Tolent Share Discussion Threads

[mrt8] 28/6/2007 10:38

Thanks for the pointer Piedro. What's an interesting flag? I guess it's something to do with chart formation, but what does it signify? m8

[piedro] 27/6/2007 14:19

Have a look at the FTSE350-Construction & Materials Index..... you will see that the general trend has been down these last few days but an interesting flag has been formed.

I have topped up today.

[mrt8] 27/6/2007 14:08

Why such a big drop today? The report was not really unfavourable; indeed, as you say, Jeff H, without the small problems the results would be way above expectations. As it is they are still in line. m8

[jeff h] 26/6/2007 19:59

Without the presumably unexpected slow start, and potential bad debt (a portion of which could be recovered) then, the 2007 results would be way
above expectations.

The current secured order book of £243m that Piedro highlights compares to that of £111m in December - quite astonishing given the slow start, they must
have won quite a few big contracts recently...augurs well for the future.

[piedro] 26/6/2007 11:01

AGM Statement
26 June 2007
Tolent plc announces that at its Annual General Meeting to be held at 10.00am
today, its Chairman, Mike Speakman, will make the following statement:
'Trading in the first half has been satisfactory albeit slower than for the
comparable period last year. Nonetheless our confidence for the full year
remains high and the secured order book stands at £243 million.
'In the first half a number of large contracts have suffered delays, much of
which should be picked up in the second half. In particular the contract at
Newcastle City Library as part of a PFI scheme has now achieved financial close
with work commencing on site in June. The award of several major projects is
anticipated in July, which should ensure that we achieve turnover in line with
expectations.
'In addition, we have made a £400,000 provision against the balance of amounts
due under a contract for the construction of apartments in Huddersfield. The
development company has recently been placed into administration. We are
following this situation closely and will pursue a recovery wherever possible.
'Overall, we are pleased with our levels of activity and the outlook remains
encouraging. The Board remains confident that the results for the full year to
31st December 2007 will be in line with expectations, despite the slow first
half and debt provision.'

[mrt8] 25/6/2007 17:29

Can anyone throw any light on the reasons for TLT to be dropping so much? I know the market is dropping overall, but this stock has dropped considerably more, which is strange considering the company performance to date. m8

[rik shaw] 03/6/2007 10:15

TLT goes ex div this Wednesday .

[piedro] 11/5/2007 15:33

BB not dead, just taking it easy.

[owenski] 11/5/2007 15:16

An almost dead BB. Bought in earlier this week on fundementals, great yield and good profit and yield history. Shame about NMH and spread. Hope to keep this for a few years.

[jeff h] 08/4/2007 11:19

Another interesting article:-



Building's a passion for Tolent Mar 27 2007

By Alastair Gilmour, The Journal

Confidence in the North-East's future prosperity is building nicely - in more ways than one. Alastair Gilmour reports.

For a company that likes to keep a low profile, Tolent Construction is riding mighty high.

The Gateshead firm recently reported a record turnover of £174m, a hike of 23% from the previous year, with pre-tax profits surging ahead 23.4% to £5.3m. And the 24-year-old company was part of a team that won a health and safety award at the recent Constructing Excellence in the Built Environment Awards for the Echo 24 development in Sunderland.

"We're proud to be a North-East company," says Tolent chief executive John Wood. "The region in general is known for its hard-working attitude and its fairness - what it's got is stickability. That approach goes down very well in other parts of the country."

Tolent's 600 directly-employed staff carry out nationwide coverage of building and civil engineering from offices on Team Valley, Teesside, Yorkshire, Manchester and London. Overall, the company expects to undertake £76m of work on Tyneside in 2007; £85m in Yorkshire and the North-West and £31m in London - displaying the Passionate People, Passionate Places banner prominently wherever is appropriate.

"We take pride in the region and we're proud of our North-East values," says John.

The philosophy is simple, too. He says: "We do a good job and finish on time and get loads of regular work through repeat business.

"We started the company in 1983 - six of us and we're all still here. There was myself, two joiners and four general operatives - you don't call them labourers any more - and we started off doing small jobs.

"Now we handle a combination of commercial and industrial contracts - a lot for blue-chip companies."

Tolent's order book has swollen from £110m at the end of last year to £122m and John Wood predicts construction turnover will rise to £192m for 2007.

He says: "Our business in Yorkshire and Manchester has been busier lately than it has been and we expect stronger growth on Tyneside this year."

Recent contract wins include £36m of distribution warehouses in South Yorkshire and Stoke, as well as a £17m contract to build flats at Byron Road, Shieldfield, Newcastle.

