Mears Share Discussion Threads

[yf23_1] 19/12/2005 14:42

176,000 in sells is hardly dire but its made the chart look bad, probably due to trailing stop-losses.
Looks like a good, dare I say it, tree-shake.

[tinker] 19/12/2005 14:06

popout

I suspect that deehill is 'over deehill'- sorry. That's the downside of these bulletin boards when someone you respect and have conversed with for ages just disappears overnight. Would advfn have an email address for him?

As for MER, these are mainly small trades, private investors bailing out and nothing has fundamentally changed other than Bob Holt taking his Christmas present. The way it's going, Cambium may reach his 260p mark quite soon and that would be a tricky call IMO.

I sold because I hold them in a SIPP which I am liquidating in April so have tightened my stop loss on all my holdings to 5% as I daren't take too many risks. However it isn't very long since Numis were forecasting 448p within 12 months.

I reckon the fall will end soon and the price will stabalise for a while until the results at the end of Feb. But what do I know?

[cambium] 19/12/2005 12:07

FWIW I am happy to buy back at circa £2.60

[popout] 19/12/2005 12:05

What has come to light over the weekend - that we did not know already - to spark the selling this morning?

I am concerned that they may fave further to fall. Though the silver lining would be an opportunity to buy in lower. Where will the fall stop?

Equally important, where is 'deehill' when you really need him?

[cambium] 19/12/2005 09:28

well done Tinker,

a profit is a profit and after all that is what we are here for.

[tinker] 19/12/2005 09:26

Stop Loss breached and out at 285p. Still bought at 100p so mustn't complain!

[popout] 17/12/2005 11:58

I still believe the company will go from strength to strength. Each set of results have continually beat those previous and the share price will have much further to go over the coming months and years. However in the short term I guess 'treading water' will persue prior to results.

Come in Deehill we need your views..................

[blindfaith2] 16/12/2005 18:50

I guess that if you have a mind to sell off some shares it is better to do so in one hit, rather than every "so oftern" as this would spook the market. It's done and the share price has not suffered too much. Hopefully early in the new year this will be a distant memory as trading reports/profit updates are issued and then the price should continue to rise passed the high of 311

[tinker] 16/12/2005 16:14

Cambium

You'll soon get tired of that Ferrari and you'll be back. Bob sold at 300p and today they stand at 295p so the share price is more or less holding and volume is not much above average.

This morning's Mail had this to say:

'Nobody should begrudge the jovial Oldham Athletic supporter his windfall. He brought Mears to AIM 10 years ago at 10p a share. It recently traded at a record 307p. Mears has an order book approaching 1billion pounds and analysts forecast profits of 10million this year, up from 7.4million in 2004.'

My view is that MER's price will tread water or maybe drift until results are announced in late Feb. Meanwhile I am running a trailing stop loss of 5% on high so will come out if it falls below 294p (which could be any day now).

[cambium] 16/12/2005 14:21

Tinker et al,

I have to admit that I sold out of the last of my holding that I bought in at 59p. I still believe in the company sector etc but Bob sold too many for my liking. I will be back, good luck to all holders.

[tinker] 16/12/2005 08:53

The Times December 16, 2005

Directors' dealings



Mears Group, the public sector facilities management specialist, which has been one of AIM's best performers over the past five years, eased 1½p to 298p as its executive chairman sold the bulk of his stock for £8.1 million. Bob Holt, who bought a controlling interest prior to the company's float nine years ago, disposed of 2.7 million shares at 300p, retaining just 500,000 shares and options over a further 485,000. Mr Holt has sought gradually to step back from the company after bringing in Stuart Black from fully listed Mouchel Parkman last year as chief executive.

[phillis] 15/12/2005 22:14

..but he's got none left - or very few.
Cue to follow his example methinks

[popout] 15/12/2005 19:57

Normally when Mr Holt sells it is to satisfy institutional demand. I guess it is the same strategy this time.

RNS Number:7550V Mears Group PLC 15 December 2005

15 December 2005

MEARS GROUP PLC ("the Company")


HOLDING IN COMPANY


The Company today received notification from AEGON Asset Management UK plc, that, following a purchase of 2,400,000 ordinary shares of 1p each in the Company ("Shares"), the AEGON UK plc Group of Companies has a resultant interest in 7,423,177 Shares, representing approximately 12.65% of the Company's issued ordinary shares.

