Speedy Hire Share Discussion Threads

[plastow] 02/12/2016 13:20

Very quite in here considered the movment up

[rumbers2] 22/11/2016 07:52

I think this sector is going to get very exciting in the new year with lots of consolidation/takeover activity. This morning Lavendon received a hostile takeover bid of £2.05 a share (currently 1.39p)and Speedy will become an attractive target too with its diminishing debt.
Interesting to see also that Toscafund increased its holding yet again in HHS Hire by nearly 3 million shares last Wednesday/Thursday to take its total holding to over 21%.
They announce 9M results Thursday and saddled with colossal debt I will be interested to see whether this nationwide programme of store openings is paying off. Personally i have my doubts.

[rumbers2] 16/11/2016 09:53

A positive and insightful article in City AM this morning which I think reveals Russell Down's animosity towards ToscaFund:

Speedy Hire’s share price shot up 15 per cent this morning after the lender of tools and construction equipment reported increasing revenues and profits – an improvement the company said came “in spite” of a high-profile attack from an activist investor.

Shares were up more than 15 per cent to 42.5p, their highest level since January, this morning, and analysts also appeared to be impressed. Liberum said the profit-before-tax figure was 31 per cent ahead of expectations, while N+1 Singer upgraded its forecast for the firm.

The latter part of the six-month period saw Speedy Hire come under public attack from activist investor Toscafund, which forced shareholder votes on the suitability of Speedy’s chairman and the appointment of a new board member. Investors voted to let Jan Astrand, who is now non-executive chairman, remain, but agreed that David Shearer should be appointed to the board.

Russell Down, who started as chief executive of Speedy in July last year, told City A.M. the company’s improvements this year came “in spite” of Toscafund.

“I think all the changes that you see today were put in place a year ago,” he said. “We said at the start of the process with Tosca that the recovery was well underway, and that [the Toscafund intervention] really only happened in August.

“And almost these results are in spite of what happened with Tosca, rather than because of what happened with Tosca. Because it was a distraction for the business during that particular point in time.”

He added: “I wouldn’t say it was hugely disruptive, but clearly we’ve got 3,000 employees in the UK who are reading about what’s happening in the press. And it did take a lot of my time to manage that.”

Down said the company has not experienced any ill effects from the UK’s Brexit vote and feels that with infrastructure projects like HS2 and Crossrail 2 coming up, there will be more opportunities for growth.

[american idiot] 16/11/2016 08:34

Nice update. Made a VERY nice profit here today.

Alongside IQE, SDY are another great UK PLC worthy of a medium term investment - As long as we do not merge with HSS !

[qs99] 16/11/2016 08:12

indeed....debt coming down, ahead of expectations, rationalising fleet, all looks pretty good IMO....may make it easier for someone to bid? DYOR and IMO etc....

[bertie bee2] 16/11/2016 07:51

Well that makes a change.

[rumbers2] 19/10/2016 10:09

A 'Golden Cross' on the charts.

[qs99] 30/9/2016 09:56

so anyone who wants to buy it IMO will have to go soon, before the recovery story gains more potential...not without its risks obviously....DYOR

[rumbers2] 30/9/2016 09:44

Positive comments from today's Telegraph
Broker Liberum today tipped Speedy Hire as a buy. “Efforts to stabilise the business appear to continue to have the desired effect,” said Rahim Karim, a Liberum analyst.

“This earnings momentum combined with a continued deleveraging of the balance sheet should provide the market with greater confidence,” he said.

Analysts currently predict Speedy Hire will post a 2pc lift in sales to £334m in the year to March 31, and turn a £9.9m pre-tax profit from mammoth £57.6m losses the previous year.

[american idiot] 19/9/2016 18:55

Need another dip down to the 31p area please

Must say, I feel a little uncomfortable with taking too large a long position here because of the scary thought of a merger with HSS. Their balance sheet is a train wreck.

If Tosca get their way that is exactly what will happen here.

[rumbers2] 05/9/2016 08:47

We are still none-the-wiser as to what the remaining major shareholders think. Aberforth (9.9%), FIL (7.6%) Majedie (6.5%) and Artemis (5.15%) hold the balance of power in this vote but have still given no guidance.

[stu1210] 03/9/2016 07:46

HSS are driving revenue through key accounts a large part of that business is rehire and therefore low or negative margins. Speedy did this and got into a mess HSS will do the same

[rumbers2] 31/8/2016 08:55

HSS Hire made a loss of nearly £10 million in last 6 months, despite surge in revenues. Worse still its net debt has increased a further £20.6m to £238.7m. Is that level of debt even sustainable?
Speedy's debt looks minuscule by comparison.Presently £102 million i expect that to reduce to £85 million (Fleet sale proceeds) by end of the year.

[paulypilot] 16/8/2016 01:15

Chaps, thanks for the thoughtful replies.

I don't know the individuals in charge at SDY, nor the turnaround person that Toscafund want to put in charge. So I can't give any proper view on that, I'm in the dark, probably like most other PIs.

