Berendsen Share Discussion Threads

[mechanical trader] 04/9/2012 20:45

Wondering if this 52 wc breakout
is going to hold I hope so.

Fingers crossed. Got a lot of these.

[philanderer] 04/9/2012 16:47

Good performance today on a poor market ... 100k+ traded

[blueliner] 03/9/2012 18:18

Silchester ? _ USA backed _ been largest shareholder for a time. not sure what this trade is about, top slicing ! Pru taking them off their hands.

edit :- from Aberdeen Small Co's High Income Trust (ASCH) Half Year Report
In the equity portfolio the Manager added to a number of the higher yielding names on weakness including Wilmington, Chesnara, Berendsen, Interserve and Rathbones. These companies all offer a yield premium to the market and were part of the strategy to improve the underlying yield.
....interesting as I hold Chesnara as well.

[philanderer] 03/9/2012 16:57

Silchester overhang now cleared ?

Pru adding.

[philanderer] 03/9/2012 09:34

Highest since july 2011 this morning.

[philanderer] 31/8/2012 14:20

Questor video today on 'outsourcing' BRSN tipped as buy..

[philanderer] 31/8/2012 11:28

Chart looking good..... little volume today though so far.

[philanderer] 30/8/2012 16:45

A little more interest lately... 100k+ traded again today

[philanderer] 29/8/2012 08:25

Questor share tip: You won't clean up with Berendsen but its a safe haven

Berendsen interim numbers were better than expected.

Questor keeps a buy.

29 Aug 2012

Berendsen

526½p+2

Questor says BUY

Textile service group Berendsen has posted a better-than-expected set of interim results. Although currency headwinds present a challenge over the next six months, management's strategy is paying off

The company provides washing services and laundry rental to the hotel, healthcare and workwear sectors. Formerly known as Davis Service Group, Berendsen held a strategic review last year, after which it split its business into a growth unit and one where the operations are being "managed for value".

The growth businesses consist of workwear, facilities which comprise mats, washrooms and clean-rooms, and hotels and healthcare.

The "manage for value" operations will have lower investment and will focus on cash generation. These include flat linen operations outside the UK and the clinical and decontamination business in the UK. They make up about 30pc of revenues.

Through extensive operations in the continent, the company has significant euro exposure. However, despite expected weakness in the currency during the second half, analysts have not been cutting forecasts.

In the past financial year, 36pc of revenues came from the UK and Ireland, 26pc from Continental Europe and 38pc from the Nordic region, where the economy is proving more robust.

In the six months to June, revenues fell 2pc to £488.2m but pre-tax profits rose 21pc to £39.6m. Margins are also showing a year-on-year improvement and, in the core growth businesses, rose 110 basis points to 17.3pc.

Cash conversion was also very good, coming in at 119pc. This is an important figure for investors.Cash conversion measures the proportion of profits that are converted to cash flow. Cash flow is important because it is from this that returns such as dividends are paid.

Berendsen upped its interim dividend by 8pc to 8p a share, with the payment scheduled to be made on October 11. The prospective dividend yield is 4.7pc this year rising to 4.9pc.

This – and the group's relatively consistent results – should provide a floor for the shares.

Having implemented the group's new strategic direction, management were keen to highlight the medium-term objectives for the group at Friday's analyst meeting.
Berendsen plans to sustain organic revenue growth rates of GDP plus 1pc to 2pc each year and achieve underlying earnings per share growth in the high single digits. It is targeting cash conversion of at least 100pc and an after-tax return on invested capital of towards the double digits.

The dividend policy will be progressive and the company seeks to expand into new, higher-growth markets.

These are a solid set of results and the valuation does not look stretched. The shares are trading on a December 2012 multiple of 10.4 times, falling to 9.8 next year.
Last tipped as a buy on July 5 at 509p they are up 3pc.

While unlikely to set any portfolio on fire, the company should show steady growth and be a resilient port of call in these troubled times.

The shares remain a buy.

[philanderer] 28/8/2012 23:21

Berendsen Chairman tops up stake after solid results

Tue 28 Aug 2012

LONDON (SHARECAST) - Iain Ferguson, the Chairman of work-wear and wash-room facilities provider Berendsen, bought up 10,000 shares on Friday, the same day it posted a six per cent rise in adjusted pre-tax profit for the first half of 2012.

Ferguson purchased the shares at 520.5p for a total £52,050, bringing his total holding in the firm to 110,000.

The firm announced on Friday that profit before tax rose to £39.6m from £30.4m the year before on revenue that eased to £488.2m from £495.9m, although on an underlying basis (excluding acquisitions and currency effects) revenue rose 2%.

