Carrs Mill. Share Discussion Threads

[shauney2] 15/4/2014 17:22

Thanks for the Questor buy information broadwood.Certainly helped the share price today on a bad day for the market.

A note from Edison.Re

Cash flow and balance sheet

Net debt increased by £3.2m during H114 to £25.3m. Working capital rose by £5.9m, reflecting seasonal variation. Net capital expenditure totalled £3.3m, of which an estimated £0.8m related to completion of the new factory and offices for Wälischmiller in Germany, £0.7m for the completion of the investment in the Kirkcaldy flour mill and £1.5m enhancing the Country Store retail chain. The retirement benefit obligation fell from £3.3m at end FY13 to £2.4m at end H114. Gearing rose slightly during the period, from 28% to 30%.
Estimates
The group remains on track to meet management expectations for the full year. We adjust both the cash flow and balance sheet to take account of the acquisition of Chirton Engineering earlier this month (see below). We leave our P&L estimates, which look for a 6% reduction in revenues to £439.3m and a 6% improvement in profit before tax (adjusted for goodwill amortisation and share-based payments) to £16.6m, unchanged.

[broadwood] 15/4/2014 13:39

Super bounce on deeper analysis of figures.

Nice dividend increase too.

[fruitninja84] 15/4/2014 13:03

I fin it hard sometimes to understand various shares, look like a good solid business and 'defensive' but looking a little closer In the cash flow statements am I right in thinking that this actually burns more money in deprecation costs then cash coming in from operating activities thus it funds its self through debt? So it borrows to stay afloat ??

[broadwood] 15/4/2014 08:22

However the bad news brought by the good weather was offset by strong performances in the other parts of the group.

The flour milling operations contribute a fifth of group revenue and 4pc of pre-tax profits. Carr's has recently made a major investment in a new flour mill at its Kirkcaldy plant in Fife. The company continues to generate savings from better efficiency.

One of the more interesting parts of Carr's operations is Walischmiller, its Germany-based engineering unit, which makes mobile robotic handling equipment that is used in the nuclear industry. New contract awards have been very low during the first half, but the company should benefit as progress is made on the new fleet of UK nuclear power plants.

Carr's shares are rated on a fairly conservative 12.9 times earnings, falling to 12.1 times next year, and as racier stock market alternatives sink like a stone, the tried and tested model at Carr's is reassuring. Buy

[broadwood] 15/4/2014 08:21

MODERN business wisdom tells us that the corporate model of the conglomerate is broken. Carr's Milling Industries is proving it is anything but, as this business which provides a mixture of agricultural feed, flour milling and robotic engineering outperforms rivals and the wider market.


In fact, one could be forgiven for thinking its chief executive, Tim Davies, was taking a swipe at his critics when he said: "The period has clearly demonstrated the strength of the group with its geographic diversity and operational balance."


The company reported a 2pc increase in pre-tax profits to £10.1m during the first six months and management's confidence was underlined by a 9.7pc increase in the interim dividend to 8.5p. The shares go ex-dividend on April 23 and the payout date is May 16.


Carr's core is focused on the provision of animal feed to farmers and this agriculture division contributed 73pc of group revenue and 65pc of pre-tax profits in the most recent full-year results. In the UK mild winter weather has allowed farmers to graze dairy cows for longer, reducing sales of feed blocks.

[5310carraroe] 14/4/2014 19:42

I said on Friday that these were very good results. Not surprised that they are up further today. Looking fwd to £20 by year end

[pyemckay] 14/4/2014 14:08

cash flow is very poor this H1. I will be keeping eye on that and I am going to revisit previous annual report.

[broadwood] 14/4/2014 08:23

Modest rise in half-year pre-tax profit
- Increases interim dividend payment
- Trading in line with full-year expectations

Carr's Milling Industries delivered solid progress in the first half of its financial year and said it is trading in line with expectations for the full-year.

Pre-tax profit rose 2.0% to £10.1m in the six months ended March 1st 2014 while revenue slipped to £214.7m from £231.6m in 2013. Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) rose 0.6% to 78.1p.

Across its three main divisions, Agriculture performed well in the first six months of its year.