"That is new student accommodation built using a bridge over the railway line," says John.

"It straddles the line and is a good use of land. Some projects take an awful lot of time to get moving for all sorts of reasons and you couldn't afford to sit and wait; you need an awful lot of irons in the fire and to have jobs at different stages. For example, we prepared a site at the Baltic three years ago and that's starting to stir again now."

In 2004, Tolent won a Journal landmark award for its involvement in the magnificent £58m Sage headquarters in Newcastle.

Redevelopment of the Welbar House site in Newcastle is another Tolent project and John is hopeful the new Haymarket Metro Station construction will also land their way.

[westcountryboy] 05/4/2007 09:04

Yes, agree with you about end of tax year sales David - just bought some more in fact. Still in time for the 11.7p divi. Looks much cheaper than North Midland now.

[davidosh] 04/4/2007 20:47

A few sales today probably due to tax year end planning and a tail off in the share price growth after a long run

[robcoo] 04/4/2007 16:36

Anyone any idea as to the sudden drop in price?

[piedro] 20/3/2007 11:25

It seems that the Investor's Chronicle put a "Fairly Priced" tag on TLT last Friday.-(according to ShareScope)

Has anyone seen the article?

[davidosh] 20/3/2007 10:59

Is it the margins reducing that is creating the selling or just profit taking after a good run?

Does anyone have any comments on the relationship with Amco?

[piedro] 20/3/2007 10:31

Joan or Arc,

I think the real Q should have been...
"Why the big rise?"

This now looks like one of those TLT "burps".
May be able to pick up some more in the 300-310 range.

- IMHO

[joan of arc] 19/3/2007 21:00

Anyone know why this is taking such a big dive?

[jeff h] 19/3/2007 20:33

JM I'm around for the next 30 mins and then from 10.45.

If you post your addy I'll message here I've got it and then mail you

[jm barrie100] 19/3/2007 16:49

Jeff H

Any chance of swapping email addresses? I would like to swap emails with you off-line.

Regards.

JM

[jeff h] 18/3/2007 12:16

Piedro,

No Amco MBO was a non-runner...possibly because others were interested in
bidding higher:-



...though these approaches came to nothing for whatever reason.

I don't know why they suddenly decided to send the dividend into the stratosphere..from memory it came as a shock to its brokers BD as it certainly
wasn't forecast by them.

Perhaps it was pressure from Amco Investments Ltd (not to be confused with Amco plc)...maybe they want to sell their stake (they had no objection to the Amco plc potential bids and as I recall were 'fundamentally supportive')

The huge dividend increase may well have been designed to attract the market per your option 3 and also with the rising share price gave them a potentially bigger amount for their stake....I don't know we can only speculate.

Cheers.

[piedro] 18/3/2007 11:45

Jeff H,

Thank you for the news.

Good to see that there are no signs of Tolent running out of steam.

I had suspected that the share price rise was due to possible take-over; still possible but unlikely as I see that Amco Investments holds 50%.

Is not Amco being taken over by its management?

Re: Dividend rise
It struck me as unnessarily large.
I'm not complaining, but leads me to one of three conclusions:

Either 1/ They are extremely generous.
....or 2/ They don't know what to do with their money.
....or 3/ They are trying to attract the attention of the Market.

Personally I opt for #3 - AIMHO

[jeff h] 17/3/2007 12:18

Looks like a good sized contract:-

[jeff h] 17/3/2007 12:15

Informative article with comments from CEO John Wood:-



....environment getting tougher but as he predicts 20% growth in the construction side of the business from £160m to £192m then I would have thought profits would still rise in 2007.

The order book seems to have increased from £110m at the year end to £122m
in March and the net interest receivable should be substantially higher given
the level of cash,interest rate rises,more favourable terms and no £40k interest loan charge.

Nice to see a commitment to at least maintaining the dividend as well

[jeff h] 06/3/2007 23:45

The co. always seems to downplay its prospects rik and on many occasions the analysts forecasts are way out - just look at this years forecast for the dividend, the Interim smashed it so the analyst changes it to match earnings
and then the co. despite a massive cash pile and over 2/3 of Echo 24 pre-sold
decide once again to change its dividend policy.

Winning big contracts such as the £40m Newcastle libraries PFI project for Kajima also makes results hard to forecast.

All in all then its hard to predict what the company will serve up in the future

[rik shaw] 06/3/2007 21:07

It strikes me that while results are indeed good there must be potential to drive up earnings higher through a combination of property, cash and construction buoyancy. I will be interested to see how broker forecasts are adjusted, but in the meantime will enjoy the dividend which should continue upwards in coming years.