Mount Engineering Share Discussion Threads

[masurenguy] 11/11/2010 18:19

MOU was listed on AIM at 70p three and a half years ago and has now been acquired by Coopers at 82p and will subsequently be delisted in 3 weeks time.

RNS Number : 6310V
Mount Engineering PLC
04 November 2010

Notice of Cancellation of Admission to Trading

Cooper Controls (U.K.) Limited announced today that all of the conditions of its recommended cash offer to acquire the entire issued and to be issued share capital of the Company (the 'Offer') had been satisfied or waived and, accordingly, the Offer was declared unconditional in all respects.

Cooper Controls also announced that as at 1.00pm (London time) on 3 November 2010, it had received valid acceptances in respect of a total of 21,377,419 Mount Shares, representing approximately 91.13% of the existing issued ordinary share capital of Mount (excluding Treasury Shares). In accordance with the terms of the offer document dated 8 October 2010, Mount has applied for the cancellation of the admission to trading in its ordinary shares on AIM. It is anticipated that cancellation of admission to trading will be effective from 7.00 am on 3 December 2010 with the last clear day of trading on 2 December 2010. The Offer will remain open for acceptance until 1.00 pm on 12 November 2010.

THREAD IS NOW CLOSED

[masurenguy] 01/11/2010 16:07

Latest development !

RNS Number: 3171V
Cooper Controls (U.K.) Limited
29 October 2010

As at 1.00 pm on 29 October 2010 (being the first closing date of the Offer), Cooper Controls had received valid acceptances from Mount Shareholders in respect of 16,797,720 Mount Shares, representing approximately 71.61% of the existing issued ordinary share capital of Mount. These acceptances include the irrevocable undertakings to accept, or procure the acceptance of, the Offer from Mount Shareholders in respect of 2,287,106 Mount Shares representing approximately 9.8% of Mount's existing issued share capital (excluding Treasury Shares) that Cooper Controls announced that it had received on 4 October 2010.

Cooper Controls is therefore pleased to announce that its Offer for Mount has become unconditional as to acceptances. The Offer remains open until 1.00 pm on 12 November 2010. Shareholders who have not yet accepted the Offer are encouraged to do so without delay.

[masurenguy] 20/10/2010 16:17

Deadline to accept Coopers offer is now 1.00pm on Friday October 29th !

RNS Number : 4319U
Cooper Controls (U.K.) Limited
14 October 2010

RECOMMENDED CASH OFFER FOR MOUNT ENGINEERING PLC

Cooper Controls announced on 1 October 2010 its intention to make a cash offer to acquire the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Mount (excluding treasury shares) at the offer price of 82 pence per share.......Cooper Controls notes the announcement made earlier today by Redhall Group stating that its offer announced on 22 September 2010 for the issued and to be issued share capital of Mount has lapsed with effect from 13 October 2010 and is no longer capable of acceptance........ The Offer will initially remain open for acceptance until 1.00 pm (London time) on 29 October 2010.

[masurenguy] 07/10/2010 18:01

Redhall to back off and let bid lapse !

RNS Number : 0301U
Redhall Group PLC
07 October 2010

Update on the Offer for Mount Engineering plc

The Board has noted the offer for Mount announced by Cooper Safety Limited on 7 October and the subsequent recommendation of the Mount Board. After due consideration, the Redhall Board has concluded not to increase its cash offer of 70p per share and the offer will lapse in due course. This outcome is disappointing given the complementary nature of Mount's activities, but we continue to seek earnings enhancing acquisitions that will provide the Group with critical mass in its core markets.

[masurenguy] 01/10/2010 07:29

RNS Number : 6800T
Mount Engineering PLC
01 October 2010

Response to statement of offer for the Company

The Board of Mount Engineering (the "Board") has noted the announcement by Cooper Controls (U.K.) Limited, a UK subsidiary of Cooper Industries plc ("Cooper") on 1 October 2010 making a cash offer for the entire issued and to be issued capital of Mount Engineering at 82 pence per Mount share.

As stated in the announcement by Cooper, pursuant to the terms and conditions of a non-solicitation and inducement fee agreement entered into by the Company with Redhall Group plc ("Redhall") the Board are at this time unable to make a formal recommendation of the Cooper offer for at least 5 days from receipt of the indication by Cooper that it intends to publically announce details of a formal offer for Mount Engineering, which was received by Mount on 30 September 2010.

