S & U Share Discussion Threads

[billy_liar] 28/10/2015 08:56

Decided to add a few more ths morning to tuck away in the SIPP.

[plasybryn] 22/10/2015 09:39

Price adjusted today as now ex dividend. Pay out 12th November.

[plasybryn] 21/10/2015 17:32

Another strong day. Just look at that chart. An investors dream.

[jeffian] 21/10/2015 11:21

Going forward, it does look as if they will be able to maintain the 'normal' dividend (66p last year) despite the loss of eps from the loansathome4u disposal. Their target is for a divi which is 2x covered, which looks doable.

[plasybryn] 21/10/2015 10:59

Ex dividend day getting very close. Pay out November 12th (20p + £1.25)

[tudes100] 09/10/2015 09:24

Hoping we see a run up towards ex div day (Oct 22nd) for that £1.45 divi

[plasybryn] 03/10/2015 13:11

Have you seen the Edison report on S&U? Published on 1st October.
Valuation: average is £29.90. Peer valuation is £35.30 & their Gordan's growth model is £40.30.
I guess it could actually be a lot higher, depending on the value creation arising from the new SME finance plans etc.
As a net cash positive business, (peers work on multiples of 3-4 x debt to equity) with the potential of gaining its own banking licence in 2016/2017, this is a very unique investment IMO.
The track record is second to none. All executive directors joined the business in 1999 or before, so have proven their mgmt & strategic skills.
If the dividend yield continues to increase, and with such limited shares available, the upward pressure on the share price must continue IMO.
Thankfully, we are under the radar and not infested with short term traders. Long may that continue.
Well done S&U.
Along with GVC, this is my favourite stock.
DYOR & best of luck for the future.

[buffetteer] 22/9/2015 09:15

Absolutely - they have intimated 'specialist finance' so I think they will have targets in mind . As Lord Lee says it's better to back those who have large family holdings as they tend to look after their money better . I suspect the future is rather rosy as the Chairman could not have been more bullish .after all they only have a minuscule market share (27k of 2.5m) in secondhand car sales.

[plasybryn] 22/9/2015 09:13

Very happy with that. Great set of results as always.

"Current trading excellent"
Will be interested to see what they can do going forward. They obviously have plans to develop new growth strategies and accelerate the growth of share holder value from new lending lines.
I expect a lot of the special dividend will get reinvested supporting the share price That's what seems to happen over on GVC, where the dividend has been close to 10%.
Well done Board.

[rogerbridge] 22/9/2015 08:38

I am impressed with the results, though we are now rather exposed to the motor car sector, booming at the moment but for how long. I am sure Coombes must have a plan to diversify.

[buffetteer] 22/9/2015 08:10

Well - what a superb performance . Profits up 32% and lots of cash to increase growth faster . Investing £11m to speed up growth should make good returns too.
If only all companies .....

[gorse] 22/9/2015 08:10

Balance sheet has moved from strong to Huge Castle.

[jeffian] 22/9/2015 08:07

Well I was wrong (not unusual!) in assuming they would go for the return of capital route rather than a special dividend. Haven´t quite got my mind round what this would do for the ongoing business. Current year will continue to be flattered by the one-off effect of the disposal but thereafter.........? How quickly can growth in motor finance restore the missing eps? Can the underlying div be sustained? Will there be more ´special´;payments?

[billy_liar] 22/9/2015 07:42

Sell up if you think this is a risky holding Shanklin.

[shanklin] 22/9/2015 07:34

So, due to the sale of the Home Credit Division, EPS is 17.3p less than H1 2014. Might it now be a stretch to achieve broker forecasts for the full year?

Also, obviously wrongly I thought the special dividend might be rather higher than £1.25.

[billy_liar] 22/9/2015 07:33

Kerching!

