James Halstead Share Discussion Threads

[eel tamer] 10/1/2013 10:20

Don't forget that the new share issue is tomorrow and panic when the share price halves! With double the shares you are no worse off and if it acts the same as last we should see a nice uplift in the coming months.

[wad collector] 09/1/2013 16:08

....it would appear so as it majestically arches back up to 650p.
Now I must not sell ,I must not sell....

[wad collector] 14/12/2012 17:04

Thank you , it was a bizarre little drop. It has transiently been behaving more like a trading stock. Now , back to normal?

[lundhousegreen] 14/12/2012 16:23

I think some shareholders who sold read too much into the chairman's statement.
The brokers have not changed their position, and some investors have been nicely mopping up JHD shares. (Nice one "wad collector" at 554p).
LHG

[dashton42] 14/12/2012 14:46

Someone's decided this share's been oversold! A nice 9% bounce as I write.

[wad collector] 13/12/2012 10:06

Falling like a stone this morning , cannot find any news or broker recommendation changes.



2013 2014
Date Rec Pre-tax (£) EPS (p) DPS (p) Pre-tax (£) EPS (p) DPS (p)
Arden Partners
12-12-12 ADD 44.60 31.12 16.80 46.80 32.66 17.60
Shore Capital
07-12-12 HOLD
Milkstone Ltd
29-11-12 BUY 44.00 30.30 16.00


I added another (and final) aliquot at 554.

[wad collector] 12/12/2012 10:45

Special divi, share split ,narrower spread ; it is all happening here.All we need is a takeover rumour....(only joking)

[mikejan] 11/12/2012 16:19

Just a few observations from an old/new boy: The chairman's statement seemed to say that growth is continuing but patchy in places. The market may have perceived a period ahead of a lower growth business. The special dividend, if 10p will give a 4.3% yield (at today's SP) when added to the 16p of normal dividend, which is what other larger 'steady Eddie' plc's are paying. Most long term shareholders in JHD know that in times of austerity a repeat of a 6% growth with a larger % increase in margins would be very credible. JHD is well placed over the next couple of years to take advantage of economic recovery, and don't forget they have the added advantage of spare capacity in the north east; 'the machine will need to be fed, after being fine tuned'!
I have added to my shareholding at a cheap price of 600p, the spread has narrowed before the split, which is also good news.

[mikejan] 11/12/2012 16:19

Just a few observations from an old/new boy: The chairman's statement seemed to say that growth is continuing but patchy in places. The market may have perceived a period ahead of a lower growth business. The special dividend, if 10p will give a 4.3% yield (at today's SP) when added to the 16p of normal dividend, which is what other larger 'steady Eddie' plc's are paying. Most long term shareholders in JHD know that in times of austerity a repeat of a 6% growth with a larger % increase in margins would be very credible. JHD is well placed over the next couple of years to take advantage of economic recovery, and don't forget they have the added advantage of spare capacity in the north east; 'the machine will need to be fed, after being fine tuned'!
I have added to my shareholding at a cheap price of 600p, the spread has narrowed before the split, which is also good news.

[alter ego] 11/12/2012 13:44

well there's no real "bonus" here, just twice as many shares in issue at half the current price all things being equal.

[dashton42] 11/12/2012 08:45

Quite a muted reaction to the bonus share issue - so far...

[lundhousegreen] 09/12/2012 12:36

Whatever the special dividend, and going off their previous track
record, I am certain the board will ensure that the final decision
will be a prudent one. Grateful for any special divi' given the
worldwide economic climate.
LHG

[trigger blade] 09/12/2012 11:00

Hope you enjoyed the cheeseboard!

Hard to imagine they'd make an announcement saying they're considering a special divi and then deciding against it..

Cash at year end was about £38 million and with 100 million approx shares in issue, 10p would amount to approcx £10 million.

I'm no expert, but wouldn't returning 25% of cash be prudent?

