Alumasc Share Discussion Threads

[piedro] 06/2/2024 07:21

EPS - 13p or 11.4p
Take your choice.

[dunns_river_falls] 05/2/2024 15:08

Interim results tomorrow.
Hoping for eps > 12p and some decent comments about current trading.
Div last year at interims was 3.4p

[pvb] 01/2/2024 12:57

"The CMA has published its reasons for approving the ARP deal at"

[somerset lad] 29/1/2024 11:39

I'd like to see ALU using the higher interest rates to arrange to transfer the pensions liability, which would make it a much cleaner bid target. There would be a cash cost but now seems the least bad time to deal with it.

[somerset lad] 29/1/2024 11:35

The CMA has published its reasons for approving the ARP deal at

Worth skimming IMO for some background on rainwater goods markets, including some share data.

[valhamos] 17/1/2024 12:56

Piedro -that's what makes the market, having different views on a company. And I am clearly seeing something different.

This is not a very dynamic sector - look elsewhere if you want that - and there isn't a lot of money for the company to invest to change things quickly. But over the last 20 years Alumasc has been through a lot of change to make improvements. We can see that in gross margins - the average for the 3 years 2001-2003 was under 25% but has improved gradually as the company has has become focused on its strategy to average over 36% in the last 3 years.

With hindsight Levolux was a mistake; Alumasc did not have the skill set or the size to add any value to the contracting and installation sector. This has held back improvements on the bottom line. But we are now seeing that come through in returns on invested capital.

You regard the CEO as being "like a 'one track record'" - but that for me is a positive! Rather than chopping and changing with every latest fad they are sticking to what they know best - developing a good range of building products linked to environmental solutions and offering excellent customer service in supplying them.

[taylor20] 17/1/2024 09:33

This understated paragraph in on the company website, does not do justice to the huge transformation the company went through around 2005?

"A number of the group’s more traditional engineering businesses were impacted by the loss of much of the UK’s manufacturing base to lower cost economies around the turn of the century, and the group’s engineering and industrial product divisions were down-sized significantly in these years."

I was amazed the company survived TBH. So I suspect some of the long standing board members are dining out on that and perhaps the reason for the very conservative strategy.

Obviously I did not buy here for growth, just steady profitability and a fairly chunky yield.

I also hold BILN and NTBR which have similar profiles.

[cfro] 17/1/2024 09:19

That is a very good point raised on the questionability of the CEO. I do like him myself and view him as a very safe pair of hands. He's not going to do anything stupid mostly the decisions he takes are sensible ones imo but that said he has been in the job for over 20 years but the valuation of the company has gone nowhere in all that time....Maybe it is time for a change then?

I do too rate the Chair Vijay Thakrar (who is also chair of one of my other holdings Treatt), but again only time will tell just how good he will prove to be.

When it comes to competitive advantage i think it is in the products that they own, which are excellent. Timloc for example is a very good product not easily matched (there are of course other similar products on the market).

Once you have a good product then you need a good sales team to sell the products and i think they do have some good people in that respect.

[piedro] 16/1/2024 15:53

deanowls,

They have been cleaning up the company since 2001
when Paul Hooper was appointed CEO.

Levolux was the 'crown jewel' for a time
bought in 2007, sold in 2022!

I've only well read the RNSs since 2014 and find
the CEO like a 'one track record'

Hence my question about "competitive advantage"
Changing the CEO and Chair could really be a
game changer.

AIMHO and NOM

[piedro] 16/1/2024 15:33

Earnings per share


Equity per share

[piedro] 16/1/2024 15:10

From my excel sheet ...

[valhamos] 16/1/2024 14:49

Hi Piedro - do you have a particular year in mind as an example? In terms of share buybacks the number of shares in issue is pretty much the same 36m as it was 10 years ago - it tends only to change slightly with the interaction of shares issued from share options offset by share buybacks.

I'm not aware of much recently on restatements - there was one a couple of years ago to restate comparatives on the classification of Levolux as a discontinued operation but the net profit was unchanged.

I must admit I'm not really looking at ALU's eps or the low P/E much, I'm here because the return on invested capital has moved from single digits a few years ago to 20% plus and I'm hoping that with some of that return reinvested (the recent ARP acquisition as an example) they can grow in the future.

[deanowls] 16/1/2024 14:28

Piedro, they have tidied up the company massively over previous years, number two f facilities, selling off loss making businesses and buying others.

Going forward it should be a lot cleaner.

[piedro] 16/1/2024 13:32

Thank you Valhamos.

I note that their NAVPS and EPS data are smoothened by share buybacks, the same with their results where the previous result is often "restated" lessening the difference in bad years.

[valhamos] 15/1/2024 18:50

Hi Piedro, Alumasc's competitive edge comes from its excellent customer service and the emphasis on environmental friendly products. However they are not totally immune from the vagaries of the construction sector.

[piedro] 15/1/2024 08:55

Hello,
I've only recently come across this company.

Do they have any sort of 'competitive advantage'
as the CEO constantly mentions "challenging
market conditions" in his reports?

TIA.

[dunns_river_falls] 31/12/2023 21:07

I hate nil cost options for directors, they have a decent salary which should be enough to 'incentivise' them.

Although the £50k+ purchase by the FD is more encouraging.

[parttime] 19/12/2023 18:27

I believe Cavendish have a target price of £3.15 so maybe looking at a multiple of
12x which doesn't seem too fanciful providing we don't get any nasty 'surprises' and interest rates start to fall later on in the year.

Happy to hold and enjoy that 6% divi.

[dunns_river_falls] 19/12/2023 16:00

Also noticing on Stocko that the EPS forecast for next year has recently been upgraded from 25.05p to 25.75p. Hopefully we are just starting out on a nice bull run. P/E at 10 would be c.260p. Hopefully with the acquisition bedded in, they can outperform even further.

[aishah] 19/12/2023 15:48

45,000 options awarded to directors at 160.3p

12mth rolling fcst p/e 6.9 yielding 6.14%
Stockopedia claissifes ALU as a Super Stock with a StockRank of 98!

[parttime] 18/12/2023 17:55

Nice little purchase by the F.D. today...

On 18 December 2023, The Alumasc Group plc (the Company) was notified that that Mr Simon Dray, Group Finance Director, purchased 30,000 ordinary shares at the price of 178p each.

[aishah] 22/11/2023 08:46

SP has crossed both 50d and 200d SMAs recently.

[cowie19] 03/11/2023 13:05

Dividend in the account today.

[cfro] 16/10/2023 09:42

I was just thinking about it's acquisition strategy. They say they are always looking out and have recently bought ARP in July, but to currently buy any more businesses right now i assume they would have to take on some considerable debt.
The price range tends to be around £10m or so so that would mean another £10m added to the £2.4m or so they already have. All this new debt would of course have to be taken-out at much higher rates of interest...

A prudently run company always hence would it be prudent to do more acquisitions at this time and take on much more debt at a time of possible recession? I dont think so hence perhaps we will not see any new acquisitions here for quite some time. Would welcome any comments or opinions..

[kirkie001] 27/9/2023 13:03

Oh, I hold this already (in my daughter's JISA) - just looking to get it into my personal ISA as well....