James Halstead Share Discussion Threads

[zeppo] 21/7/2015 19:41

Waddy

I have lost my nerve.

I burned my fingers so many times on Penny Shares that they call me the 'Black Hand Gang'

The tortoise beat the hare in the old fable and we are content to 'watch the paint dry' as long as we can now re-paper the walls with a growing divi notices.



z

[wad collector] 21/7/2015 12:50

Just noticed I accidentally put my limit sell on a one day timescale yesterday , fortuitous as gone up more today so just changed it to 430.

Z , your long term strategy has worked well here , but don't you hate watching paper gains drift away when the price falls back?

[zeppo] 20/7/2015 22:11

Not a trader so hope for another Interim divi increase in December - and news of a Centenary? bonus.

Held some through at least two share splits and at least two bonus divis.

z

[redips2] 20/7/2015 20:46

Aye regrettably thinking the same, now watching like a hawky thing .

[wad collector] 20/7/2015 12:46

I put a 425 limit sell order for some more of mine. I like JHD but the share price looks ripe for a fall to me.

[wad collector] 22/6/2015 16:25

Agree ; hard to justify price on fundamentals ; might be a good time to sell some more. But that is what I thought last week and then it went up 20p!

[gripfit] 21/6/2015 08:41

is it time to sell sooooon though??it's looking top heavy to me.

[wad collector] 18/6/2015 09:34

I am impressed by your great age and enthusiasm for investing!

[bda3490] 17/6/2015 16:09

394.50 ....and the Telegraph reports JHD as 8th largest AIM but market cap. Its big enough to be FTSE250. I have had my shares since they were FTSE350 back in the 1990s.
100 years old plus a few weeks.

Now where is that special divi

[greatgiginthesky] 08/6/2015 20:51

Cannot criticize anyone for taking some profits after the strong recent run. I don't normally deal on the back of unexplained runs (either up or down) but I am tempted to follow you and take the gamble on buying back in later. Maybe I'll wait for 500p, LOL.

[wad collector] 04/6/2015 16:44

Couldn't resist taking some profit in this little surge towards the bell ; sold a third at 394 . I gamble on a buyback opportunity later. Or perhaps I am missing some news...

[redips2] 03/6/2015 18:15

Aye v nice.....ATH .

[sharesoc] 02/6/2015 11:55

We are holding one of our popular Investor Masterclasses in Manchester so local investors and shareholders in JHD may be interested in attending as JHD is based nearby our venue...

[wad collector] 26/5/2015 16:24

ATH broken convincingly today. Holding for long term myself but profit taking would seem reasonable.

[wad collector] 18/5/2015 13:22

Heading to a new ATH today , no news , I guess just following the wider market.

[wad collector] 16/4/2015 22:55

Just noticed it was tipped by Questor a fortnight ago....
James Halstead
330p-4.25p

Questor says BUY
JAMES Halstead [LON:JHD], the manufacturer of floor coverings, may not operate in the most exciting sector, but record profits, strong cash generation and a 40-year track record of rising dividends make the shares well worth a closer look.


The Manchester-based manufacturer has a 100-year history of production and has become one of the world leaders in vinyl flooring. Vinyl may sound very Seventies, but Halstead has invested in creating technically advanced flooring that is both low-cost and hard-wearing. These attributes mean it is demanded the world over by hospitals and schools. The company has been publicly quoted on Aim since 1948.
Halstead has an attractive business for several reasons. It is difficult for new companies to start up and compete because of the high cost of all the machinery required to produce its kind of flooring. The company’s manufacturing process also has years of technical expertise under its belt, which lowers cost and is difficult to copy.
Its global reach has reduced any reliance on one particular market and has helped spread any commercial risks. Halstead generates about 35pc of sales in the UK, 43pc from Europe, 15pc in the Far East, and 7pc from the rest of the world. The company is also helped by sales of flooring also having a certain degree of predictability. Gordon Oliver, finance director, said that about 80pc of business was refurbishment of buildings such as offices, shops and restaurants, with the balance going to new infrastructure projects such as hospitals and schools. Sales are, therefore, not dependent on big building programmes.
Halstead’s 10-year track record is also impressive; it has more than doubled revenue while pre-tax profits tripled.
Yesterday the company was confident as it released a record set of results. It said pre-tax profits for the six-month period to the end of December were up 5.3pc to £21.4m and revenue was 5.7pc higher at £117m, when compared with the same period a year earlier.
The strength of the pound has made exporting difficult, but the company is not making excuses. Geoffrey Halstead, the chairman, quoted Churchill in defiance alongside the results, saying: “Kites rise highest against the wind, not with it.” The Halstead family still retains a combined 40pc stake in the company.
Having weathered the strong sterling currency storm, the company should get help in the second half of the year from falling raw material prices. Halstead said the profit margins improved by 1pc during the first half as raw materials which, being plastics-based are partly linked to oil prices, fell by up to 6pc. That leaves market expectations for full-year pre-tax profits of £44m, giving earnings per share of about 16p, looking perfectly achievable.
Halstead also looks in good condition from a balance sheet perspective. The shares are backed by net assets of £96.6m, or about 47p per share, and there was £46.7m in net cash at the end of December. That cash level was 21pc higher than the same period a year earlier. The amount of cash generated in the six-month period rose to £28.3m, from £20.3m a year earlier. The cash covers the dividend payments more than twice and the interim dividend rose by 4.7pc, to 3.1p, ex-dividend on May 6 and payable June 5. The full-year dividend is forecast to rise by 10pc, to 11p, giving a prospective yield of 3.4pc.
The only issue is that the shares are looking expensive as they are near record highs, and trading on 20 times forecast earnings per share, which is a high rating given the single digit earnings growth. That said, the premium to the wider market looks justified, with Halstead’s track record of profits and return of cash to shareholders.
Questor is always wary about paying a high price for shares, and some investors may prefer to wait, but given the underlying quality they are a buy for the long-term.

[wad collector] 15/4/2015 12:00

Off the ball here just noticed the interims - I do like the pi figure. It does sound like the chairman was drunk when he wrote the statement quoting Kipling.

No special dividend this time but that was probably an unrealistic expectation. The share price looks fair to me (p/e 23 and 2.8% yield covered 1.5) - cannot see a huge upside in the short term , but most of us are here for the long term I suspect. A 13p spread is another disincentive to trading.

[nehpets81] 01/4/2015 15:19

Ha! Well spotted. Are the directors having a bit of fun? A dividend that happens to equal pi and quotes from Kipling and Churchill in the (rather brief) interim update...

They should have released the numbers today!

[bda3490] 01/4/2015 11:31

3.142 dividend - that's pi (e)

[lundhousegreen] 31/3/2015 10:17

Interim results

[gunter guil] 23/3/2015 12:26

Sold mine a few weeks back but would really like a nice opportunity to buy them back.