Adjusted profit before tax, which excludes one-off items, rose 6% to £51.5m from £48.4m in the corresponding period of last year. Earnings per share improved to 17.1p from 12.9p in the first half of 2011.

"The board expects first half trading trends to continue for the balance of 2012, resulting in good year on year progress in line with our expectations," Ferguson said on Friday.

[philanderer] 28/8/2012 16:55

28 August 2012

StockMarketWire.com -

Iain Ferguson, Chairman, bought 10,000 shares in the company on the 24th August 2012 at a price of 520.50p. The Director now holds 110,000 shares.

[philanderer] 28/8/2012 11:47

28th august HB Markets buy
28th august JP Morgan Caz overweight

reiterations.

[philanderer] 28/8/2012 09:33

Credit Suisse retains 'outperform' and increases tp from 622p to 640p

[philanderer] 28/8/2012 09:12

HB Markets Breakfast Today

Our view:

Berendsen reported bottom line growth despite a dip in revenue as the company shifted to a new business line management structure. The re-classification of the business into the 'core growth' group and the 'manage for value' group has given the management a sharper focus on operations.

Consequently, they see opportunity to replicate the mature and efficient business model of the workwear division in Sweden and Holland in the underperforming regions of Germany and the UK. This should help in improving overall efficiency of the division and add to the bottom line. The strategic review also identified opportunities of expanding revenue and gross margins at the facilities business.

Further, the restructuring activity at the 'manage for value' divisions of flat linen outside UK and clinical solutions and decontamination seems to have yielded results as margin improve and losses reduce.

The new management, which was instated in the beginning of 2012, seems to have put company back on the path to growth.

[philanderer] 24/8/2012 20:20

Top management here blueliner :-)

just made it today with that last minute push..


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Berendsen (BRSN) 524.50p +2.04%

[blueliner] 24/8/2012 19:17

from UK Analyst today .....
Berendsen (BRSN) shares climbed by 10.5p to 524.5p as the textile business reported a 21% surge in pre-tax profits to 39.6 million pounds for the six months to June, despite sales slipping by 2% to 488.2 million pounds. Management reported on a period with a strong focus on improving operational efficiency, with operating margins climbing by 0.9 percentage points to 13.3%. The firm's facility arm led profit growth, particularly its Scandinavian mat and washroom businesses, with increasing levels of operating leverage converting a 2% climb in sales to a 16% jump in operating profit.

plus an 8% increase in Int Div:

Still doing well in those Baltics.

[philanderer] 24/8/2012 11:38

Another..

24th august Investec buy tp 570p

[philanderer] 24/8/2012 09:24

Reiterations :

24th august Panmure buy tp 582p
24th august Credit Suisse outperform tp 622p
24th august Oriel buy tp 600p
24th august Seymour Pierce add (from buy) tp 545p

[philanderer] 24/8/2012 08:29

Solid numbers :-)


Berendsen scrubs up well
Fri 24 Aug 2012

BRSN - Berendsen


LONDON (SHARECAST) - Work-wear and wash-room facilities provider Berendsen increased profitability in the first half of 2012, despite a small dip in revenues.

Profit before tax rose to £39.6m from £30.4m the year before on revenue that eased to £488.2m from £495.9m, although on an underlying basis (excluding acquisitions and currency effects) revenue rose 2%.

Adjusted profit before tax, which excludes one-off items, rose 6% to £51.5m from £48.4m in the corresponding period of last year.

Earnings per share improved to 17.1p from 12.9p in the first half 0f 2011.

An interim dividend of 8.0p has been proposed, up from 7.4p last year.

"The board expects first half trading trends to continue for the balance of 2012, resulting in good year on year progress in line with our expectations,2 said Iain Ferguson, Chairman of Berendsen.



(Telegraph)

Work-wear and wash-room facilities provider Berendsen increased profitability in the first half of 2012, despite a small dip in revenues. Profit before tax rose to £39.6m from £30.4m the year before on revenue that eased to £488.2m from £495.9m, although on an underlying basis (excluding acquisitions and currency effects) revenue rose 2%. Adjusted profit before tax, which excludes one-off items, rose 6% to £51.5m from £48.4m in the corresponding period of last year.

[philanderer] 23/8/2012 16:49

friday preview...

Textile maintenance business, Berendsen, will post flat revenues in the half year to the end of June, after taking into account currency effects.

[philanderer] 20/8/2012 08:39

20th august UBS 'buy' tp 560p

reiterates

[philanderer] 17/8/2012 10:04

Nudging up..... interims next friday.

[philanderer] 14/8/2012 09:09

All AAA Euro Zone countries except Finland (June YoY) GDP Q2 avoided contraction: Germany 0.3% Netherlands & Austria 0.2% France 0%

Need some volume here now ....... no interest , just 1,500 traded.