"In the US the severe weather, in particular in the Mid-Atlantic States, has resulted in record sale levels of feed blocks. The drought in the Southern States of the previous year has, to a large extent, been alleviated enabling farmers to start the long process of restocking, which is important for future sales in the US," Carr's explained.

In the UK however the mild winter has had an adverse impact on the sale of fuel and heating oil, feed and feed blocks, compared to last year's very high volumes.

In Food, its Kirkcaldy, Scotland based flour mill was commissioned on time and there was a significant improvement in the quality of the UK wheat harvest in 2013.

Elsewhere in Engineering, the first half saw high levels of investment in research, technology and facilities resulting in contracts being won for delivery through to the end of 2015.

Based on first half trading and trading at the start of the second half, Carr's said it is confidence in meeting expectations for the full year.

The group has recommended its first interim dividend of 8.5p, up from 7.75p the same time a year earlier.

Net debt increased to £25.3m from £22.1m as at August 31st 2013.

[broadwood] 14/4/2014 08:03

Sound enough.

[5310carraroe] 14/4/2014 07:54

Very good results.

[sheyac] 11/4/2014 14:49

Good run up to results, though I expected this to top 1900 by today. ..

[9degrees] 11/4/2014 14:28

This site hasn't been accurate for a long time
eg today open at £16.99 change +81p current £17 - how come ?????????????

sell spread £16.66 (33p less than current) Buy spread £17.25 (25p more than current )
?????????????

[luckymouse] 11/4/2014 08:38

Whats with the 6% spread? Untradeable!

[broadwood] 09/4/2014 07:11

Chirton provides value-added manufacturing and services to businesses operating in offshore oil and gas manufacturing. Based in North Shields, it services an established global customer base, including IHC Merwede, Oceaneering, and Proserv Offshore. Recently it expanded into component manufacturing for high-end motor manufacturers such as McLaren as part of a strategy of collaborative innovation with its core customer base

[broadwood] 02/4/2014 12:05

2014

14 January AGM/Interim Management Statement
17 January Payment of final dividend
14 April Interim Results
23 April First interim ex-dividend date
25 April First interim record date
16 May Payment of first interim dividend

[hedley03] 02/4/2014 10:32

Sorry split!

[hedley03] 02/4/2014 10:32

Didn't someone post an AGM comment saying they would consider a spilt at £30!!!

[sheyac] 02/4/2014 09:56

This seems like the perfect candidate for a split maybe even 3:1....In theory volume traded would increase by the same amount right? E.g instead of an average of 5k/day it would become 15k/day?

[redartbmud] 02/4/2014 09:21

Sheyac

It is usually a decision surrounding liquidity. When the share price becomes too large, then fewer sharesc are traded. The board would undoubtedly consult the institutions before making such a move.

If they do a stock split then all shareholders participate. For example, they may issue 1 for 1, so you get 200 shares instead the 100 you had before. Theoretically they would be worth 750p each, if they were worth1500p on the day of the split, but they usually move up modestly above the 750p in the market.

red

[sheyac] 02/4/2014 08:33

CRM is a very solid company with a great track record imo. I think its a very peter lynch style investment.

Speaking of, how does one go about proposing something like a stock split? Do you need to hold a minimum %? I think increasing liquidity would prob help as I imagine the wide spread puts off a lot of investors.

[redartbmud] 02/4/2014 08:18

Crm was on my watch list. I will watch more closely following yesterday's purchase!

[9degrees] 01/4/2014 22:05

MM's making hay by dropping price and forcing selloff! Typical

[linhur] 01/4/2014 15:56

must have been an April Fool! 100p to be made in 36 hours not bad.

[sheyac] 01/4/2014 13:35

Oh my word...unusually high volume and price up 3%

Was this a tax year sell off by institutions that crashed the price? Not used to such volatility here

[sheyac] 31/3/2014 12:29

Poor harvest is good for millin side, but reduced feed demand for livestock is bad for the feed side. The engineering part of the business was performing really well in the last results.

How can you twll if it's bad news or if the market is panicking? Most recent analyst was a buy reiteration for 1900p I n 14th Jan, just 10 weeks ago!