Whatman Share Discussion Threads

[dodddy] 21/6/2005 16:15

grabbed a few at 265 chart looks great, this sector could be the next hot one

[mashman] 21/6/2005 16:12

Could be looking to breakout here.

[mashman] 16/6/2005 07:44

"Robert Thian of Whatman surely believes a recent acquisition will help his firm's shares do well. Apparently the deal will improve earnings by 17%, 39% and 48% during 2005, 2006 and 2007 respectively. Thian bought in after announcing these preliminary figures on a P/E of 23.

Although Harpin, Scott and Thian each had sizeable share holdings prior to their purchases, all had to dig very deep into their own pockets to fund the above trades -- the annual dividends the three directors received from their existing holdings represented approximately 20% of the purchase cost at most. All in all, these three purchases are good examples of what to look for with directors' dealings and should -- in time -- provide further evidence in the boardroom share-buying debate. "

[go with the flow] 23/5/2005 08:14

Good news - bad news?
Always difficult to know which to wheel out first ;o)

Flow

[rmjpb] 20/5/2005 18:16

Judging by todays trades looks like the meeting started with a bang and the share price shot up, then by lunchtime they wheeled out the bad news??? Just a guess?

[go with the flow] 20/5/2005 13:50

A bit difficult as I wasn't there - I don't do AGMs!

No doubt there will be some weekend publication with maybe some news on the CEO.

Flow

[boothbym] 20/5/2005 12:41

Post a view on how the AGM went please.

[go with the flow] 20/5/2005 11:18

AGM today & the price has bolstered up.
I'm optimistic more than pessimistic now - hopefully some positive newsflow to come.

Flow

[go with the flow] 19/5/2005 13:33

Bullish wedge forming?

Flow

[mashman] 13/5/2005 13:11

It is also encouraging that Fidelity have added as they have been sellers of a lot of stocks this year.

AGM 20th May.

[herbyone] 12/5/2005 20:04

The announcement that Fidelity International had 4,218,064 shares, 3.36% on the 4 May and then increase their holding by 1,077,655 on the 9th is encouraging when added to Bob Thain spending £1m in April to increase his holding.

[mashman] 03/5/2005 07:54

Sound like a very nice and capable man. I am sure Bob and Tim will do a sterling job.

[mashman] 19/4/2005 08:16

A bit of light hearted reading.

DNA test to decide whether Columbus was buried in Spain or the Caribbean


18 April 2005


A British scientific technique used to identify victims of the tsunami disaster is to help settle a long-standing dispute over the final resting place of Christopher Columbus.

The disagreement is between Spain and the Dominican Republic who both claim to have possession of the bones of arguably the world's greatest explorer.

In February the two governments agreed to allow a team of Spanish scientists, employing a DNA preservation technique developed in Britain, to begin their investigation into establishing the truth behind each of the claims.

A team of geneticists from Granada University is preparing to fly to the Dominican Republic to examine bones in a mausoleum in Santo Domingo, the capital, which are claimed to be those of the 15th-century explorer. Spain insists that Columbus's remains lie in Seville Cathedral.

Professor Jose Lorente, who will lead the team, told The Independent that they will take DNA samples from Christopher Columbus's son and brother and try to match them with both sets of remains.

Crucial to the investigation, said Professor Lorente, was the British company Whatman PLC which has developed a special paper used in the extraction, stabilisation and storage of DNA. Professor Lorente said: "We are using a technology called 'FTA paper' for the collection and transportation of samples and in the extraction and conservation of the DNA with the best results, which is helping us speed up the investigation. I think this could be quite important for British people, who are proud of their companies and of their international impact."

Whatman paper was also used in the identification of the victims of the tsunami disaster, which claimed the lives of about 220,000 people in south Asia in December last year.

The island of Hispaniola - of which the Dominican Republic is part - became Spain's bridgehead to the New World after it was discovered by Columbus in 1492. When Columbus died in 1506, his remains were to be buried in America, according to his will.

But no church of sufficient stature existed there at that time, so the explorer was buried in the Spanish city of Valladolid.

Eventually, in 1537, his remains were sent for reburial in Santo Domingo. In 1795 France seized the entire island. Determined not to let such a valuable relic fall into enemy hands, the retreating Spanish took the bones to Cuba. They were eventually placed in a crypt in Seville in 1898.

Dominican Republic historians claim that the Spanish were either duped into taking the wrong body or had too little time to carry out their rescue plan properly. Their claim is based on the discovery in 1877 of a lead casket beneath Santo Domingo Cathedral bearing the inscription: "The illustrious and distinguished male Don Cristobal Colon" - the Spanish name for Columbus.

The Whatman procedure is important because it means DNA can be stored simply for more than 20 years without any need for freezing the samples.

Professor Lorente is also liaising with Dr Peter Gill of Forensic Science Service in Britain, who is involved in other important historical DNA cases including the identification of the murdered family of the Russian tzar Nicholas II. But Dr Gill has not been formerly instructed.

