E2V Share Discussion Threads

[nermil] 14/10/2011 16:49

Its nice to someone positive on E2V. I'm still holding but at a loss. I've decided to holds until I have real reason to be concerned about the underlying business rather than just sell because of this market or because they've fallen out of favour. Hopefully, not taking a loss and just sitting on my hands collecting the dividends will prove to be a good decision.

[1356] 14/10/2011 09:31

Taken from a Digital Look Tip Watcher Alert

[1356] 14/10/2011 09:31

The shares may not have fallen quite as far as those in Renishaw, which have halved in value over the past three months, but fellow specialist engineer e2v technologies has also been punished by the market, probably more than it deserves. This is one of my tips for 2011, says the Tempus column in the Times. The shares were 91p at the start of the year and duly touched 146p before crashing back. Last night they were up ¾p at 97¾p. The company has expressed some caution over prospects, while a change in the mix in orders, away from long-term defence contracts to supplying industrial and commercial users, is one reason why the forward order book is down from £167 million to £146 million over the past year. But e2v has confirmed it is trading in line with expectations, revenues grew in the first half by an underlying 16 per cent, and there is plenty of potential for further growth. The shares, on 8.5 times this year's earnings, are trading at a 20-odd per cent discount to its peers, which looks too low. Buy for recovery, the paper recommends.

[envirovision] 13/10/2011 09:56

Yea your right caution would seem the best approach.

[simon gordon] 13/10/2011 09:26

Enviro,

Upon reflection I think it will be safest to buy when they issue a Trading Update that drops the cautious wording and hints at expansion, there are TU's in January and April, until one of them inspires the share could tread water.

[simon gordon] 13/10/2011 08:03

Not at the moment Enviro.

[envirovision] 13/10/2011 07:59

are you a buyer simon ?

[simon gordon] 13/10/2011 07:55

Investec:

e2v's update highlights 1H trading in line with our expectations, with underlying revenue growth of 16% (9% reported, given last time buys' impact). Whilst the company has seen some minor, specific end market-related softness we leave our full year forecasts unchanged given current momentum and order book visibility. e2v has been significantly improved over the last few years, operationally and financially, and we believe this positions the group relatively well under either recessionary or expansionary conditions.

[nermil] 12/8/2011 10:12

Does anyone know how much of E2V's revenues rely on government clients?

[nermil] 02/8/2011 16:58

Yes I suspect you're right. I'm getting a lot quicker at taking profits now. In this market there are no prizes for swimming against the tide.

[jodi17qad] 02/8/2011 16:22

Thanks for that Nermil.

Down again today, but nothing to prompt a rise for a few weeks, I suppose.

[nermil] 02/8/2011 15:28

Its hard to say Jodi my personal impression is management feels meeting those growth targets will be harder than they originally thought but that they have come out of the last recession in better shape then they went in. They've cut a lot of fat, reduced their debt, now reduced their borrowing costs, re-jigged their product line and thereby increased their own market size not reliant on organic market growth. They seem quite excited about the upcoming vermiculate field trials though we're probably looking at 2013/2014 before it has a material effect on earnings. Gloomy economic prospects have undermined the market's expectations of growth for the company. I think that's been more of a factor lately than anything to do with the stock.

[jodi17qad] 29/7/2011 17:17

Thanks for your report Nermil.

What was the tone of the meeting?

Did you get the impression that management were optimistic about the Company's prospects?

Are we in for a period of explosive growth, or are to expect a fairly pedestrian advance?

The four brokers in REFs all say "buy", with eps expected to grow at the rate of 12% or so over each of the next two years.

The margin shown is a very unattractive 3.13%, which is wafer thin.

I had hoped for a price jump following the AGM, but perhaps the institutions were not persuaded that the shares are worth chasing, although the market overall is weak at the moment.

Would be interested to receive your comments.

[nermil] 29/7/2011 12:25

If I'd been told a few months ago that we'd see E2V back to 119p I'd have called that person mad. Crikey.