Actually, a quick look at what happened last time at the end of 2009, cash was £27 million, the special divi was 15p, but with half as many shares in issue, which would mean £7.5 million of £27 million = 28%

[lundhousegreen] 08/12/2012 22:19

I managed to attend the AGM this year. Looks like it's a matter of not if there's a special dividend, but how much.
It's in the new tax year (2013/14) as the headline top rate rate reduces from 50% to 45%.
My guess would be in the region of, but not more than 10p (5p after the Jan. share split).
LHG

[wad collector] 07/12/2012 10:19

Hurray, I finally managed to buy back the lump I sold in the summer at 619 today.
Bearing in mind the understatement JHD is prone to , seems like a bargain to me.
Couldn't resist , bought my Dad some at 618 too.
I will now attempt to follow the good advice on here of not trading them.(Mind you I did sell at 661 so got away with it)

[lundhousegreen] 07/12/2012 08:11

Possibility of a special dividend in the new tax year??

Chairman's Statement to the Annual General Meeting

James Halstead plc, the commercial flooring company, will hold its AGM today at 12.00 noon at which the Chairman, Mr Geoffrey Halstead, will make the following statement:

As is customary, I would like to give you an update on trading now that we are five months into the current financial year.

In the UK, the general economic climate continues to be challenging but I can report that for the five months of the current year our flooring sales are ahead of last year. The greater part of our business trades globally and overseas we continue to achieve record sales in some key territories whilst others, most notably Australia, are trading below last year. It is apparent in several markets that large infrastructure projects are progressing but at a slower pace and with frequent delays.

Notwithstanding the above, owing to the combined benefits of softer raw material prices and a bias of sales toward higher value and margin product we are on track to surpass the comparative profit of last half year.

I stress that market conditions are difficult and though we have grown over the last few years in difficult conditions this year will, in our view, continue to be tough.

Despite the prevailing market conditions our cash balances continue to grow and the Board will consider the payment of another special dividend which would, if approved, be paid in the new tax year.

[trigger blade] 07/12/2012 07:33

Oof, another special divi! And there was me hoping for a downbeat statement to drop the share price temporarily, so I could buy some more. Never mind....

[zeppo] 19/10/2012 11:00

IMHO this share will progess toward £4.00 again after the share split. Maybe slowly, and dependent, of course, on continuing good results. Their international presence is remarkable.

z

[wad collector] 19/10/2012 10:28

Fair comment.
The trouble with long term planning is that we might not be here long term!

[saint or sinner?] 18/10/2012 21:55

I'm a fan of Buffett's (who wouldn't be?), but I think there are plenty of other snippets of investment wisdom out there, and having recently re-read Philip Fisher's Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits, I wouldn't want to be out of JHD, even on a performance blip, as over the long term they have performed exceptionally well and I suspect will continue to do so.

Would I buy at the current price? I think I probably would if it didn't make up such a heavy portion of my portfolio already, because in 5-10 years time I'd be far more confident of a good investment return than I would holding the majority of other stocks available in the market. However I am wary of a need to show some diversification, so in reality I wouldn't at this moment in time (and headed rapidly towards Xmas with 2 guitar mad teenage boys, and a wife who must think there is a money tree orchard at the bottom of the garden, spare cash isn't something sloshing around in my household at the moment!).

0 :-D

Saint

[wad collector] 18/10/2012 21:12

I don't often trade JHD , but 661p seemed out of proportion.I agree this has been a great stock , but would you buy in at 661p?

[zeppo] 18/10/2012 18:38

Has moneyextra.com got a computer glitch of have they packed up?

Any news please?

z

[westcountryboy] 16/10/2012 21:16

Hi Saint or Sinner

You may not see this retracing but on my calculation the PE ratio just after the results in each of the last five years has been: 2008 10, 2009 12, 2010 15, 2011 18, 2012 22. It just is not going to go on increasing at the same rate. All sorts of homely wisdom comes to mind, such as Buffett's 'you pay a high price for a cheery consensus'. All it needs is one slip and that premium PE ratio will disappear. You may think it's ultra-safe, but in my view it is rather high-risk. So, after nipping in and out quite a bit over the last eighteen months, I am now out altogether. But then I am a value rather than a growth investor. Good luck! It takes two to make a market.

[saint or sinner?] 16/10/2012 18:53

Hope you haven't missed the boat as I don't see this retracing. Can't for the life of me think why anyone want want to try to nip in and out of this stock. Makes up some 50% of my portfolio by value now, and to be honest given how it has performed over the last 10 years I wish it had been 100%.

0 ;-D

Saint

[wad collector] 02/10/2012 09:33

The market seems less impressed by the results than we are.I don't mind as I took profits of most of mine at 661p and am looking to buy back.Currently a 40p spread ,so not yet!