Compass Share Discussion Threads

[i maximus] 24/8/2006 12:30

heavy dumping today, whats going on? does somebody know something? time to bail out?

[sandeepgupta] 10/7/2006 16:30

barclays have been building up their stake steadily surely the bid cannot be far away.

[gulliverr] 07/7/2006 08:37

There still doesn't seem to be much newsflow and this regular price see-saw must be a boon to traders. Mystifies me!

[momentos] 03/7/2006 10:04

Thats a nice gap to fill....

[lucas buck] 03/7/2006 09:58

Looking good. Need to see more volume really. Some decent orders hitting the book now.

[momentos] 03/7/2006 08:16

Breaking out upwards?

[mrthomas] 22/6/2006 18:39

At long last this stock is at a reasonable level but of course would like to see it go to say £3 as have held this stock for 20 months. Am sure others have held it longer but through that would hit over £2.70 a long time ago.

[big bad al] 22/6/2006 17:33

Looks like the private equity takeover talk may be more than talk if the volume is anything to go by,

Dont they just love a under priced company.

[halogen] 22/6/2006 13:35

On fire at the moment hope it last,RSI does look strong.

[gulliverr] 22/6/2006 11:27

I've been waiting too, a long time. So the question is, as always, how far up now?

[dhb368] 22/6/2006 11:23

Good call trader

Stuck with this one for a long time but I eventually gave up at 236. Really annoyed to miss this movement.

Oh well.

[traderob] 18/6/2006 22:57

Having spent 12 weeks 'inside' the week of 24-3-2006, it looks like time to break out. Accumulation has been at work.

224-226 has been tested and held 3 times on the downside and 250-251 twice on the upside, without breaking through.

If 250 is rejected a 3rd time watch for a breakdown through 226. If 251 is broken on a close basis the rally will resume with initial target of 280-290.

RS favours a breakout of 251 so remain bullish !

283.50 will provide at least initial resistence as a number of key measurements also converge around this key point.

[gulliverr] 31/5/2006 08:32

And obviously there isn't!

[gulliverr] 30/5/2006 08:25

Well I dropped in to see if there was an explanation?

[ibs7491] 30/5/2006 08:13

strong start 2day something brewing hopefully?

[halogen] 16/5/2006 07:46

8.00am bell ding ding.

[halogen] 16/5/2006 07:36

Dont look to bad to me,time will tell.

[dhb368] 15/5/2006 18:07

I no longer hold a position as i am away for CL Final! but I am not expecting bad news and would expect this to test 250 again once(if) the market settles.

I think CPG is turning the corner, but tankers don't do handbrake turns. Still some time to go in my opinion

[halogen] 15/5/2006 11:36

Any thoughts going into tuesdays figures talk of pre tax prifits down am not so sure about that myself i thought this was on the turn ..

[halogen] 09/5/2006 12:04

This stock is as dull as there dinners,and i bet there`s turkey on the menu..

[chrissingh] 21/4/2006 15:24

245 is resistance point so take some profit now

[dhb368] 10/4/2006 11:27

I disagree with your "already factored in" comment beta. I understand your calculations but, concensus was £1.3 - £1.4bln was a GOOD price for SSP. Therefore SSP has brought in another £550m or 25pps.

I think that £550m, the £500m buyback and the £275m pension payment make CPG far more attractive, and certainly worth 25p more than Fridays close i.e. 255.


Broker Upgrades:
SG Securities 280 from 230
Panmure Gordon 258 from 240

Would be interesting to see what DKW etc say as they have been negative recently.

[utsushi] 10/4/2006 09:45

beta_adjusted, 2005 P/FCF was around 15x, so 16x 2006-2008 is in line and probably reflects greater CAPEX...agree, not very attractive, but they did get a good EBITDA x for SSP.

Historically EPS has been less than cash flow per share, so seems fine to me..

[beta_adjusted] 10/4/2006 01:48

Good price. But already factored into the share price:

Company target Free cash flow is 800m over 2006 - 2008 i.e. 283m. Note that this is post SSP divestment target ...

Market cap before 500m redistributed of about 5000, so post distribution 4500 (share buyback similar effect on ratios to dividend).

That gives you a Price to Free cash flow,

P/FCF = 4500/283 = 16x.

Not cheap!

Highest multiple in sector was Sodexho on about 14x. Given doubts over Compass' UN contracts and effects on its ability to win further contracts, the quality of management, and the increase in raw material and labour costs and slowdown in consumer spend, 16x is not cheap at all. There are also questions about the company's accounting methods, given that the P/E is less than the P/FCF. This should not be the case as free cash flow is a larger number than EPS. Very fishy ...

The rationale behind the SSP sale is also highly dubious as it is the crown jewel of the business is cash flow terms.

B