Opd Share Discussion Threads

[jeffian] 20/12/2007 20:00

There's no advantage to be had from overbidding, apatel21. You go for these things on terms that make sense to you and your shareholders and have to be prepared to walk away if someone is prepared to pay more than you are. Plenty of companies have come unstuck "winning" a bidding war and then finding they've paid too much. After 3 profit warnings, frankly I think the market thought IMP was a bit of a stinker and it may do OPD no harm to 'lose' it!

It's not over yet but I'm pretty relaxed whichever way it goes.

Regards, Ian

[apatel21] 20/12/2007 17:52

Ian,

OPD offer for IMP has been trumped by HYDG. What do you think the market perception of OPD will be if it lets IMP slip through its fingers when its been chasing for over 6 months?

Do you think the OPD management were shrewd in making such a low ball offer or daft as bats for proposing something which was likely to fail.

They could have made a credible offer IMHO of 130p if they had offered 20% more when bid 1st made. Now it will cost them 30% more to make a 130p bid.

[jeffian] 20/12/2007 10:04

The strange thing about this whole sector is the contrast between the share price performance and the statements/forecasts made by the companies involved. It's only 3 months since OPD's Interims, when they made confident noises about trading going forward, but the continued downtrend of the share price suggested a warning or changed outlook, so I watch statements by others in the sector with interest. We subsequently had a good statement from MPI and now today Harvey Nash has produced a perfectly respectable trading statement. The market appears to be saying "We don't believe you"!

Regards, Ian

[nigelpm] 07/12/2007 15:30

One wishes you would actually talk about shares one day ;-)

[andyprice5569] 07/12/2007 14:06

nigelpm,

I have to say, I'm happy you are thus far [considerably] in the blue with your PSD investment, although I have to say it does make me chuckle somewhat in an ironic kinda (although still kind) way.

:-)

One hopes for your that your losses in IMP are made up for by your gains in OPD.

Regs, Andy

[nigelpm] 05/12/2007 11:15

apatel - do you still think I should have waited with the purchase?

;--)

[nigelpm] 04/12/2007 00:12

looks like it finished flat - it's not a short term play for me at all.

[apatel21] 03/12/2007 11:56

Nigel - OPD sinking again today ? - looks like someone knows there's some bad news on the way. i think you should have waited with your purchase until the news is out.

[nlm1] 01/12/2007 12:03

Look the credit crunch will probably have quite a big impact on the finance houses of the city and therefore a big knock on effect for recruiters closely linked to the city - Michael Page being an example. They may have issued a bullish trading statement recently but let's not forget that those figures were related to pre-credit crunch times. If you're gonna get out of a stock get out of any recruitment firm heavily tied to the city.

OPD IS NOT TIED TO THE CITY!!!!!! I know, I used to work there. Sure, they do business with the banks, who doesn't but it's at best 10% of their business. I'm still in recruitment so I can tell you that the general economy in terms of recruitment is still very strong. It may cool a little but that can actually help recruitment companies as it becomes easier to find good candidates.

The prospective p/e for OPD is now way too low and looks like it will be going even lower. Judging by the angle of descent it's probably not unreasonable to expect sub £2 fairly soon.

If you're prepared to buy and hold for 4 years plus, there is no reason why this company shouldn't be back to a more realistic valuation circa £200 million. So that will be a 4x return! As ever, it's a golden opportunity of exploiting the short term panic of the market.

[sludgesurfer] 30/11/2007 17:05

I'm out. Sold for my biggest loss of the year :(

Luck to all

[apatel21] 30/11/2007 16:13

nigel - IMP up but OPD down ? - make of that what you will

[nigelpm] 30/11/2007 15:37

The share price has been decimated of late.

I'd personally rather buy after a fall than when things are going great guns but then that's my way of investing.

[apatel21] 30/11/2007 15:32

nigel - big risk - i feel some bad news on the way @ OPD. Always is when a share slides relentlessly like OPD has. Same happened with IMP itself which got me in to this fine mess : (

[nigelpm] 30/11/2007 15:27

I've just picked some up for reasons stated by apatel.

The management side of things isn't too much of a concern for me as a new broom can easily sweep clean.

