Spectris Share Discussion Threads

[enami] 30/9/2013 07:21

RNS

Spectris PLC Acquisition of NanoSight Limited for US$15m

[enami] 09/9/2013 13:33

SXS hit the 2250 target late August. I cannot see the reason for today's big drop but still in the price channel for Fib target 2468. ATH 2509.

XD 14.75p 16 Oct Pay 08 Nov

[enami] 02/8/2013 19:01

Closed the April gap down.
Short term target 2250.

[broadwood] 26/7/2013 08:14

- Spectris's first-half pretax profit rose 107% to £154.8 million, from £74.8 million. Sales were £566.2 million, From £570.5 million.

"Trading improved during the second quarter across all segments," said CEO John O'Higgins in a statement.

"We remain encouraged both by the strong overall level of our opportunity pipeline and the expected delivery of our planned £10 million net cost savings for the full year," he said.

"Our businesses are strategically well positioned and, assuming the improved trading conditions seen in the second quarter continue, the Board of Spectris is confident it will deliver full year performance in line with its expectations."

[broadwood] 26/7/2013 08:05

dasv - yep, agreed.

[enami] 26/7/2013 07:54

The interim 2013 dividend of 14.75p per share will be payable on 8 November 2013 to ordinary shareholders on the register at the close of business on 18 October 2013.

[togglebrush] 26/7/2013 07:52

Highlights
-- Q2 sales grew 7% on a reported basis, 3% like-for-like
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-- Pipeline activity remains strong, although trading continues to be characterised by longer order cycles
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-- Continued investment in geographic expansion and the accelerated R&D programmes
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-- Cost saving actions in place to deliver the previously announced GBP10 million of net savings for the year
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-- Interim dividend up 9% to 14.75 pence per share
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Commenting on the results, John O'Higgins, Chief Executive, said:
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"Trading improved during the second quarter across all segments. We remain encouraged both by the strong overall level of our opportunity pipeline and the expected delivery of our planned GBP10 million net cost savings for the full year. Our businesses are strategically well positioned and, assuming the improved trading conditions seen in the second quarter continue, the Board of Spectris is confident it will deliver full year performance in line with its expectations."

[broadwood] 26/7/2013 07:26

FLASH: Spectris H1 pretax profit up 107% to £154.8m

[enami] 19/7/2013 14:57

26 Jul 2013 half year results due.

[enami] 09/5/2013 09:44

Seems to be settling around the resistance level established at the start of January.

XD 29 May 25.5p

[roger-lawson] 28/4/2013 08:29

Regarding the share price fall after the announcement on the 19th, I listened into the analysts conference call that morning and then attended the AGM later in the day.

The information gleaned from those two events helps to explain why there was a bit of a rebound in the price subsequently.

A full report of the conference call and the AGM is present on the ShareSoc Members Network here: (but you need to sign up as a free member of ShareSoc to access the document, which you can do from here: www.sharesoc.org/membership.html

I don't know why more people don't attend AGMs. I learned quite a lot from doing so in this case. We publish a lot of reports on AGMs as an information resource for members.

Roger Lawson, ShareSoc

[broadwood] 23/4/2013 16:25

Following a sharp fall in the share price of instrumentation and controls company Spectris on Friday after its first-quarter trading update, Investec has upgraded the stock from 'hold' to 'buy'.

The stock slumped by over 15% from 2,225p on Thursday's close (before the statement) to just 1,880p by Monday's close after the firm reported a decline in sales on Friday due to a deferral of orders and shipment delays.

Analyst Michael Blogg said: "Spectris rarely scares investors and, arguably, the reaction to Friday's update has been excessive. The 9.0% revenue decline in Q1 arose from a combination of challenging comparisons with strong trading a year earlier, delivery phasing that was either pre-arranged or caused by slippage into Q2, and a disappointing tendency among customers to conserve cash."

Nevertheless, he said: "Spectris does not quantify or guide on quarterly revenues, only the H1:H2 bias, and we sense that it was less surprised at a year-on-year decline in Q1 than we were and more confident of a bounce in Q2, with its knowledge of the contributory elements."

Investec has cut its annual earnings forecasts by a precautionary 5.0% on 2.2% lower revenues.

The target price has come down to 2,330p, from 2,575p previously due to reduced earnings estimates and the de-rating of peers.

The stock rebounded strongly on Tuesday, trading 6.86% higher at 2,009p before the close of trade.

BC

[enami] 22/4/2013 08:23

Goldman Sachs Reiterates Conviction Buy Target Reduced From 3,250 To 2,850.
Credit Suisse Reiterates Outperform Target Reduced From 2,670 To 2,350.
UBS Reiterates Buy Target Reduced From 2,700 To 2,500.

[dozey1] 20/4/2013 10:17

Amazing that a company can be all hunky dory on 20th February, and well down a slippery slope two months later without any communication with the market. Management have lost credibility in my book and SXS crossed off the watch list. Good luck to holders.

[dasv] 19/4/2013 14:23

Spectris (LON: SXS)'s stock had its "buy" rating reiterated by equities research analysts at Jefferies Group in a research note issued to investors on Friday, StockRatingsNetwork reports. They currently have a GBX 2,675 ($41.04) price target on the stock.

