African Battery Metals Share Discussion Threads

[fatfin] 14/4/2010 20:12

Was there not a tie up between the two mooted or is that now passed. No further news since...

Fatfin

[one for the money] 14/4/2010 08:33

All IMHO

Difficult to know if ABM or HAT is the place to be - HAT is next divi payment so, although I am in both, I am heavier into HAT at the moment.

ABM seems to do better (sharepricewise) in the latter half of the year.

Cheers
john

[fatfin] 11/4/2010 19:00

Last hit £2.80 back in October 2007 and it has taken over two years to crawl back there again. Just hope that we do not slip back again. Very long term holder been here since 2000 at 26p and still holding. We should be hearing about a tie up anyway at some point which may help a bit. Gold still rising well and should do even better over the next year or so as paper money gets less attractive.

Fatfin

[philo124] 09/4/2010 12:56

bought today.

[one for the money] 22/2/2010 09:26

Half-yearly report looking good.

Cheers
john

[grahamite2] 04/1/2010 08:30

LOL, that idiot has spammed every board. Ignore.

[one for the money] 04/1/2010 08:20

Please keep the spam down

Cheers
john

[notanewmember2] 03/1/2010 22:04

Where are the ADVFN mods?

[ariane] 01/11/2009 07:12

Top pawnbrokers hold £230m merger talks
Mark Foxwell, Financial Mail
31 October 2009, 7:33pm
Britain's only two stock market-listed pawnbrokers,
Albemarle & Bond
and
H&T
, have had initial merger discussions that could result in the UK's largest pawnbroking business, valued at more than £230m.





Deal: H&T, pictured here, could merge with A&B to create a £230m business

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FTSE LATEST5044.55-93.17



Including planned store openings, a combined group would have 252 outlets, topping the 250 of The Money Shop, owned by US-listed Dollar Financial Corp.
It is understood that talks are at an early stage and no advisers have been appointed. A move would need the backing of shareholders and both boards.

H&T's largest shareholder is
fund manager
Artemis Investment Management with 16.1%, while directors own 3.9%.

A&B's largest shareholder is US pawnbroking giant Ezcorp International with 29%, while management own just under 10%.

H&T chief executive John
Nichols
and A&B operations director David Page both sit on the board of the National Pawnbrokers Association.

Both companies have seen rapid growth during the
recession
, boosted by a surge in the price of gold, which has been more than $1,000 (£608) an ounce, and customers who have limited access to banking and finance services.

Nichols and A&B's new chief executive Barry Stevenson declined to comment on talks, but both could see benefits in a merger.

They stressed that market conditions were ripe for consolidation and outlined their plans to acquire independent businesses.

Nichols said: 'We plan to open a further 12 pawnbroking stores this year, bringing our total to 122.

'We also have 57 gold stores and we are looking to increase this to 77 this year. The company is witnessing a boom in gold prices and we are looking to take advantage of this.'

Stevenson said A&B was well financed to handle a sizeable
acquisition
.

'We are always on the lookout for an acquisition that fits in with our rollout programme,' he said. In 2007 the company acquired specialist pawnbroker Herbert Brown for £30m.

Berkeley Credit & Finance, which operates pawnbroking shops in London, is understood to have held talks over a possible sale.

Other independent businesses include Fish Brothers, TGS Pawnbrokers, Chain Reaction, Mallard Pawnbroker and The Old English Pawnbroking Company.

A&B shares closed last week at 241p, valuing the business at £134m, while H&T's shares ended at 287.5p, valuing it at £102m.

[waketaker] 21/10/2009 13:15

seems the price is scared of breaching 240.

[taylor20] 06/10/2009 15:33

Gold breached £650/oz, £700 by Christmas?

[one for the money] 01/10/2009 16:34

Thanks, Taylor

[taylor20] 01/10/2009 10:54

Uploaded here:

[taylor20] 01/10/2009 10:50

Charles Stanley upgraded price target to 275p.

[taylor20] 29/9/2009 13:19

link to that Telegraph article:

Vaguely positive in the FT:

[taylor20] 29/9/2009 13:10

Also tipped on iIi

[riskier] 29/9/2009 09:25

Tipped as a buy in today's Questor column in the Telegraph.

[taylor20] 28/9/2009 09:36

If you annualise the second half performance (e.g. only £0.4m financial costs) I get at least £12.5m PAT, so assuming no growth on a forward P/E of 10. Factor in a 20% growth P/E of 8.5.

With the low cost of borrowing and gold in sterling on the rise again, I can see an even more aggressive growth policy being adopted here. Might impact the bottom line next year but longer term (assuming gold stays above current levels) worth accumulating?

I also hold HAT.

[taylor20] 28/9/2009 09:14

HAT up twice as much this morning (4%), should breach recent highs based on those results.

[s50cam] 28/9/2009 08:42

Just needs a bit of time IMHO for news to circulate and we should break 240p

[waldron] 28/9/2009 08:27

Albemarle & Bond Full-Year Profit Jumps on Higher Gold Prices

Share | Email | Print | A A A

By Jonathan Browning

Sept. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Albemarle & Bond Holdings Plc, the U.K.'s largest pawnbroker, said full-year profit climbed 47 percent as the retailer benefited from higher gold prices.

Net income in the year ended June 30 advanced to 10.7 million pounds ($16.9 million), or 19.39 pence per share, from 7.24 million pounds, or 13.24 pence, a year earlier, Reading, England-based Albemarle said today in a Regulatory News Service statement. Sales rose 18 percent to 55.5 million pounds.

The retailer will increase its final dividend by 44 percent to 6.5 pence a share, giving a total dividend for the year of 8.75 pence.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jonathan Browning in London [e-mail].

Last Updated: September 28, 2009 02:26 EDT

[grahamite2] 28/9/2009 08:26

Quite a subdued reaction to a nice announcement.