For the purposes of this notification, the AEGON UK plc Group of Companies means:



Scottish Equitable plc Scottish Equitable (Managed Funds) Limited AEGON Fund Management UK Limited AEGON Investment Management UK Limited AEGON Asset Management UK plc Scottish Equitable Trustees Limited Guardian Assurance plc Guardian Linked Life Assurance Limited Guardian Pensions Management Limited Guardian Unit Managers Limited


This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

[tinker] 15/12/2005 15:31

For every seller there's a buyer (eventually) and maybe it's time we realised that Mears has grown enough to be more than one man's baby. Could be moving towards a new stage and maybe a full listing next year (let's hope.

[blindfaith2] 15/12/2005 14:40

From memory Bob Holt sold a chunk at about £2.40 and that did not stop the share price rising so hopefully this will not have a too drastic effect. I suppose the difference is that at that time he still held a massive holding whereas this time around he only holds half mill.

[cambium] 15/12/2005 13:40

Director's shareholding

The Company was notified on 14 December 2005 that on the same day Mr Bob Holt
sold 2,700,000 ordinary shares of 1p each in the Company ("Shares") at a price
of 300 pence per Share.

Following this transaction Mr Holt has an interest in 500,000 representing 0.85
per cent. of the Company's issued ordinary share capital and options over
485,000 shares.

Bob Holt commented "I remain committed to the continuing growth of Mears and a
long term holder of my remaining interest in the Company. Mears has developed an
excellent management team of which I intend to remain a part and I look forward
to playing a leading role in the future development of the Group."

[walthera] 15/12/2005 13:39

Big sale by Bob Holt at 300p - although he promises continued support and interest in the company perhaps he doubts that the shares will go much higher.

[growthhunter] 14/12/2005 16:24

well they have had a good run

[tenereds4] 14/12/2005 16:13

Has anyone any idea why there has been a sudden surge in selling these shares with 3.1M sold in the last 90 mins?

[tinker] 09/12/2005 16:24

getting a bit worried about him myself. You never know what to expect in these Central American states.

[popout] 09/12/2005 11:56

Whats happened to Deehill and his extremely useful snippets?

[billfisher98] 08/12/2005 17:56

Looks poised to move to new highs again...

[tinker] 28/11/2005 13:35

The nearest thing I can find was 27th September as below

27 September 2005

Numis has forecasted extraordinary growth in the social housing sector in its new report, which it believes is ripe for consolidation.

The research provides a comprehensive insight into the UK social housing capital and revenue spend markets, worth around £10bn a year. It includes data on all the key operators and reveals major operators not featured in previous research. Interestingly, this includes both private and public, and service and building companies.

Francesca Raleigh at Numis, co-author of the report, said: "Social housing is an exciting growth market with very strong consolidation potential. The unique report is part of our initiative to offer strategic sector specific research for Support Services. This research also shows our continued commitment to providing a breadth and depth of sector coverage to service our expanding client portfolio."

High growth levels are forecast for the leading operators over the next five years. If the 13 leading independent operators grow their sales by 30% p.a. up to 2010 and by 15% p.a. from 2010-2015, then their combined market shares will be 41% by 2010 and 83% by 2015 (currently they have 12% of the market).

The top five operators (Keepmoat, Connaught, Lovell, Morrison and Mears) are estimated to have eight per cent of the 04/05 market. Quoted companies Connaught, Inspace and Mears are cited as well positioned with large exposure to the sector and above average EPS growth prospects. The fragmented nature of the market, trend to larger suppliers and the large outsourcing potential of the in-house element all create considerable scope for these operators to grow their market shares.

The sector has strong consolidation potential both organically and via acquisition. Introducing better processes and leveraging client relationships into other services /larger contracts could generate value for acquisitors. These may include new entrants, existing players, or those already in related local authority/housing association markets

[liarspoker] 28/11/2005 11:11

Thanks Tinker - been to the site, read the RNS's but am after anything a bit more upto date. Thanks anyway.

Looks like I'll be able to average down soon......

Long term hold though.

[tinker] 28/11/2005 11:02

Liarspoker - Go to their website www.mearsgroup.co.uk click on Investor Information and from the Share Data drop down select Individual Research Notes. unfortunately there's nothing more up to date than March. The News section also contains excellent background info.