[dasv] 19/4/2013 14:22

LONDON (SHARECAST) - Investec has placed its 'hold' recommendation and target price under review for productivity-enhancing instrumentation and controls company Sprectris after the a weak first-quarter performance caused the stock to fall sharply on Friday morning.

First-quarter revenues were down 9.0% year-on-year at constant currency, worse than Investec's estimates, mainly due to weaker customer confidence in the near-term outlook which led to a deferral of orders and shipment delays.

Analyst Michael Blogg highlighted that the weakness was broad-based, affecting all major regions and reporting segments as well as the majority of end markets.

"While we anticipated a deceleration in the first quarter, the slowdown was broader and deeper than expected although we have no reason to believe that the company is losing market share," Blogg said.

Spectris is expected to see a £33m drop in annual revenues lost from the Fusion UV business sold in January, but Blogg said that the bottom line should be saved by a £10m cut in annual costs.

"Spectris must be expecting to recover some of these lost revenues and while possible/probable, it is hard to put these into forecasts given much still hangs on a 2H improvement in activity. We place our forecasts under review and initially expect to reduce our profit estimates by up to 5.0%."

Nevertheless, the underling tone of Investec's research report was largely upbeat, with Blogg saying: "The company has successfully negotiated previous downturns and the cost reduction actions will help to underpin FY13E profits."

[dasv] 19/4/2013 14:22

Spectris (LON:SXS) – IMS reports Q1 sales down 9%

• Spectris results show lower Q1 sales due mainly through new Chinese capital discipline and US sequestration.

• The business supplies measurement instrumentation equipment into Automotive, Defence, Oil &Gas, Electronics, Government R&D, Mining, Pulp & Paper

• On a combination of stronger comparatives but slowing customer spend it saw Q1 sales down 9% - the impact was across the board sector wise.

• Its regional sales are broadly spread across U.S., Asia and Europe. It saw Asia sales down 15%, North America down 10% and Europe down 6%

• Lower sales in China on a change of government and slowing pace of growth, in the U.S. on sequestration are tempered with better expectations for

Japan where new QE expected to encourage new growth.

• Spectris is already seeing a pick up in orders for Q2, expects sales to bounce back 9% in that period and has a strong opportunity pipeline.

We note though that it only has circa 8-10 weeks visibility.

• Given it has broad end industry and geographic exposure, it is an interesting indicator of capital equipment spend trends.

• Mining related sales for Spectris X-ray analysis systems are lower on caution in the sector on capital spend.

• Mining should remain a good sector for Spectris as mines work towards better efficiency through the installation of new laboratories and analysis systems.

[pearlfisher] 19/4/2013 11:19

I don't currently see anything likely to drive the price higher in the short term and will have to wait until July when we get another update and can judge whether Q1 was a one-off. Happy to hold in the meantime as I believe the Spectris management team have been sure footed in the past.

[dasv] 19/4/2013 09:52

I too have Renishaw - similarly bruised - although I don't have much exposure in truth to either. (Should point out I sold SXS on open).

[pearlfisher] 19/4/2013 09:10

There appears to have been a sector knock-on as a result of this mornings announcement with Renishaw down 6%. Their IMS is due on May 9 so it will be interesting to see if they have seen a similar decline in Q1 business and their outlook for the year. As an investor in both companies I am a little bruised this morning.

[pearlfisher] 19/4/2013 08:27

Ouch, I got that one wrong.

[dasv] 19/4/2013 08:27

Disappointing - I wasn't expecting such a severe drop in revenue. The asian falls surprised me in particular. I sold at a loss but will continue to watch.

[dasv] 19/4/2013 08:09

TRADING UPDATE

On a reported and constant currency organic basis, sales for the three months ended 31 March 2013 declined by 8% and 9% respectively, delivering a slower than expected start to the year. The decline is due to a combination of the strong comparative prior year period and weaker customer confidence leading to deferral of orders and shipment delays.

This weakness was experienced across all of our major regions, all reporting segments and the majority of our end markets. Regionally, sales in Asia Pacific declined by 15% on a like-for-like basis, North America declined 10% and Europe declined 6% in the quarter compared with the first quarter of last year.

At this stage we have no reason to believe that any deferred orders will be cancelled and our opportunity pipeline remains strong and supportive of revenue growth for the full year, albeit at a more moderate rate than previously anticipated. Therefore, we have taken actions to reduce our cost base for 2013 by approximately £10 million which underpins our full year profit.

FINANCIAL POSITION

Beyond the disposal of Fusion UV, there was no significant event or transaction during this period which resulted in a material impact on the financial position of the group.

The company continues to maintain a healthy financial position. Net debt at 31 March 2013 was approximately £138 million, a reduction of around £116 million in the quarter reflecting the receipt of the gross proceeds from the sale of Fusion UV and continued strong operating cash flow.

OUTLOOK

Whilst we now expect top-line growth in 2013 to be slightly lower than previously anticipated, our strong opportunity pipeline and cost reduction initiatives leave us optimistic that we will deliver full year performance broadly in line with our expectations at the beginning of the year.