Mears Share Discussion Threads

[tinker] 14/1/2005 17:57

BF please learn from my own experience since first buying into Mears at the end of 2000. This is the third time I've held MER and I've twice taken a reasonable profit (but too early) in a comparatively short time:

In: December 2000 @ 40.5p. Out: March 2001 @ 57p. Profit: 39%
In: April 2001 @ 64.5p. Out: July 2002 @ 83p. Profit: 27%
In: April 2003 & since @ 100p average price. Still holding. Current gain 132%

Not bad but if I'd had the sense to buy and hold instead of taking profits my original investment would have increased by 577%. We all know that hindsight is a wonderful gift but the point is that MER is not some fly by night tech stock. MER hasn't changed since I first bought in at 40p. It's just grown year by boring year and there's more to come IMO. As deehill so eloquently points out, the people who run local authorities are in it for status and a quiet life and if someone will take the hassle off their shoulders they love it and are willing to commit to very longterm contracts. What is more, the local authority CEO's do talk to each other and this is one reason why Mears is gaining contract after contract. They're not in a market where one authority wants to outdo the other. They all want the same thing - a quiet life and a first class service at a reasonable price. Mears gives them just that. This time, I buy and hold until (if) the story changes as Slater would say.

[deehill] 14/1/2005 10:54

Amendment to RGT's figure of 180p Maybe it should have read 280p?

[deehill] 14/1/2005 10:45

Having just got thro' lecturing RGT on the inadvisability of shorting Mears, along comes just the sort of announcement that I had told him they could issue almost at will. To Blindfaith I would say that this is a steamroller that has not, yet, run out of steam and is UNLIKELY to in the near or mid term future.I have indicated that I DO HAVE an exit figure for MER which aint nowhere near where the current -improved - price is at this time. My only, personal, fear is that a predator will come take this pot of gold away from me. In the meantime just ponder that the POTENTIAL for this company is, almost, beyond current measure. BF dont be a BF and dispose of your holding. My average is VERY LOW and it has taken some courage, at times, to stay committed,indeed to add, BUT MER have always come through. If you are in doubt, look back at their incredible record and couple that with the unbelievable laziness and refusal to accept responsibility of the average Council CEO. Mears is a passport to idleness for such a person and THAT is a recipe for success.

[blindfaith2] 14/1/2005 09:22

My own thoughts were like many others that there would be a dip in price after the recent surge but this company just keeps on steam rollering up and up. Great news for all of course but it almost seems too good to be true !

Having almost doubled my money now I am very grateful to this company but being a slightly pessimistic person I can’t help wondering if I should cut and run as there must be some bad news here somewhere, surely ?

[chester] 14/1/2005 07:55

MEARS GROUP PLC

Trading update

Friday 14th January

The Board is pleased to announce that trading results for the year ended
31 December 2004 will be at the top end of market expectations.

The order book is in excess of #800 million and continues to grow.

Due to the nature of the Group's core business in social housing a substantial
amount of the turnover for the next 2/3 years has already been contracted to the
Group. The healthy pipeline of both outstanding tenders and future opportunities
combined with a sound balance sheet provides a very stable platform for
predictable future growth.

[tinker] 12/1/2005 17:11

And over the last 8 years, the AVERAGE Growth in profits is a staggering 37% and has never been less than 25.8%, and with a forward order book to 2024 and growing all the time, I am relaxed to accept projected eps growth of 30+% over the next 2 years. No longer cheap but still excellent value!

[mdrans1] 12/1/2005 16:16

Never mind the PE, the rolling PEG1 is still only 0.92

[deehill] 12/1/2005 10:52

by ONE PENNY

[rcturner2] 12/1/2005 08:58

You may like to know that, since I placed the short, the forward prices for MER are moving downwards.

[rcturner2] 11/1/2005 13:51

If a director bought shares in a company and then they fell 10% would you consider it a buy or sell? A buy presumably.

Reverse that and you have Mears.

[deehill] 11/1/2005 13:36

RCT if yr argument is correct, then there should be Funds ready to bail out of Mears. there have, in the past, been incidences of just such folly and IN EVERY CASE the Fund concerned either got burned because the price subsequently ran away or had to re invest at a higher price than they sold. It is ONLY the company peformance that interests me, since I KNOW what they are capable of and am content to sit in them until MY exit price is achieved (and that I AINT telling you). If you saw a stock with unlimited potential would it REALLY worry you if it was showing a 40% P/E at yr time of purchase. Hopefully not since if you have ANY sense you are buying for the future and not the immediate. In case you dont know, that is the basis for ANY stock investment. What you HOPE to gain from it, not what you are immediately putting into it. The finesse comes in judging at WHAT price you enter - and here, if you are a first time buyer of the stock, you should excercise due caution. However, if your ARE a first time buyer, you should be ashamed of yourself that you have let such a gem float past you since 1996.

[rcturner2] 11/1/2005 10:39

lol you need to differentiate between the companies performance and the share price performance. Are you saying you would buy the shares at ANY price? A company can be doing well and have an overvalued share price you know.

[deehill] 11/1/2005 10:28

Lets see who is the clever one. Turner - and I dont disagree that there could be a small down adjustment - or the company,which can orchestrate contract wins at will.

[rcturner2] 11/1/2005 08:09

I think 180 is possible.

The crucial test will be around 210. I believe in the next few weeks it will retrace to round 210 and then there will be either a stabilising at that price or a fall to 180.

[buffin] 10/1/2005 20:46

If this one goes down like I think it will ...

So what is your target, RCT, by what date?

[rcturner2] 10/1/2005 17:10

Why?

If this one goes down like I think it will then I will be very happy.

[deehill] 10/1/2005 15:45

RCT Find another stock

[rcturner2] 10/1/2005 13:45

If its all going so well why did the director sell then?

I read the interims and it was all a bit too much "look how wonderful we are". Sounded to me a bit like pumping the share price.

[deehill] 10/1/2005 13:18

Whats with this P/E of 40? Everything is academic with MEARS. The business is SO DYNAMIC that it cannot keep posting all its contract gains. Of COURSE they might retrace - all stocks do at some point - but Tinker is right this is NOT a stock to be out of. I have made some money in a 'gamble' holding of Mears. In other words, pack away the TRUE holding and forget its there. Should you, then, want to gamble in , say, 50000 its a nice game AND IT PAYS OFF BECAUSE MEARS NEVER STAY DOWN.Its going to be some time before all the doubting willies get their way with Mears and it certainly aint gonna be the Telegraph that spots the time to sell. Regrettably, of course, there WILL BE a time to sell but some of our readers may not be alive to see it.

[tinker] 10/1/2005 12:57

OK they might retrace. They have before, but they always go on from there.

[rcturner2] 10/1/2005 12:05

Well a P/E of 40, RSI 40 at 90 and a director sell on the 30th December all suggest a short to me.

Time will tell.

[deehill] 10/1/2005 09:43

The Telegraph was telling readers to SELL when they were 128p DEFINITELY a paper to follow. As auspicious as its previous owner.

[cambium] 10/1/2005 09:37

Oh no they wont.......:o)