Billington Share Discussion Threads

[herbert0] 18/11/2024 16:46

Severfield reporting next week. share price still might get to net assets of £3.9 but with about 30p already in for this year they are at net asset value already. Will be buying if they get to £3.9

[taylor20] 14/11/2024 08:45

I'm not expecting one, but from the interim results:

"The Group continues to benefit from significant projects in energy from waste, high-tech manufacturing, infrastructure and data centre facilities, achieving a record order book at 30 June 2024. In addition, some of the other markets in which Billington operates such as large office developments, industrial warehousing development, film studio and leisure facility construction are seeing projects restarted and are providing a growing pipeline of opportunities. These growth areas are expected to more than offset any impact on the Group from any deferment of government expenditure and the slight softening of the structural steel market this year....

...I am very pleased with the performance across the Group in the first half of 2024 and I believe that Billington has continued to be seen as the steelwork contractor of choice. The Group's investment in efficiency improvements, the latest capital equipment and skilled people, coupled with the Group's strong market position and increased offering, is enabling the Group to grow market share, achieve attractive margins and to focus on those sectors that can deliver better returns.

Despite some softening in the market this year compared to 2023, the large contracts secured in the first half of the year and a strong pipeline of opportunities provides confidence for the 2024 full year and into 2025, with FY24 profits now expected to be ahead of current market expectations."

[rica] 14/11/2024 07:19

This time last year there was a trading update. Anyone know if there's one likely this year?

[herbert0] 30/10/2024 16:13

National Insurance going up, but this will affect all suppliers

[serratia] 15/10/2024 08:49

Opportunities.

hxxps://dailysceptic.org/2024/10/14/open-ai-wants-to-build-data-centres-that-would-consume-more-electricity-per-year-than-the-whole-of-the-u-k/

[herbert0] 11/10/2024 12:10

Net assets £3.90 per share

[herbert0] 11/10/2024 11:21

It might be better to let the sellers take the price down and buy later. Perhaps the institutions on the share register are desperate to get some cash in.

[tag57] 09/10/2024 18:17

P/e based on last annual accounts and excluding cash is about 4. Any acquisition around that would be great.
Edit: I see 2023 had some additional margin so not to be expected in 2024 so sustainable P/e higher, say 6 if just doubling H1 earnings.

[herbert0] 09/10/2024 07:26

They are carrying £20m while they await finding and buying a suitable acquisition on a similar PE, (about 8). Of course they could purchase their own shares.

[tag57] 08/10/2024 23:50

I have just come across Billington and initially it looks like a decent small growing company with decent metrics, successful management team and a solid balance sheet.
Is there any reason why they are carrying such a large cash balance ~30% of MC?
With ROCE running at 25% I would have thought they would be looking to deploy more cash into growing the business , especially with each business segment running at near to full capacity.

[herbert0] 23/9/2024 10:48

BASH will be an interesting "compare and contrast" with SFR which has £100m goodwill on BS

[davidosh] 23/9/2024 09:14

Billington are on the Mello show tonight as they will be featured on the BASH session

Programme
5.00pm Paul de Gruchy with ‘DG19: Everything’s gone wrong. Who is responsible?’
5:30pm Company presentation from Warpaint
6:00pm Company presentation from Windward
6.30pm Educational Presentation
6.50pm Company presentation from Van Elle
7:20pm BASH Panel – Kevin Taylor The Property Franchise Group (TPFG) and Mark Simpson Billington (BILN)




Get 50% off your ticket with code MMTADVFN50
More info:

[rimau1] 20/9/2024 07:07

Nice write up from the small caps life team, expect an H2 beat, acquisition pipeline firmed up with the new RCF in place and they conclude that the market barely moved the price despite being on 9x with a big chunk of net cash and likely H2 beat. I happen to agree!

[gswredland] 17/9/2024 11:38

Thanks for posting that value hound

[value hound] 17/9/2024 10:44

Update from ST:

More upside to come from this steel specialist

Flat first-half pre-tax profit of £4.6mn
Deferred contracts restarting
Full-year earnings guidance raised 9 per cent

Buoyed by a robust order book and increased activity in key markets, Barnsley-based structural steel and construction specialist Billington (BILN: 520p) has upgraded full-year earnings guidance.

Chief executive Mark Smith believes the economic environment has started to stabilise and that the industry is poised to return to regular, steady growth. This is borne out by the performance of Billington Structures, a leading UK structural steelwork contractor capable of delivering complex structures of 10,000 tonnes or more.

