Begbies Traynor Share Discussion Threads

[bonio10000] 10/8/2012 22:42

Red Flag.

lol.

[paulypilot] 10/8/2012 22:25

I think it's worth 60p (PER of 10).

PP.

[the troll] 10/8/2012 17:28

& pretty lousy share-price action since !!
40p + ( at minimum ) = fair value for these ( IMHO ).

[spaceparallax] 09/7/2012 09:46

pretty good results

[paulypilot] 06/7/2012 22:05

income funds too, with a pretty safe 7.3% dividend yield.

PP.

[the troll] 06/7/2012 19:48

growth / recovery funds will be taking a hard look at this I'll bet.

[paulypilot] 06/7/2012 15:01

Thx for that link Sammy.

It's the same slides that we were shown yesterday at the analyst meeting, so well worth a look.

P.

[sammy_smith] 06/7/2012 09:57

Came across this really interesting audio interview with Ric Traynor, Executive Chairman & Nick Tatlor, Group Finance Director of Begbies Traynor Group.

Its well worth a listen:

[daneswooddynamo] 06/7/2012 08:54

agree with both the previous excellent posts

if these were 50p you wouldn't bat an eyelid

in march one of non-execs paid 35p for 140,000

[paulypilot] 05/7/2012 23:13

For anyone interested, I've just published my thoughts on Begbies Traynor (BEG) results, having attended the analysts meeting this morning.

My report is here;


Regards, Paul.

[britgoneabroad2] 03/6/2012 14:42

Any thoughts on when we can expect BEG to announce the final dividend. Last year it was announced July 7 and paid Nov 7.

I'm looking forward to seeing whether they honor their promise to more heavily load the total dividend to the final payment, or whether they will forget that commitment based on factors.

[bonio10000] 12/4/2012 09:23

Can't see that. Most firms have their own insolvency departments and BEG is just a conglomerate of small firms. There is no real central office to consolidate imho.

Plus - quoted accountancy firms have shown that acquisition based growth does not work.

[finkie] 12/4/2012 09:13

Good to get shot of it they are now a leaner (not meaner unfortunately) group focussing purely on insolvency (tax business also gone) and I hope will make a tasty takeover for a bigger entity shortly maybe??

[bonio10000] 11/4/2012 21:32

I wouldn't worry about it.

24 staff and it has a turnover of £200k and a loss of £700k?

Not sure BEG management know anything if that was a strategic investment and no chance of it making money. No money to made back on this.

In fact, hasn't it been predicting doom and gloom for years but insolvencies have been decreasing? So basically useless then.

Another BEG stunner.

[crawfish123] 11/4/2012 20:18

I almost choked on my coffee when I read the below announcement:

BEG Latest news:


The key statement from this being:

The Group has agreed to continue to provide shared accommodation, IT, HR, marketing, administrative and accounting services to Red Flag on a similar basis to current intra-group arrangements. The Group has negotiated an agreement to retain full access to the database and joint marketing rights for the publication of Red Flag Alert quarterly statistics.

Looking at the 2011 Annual Report, results for the Red Flag division:
Revenue £202k
Direct costs £(167)K
Gross Profit: £35k
Admin expenses £(756)k
Net Profit: £(721)k

So in effect Ric Traynor (director and major shareholder) has taken over red flag (for virtually nothing), with BEG footing the principle and expensive costs of running the firm. He's going to pocket £35K a year, which should rise as the subscription numbers increase and BEG is going to pay for running it as well as subscribe to its services! A heads Ric Traynor wins, tails Begbies loses situation.

I was pretty angry at reading this and wrote to their shareholder relations, to which I got the following polite and prompt response:

Thank you for your recent enquiry regarding the disposal of the Group's majority interest in the Red Flag business......
...We can advise you that the Group will be supplying back office support services using its existing central functions as well as making a charge to Red Flag for its ongoing property and occupancy costs. Ongoing staff and subcontractor costs together with any future development expenses (which made up approximately 85% of the Red Flag costs in the prior year) will be met by the Red Flag business moving forward.
The Group maintains a de minimis obligation for future investment but as with any investment in a limited liability entity the liabilities of the Group are restricted.


This seems a lot more sensible and was a relief to read. What appeared to me from the statement as Begbies footing the ongoing principle running costs will (hopefully) in actual fact be only minor ongoing costs. I just wished they'd made this a little clearer in the public statement.

This outcome appeared initially to be a dodgy deal, but may be a way of separating the business without incurring yet further vast staff layoff costs. So some neutral to positive news.

[rhubarbe] 14/3/2012 00:39

Hey, topvest

Peeps on your IGAS thread wondering if you're still interested.

[bonio10000] 13/3/2012 08:34

Another pony statement then.

More jam tomorrow because the Red Flag report says there is a lot of distress out there.

If only the dasterdly goverment would raise interest rates to screw everyone over eh?

As for the one-off head count reductions that happen every year.....excellent HR policy.

[paulypilot] 12/3/2012 22:07

Hi,

I read the Trading Statement today as neutral - no great shakes either way.

The debt here is fine, it's to finance a very long debtor book, which is the norm for insolvency firms. BEG is the only Listed insolvency firm. There is a very long tail of work, which will last many years.

Don't forget the chunky divis too!

Regards, Paul.

[topvest] 12/3/2012 21:02

Yes, hardly setting the world on fire. I'm not sure accountancy firms make good investments at all. They have only had proven credentials under a partnership structure, where partners take most of the serious reward...just look at all the listed players..they have all been a disaster. Have been tempted on this one as it has a good niche franchise, but it has wasted a lot of time trying to do things it cannot win on and still has high debt levels. Think I will give it a miss.

[crawfish123] 12/3/2012 18:19

well well well...more unhappy reading:


So...revenue is holding up in the insolvency division, which is great considering were in a recession. Overall 2012 turnover is likely to be in the region of £60m, if trading is similarly to last year and they don't make any further big acquisitions then profit could be in the region of £3m.

BUT this trading update says they have carried out YET MORE RESTRUCTURING!!
Looking at pg 8 of the 2011 report when their restructuring consisted of getting rid of 14 people at a cost of £1.3m - yes that's around £90k per employee. (I wouldn't mind being fired by these guys-i realize there were some other office based costs in there as well).

Anyway.. this trading update mentions how they have yet again restructure (hardly exceptional if you do it every quarter, let alone every year). This time 31 people got the bullet. So we could be looking at double last years cost, let alone the first half's write offs. I estimate that all the second half's earnings will be swallowed up by this restructuring, and global is not going to contribute anything.

So we could be look at a 2012 eps of around -4 to -5p
stunning.

[crawfish123] 04/2/2012 13:48

Begbies Traynor crowned administration king in 2011:

[clocktower] 25/1/2012 16:54

Closed Channel Island Offices.