[apatel21] 29/11/2007 16:32

OPD share price continues to slide with 07 PE forecast now 5.68 and 08 now 4.84. I would be tempted by the fundamentals but the OPD management have shown themselves to be totally incompetant in their handling of their takeover of IMP, which i feel almost certain they will not get.

[polzeath] 12/11/2007 19:45

Fair enough. Best hope is that (was that) 110-120p or so was the opening gambit, player #2 goes to 135p and OPD finally carries off IMP with 150p. I'd still be down hence the rancour but not so bad as 106p today, I guess holders will just laugh at that one. With 3 players could go higher but not by much.

[jeffian] 12/11/2007 19:31

polzeath,

The market doesn't like ANY recruitment consultants at the moment!


They clearly don't believe the bullish outlook statements made by both MPI and OPD recently and think that the 'credit crunch' problems have led to recruitment in the financial services sector being switched off overnight. They may be right, in which case there's going to have to be a few revised Trading Statements soon, or it may be that other areas of the recruitment market are holding up. We shall see.

So far as IMP is concerned, cash is king, surely? The rationale for both all-paper deals has to be the recovery story 'under new management' but if you're looking for the 'best price', you're only going to achieve it in the short term by dumping new OPD or Hydrogen stock the moment you get it, so what the bids are 'worth' and what you get are not necessarily the same! I don't know what the Irishmen's game is, but if the markets carry on like this, the one putting up the most cash is likely to win the prize IMHO.

Regards, Ian

[polzeath] 12/11/2007 18:20

Market doesn't like OPD.

Who can blame the market?

Certainly not IMP holders LOL ;-)

[apatel21] 02/11/2007 15:17

Maybe an arbritage opportunity for those interested in holding OPD shares. IMP to buy currently 105p. Indicative bid worth 110p (mostly in OPD shares) but most likely will need to be higher to win support. Only downside is OPD walk away and your left with IMP paper but i just can't see it given how much time the've spent chasing IMP. OPD management will look really pathetic if they do.

Just a question of pitching @ a tempting enough price for activist shareholders in IMP to accept. 140p might do it. 150p definately will.

[domwilliams] 31/10/2007 11:30

Today's bid news for Imprint and current share price values IMP at 110p per share (and falling; was 118p earlier with OPD above 300p).

The prospects of the bid actually occurring now must be slim.

However, OPD must have sounded out some IMP holders for support before pitching in*, and I dare say Brian Hamill too, who may have indicated at what price he would buy the Wood Hamill & Imprint S&S business from OPD for, post-takeover.

* Unless they have just tabled an opportunistic lowball bid, but expect it to be turned down, leaving everyone to get back to building value for their respective Co's).

[tiger20] 28/10/2007 18:02

Simon Thompson is the Investors Chronicle's companies editor

this week he repeats his confidence in this stock on fundamentals - and he cannot fathom out why they have dropped over the last few months.

Bought in at £2.90

[matt] 15/10/2007 15:33

Is the fall in Imprint hitting the price here? Will they go back for a bid at a lower price?

[jeffian] 05/10/2007 19:45

nlm1,
I have no doubt that IS what investors fear but there is nothing out there yet to support that. You say "Some agencies are heavily linked to the city (Michael Page) and are getting hammered as a result and other's are not" but MPI put out an extremely good trading statement yesterday which not only reported stonking figures but also forecast continued good trading saying "Notwithstanding the recent developments in specific banking sectors, we continue to experience strong demand for talent around the globe and are confident in the ongoing prospects for Michael Page."

Having said that, I've been "in for some more" on several occasions but even I am getting a bit battered by the continued decline. Whatever the fundamentals, once the market 'takes against' a particular share - as it seems to have done here - there's not much one can do to fight the 'trend'.

Regards, Ian

[nlm1] 05/10/2007 10:17

It's likely to be caused by investor fear of what the downturn in the city will have in terms of recruitment. Some agencies are heavily linked to the city (Michael Page) and are getting hammered as a result and other's are not. I'm happy to say that OPD isn't particularly exposed to the city and it makes up only a small part of their business (I know I used to work there).

They are on a prospective p/e of 7/8 which I think is way too cheap. Have spoken to my old buddies there and business continues briskly (see also recent interims)so I can only suggest it's the market doing it's usual short term thing and to see this as a good buying opportunity. I'm in for some more.