Show me the money! ;-)

[flyposter] 20/9/2015 20:52

Jeffian, DIA feels like a punt to me, as I mentioned I am quite new to this, and I would gamble if there was enough of a recovery play, Tomorrow I am going for Sophos - been watching them for a while, and it's interesting to compare them to Kainos (who I am in). Kainos dropped 8% on Friday, just before entry into the small cap on Monday (Tree shake?), whilst Sophos who lauched around the same time, and are in very similar niche markets rose. IMO Sophos are the bigger takeover target, and if not have good prospects anyway.


Gonna watch DIA still and see if you are right, and take on board your observations... once again, thanks.

[plasybryn] 17/9/2015 13:30

Half yr results next Tuesday. Details of capital pay out?

[flyposter] 03/9/2015 11:40

Ah, yeah... I noticed that Dialight breakout too, already on my watch list.

[flyposter] 03/9/2015 11:38

Thanks Jeffian, I'll have a look at DIA

I come from the school of Robbie Burns, there should be a name for us: Burners?

No, actually I prefer Robbers :)

[jeffian] 02/9/2015 00:31

We're coming at it from different ends of the spectrum! I don't play poker and I don't trade - I'm a retired bloke with a pool of capital which needs to be parked somewhere to make me an income and, hopefully, grow.

I was interested in your LTC comment because it is a share I've followed (though never bought into - it always seemed too expensive when doing OK and then suddenly it wasn't doing OK). I'm glad you caught the rise - I'd wondered if you bought in on the announcement thinking there was more to go. Funnily enough, companies which disappoint on trading sometimes can do well as they become takeover targets as has happened with LTC. If you're interested in that approach, have a look at DIA (I sold over £13 and it went sub-5 on disappointing trading) where new management have said they're carrying out a "strategic review" (often managementspeak for 'we're putting ourselves up for sale' in my experience). It's started to move back up quite sharply. Personally, I don't like the fundamentals (they've gone from cash positive to burning a lot of cash) but if I were a trader.........) (No advice intended, btw)

[flyposter] 01/9/2015 19:00

I might add, I am no longer paper trading, but using the real stuff. eek! Nah it's fun, I think I am gonna do well, and can't help but notice similarities with poker - I play a mean game of poker.

[flyposter] 01/9/2015 18:53

Jeffrian, thanks for your very informative response, I am on a steep learning curve. My strategy from months of paper trading is as a medium term trader, not a day trader, so no i didn't buy this morning. It was about a week after this :"05/08/2015 09:55 Alliance News Latchways Begins Year Well Amid Sales Team Expansion In UK And Europe" I got lucky, so I apologise for being glib.

I got lucky, or perhaps unlucky paper trading Alent when it got acquired, paper traded Fever tree drinks which I sold at 45% and Clipper logistics at 22 %

I crashed and burned on HSS hire, when I didn't know what I was doing, and although I say I sold Fevertree drinks at 45% that's theoretical, because I got stop lossed out, bought again and still made I don't bother with stop losses now, I go for email alerts.

Thanks again, I was kinda prodding for information to learn.

I am currently in Kainos, and Stride Gaming.


happy returns to you all.

[plasybryn] 01/9/2015 16:47

Well said jeffian.
I also went back to the RNS to check my understanding.
These are some key quotes:-
1. "Home credit.....has not proved a growing one with the past three financial yrs achieving little growth in individual customer receivables".
2. "will allow the Group to devote additional resources to Advantage motor finance & Advantage's SME vehicle lending product & enable it to develop other higher growth areas of specialist finance"
3. "initially reduce indebtedness" - "savings on indebtedness"
4. "Acclerated growth at Advantage" - "The potential market is therefore very substantial & growing"
5. "will enanable a rate of expansion of Advantage, which has seen revenue grow at a compound annual growth rate of 26.6%"
6. "The directors expect to develop the business into broader small scale business lending."
7. "New Business Areas" - "The Board is exploring areas of personal finance initially in partnerships with well-established market participants"

Given their 77 years of experience & brilliant track record, I trust them implicitly to be making the correct business call in the interests of maximising returns and adding shareholder value.
IMO of course. DYOR & GL