The Board does however note that the cash offer of 82 pence per Mount share by Cooper, represents a premium of 17.1% to the Redhall offer of 70 pence per Mount Share. In addition, the Board also notes that following the announcement of Cooper's firm intention to make an offer at 82 pence all Mount shareholders, other than the Mount Directors and certain other senior management of Mount (whose beneficial holdings of 2,131,834 Mount Shares represent, in aggregate, 9.09% of Mount's issued share capital) who have provided Redhall with irrevocable undertakings or Letters of Intent are no longer bound by such undertakings in relation to the Redhall offer.

At this time the Board recommends that Shareholders take no action with regard to any offer for the Group. A further announcement will be made in due course.

[deswalker] 28/9/2010 07:22

Things getting interesting ...

[deswalker] 22/9/2010 15:28

Yes. Sales and PBT quite a bit lower than back then but net cash position much better and outlook much more uncertain. All adds up to the same price ...

Management clearly want their money out (and retirement perhaps) and the major shareholders are happy to take management's lead on this.

A disappointing outcome for what looked like a very nice little company but seeing as I only bought in May at 54p I can't be too disgruntled. What with the worsening trade, who knows when another bid would have come along and the management clearly wanted to realise their holdings sooner rather than later at IMO 10% below its actual worth. Seems prudent when viewed in the context of such an uncertain global outlook.

A decent deal for RHL but I'd need to see that about 10% cheaper before I'd be interested.

I wonder whether we may start to see other lowish-ball bids for small caps succeeding as the management teams start to want out to enjoy their retirements, cannot face such uncertain times and are willing to accept a bird in the hand even if it is 10% less than they might have hoped ? I was gobsmacked to see Tom Cross not recommending £18 for DNX to be honest with £30 odd million at stake. Seemed greedy to me.

[masurenguy] 22/9/2010 13:45

MOU will be acquired by RHL at the very same price as their original IPO in July 2007 !

[deswalker] 22/9/2010 08:12

Perhaps 5p too cheap IMO but a bird in the hand and all that.

RHL not cheap enough for me at the moment.

[wjccghcc] 22/9/2010 08:08

Got mine at an average of 53p so can't complain.

Have been in and out of RHL (currently out) as the market doesn't seem to like them despite their cheap fundamentals. Guess I'll have to take another look now.

[stemis] 22/9/2010 07:53

I guess you guys must think Redhall got a reasonable deal at 70p if you were buying at high 50's?

Based on interims and adjusting for £2.4 million net cash, the price looks about 8 times earnings.

[Holder in Redhall]

[rivaldo] 22/9/2010 07:48

Hi Mas. I've been vaguely following MOU for ages - this price looks like a bargain for the purchasers to me, as I can see MOU's markets turning up nicely at some point.

Trouble is I'm a bit nervous about some of RHL's markets, so it isn't really for me at present despite this acquisition. Oh well, back to GNG then!

[masurenguy] 22/9/2010 07:32

Masurenguy - 1 Apr'08 - 15:01 - 1: The Company was informed on 23/11/07 that on 23 November 2007 Mr Alan McClue, and family controlled companies, purchased in aggregate 127,063 ordinary shares of 1p each in the Company at a price of 66.5p.

Wilmdav - 23 Sep'09 - 16:15 - 23: Purchased a few at 58p. Couldn't get inside the spread.

DesWalker - 18 May'10 - 12:04 - 27: Just picked some up here. Looks too cheap to me.

A reasonable return on your money guys :o)

Masurenguy - 1 Apr'08 - 2: Tipped by t1ps.com today a 76p

Checkout the above date - April Fool !

To be fair you would have just got out at break even if you had followed his earlier tip @70p !
"One day it will be snapped up by a major. But on fundamentals it is a snip at 76p. The stance is buy with a limit buying price of 90p and a one year target of 131p. I actually tipped this a couple of months ago on t1ps at 70p." :0)

[masurenguy] 22/9/2010 07:17

A comparatively short timeframe as an independently public quoted company !

