Mears Share Discussion Threads

[rivaldo] 25/6/2010 17:12

Bleedin' ell - go out for the afternoon and see what happens! Bang goes most of my profits here. Can't believe any effect would be serious on MER, and the last para of CNT's RNS says it all anyway about future prospects.

[cwa1] 25/6/2010 16:24

Thanks chrisf

[cwa1] 25/6/2010 16:23

Grabbed a handful in the low 240's. Hope it's not a big mistake :-(

[chrisfoster] 25/6/2010 16:21

Checkout RNS on rival CNT:

Connaught has carried out a detailed analysis of its business in the lead up to
and following the Emergency Budget. The company has identified 31 contracts
within its Social Housing division where a proportion of the value relating to
capital expenditure has been deferred. This will impact revenue by around
GBP80m and EBITA by GBP13m in the current financial year. If this were to
continue we anticipate a reduction of revenue by GBP120m and EBITA by GBP16m for
financial year 2011. As a result we expect a one-off impact to our cash
conversion rate, reducing to around 40% this financial year.

The medium-term outlook for the business remains strong. As previously
indicated the company is undertaking a cost reduction programme. This is
expected to yield savings of at least GBP25m for financial year 2012. We have a
record bid pipeline of GBP5.3bn reflecting the trend towards larger, longer-term
contracts as our customers seek to address their budgetary restrictions.
Connaught is ideally placed to meet the emerging requirements of this market.

[chrisfoster] 25/6/2010 16:21

duplicated...

[cwa1] 25/6/2010 16:12

What's up(or down) here? Wondering if this is a good re-entry price or if some bad news is in the offing...

[rivaldo] 24/6/2010 13:37

RNS out - good news. MER has a new major shareholder above 3%, Breeden European Partners with 2.56m shares:

[cornishman33] 19/6/2010 10:29

mdrans1 - 18 Jun'10 - 16:24 - 1420 of 1421

2 buys of 1,600,000 and one of 16,000,000 !!!!!!! ?


The 16,000,000 purchase has now been deleted. Presumably it was simple human error with an extra '0' added to one of the 1.6m buys.

[melody9999] 18/6/2010 21:29

triple witching day today I think md

[mdrans1] 18/6/2010 16:24

2 buys of 1,600,000 and one of 16,000,000 !!!!!!! ?

[rivaldo] 09/6/2010 11:14

"Panmure Gordon has...a buy and 330p target for Mears"

[lucky_lady] 09/6/2010 08:22

Well I am back in today after that statement.

[rivaldo] 09/6/2010 07:13

The AGM statement today could hardly be any better:

"Mears issued its Interim Management Statement ("IMS") on 11 May 2010 and is
pleased to report that the trends referred to in the IMS are continuing which
are summarised from the IMS as follows;

· Continued strong trading across all the Group's divisions;
· Over GBP500 million of new contract awards in Social Housing;
· 9 new contract awards in domiciliary care;
· Integration of the Supporta acquisition is well advanced.

IMS Comment on Trading
Mears is continuing to deliver strong trading across all divisions.

Since publication of our final results on 9 March 2010 for the year to 31
December 2009, we have announced contract wins of over GBP500 million in Social Housing and a bid pipeline which still remains in excess of GBP3 billion. The order book currently stands at GBP2.5 billion with secured revenues of 91% of consensus forecast for the current year and 77% for 2011.

IMS Comment on Outlook
Mears' two growth markets of Social Housing and Domiciliary Care, which account for approximately 90 per cent of Group revenues, are defensive sectors where spend is predominantly non-discretionary and cash generation is robust. Given the Group's public sector client base, Mears is substantially immune to bad debts and our customer work patterns and payment terms have remained on
schedule.

Mears is well positioned to benefit from an active contract bidding market and
remains confident in the prospects for the future growth of the Group."

[rivaldo] 04/6/2010 07:10

Good to see MER rising back towards the highs.

[rivaldo] 02/6/2010 15:08

TAM, you probably know more about MER than I do - I only bought this year at 231p so managed to catch the low for a change.

But I'd say that in the current market MER has actually performed well in holding on to most of its recent gains.

I also believe that the City loves all that recurring and visible earnings - how many companies have forward visibility of 90% or so future revenues? So I'd hope that the share price will continue to consolidate and move upwards nice and steadily, especially:

- with the move into social care
- with the likelihood of more contract wins
- and with the likelihood that MER will actually benefit from government spending cuts via outsourcing etc (and see post 1413 above re increased capital investment in social housing).

[thickasmince] 02/6/2010 14:38

I've held this share since 2003 and it never appears to get the rating it once did. Maybe the nonsense that went on at Connaught is hitting sentiment, or just the general government spending cuts playing on investors mind.

[rivaldo] 27/5/2010 07:15

Interesting that in an article about cuts in government spending, MER gets singled out as being a beneficiary of INCREASED spending....



"Additional spending

While most of the £6.2bn of savings has been earmarked to reduce public debt, a small proportion -- £500m -- has been earmarked for spending.

Business will get £200m. Capital investment for colleges and social housing, are the other main beneficiaries, signaling a commitment that may be some relief to companies involved in these areas such as Kier (LSE: KIE) and Mears (LSE: MER)."

[rivaldo] 26/5/2010 13:38

Thx Muncher. Pretty sure it's been posted already, but good to read again anyway:

"Bulls see Mears increasing pre-tax profits 60% to £29.5m this year, for earnings of 24.5p a share, with the board likely to increase the dividend from 5.7p to 6.5p a share. By 2011, profits might approach £34m, on £629m turnover.

At current levels then, the shares, consistent dividend payers and strongly backed by Growth Company Investor at 274.75p, are trading on a prospective multiple of 12.2, an undemanding rating given Mears' track record and high levels of revenue visibility, stemming from an order book of £2bn. Keep buying."

[rivaldo] 12/5/2010 11:38

From today's Mail:



"Collins Stewart and Investec issued buy recommendations followed a trading update by social housing and geriatric care group Mears. The shares rose 6.25p to 303.75p. Trading remains strong across all divisions. Following the recently announced £500m of new wins in social housing and £30m in care, the order book stands at £2.5bn. The target price of both brokers is around 333p."

[rivaldo] 12/5/2010 09:05

Exactly. Such consistency and visibility of forward earnings normally results in a higher rating - I feel MER is on the cusp of achieving such a rating.

A snippet in the Express:



"Mears Group added 6¼p to 303¾p following a bullish trading update. Its order book has increased to £2.5billion as ­analysts noted a recent "purple patch" of contract wins."

[tom.b] 12/5/2010 08:45

This is not just a really promising Company - it has consistently delivery

[rivaldo] 12/5/2010 07:08

Excellent news again today - an analyst workshop should mean more interest here. Perhaps those upgrades are nearer than we thought rcktmn!



"Mears is hosting a workshop on Mears Care and the UK domiciliary care market for analysts and investors today at Collins Stewart, 88 Wood Street, London, EC2V 7QR.

Mears will be presenting on its Mears Care division and the markets in which it operates. No new material information will be provided."

[tara7] 11/5/2010 19:50

Jim Slater, or his kid, might like NTA. I am looking for profits many times the share price, as they sell half a billion pounds of property on the edge of Hyde Park, that is going up over 20% P/A.!!! £7M market cap, profits in my view could be over £60M.!!