From what I've seen, Toscafund seem to me very reckless, even incompetent. They've got a terrible track record on small caps - like reckless punts on InternetQ, and a couple of other basket cases where they threw (other peoples) money at problems. Health Locums or something. From what I've seen, they're total muppets.

What was the other ridiculous thing they backed? Some fraudulent betting company. Tosca really have no idea at all on small caps - they're reckless punters who have no insights at all.

So, I would NOT back Toscafund at all.

Regards, Paul.

[james8] 15/8/2016 12:04

Toscafund RNS today talks of annual synergies of £20m with a merger

[rumbers2] 15/8/2016 11:52

Pauly, I'm convinced Martin Hughes was reading your posts yesterday because today he's backtracked somewhat stating "sector consolidation is not vital" but installing an independent chairman is.
He's obviously been picking up on the fears many Speedy investors must now have - that we'll be taken for mugs saddled for years to come paying HSS Hire's astronomical debt.

[my retirement fund] 14/8/2016 23:17

Then i stand corrected.

[paulypilot] 14/8/2016 17:13

Hi mrf,

I'm afraid you're wrong there, Speedy has a sound balance sheet - vastly better than HSS. Here are some figures for you;

Speedy Hire (SDY)

Mkt cap £202m at 38.6p per share

Last balance sheet 31 Mar 2016:

Net assets £178.4m, less intangibles of £1.6m = NTAV £176.8m

Total hire assets = £220.4m, less: net debt £102.6m = £117.8m equity in hire fleet



HSS (HSS)

Mkt cap £115.3m at 74.5p per share

Last balance sheet 26 Dec 2015:

Net assets £158.3m, less intangibles of £179.9m = NTAV MINUS £21.6m

Total hire assets = £143.3m (see note 8 of accounts), less: net debt £218.1m = MINUS £74.8m equity in hire fleet


So as you can see, the 2 companies' balance sheets are like chalk & cheese!
Speedy is well structured, with plenty of equity in the hire fleet, whilst HSS has clearly very considerably over-borrowed, as the bank have funded its entire hire fleet, plus another £74.8m over and above that.

This is why I am very much opposed to Speedy being persuaded or forced to bid for HSS, and thereby getting HSS shareholders & its bank off the hook.

Regards, Paul.

[rumbers2] 14/8/2016 16:28

Institutions own 68% of the issued shares. Now that Tosca & Schroders have revealed their hand (30% combined) the balance of power now clearly lies with the few remaining large players.
Will Aberforth (9.9%), FIL (7.6%) Majedie (6.5%) and Artemis (5.15%) give Hughes the 21% he needs for victory?
I will be very interested to hear their views over the next three weeks. I am assuming they would want to sway shareholders one way or the other?

Pauly and MRF are you expecting the market to react negatively if Hughes gets his way and deposes Astrand?

[my retirement fund] 14/8/2016 14:24

Speedyy also has a train wreck of a balance sheet - albeit not as bad as HSS which one could argue is insolvent.

I Suspect the master plan is to merge the two in conjunction with a monumental funding from major shareholders and to close half the combined stores.

Clearly small shareholders are likely to be virtually diluted out of existence.

[paulypilot] 14/8/2016 10:15

Hi rumbers2,

The trouble is, Toscafund want Speedy to merge with HSS.
Have you seen the balance sheet of HSS? It's an absolute train wreck.

So the last thing I want to see, is Speedy's good balance sheet destroyed by it effectively being forced to take on HSS's debt!

The solid balance sheet is one of the few attractive features of Speedy.

I don't like the concept of a major shareholder seeking to force a company to merge with another of their big shareholdings. Sounds like they want Speedy to bail out their mistake in buying HSS shares?

Regards, Paul (long SDY, no position in HSS)

[rumbers2] 14/8/2016 08:56

From today's Telegraph:

Jan Astrand, chairman of tool rental firm Speedy Hire is brave. By refusing to heed calls from top shareholder Toscafund to stand down, Astrand is daring to go up against Martin Hughes, the fund’s fearsome boss, who presumably didn’t get the nickname “The Rottweiler” for being cuddly.

Hughes insists the 69-year-old has presided over a mess and thumbed his nose at corporate governance standards, but Astrand is boldly standing firm. I expect Hughes, a veteran of boardroom dust-ups, to amass enough support for his proposals and to dispatch Astrand with canine-like speed.>


I understand Hughes now has the backing of Schroders who own 10% of the shares. With known support now running at over 30% it will only take another two of the big institutional shareholders to jump aboard to secure a majority here.

I think these changes will be good for both the business and the share price and I am hopeful fellow private investors like myself will vote accordingly.

[american idiot] 11/8/2016 21:29

Nice rise in the shareprice here today.

I'm back to breakeven on my poorly timed trade here now.

Hoping for more tomorrow. All this shareholder action from Tosca can only be good for the shareprice.