RNS Number : 0922T
Redhall Group PLC
22 September 2010

RECOMMENDED CASH OFFER BY REDHALL GROUP Plc FOR MOUNT ENGINEERING PLC

SUMMARY
The Boards of Redhall and Mount are pleased to announce that they have reached agreement on the terms of a recommended cash offer for the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Mount (excluding Treasury Shares). It is intended that the Offer will be implemented by way of a public offer under the City Code.
* Under the terms of the Offer, Mount Shareholders will receive 70 pence in cash for each Mount Share. The Offer values the whole of the currently issued share capital of Mount (excluding Treasury Shares) at approximately GBP16.42 million in aggregate.
* The Offer Price of 70 pence per Mount Share represents a premium of approx: 26.13% over the Closing Price of 55.50 pence per Mount Share on 21 September 2010, being the last Business Day prior to the date of this announcement; and 24.35% over the average Closing Price of 56.29 pence per Mount Share for the six month period immediately prior to the commencement of the Offer Period.

The Mount Directors, who have been so advised by Charles Stanley, consider the
terms of the Offer to be fair and reasonable so far as the Mount Shareholders
are concerned as a whole.



RNS Number : 0819T
Mount Engineering PLC
22 September 2010

Unaudited Interim Financial Statements for the Six Months Ended 30 June 2010

Trading conditions in the first half of the year have continued in line with the last six months of the last financial year. Compared to the six months to 30 June 2009 we have seen a 7% fall in sales to £4.6 million (2009: £5.0 million), in addition there was a 1% reduction in gross margin and a 3% fall in operating margin. Cash generation continued to be excellent, with operational cash flow of £1.4 million (2009: £1.6 million). Net cash at the end of the period stands at £2.4 million (2009: £0.62 million) after the payment of a final dividend for the year ended 31 December 2009 of £0.33 million.

Gross margins in the first half declined by 1% to 52% primarily due to increasing copper prices and increased competitiveness in the oil and gas market. Overhead expenses are relatively fixed, however excluding foreign exchange gains, they continued to benefit from across the board cost savings with a slight overall reduction of £0.05m. Operating profit margin decreased to 27% versus 30% prior year.

Trading in the second half of the financial year ending 31 December 2010 has continued very much in line with the first half. The directors are of the opinion that Mount's markets remain resilient and the Group continues to experience stability both in terms of profitability and cash generation. Performance improvement in the second half of the year will be dependent on the timing of an upturn in demand from the international oil and gas markets. At this stage it is too early to be confident that activity levels will return to the levels of 2008 before the end of 2010.

[masurenguy] 03/8/2010 14:12

Probably need to wait until the H1 interims are announced at the end of September before being able to quantify what "marginally behind management's expectations" really means. Still just monitoring this share from the sidelines.

RNS Number : 2044Q
Mount Engineering PLC
30 July 2010

Challenging conditions have continued to prevail in the first half of the
current financial year ended 30 June 2010 with trading in key markets in the
Middle East and North America remaining resilient. Markets in Asia, Europe and the UK, which tend to have a greater dependence on project activity, have been weaker than anticipated. As a result the trading performance of Mount has been marginally behind management's expectations. Whilst market expectations are for improved trading conditions in the second half of the financial year, performance improvement will be dependent on an upturn in demand from the international oil and gas markets.

[deswalker] 18/5/2010 12:04

Just picked some up here. Looks too cheap to me.

[masurenguy] 07/4/2010 10:55

Share price has marginally declined since last months results which were quite reasonable given the fall in sales. Fairly illiquid so one sell of 4600 shares today can push the price down by 3.5%.

Currently on an historic PER of 7.5 but with cash in the bank and no net debt. Still watching but no position here yet.
.......................................................................................

RNS Number : 7529I
Mount Engineering PLC
18 March 2010

Turnover for the year of GBP9.3m (2008 GBP11.8m) has generated an operating profit of GBP2.9m (2008 GBP3.25m), equating to 30.8% of turnover (2008 27.6%) and basic earnings per share of 8.2 pence per share (2008 8.9 pence per share). As at the year end, the Group had a strong balance sheet position with cash balances of GBP4m and net cash of GBP1.76m, (2008 GBP3.8m and GBP0.5m respectively). The Board intend to propose to shareholders the payment of a final dividend of 1.4p per Ordinary share, which, if approved at the AGM, will be paid on 2 June 2010 to shareholders on the register at 14 May 2010. Total dividend for the year is 2.4 pence per share (2008 2.3 pence per share).

