Associated British Engin... Share Discussion Threads

[lord c.] 03/10/2002 19:44

Down another 30% today.
Is there a big black pensions hole I wonder???
As I said before - couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of people.
Lord C.

[lord c.] 04/12/2001 09:54

Down 20% today and a long way south since the new chairman took over. Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of city people.
Not a share I would invest in.......

[tim2] 03/8/2001 09:06

where is the news that will be of interest to us poor suffering shareholders.
and what is it. why did the company make a statement. maybe they were hoping the shares would jump up.
they need to do a lot better than that to get this share moving.

[michaeld] 28/2/2001 23:30

This one needs to be treated with caution I think Gekky? Since they consolidated the shares (200-1 as far as I remember) the share trading has become very illiquid and you may only be able to sell in small quantities.
Hopefully, management may soon reverse an exciting and profitable enterprise into ABE and take the opportunity to increase the no in issue. Kelvin Diesels, the latest acquisition didn't sound too bright (diesel engines for the declining fishing industry?) and presumably restructuring this into Polar was largely responsible for the first half loss? Polar was said to be trading profitably at the time of the annual report.
However, it was certainly time for a change of management and it will be interesting to see if Mr Pearce Gould can transform it into company to match its impressive name? The cash per share is a comfort. Fingers crossed.

[spooky] 28/2/2001 09:33

Well i never,this old chestnut has risen from the ashes.The inside word 12 months ago was of explosive developments,but everything was put on hold as the market fell apart,i wonder what's up :-).

[gekky] 28/2/2001 08:40

Thnx for your feedback.I first got to hear of this stock from a collegue of mine this time last year.The share price at that time was languishing at around 300p when it started to move down,finally settling at 180p where i picked up 5000 shares.Soon after they rebounded and peaked at around 550p!Just wondering whether it is time to buy back in again?
Regds

[michaeld] 27/2/2001 23:10

For some strange reason my above posting printed out twice? Maybe I double clicked?

[michaeld] 27/2/2001 23:06

I bought 1k shares this morning and 1k this afternoon (at 183p, shown as a sell on advfn 'trades') after expressing a wish to purchase 5k (a mistake?). The MM's marked the price up after each of my trades.
Company is selling Havant factory site for approx 1£M (I believe it is worth a lot more after looking at it. Two acres, just a stones throw from the town centre?). Even so, the company will have £2M approx in cash and the remaining subsidiary 'Polar Engines' incorporating the recent acquisition 'Kelvin Diesels', said to be trading profitably, I believe. With 1.3m shares in issue, a large proportion of the present share price is in cash. Hopefully, Mr Pearce Gould will soon find an exciting, profitable acquisition or if some non profitable engineering outfit; one that is sitting on valuable property assets, to the future benefit of shareholders and not some property developing pals of his? I am suspicious about the price accepted for the Havant site. I reckon Plc properties ought to be sold by means of a high profile auction after having been advertised in the National press, so that we, the shareholders can be sure that there is no dodgy dealing going on? Time will tell about Mr Pearce Gould but he can't do much worse than Mr Barry did, can he?

[michaeld] 27/2/2001 23:06

I bought 1k shares this morning and 1k this afternoon (at 183p, shown as a sell on advfn 'trades') after expressing a wish to purchase 5k (a mistake?). The MM's marked the price up after each of my trades.
Company is selling Havant factory site for approx 1£M (I believe it is worth a lot more after looking at it. Two acres, just a stones throw from the town centre?). Even so, the company will have £2M approx in cash and the remaining subsidiary 'Polar Engines' incorporating the recent acquisition 'Kelvin Diesels', said to be trading profitably, I believe. With 1.3m shares in issue, a large proportion of the present share price is in cash. Hopefully, Mr Pearce Gould will soon find an exciting, profitable acquisition or if some non profitable engineering outfit; one that is sitting on valuable property assets, to the future benefit of shareholders and not some property developing pals of his? I am suspicious about the price accepted for the Havant site. I reckon Plc properties ought to be sold by means of a high profile auction after having been advertised in the National press, so that we, the shareholders can be sure that there is no dodgy dealing going on? Time will tell about Mr Pearce Gould but he can't do much worse than Mr Barry did, can he?

[gekky] 27/2/2001 19:41

Did anyone notice the 21pt move on this stock just as the market was closing?Volume was a measly 4000 shares.......comments anyone?

[spooky] 02/6/2000 09:53

The company may be moving at the speed of a tortoise but at least
it's moving in the right direction.Everyone in the posts above has
been concentrating on Mr. Pearce-Gould,what is more interesting is
who he represents.Evidently he has some very "smart" friends.