[simon gordon] 27/7/2011 20:06

Nermil,

Thank you :-)

It was this sentence in the Prelims that made me think they were entering Andor's marketplace:

"...we intend to launch our own line of high end CMOS cameras in the coming year. The upside potential for accelerated customer demand would arise from earlier adoption of e2v's product range including the new CMOS high end cameras."

Cheers for clearing that up for me.

The vermiculite reads like a real slow burner.

Maybe there is a chance E2V will upgrade in October, gonna be a boring August and September...

[nermil] 27/7/2011 18:03

I attended the AGM today. I did get some one on one time with the CEO-I was the only ordinary shareholder there so it wasn't much of a scrum to get to him. I did ask re the branded E2V camera line. He didn't feel they were moving into any E2V branded cameras and didn't seem particularly interested in Andor or pursuing their market share. It didn't seem to be any sort of a priority for them. I'm not familiar with Andor however to be honest.

In terms of acquisitions, he did suggest that E2V can't rely on organic growth alone. And said with the substantial time that an acquisition can take in terms of finding a suitable target and doing the appropriate due diligence they were not ruling out looking along these lines in the near future. I got the personal feeling that this was something they were beginning to consider but there are no plans on the table at the moment. Their strategy for recovery has focused on organic growth but he left open the possibility of acquisitions.

In terms of the vermucilite trails they are pursuing the Vermucilite association to begin a commercial field trial which they hope to get off the ground around September. While money will change hands for that which I assume would be some form of a milestone payment they are not at the stage of taking orders. He was positive on the technology however saying it could have a significant impact for the company. I asked re its application in gaining a revenue stream from the mining sector. He said that was some way off and mentioned 2014 as the most likely time for this sort of development. Maybe that puts things into perspective a bit.

I also asked re the Eurofighter/India deal but he played this down and said most of the value for the company as a supplier had already been realised, though of course any new orders for the Eurofighter programme would be welcomed by E2V.

I asked also re his view on the economic climate and its impact on European and US spenidng particularly as it relates to healthcare and defence. While he admitted the ecomomic climate continues to be difficult moves made by the company in terms of 'moving up the value chain' as he put it, had increased the market size available to the company from £2bn to over £3bn and he felt that this would help the company continue to meet its targets for growth.

I was fairly reassured as an investor despite finding the sell off had continued when I'd been able to check back here. He did say that E2V's shareholder base was heavily biased towards institutions and that due to the company's very technical and business to business focus that the company's didn't have a huge retail investor base.

Well that's it other to say that the management team I met were very personable and easy to approach and possibly a little shocked to see a punter like me show up to their AGM! Coffee was nice though..

[matt123d] 27/7/2011 10:21

Altium say Buy - Target 160p.

[simon gordon] 27/7/2011 07:57

Investec - 27/7/11:

e2v's update confirms trading is in line with management's, and our, expectations. We make no change to our FY12E estimates at this early stage of the year, but believe the risk remains to the upside. Current trading trends and the outlook are both consistent with previous guidance. We leave our 190p price target unchanged based on our UK and international peer group average CY12E PER.

[nermil] 26/7/2011 16:14

Thanks geoffwilliams. Let's hope the nervousness today is unwarranted. This is one stock I thought I didn't have to worry too much about. Not looking for a big return here just more slow steady progress on its recovery, which I thought the last set of results had begun to establish.

[geoffwilliams] 26/7/2011 14:14

An ITM is scheduled for tomorrow. I expect that it will be on the RNS at 0700 preceding the AGM

[nermil] 26/7/2011 12:55

Sure Simon. No problem. I'll do my best.

[simon gordon] 26/7/2011 12:50

Nermil,

I can't make the AGM.

If per chance you could get some answers on the below I'd be grateful:

1. Any acquisitions planned, or are they going to lay off the sauce for another year or two and focus on organic growth?

2. Are they moving into Andor's marketplace with the launch of E2V branded cameras and how is the launch going?

3. How are the Industrial Microwaving trials on vermiculite proceeding and when will orders ramp up?

[nermil] 26/7/2011 12:19

FYI the AGM is tomorrow at Investec Bank at 3pm at 2 Gresham Street, EC2V 7QP. I've decided to attend.