The government of the Dominican Republic gave the Spanish team permission to travel to Santo Domingo and carry out the tests on 14 and 15 February, but without warning postponed the visit. Professor Lorente said: "We are waiting to agree on a new date. The government is willing to find the truth, but it seems that there are radical groups in the Dominican Republic who fear an investigation."

Whatman was established in 1740 with a small, country-based English mill making fine, handcrafted paper. Since then, the company has evolved into an international separations technology business with offices and locations around the globe.

Whatman paper became enormously popular with leading artists such as J M W Turner, and the quality and durability of English papers, including those made by Whatman, gave the English watercolour school a 50-year advantage over European artists. At the end of the 18th century, the poet William Blake used Whatman paper for four of his illustrated books, the public being informed that these were printed on "the most beautiful wove paper that could be procured".

Throughout history, heads of state and world leaders have shown a particular penchant for Whatman paper. Napoleon sat for five hours on the bleak island of St Helena writing his long and detailed will on Whatman paper only three weeks before his death in 1821. George Washington signed many state documents on Whatman paper. Queen Victoria chose it for her personal correspondence. in the 1930s, Soviet leaders used Whatman paper to publish their five-year plan for the future of the USSR, while the peace treaty with Japan was signed on Whatman paper at the close of the Second World War.

Today Whatman is used to help resolve miscarriages of justice as well providing a paper DNA database to replace the freezing technology.

Professor Lorente now hopes to reveal the truth about Columbus, but since the tomb in Seville contains only a fifth of a skeleton, it is possible both countries' claims could be justified.

[mashman] 18/4/2005 16:32

Well at least i got 2 posts out of my comment :-)

As an aside i think that Whatman are only into holdings in company announcements. Not that i am all that bothered but don't you think that the Easyclone news, as it's a "first of its kind", deserved an rns of afx or something. Maybe they don't want to be seen as rampers.

Holding up well today in a lousy market.

[go with the flow] 18/4/2005 15:49

Mashman

Using EasyClone 384(TM) we can set a perfect replica thread - one for you personally & one for the rest of us mere mortals ;o)

Flow

[mashman] 17/4/2005 20:47

Going up. Got to be on registar 22nd for 2%. Slowly slowly catchy monkey.






By the way please do not post on this thread as it is my personal notepad and i do not want it polluted.

[mashman] 13/4/2005 09:41

Whatman Targets Clone Market with Revolutionary New Product



EASYCLONE 384(TM) REPLACES TRADITIONAL FREEZER STORAGE METHODS AND OFFERS FIRST OF ITS KIND, SINGLE DEVICE FOR ENTIRE SAMPLE ARCHIVING AND PURIFICATION WORKFLOW, ENABLING FASTER DNA MINING AND DISCOVERY





Whatman, a leader in separations technology, today announced the launch of the EasyClone 384(TM) plate. The EasyClone 384 plate is a single, versatile device to replace the existing complex and costly workflows currently used by genomics institutes and laboratories. Whatman brings its technical expertise in DNA archiving and processing to the clone market to enable quicker results of DNA mining and research. The EasyClone 384 plate can be used by biotechnology, pharmaceutical, government and academic research laboratories for the archiving, shipping and purifying of clones - all at room temperature.

The EasyClone 384 is the result of the previously announced partnership with GenVault, a San Diego-based company that is the leader in biosample management. Customers can now use GenVault's integrated biosample management systems to manage the EasyClone 384 plates. GenVault's systems allow them to be fully utilized by providing compact stacking and storage of hundreds to thousands of plates as well as easy access to individual samples through robotic automation and complimentary software.

"This is a unique technology for the clone market and will modernize the way laboratories collect, store and back-up clone samples," said David Wellis, senior vice president, marketing and sales, GenVault.

While Whatman has traditionally targeted the forensics market, specifically the archiving and storage of DNA acquired via blood samples, the launch of EasyClone 384 marks the company's entrance into the pure DNA research marketplace. After extensive testing, experience and success in forensics and relationships with medical and pharmaceutical research institutions, Whatman realized a great opportunity and need in the industry for an easier clone archiving process. The EasyClone 384 plate meets this need without disrupting the current laboratory systems already in place. Rather, it is one product replacing numerous time-consuming steps.

EasyClone 384 provides a simple way of storing clone samples and eliminates the need for current storage back-up methods and facilities which consist of bulky freezers that ultimately rely on power supplies. For the first time, a clone sample can now be stored in half-height plates at room temperature using the same technology that has preserved genomic DNA for 14 years and counting. Relying on proven Whatman FTA technology, which allows for the collection, storage and purification of DNA from a variety of biological samples, EasyClone consists of a 384-well storage and extraction plate with a piercable foil bottom and FTA disks pre-cut into each well. The design and format of the EasyClone 384 plate enables the genomics market to use FTA as a replacement for both ultra-low archiving and purification kits. By eliminating the need for freezers and clone processing steps, EasyClone 384 saves scientists time and money.

"With the launch of EasyClone 384, we are introducing an innovative, unique and truly revolutionary method of clone archiving and purification," said Rob McPheeters, technical marketing manager of Bioscience, Whatman. "We are excited to deliver a solution to the genomics market which optimizes and streamlines the processes already present in research laboratories."

