Carr's Share Discussion Threads

[ntv] 28/4/2018 08:21

why change the auditor after all these years?

[dozey3] 16/4/2018 17:58

Cannot follow your logic parkway, the variability and general flakiness of the agribusiness side weighs down on the exciting robotic-handling and precision engineering side. Thus the muddled hotch potch is undervalued by the market and makes no sense. A split or sell-off would be highly value enhancing. This is in addition to management not being up to steering two such wildly different businesses.

[thevaluehunter] 16/4/2018 15:39

I think they are on for £20m ebitda this year.

[thevaluehunter] 16/4/2018 11:56

Yes H2 food and fuel likely be a benefit from March extremely cold weather. H1 PBT is already ahead of the full year and last year and H2 was very weak vs last year so should be a decent full year.

[parkway14] 16/4/2018 11:46

H1 sales reflect the bad winter for farmers in the UK and the need for Caltech's low moisture block feed supplement, together with the improved store cattle values in the US making Smartlic blocks affordable. The problem with Agric. sales is the dependence on weather and the ability to pay for supplements like this (whether that be due to market prices or Govt. subsidies which most UK sheep farmers are totally dependent on.
Good to see the Chairman and CEO making changes to the Engineering division both in acquisition and strengthening senior management. Now that Flour has gone the two divisions can help iron out some of the highs and lows, especially with the uncertain future of British agriculture after Brexit and the ending of the generous EU subsidies. The worst mistake would be to separate these two divisions just yet.

[thevaluehunter] 16/4/2018 11:15

Also a breakout from the trading range on the chart.

[thevaluehunter] 16/4/2018 10:33

For the second half in H2 2016 they did Sales £162m ebitda £7.3m then H2 2017 Sales £169m, ebitda £3.8m. I would hope they will be ahead of £7.3m given they are well ahead of the last 2 years for H1.

[twistednik] 16/4/2018 10:25

Thanks - that's helpful ! So they look on course to do 12p + for the year.

[wjccghcc] 16/4/2018 10:22

They are H1 seasonal due to winter feed demand. FY forecast was 12.0p vs 8.9p last year prior to any upgrades after today's ahead statement.

[twistednik] 16/4/2018 09:26

EPS for H1 looks strong at 9.2 vs 7.1 last year. Anyone know what the expectations are for H2 and the impact of seasonality on revenues / profit?

Sorry if this is an obvious question but I'm new to this one !

[dozey3] 16/4/2018 08:41

Each completely unrelated half would be worth more split off from the other. When will management bite the bullet? Yeah, I know, turkeys and Christmas.

[ntv] 16/4/2018 08:40

good results
happy to hold for the finals
would prefer no placing to expand and just let the company grow
agriculture looks ok at the moment and maybe going through a bull phase so could be a good couple years
worth keeping an eye on US prices

[value hound] 16/4/2018 07:44

Excellent results, materially undervalued IMO. I think it's worth more like £180m / 197p a share, but it will never get there as the business is always going to be patchy in performance - so one to forget about and take the yield from for me.

[cwa1] 16/4/2018 07:40

im Davies, Chief Executive Officer, commented:

"We are very pleased with the performance of the Group during the first half of the year, which slightly exceeded the Board's expectations for the period. This strong performance demonstrates the excellent recovery made in our Engineering division and builds upon the strategic progress made during the last year.

In UK Agriculture, we now have greater visibility on the impact Brexit may have in relation to direct payments to farmers in the near term, although uncertainty remains on the issue of trade agreements both within the EU and the rest of the world. The clarity relating to direct support, together with improving farm incomes, means we are starting to see renewed confidence in the outlook for the industry. Our Engineering business is recovering well and we have strengthened management to drive further growth.

Trading in the second half has started well and the Board now anticipates that trading for the full year will be slightly ahead of its previous expectations. We are confident that our breadth of product offering, investments in acquisitions and research, and our international footprint leaves us well positioned for further growth across both our divisions in the medium term."

[thaiger] 06/4/2018 19:53

Trading update in January was very positive so the result should be good!

[cwa1] 06/4/2018 08:42

Modestly perky this morning with no glaringly obvious reason that I can see. Anyone else seen anything? Maybe just a bit of pre-results interest?

[cwa1] 29/3/2018 15:09

Afternoon

FWIW I've just re-joined the gang here after a long absence at 124'ish with a small punt ahead of results. Fingers crossed and all that stuff.

[parkway14] 28/3/2018 16:40

This time last year, Carrs announced a profit warning - will not be the case this year. The Agric. division should have done extremely well with its low moisture block sales (the jewels in the crown), which in the UK is Caltech Crystalyx and in the U.S. is Smartlic. How many lots of snow has we seen this year in the run-up to lambing, especially in Scotland, the north of England and Wales - just at a time when sheep farmers have to supplement feed and sheep farmers are the main users of this block. The timing of this late in the season snow has been fortuitous for Carrs. In the U.S. store cattle prices have recovered which dictates whether the beef cow farmers can afford the cost of a block for a cow.
Combine this with the nuclear contracts which have finally materialised this financial year and the Carrs Board will be sitting pretty next month with their announcement - at last, it's been a wait!

[zipstuck] 09/1/2018 11:31

Potential for recovery here and long term growth

[9degrees] 29/11/2017 15:03

My 2000 buy shows as a sell on nex

[losos] 17/8/2017 16:29

PUGUGLY - "Expanding into the US usually turns out very very badly for UK companies"

If we are talking retail I agree, can't think of one UK retail business that has done well in America, Tesco and others failed. But in industrial and engineering UK companies have a better record. Hanson did an amazing job in the eighties & nineties, BAE have twenty or more US based companies, and there are a handful of FTSE 250 firms who are doing well over there.

I always thought Carrs engineering side was an odd mix to their agricultural business. But taking on another firm bolsters that side and as people have said it could lead to de-merger or what ever in the future.

[pugugly] 07/8/2017 08:02

Expanding into the US usually turns out very very badly for UK companies - Jury out for a long time (imo)

[dozey3] 07/8/2017 07:37

News of a shrewd takeover today:

Nuclear engineer in US with heavy robotic handling fitting well with CARRs. Hope they can handle it, but arguably reinforces case for splitting company.