Outlook

Although the Group experienced a relatively buoyant start to 2009, order intake gradually declined and stabilised at a lower level. However, prompt action taken by management in respect of the supply chain positioned the Group to improve margins despite the lower turnover, such that Mount is well placed to benefit from any upturn in demand later in 2010 and beyond.

With short term visibility of its own order book, Mount relies on a number of
external indicators to assist in forecasting its own activity. Indicative levels of capital spend from major oil companies, approval of major infrastructure projects, tender enquiry levels, and published forward order books of equipment manufacturers are all reviewed. As a supplier of late cycle products in respect of the installation of electrical equipment in new capital projects, the timing of any benefit to Mount from increased sales is also an unknown variable. Routine maintenance and refurbishment of older facilities provides a more and reoccurring immediate benefit to the Group. In summary, our key indicators show our sales have stabilised.

Y Reduction in Turnover of 20%

Y Operating Margin 30.8%, up from 27.6%

Y Cash balances at year end of GBP4,033k

Y Net Cash at end of year of GBP1,709k

Y Increased final dividend 1.4p per share

Y Satisfactory start to new financial year

[masurenguy] 21/10/2009 17:22

Quiet here over the past month. Wonder whether Wilmdav subsequently bought any CRYO !

[masurenguy] 28/9/2009 07:36

RNS Number : 7177Z
Mount Engineering PLC
28 September 2009

Unaudited Interim Financial Statements for the Six Months Ended 30 June 2009

Six months to
30 June 2009

Six months to
30 June 2008

Year to
31 December 2008
(audited)

£000
£000
£000

Revenue
5,000
5,831
11,778

Gross profit
2,658
2,910
5,529

Operating profit
1,512
1,610
3,257

Profit before tax
1,417
1,530
3,071

Basic earnings per share (pence)
4.3p
4.4p
8.9p

Diluted earnings per share (pence)
4.3p
4.4p
8.9p

Net cash/(debt)
618
(188)
534

Turnover reduced by 14%

Improved gross margin 53.2%, up from 49.9%

Operating margin 30.2%, up from 27.6%

Positive operational cash flow of £1.6m

Interim dividend of 1p per share maintained

We continue to seek new avenues for expanding both our sales network and product ranges. Whilst there is little evidence to suggest that the group's primary oil and gas related fabrication markets are seeing an increase in capital projects, we remain focused on controlling inventory and costs. Overall, the Group has made a steady start to the second half of the year and results remain broadly in line with full year market expectations.

[wilmdav] 23/9/2009 16:15

Purchased a few at 58p. Couldn't get inside the spread. Asking price was subsequently raised to 60p. No other trades recorded on ADVFN or Plus.

[masurenguy] 22/9/2009 18:05

It's included on my ADVFN Favourites list which both automatically and immediately highlights any new post that is made on the thread. Be interested to see your view of CRYO on that thread in due course.

[masurenguy] 22/9/2009 00:50

After the crash last September I held back from making any further new investments into more small caps unless they had plenty of cash. Don't really know anymore about the directors beyond what you've posted above. I have subsequently added a few new companies over the past few months but am still on the sidelines here.

I think this is a solid and well managed business and the current eps of circa 9p puts them on a PER of just over 6 at the current share price - probably fairly valued in current market conditions. They also pay a dividend which yields around 4% at the moment. Looks like they will maintain a similar level of sales and pretax profits as last year which is no mean achievement at the moment.

This is well below most peoples radar as 19 posts in 18 months clearly indicates. I view them as a potential future equity component in my SIPP - a steady plodder with hopefully a rising yield but not really a hotshot candidate with significant capital appreciation potential.

O/T: A more recent new investment last month was Cryo-Save (CRYO), a market leader in stem cell storage. The share price then shot up after they announced 3 weeks ago that would list on Euronext in the new year. They subsequently posted a good set of interims last week. I think that there is considerable future mileage in this 'embryonic' sector (excuse the pun) and you might like to check them out. Would be interested in hearing your views if you do !