In addition to research laboratories, Whatman will also target those companies supplying and selling clones into the genomics market. In the past, the process of fulfilling a clone order was laborious and could take several days. Now with the EasyClone 384 plate, companies can immediately create identical samples of clones for easy access and delivery. Moreover, it will allow for same-day fulfillment of clone orders, a previously impossible task for such companies. The EasyClone plate is now available from Whatman Inc. and has been priced to allow clone archiving and purification for 10 cents per sample.

About Whatman BioScience Group

The Whatman BioScience Group is one of the three business development units within the Whatman organization. The BioScience Group provides a broad range of technologies for the collection, transportation, purification and analysis of nucleic acids. The group focuses on customers researching DNA across a range of industries, including forensics, academic research, diagnostics, clinical research, environmental science and agriculture.

About Whatman

Whatman is a global leader in separations technology and is known in the scientific community for providing innovative life science products and solutions. With the acquisition of Schleicher & Schuell, Whatman offers a more comprehensive product range to its customers worldwide and enters the proteomics market with S&S's core competency in protein chip technologies. For more information visit us at www.whatman.com

FTA, EasyClone and Whatman are trademarks of the Whatman Group, Whatman, Inc. All other copyrights are property of their respective rightsholders.

[mashman] 08/4/2005 12:53

Just under a million shares bought at £2.50. Nice.

[mashman] 07/4/2005 21:48

Once this lot settle down and the integration has its desired effect then it's onward and upward imo. TA is in a stong 240 range and fundies should feel safe. Spread is honest. Strong show of confidence by the chairman. Buy before 22 April and gets yer 2% divi and a tad capital growth. All in my very honest opinion.

[rmjpb] 07/4/2005 10:07

I read that they have a shortlist of 5 potential people for the directorship, so once they have appointed I hope to see a sharp rebound!

[mashman] 07/4/2005 08:50

A very shrewd man i say.

: Buy; Number of shares: 413,847 Price: 239.70p
Notifier: Bob Thian (Director)
Announced: 2005-04-06; Traded: 2005-04-06

"Elsewhere, Bob Thian, the chairman of Whatman, tried to invigorate the healthcare group's share price after Tuesday's profits warning by acquiring £1m worth of stock at 239.5p. A couple of disappointing trading statements from the group have recently taken the shine off Mr Thian's near two-year tenure at Whatman, unchanged at 239p. "

[rmjpb] 06/4/2005 17:12

Am I reading that right. The CEO has just bought over £1m shares? Cant be bad!

[mashman] 06/4/2005 07:19

"Whatman upheavals take toll
By Harry Wallop (Filed: 06/04/2005)


Whatman, the DNA technology group, said yesterday the ousting of its chief executive and the exit of several key sales employees during the past few months has led to the company missing its sales targets.

Phil Greenhalgh, finance director said: "I don't think the sales fall is as a direct consequence of the CEO going but the disruption clearly hasn't been helpful."

The company has got rid of two chief executives since Bob Thian arrived as its chairman in October 2002, with the latest being Howard Kelly, who was muscled out in November last year.

Whatman has got down to a shortlist of five candidates to replace him and sources said it was putting all candidates "through the mill" to make sure it found a chief executive that would last.

Mr Greenhalgh said though sales had picked up in March a lot of big orders had failed to come through in January and February. The shares fell 8 to 239p. One analyst said: "I'm not surprised by the market reaction. But quarterly reporting will inevitably lead to these volatile sales patterns. It should bounce back."

The company was reporting a fall in pre-tax profits from £2.6m to £1.36m on turnover down 1pc to £82.8m as it was hit by exceptional costs relating to last year's acquisition of Schleicher & Schuell, based in Germany. The redundancy bill, after shedding 160 workers, amounts to £11.4m. "




"WHATMAN SHARES SLIP

Shares in laboratory supplies firm Whatman fell as the company revealed first-quarter performance below expectations.

The drop followed the departure of key staff and overshadowed a rise in 2004 earnings.

The filter specialist also said it was taking longer than expected to find partners for its FTA technology.

The technology collects, purifies and stores DNA at room temperature, offering a cheaper and more convenient alternative to cold storage.

Whatman has high hopes for FTA, believing it can be expanded from its current use in criminal forensics to fields ranging from pharmaceuticals to agriculture.

"We have not found one particular person who can do all those markets as effectively as we'd like, so we're talking to a number of different people," said chairman Bob Thian.

To do that properly is taking us some more time," adding deals were more likely in the second half of this year than the first.

However, Whatman said it had made a slow start to its new financial year.

"The achievement of an acceleration of top line growth in Q1 has been hampered by the lack of sales leadership following the departure of our CEO and two regional sales managers", it said.

"Overall, Q1 2005 was behind our own expectations, but we believe that Q2 will see us back on track."

Whatman's Thian said its main LabSciences unit was held back by destocking by distributors, while its MedTech and BioScience unit had not won any big deals in the early part of the year.

But he also said the integration of Germany's Schleicher & Schuell was going according to plan and the firm was close to appointing a new CEO.

The previous chief executive office, Howard Kelly, left in November.