[bambino] 23/3/2000 11:51

Well - I seem to be one of the VERY few people who have the slightest interest in this share.

PERSONALLY (IMHO etc.) - I have a great interest in the share as I see if being converted into a different kind of company. Whether the word 'internet' or 'cash shell' will feature, or whether the new company title will include interesting punctuation marks .@.com.uk!#£ I don't know.

One thing which is surely worth noting however is that this month 2 new directors have been appointed. We know Mr. Gould - he recently acquired over 8% of the company. I don't know who the other geezer is - perhaps he works for Cambridge Corporate Consultants too. If anyone fancies phoning up and finding out - please go ahead!

Here's hoping that we soon find out what is going on here. Presume that the MD had some idea what he was up to when he increased his shareholding last month. Not something I would expect him to do if the company was about to be wound up.

Now £4 to buy. Anyone know if this price represents a discount or a premium to NAV?

If anyone wants to check out Mr. Gould's other company 'Sovereign Reversions' - check it out on

Sadly it has nothing to do with the internet (at least not from where I'm looking)

[bambino] 16/2/2000 11:37

From the last Interim Report for the Six Months ended 30th September 1999 it looks to my inexperienced eyes that the company has to be worth over £5 mil. Can someone please have a look for me and confirm / refute. Thanks in advance

[bambino] 16/2/2000 11:28

nlb

Well, they seem to be on the move now. Approx 5 quid ish now.

Can anyone help me to work out the NAV of the company also. I'm relatively inexperienced and don't know where to find out this kind of info.

According to your RNS article the company has £1m in the bank and "Current trading tends to confirm the Board's confidence in the prospects of British Polar Engines". How can this be the case when last year British Polar only accounted for 12% of profit. They've sold off the middle eastern operation which accounted for most of their profit for something like 5/6 mil. They must have been fairly in debt if they only have £1m in the bank now.

If they do only have £1m in the bank it looks like we are trading on something like 4/5 times NAV (although as I said above I would really appreciate some helpl / pointers re working out present NAV). As we can't yet confirm that anything is really going on surely this is a bit risky.

[nlb] 12/2/2000 11:00

RNS Number:2287F Associated British Engineering PLC 8 February 2000 Following a review of recent trading in its Catering Equipment Distribution subsidiary and news of the loss of a major contract the Board of Associated British Engineering plc ('ABE') has resolved to commit no further financial support to that company. The Board has appointed Mr Chris Laughton and Mr Maurice Moses of Levy Gees Administrative Receivers of ABE Catering Equipment Limited. The ABE Group after paying off all of its indebtedness to its bankers has cash on deposit of approximately #1million. Current trading tends to confirm the Board's confidence in the prospects of British Polar Engines. END and there is more ....... RNS Number:3586F Associated British Engineering PLC 10 February 2000 Notification of major interest in shares Pursuant to Section 198 of the Companies Act 1985 please note that we have been advised today that Mr J P Tucker increased his holding to 40,000 ordinary share equivalent to 3.05% of the issued share capital. END ---------------------------------------------------- over the comming weeks just watch these move ! regards nlb

[nlb] 25/1/2000 08:52

thoa - time will tel which story is correct, i have no idea regarding the small holdings. regards nlb.

[thoa] 24/1/2000 19:37

nlb Take your point about two differing stories. Wasn't trying to knock your post just pointing out the interim statement. Your research is appreciated. The recent trades on this company are weird - any idea where all the small holdings come from.

[nlb] 24/1/2000 17:10

it seems that the Durlacher holding may just be rumer, i am trying to confirm one way or the other.

[clem] 23/1/2000 18:59

.... well lets just say, not for widows and orphans. :)

[thoa] 23/1/2000 16:13

Must be missing point or some news. According to back news abse at interim were looking for bolt on enineering firms once sale of subsiduary went through- has this changed??

[clem] 22/1/2000 13:54

Spotted these in the top lists a few weeks back. I think you need nerves of steel for this kind of wild punt! :)

[mad mac] 21/1/2000 23:12

I went into ASBE last November and held for 2 months but got out recently because nothing seemed to be happening and I had some better uses for my capital. At the time, I understood Mr Pearce-Gould's stake exceeded 8% but my memory may be failing me. My point is, the company is taking much longer than anticipated to become fully liquid - there are apparently some troublesome issues over the catering equipment division - also don't forget there may be tax to pay on the disposals. I would suggest the focus of BBer research should be Mr Pearce-Gould's other recent activities and interests. Someone must know of him ...