Compass Share Discussion Threads

[simon gordon] 12/10/2005 15:56

Careful - I don't understand your logic. If you do not feel confident why stay in the trade. It sounds masochisitic to me!

[careful] 12/10/2005 15:50

i am a holder of compass and bght recently at 194.
i am beginning to think that the top man is going because he screwed up badly.
probaly leaving a mess, tons of debt, having overpaid for lots of companies that offer no synergies.
i feel; gloomy all of sudden but will tough it out.

[brian spaceship2] 12/10/2005 08:44

I take the opposite view...the sooner they sell SSP the better. It just absorbs cash which I would rather see paid as a dividend. It also has a very different business culture from contract catering and the two have often clashed in the past. A simplified and focussed business will be much easier to value and should therefore be less risky for us shareholders. I do agree about the immediate change of management, however. Its the corporate equivalent of what the Americans call a lame duck presidency. The sooner they get fresh blood in the better. Good luck to all you holders....you may need it if the UN investigation turns nasty,

[nirag patel] 11/10/2005 16:44

Its division is the subject of a wide-ranging investigation into the United Nations' contracting procedures. However, Oriel Securities reiterated its 'buy' stance on the stock.

one day they are going to be right !

[i maximus] 11/10/2005 16:37

sinking to fresh lows, looks pretty grim... how long can CEO hang on for? will stock bounce if theres an immediate departure?

[5bertie] 08/10/2005 21:36

CPG goes up on bid rumours, then the so-called experts start slagging it off
and it goes down again. But never by much this is a very resilient share and
very predictable too. Don't forget this is still a huge company however much
the cityboys slag it off! I have always gone long on this one after each slagging off and always made money. Good share this. Evening all.

[dhb368] 06/10/2005 12:34

Closed my short @ 195.5. Got a bit back HOORAY!!!!

Still think of this as a potential long, but will trade it for a bit.

[i maximus] 06/10/2005 12:20

my bet is robinson has more sense than try to sort out this can of worms. too much trouble for what its worth. RTO was a case of a bit of financial engineering to please the markets, for a cool £77m whatever over 3 years. but CPG seems more like needs a major shakeup right through the organisation. and with bailey hanging around for another year, what is the rush?

[dhb368] 05/10/2005 16:28

LOL. I am short for the moment. (Just a small one)

[i maximus] 05/10/2005 16:04

your buying holding up the price?

[i maximus] 05/10/2005 15:39

was that the end of the rally?

[gulliverr] 05/10/2005 15:33

Oh no! not psps. Quick -sell!


(Only joking mate.)

[psps] 05/10/2005 15:24

i am waiting for the bottom and then hopefully buy.
who knows what the rock bottom price will be ?

the final results are due at the end of November

[dhb368] 05/10/2005 14:33

I dont think so. I am guessing a fallback to 197. But I am as often wrong as right.

[psps] 05/10/2005 14:29

will it go past 200p and stay above it today ?

[nirag patel] 05/10/2005 13:30

it is not franklin, good results from SODEXHO, probabaly, is the reason for a rise.

[dhb368] 05/10/2005 13:24

You're doing alright at the moment careful. Someone is buying, my guess would be Franklin.

Could fall back again once buying has stopped. Chanced my arm with a small short (currently 199.5)

[i maximus] 05/10/2005 11:51

be careful ;)

[careful] 05/10/2005 11:05

bought this morning at 194.5.
i have a long history of losing money on weak out of favour companies, and a good one sticking to quality companies such as Cadbury,Land Sec, Rio.
i am hoping to get lucky on this one.

[gulliverr] 05/10/2005 10:24

Bahtat. Yes, I agree with that. Looking on the brighter side, the current furore over school meals will see an increase in money allocated to their purchase. Whether this will be offset by the higher cost of ingredients is hard to say. You would think that Compass would have the purchasing power to reduce this cost and increase their margin on this area which has not been that profitable recently.
The mountain you see is no higher now than it was last year, perhaps lower in view of the good oversea performance. This is why I think the fall is overdone.
As for the sale of SSP, it makes sense to withdraw for non-core activities, reduce debt burden etc. It will be interesting to se how much will be returned to shareholders, if any.

[satan 666] 05/10/2005 10:05

this will end up in US hands....onlt thing is they will get it on the cheap ...

[bahtat] 05/10/2005 10:01

gulliver

I agree that my comments mostly apply to the UK division, but that is where the company is run from and the UK appears to be the worst performing division.

Despite the 'amnesty' on buying new businesses, that's exactly what they continued to do! Mostly smaller companies that would not require an RNS, and 'probably' negotiated by lower echelons of management to the point that the Compass Group board were not actually aware!

There is no way they would be selling off SSP if they didn't have to. They have had to make a big gesture to the City.

The City doesn't seem that impressed.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to talk them down, but I still see a mountain to climb.

[gulliverr] 05/10/2005 09:33

This was understood by management two years ago when they called off buying new businesses to focus on organic growth. Changes of direction need time. Your point about isolated businesses and their management is well put but with an international conglomerate not easy to rectify. Moreover your comments apply to the UK. There will be changes and a resumpton of the upward trend in the UK to match the growth and profits being made internationally.