacDermid claims damages of approximately $62m, plus punitive or exemplary damages, costs and interest which are currently unquantifiable. Both Vesuvius and Alent believe these claims have no merit and are vigorously defending these actions. Each of Vesuvius and Alent anticipates filing motions for summary judgment in both cases by mid-2014 and, if any claims remain pending decisions on those motions, a trial in the first action is anticipated in the first half of 2015. Any liability relating to the MacDermid claim arising following the demerger of Cookson Group will be split equally between Alent plc and Vesuvius plc.


Extract from the court papers below containing the following allegations: link


"The following facts, as set forth by the trial court,
are relevant to the plaintiff’s claims on appeal. ‘‘MacDermid
I was commenced by service of a writ, summons
and complaint in June 2009. The operative complaint
alleges that the Cookson defendants, direct competitors
of [the plaintiff], breached two separate letter
agreements, misappropriated trade secrets, committed
computer crimes and violated [the Connecticut Unfair
Trade Practices Act (CUTPA), General Statutes § 42-
110a et seq.], all in connection with the sale of [the
plaintiff’s] stock. In essence, the Cookson defendants
are alleged to have submitted a competitive bid for the
purchase of the stock with ill-gotten information when,
in fact, they had no intention or ability to consummate
any such purchase. As a result, the plaintiff alleges that
the purchase price [of the stock] was increased causing
the plaintiff to incur substantial debt and otherwise
causing financial damage to the plaintiff.4"

[thaiger] 20/2/2015 10:05

Will it be affected by the announcement on 19th Feb:
Alent plc reaches settlement with MacDermid Inc. on legacy corporate activity
Under the terms of the settlement, Alent will pay US$10m (£6.4m) in full and final settlement of all claims.
Reason for the share price down?

[wipo1] 16/2/2015 13:35

Good luck with it Rabbar, still watching atm. Might take a nibble before next trading update if it can stay above 340p.

[rabbar] 16/2/2015 10:00

Hi Wipo took the plunge Friday at the best quote of 340.3 typically could have got a lot better quote today.

[wipo1] 13/2/2015 15:52

Hi Rabbar good luck with it. Maybe price down due to strong pound? Should go back up soon.

[rabbar] 13/2/2015 15:14

Hi wipo i know but can't get a price lower than 345 although price now below 340. Don't mind the volatility as hoping to hold for a 2-3% gain.

[wipo1] 13/2/2015 13:47

Hi Rabbar looks like it's getting closer to your buy price. Strange hard to read this stock.

[rabbar] 12/2/2015 12:36

Back up today. My buy at 338 didn't get triggered.

[wipo1] 11/2/2015 17:00

A bit of fall today. Oh well I don't feel as daft selling at 330pish lol

[woodcutter] 10/2/2015 13:23

looking at the trades is, as pye noted, not likely to give any valuable info imv. the overall volume is more important and whether the share price has moved up or down.

been adding more again this week.

a nice doji intraday reversal pattern forming aimho.

woody

[redartbmud] 21/1/2015 13:10

pye

I agree up to a point, but I always check my trade to see if the price dealt is good or bad, and I always see it appear.
Trying to second guess reasons for price movements based on trades is near impossible.

red

[pyemckay] 21/1/2015 12:43

RF, look at trade data is a waste of time because it is not accurate. It is a guess from the provider based on the bid/offer prices at the time.
give up as you are wasting your time.