The business is operating at near full capacity and boasts a record order book. Robust demand is being seen in the high-tech manufacturing, infrastructure, data centre and defence sectors, in addition to energy from waste. The group won its largest ever contract in the first half with Acciona for the North London Heat and Power Project. Billington has built a strong position in the energy from waste sector and is well positioned to win further business in what is a complex market with reduced competition. Other sectors, such as distribution warehouses and film studios, are seeing projects restarted, presenting further opportunities.

In addition, Leeds-based Peter Marshall Steel Stairs, a specialist designer and fabricator of bespoke steel staircases, balustrades and secondary steelwork, is on course for a record year, so much so that it has been utilising partner companies to assist in the delivery of its significant workload. Management is looking at options to increase capacity to meet the expected high future demand. The business provides stair structures for projects including commercial offices, power generation, data centres, distribution warehouses and leisure schemes.

The company’s safety solutions business, which provides temporary perimeter edge protection and fall prevention systems for hire, is in demand, too. The unit increased its contribution to the group result, delivering a near-50 per cent increase in operating profit to £0.96mn in the first half.

Raised guidance supports upside

The board’s raised earnings guidance prompted house broker Cavendish to upgrade full-year pre-tax profit and earnings per share (EPS) estimates by 9 per cent to £9.3mn and 57p, respectively, albeit EPS will still be 28 per cent down on last year’s record results, which benefited from one-off margin gains that materially boosted earnings. Importantly, profits look sustainable at the current run rate, which is 60 per cent higher than in 2022.

The shares have delivered a 167 per cent total return (TR) in my 2022 Bargain Shares Portfolio, and a 32 per cent TR since I selected the company as one of my 2024 takeover targets. However, they remain modestly priced on 1.3 times book value and on a current year price/earnings (PE) ratio of 9. Moreover, with Billington holding net cash of £22mn (169p), and the business throwing off surplus cash even after factoring in annual capital expenditure of £3.5mn, the 20p-a-share dividend is secure and underpins a 3.8 per cent dividend yield. Buy.

[herbert0] 17/9/2024 10:28

It is worth looking at their news

Special Protective Coatings, Peter Marshall Stairs and Tubecon are all doing well. It was very clever employing the staff, from a failed contractor, in Tubecon

[phar lap] 17/9/2024 09:00

Update from Cavendish

Interim results: FY24 EPS upgraded by 9.4% The group has posted a resilient performance against strong comparables and a challenging market. There is increased optimism on H2 deliveries, with a return of activity in distribution warehouse and film studio projects adding to its active flow of projects in data centres and Energy from Waste projects. The group continues to increase market share and a strong level of order intake and record order book at 30 June gives rise to greater visibility to improved H2 deliveries; as such, it flags FY24 performance being ahead of expectations. We are upgrading FY24E adj PBT by 8.8% to £9.25m, with adj EPS boosted by 9.4% to 57.0p. No change to FY25E at this stage. We maintain our 610p TP, implying a conservative FY25E P/E target of 11.0x. With market conditions likely to improve as interest rates continue to decline, we expect the shares will continue to perform well.

[value hound] 17/9/2024 08:24

I can't really see why it isn't over £7 - albeit cyclical - so am content to wait and take the divis.

I imagine ST will reiterate his buy stance later.

[gswredland] 17/9/2024 08:19

Yep. Sticking with these for all the reasons you outline Taylor
Plenty of upside here after the sellers are through

[taylor20] 17/9/2024 08:14

Well to me that sounds like the most positive outlook the company has ever produced. All divisions at capacity, massive forward order book, steel prices lowest ever and stable.

Second half weighting might give some pause, but this is one management team I trust implicitly, no second guessing required, no hidden surprises.

[xamf] 17/9/2024 08:12

Just bought back in. Convinced by outlook above market expectations. Decent set of results with second half weighting.

[plasybryn] 17/9/2024 07:13

Investor Meet Co. today presentation at 15 hrs

[herbert0] 17/9/2024 06:42

Excellent results
EPS full year at least 27.4 x 2 = 55p
So that is at least 5% above previous expectations of 52.5p nonetheless stronger second half.
Record order book, should be on PE of at least 12 in my opinion

[rimau1] 17/9/2024 06:34

Third of the marketcap in cash with a positive outlook, whats not to like with the focus on infrastructure and house building