Let's hope nobody drowns! |
 Times
The tale of the Avon Protection bullet-proof vests that turned out to be only mostly bullet-proof may live long in the minds of investors appraising the listed business that otherwise makes helmets for the US military and gas masks and respiratory equipment for customers worldwide (Robert Lea writes).
The fiasco of Avon’s faulty body armour is told in the company’s share graph, with the stock price nearly quadrupling in the matter of a year to a high of more than £43 in the second half of 2020. Within another year, the company had lost 80 per cent of its value.
However, the technology failure was symptomatic of wider failings in the business and Avon’s management was moved on. For the past year, the Wiltshire-based company has been in turnaround mode under Jos Sclater, its new chief executive, whose recent bona fides include Ultra Electronics, Castrol Lubricants and GKN.
Its latest announcement is of a contract understood to be worth double-figure millions of euros to supply state-of-the-art, ten-years-in-development underwater breathing equipment to allow German naval divers to, among other things, clear mines on missions at 100 metres deep lasting four to six hours. The contract is strategically and financially valuable and may yet be the precursor to a far larger deal with the US navy. More importantly, it is a reminder that Avon has strong proprietary technology and sells to significant customers.
Avon’s stock has been pretty much flat at a time when so many other defence stocks have shot up like a Tomahawk missile during the conflicts of the past two years. Investors who want to hear the story will be reminded at a capital markets day early next month of Avon’s capability and what Sclater has done to shake up the company.
Avon is a business that has annual sales of about $250 million and it plans to nearly double margins to up to 16 per cent. If it can be forgiven for past failings, then it may be worth donning the tin hat once more.
Advice: Buy
Why? A turnaround situation in good markets with good product. |
value king,
Sorry, only just seen your #1072. I suppose I may be unfairly jaundiced. I've held Avon since April 2002 through its period of transformation from principally rubber products through to the 'protection' business we have today. It was acquired as a 'Low PER/High yield' stock principally for income. Management didn't handle the transformation that well and everything from introducing new products to setting up new production facilities in the US always seemed to be behind the curve with delays and problems. They got there in the end, of course and the share price got up to over £40 (so with 10,000 shares acquired in 2002 I suppose I shouldn't complain!) but then came the disaster of the acquisition of the bulletproof vests from 3M - one of the greatest destructions of value I've seen (though Hewlett Packard may beg to differ!). Yes, we have now had a change of all the senior management involved at that time, but with nobody taking responsibility and no great sense of urgency. Let's hope that the new incumbents herald a change of management culture, not just new faces. |
I'd expect that nato allies will be helping or preparing for some liberation operation soon. A further vessel has been assualted by yemen. So I'd expect various governments to want to have the latest equipment. I'm hoping that all countries put in a juicy order soon! |
presumably it's low multi million otherwise they'd have given a number |
Avon Protection plc is pleased to confirm that the Group has been selected by the German Navy to supply its Multi-Role Rebreather for military diving operations.
The multi-million Euro order includes the supply of Avon's market-leading rebreather and ongoing technical support. |
I see the Directors are pilling in again. 17 shares this time Woo hooo So glad I sold quite a few this week |
The share price were too good to be true I guess? |
The age of meaningless gibberish has been around for a while, politicians are experts in it. The business community has prominently been doing the same for at least 2 decades. |
Have you read the mission statement?It's from a CEO's playbook for Dummies Full of meaningless quotes Cut and paste into any companies end of year statement |
Why are you not a fan of the management here jeffian? The CEO hasn't been in charge for a year yet. |
That's what I was thinkning Jef. In fact I'd like for the UN to put in an order for 5 million helmets for the Palestinians & 50 million helmets for the Ukranians. Taiwan and the Philippines and South Korea could do with some protective possibly life-saving head-wear too! It's all there, no idea why they aren't selling the idea to the UN. |
I'm not a fan of management here but if they can't make money with several significant wars going on, when can they? |
AGM with probable TU is 26/1 so not long to wait. goes XD 8/2 for 12p |
No idea whether whether to take profit now or hang on for any possible divi. |
Just what I have been waiting forNews coming and directors have known for months news which will propel the price up and not shared while they have loaded up |
There's the breakout |
Yep looks good |
Breakout coming imo, mini cup and handle on the chart |
Only slightly underwater now.looking forward to 24 |
Perky close! |
Where did you see that, Ch1ck? No RNS today. The 7 December RNS was for some meaningless buys under a share plan, so they don't really count imo. |
More directors buy |
IC Show - 24/11/23
Avon Protection, the Autumn Statement and quality US shares | The Companies and Markets Show
This week’s episode begins with a dive into Avon Protection’s recent figures with our deputy news editor Michael Fahy. To say the numbers were positive might be a stretch, but things could certainly be worse for the respiratory protection equipment specialist. As there have been many changes at the company in recent years and now activist investors are agitating for a sale, how should investors see the business? |
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