Coral Products Share Discussion Threads

[base7] 07/11/2023 11:36

Half year ended 31/10 so a trading update could be issued at any time confirming H1 numbers.

[charo] 07/11/2023 11:21

Certainly not the declared.As to current year tight call.Better to be unpopular than insolvent.JG will do what is best for group,as always.

[clocktower] 07/11/2023 09:56

Your very gloomy charo.

While JG may have decided to conserve cash, rather than continue with the share buyback, I cannot see him cutting the dividend, as that would for the second time he has messed up.

Therefor I still think the shares are to cheap based on the dividend return.

Do you think the dividend is at risk?

[charo] 07/11/2023 09:46

With clear signs of recession JG will conserve cash.2024 could see severe downturn.
Uk in downward spiral.

[clocktower] 07/11/2023 09:03

Only one MM on bid and I notice it has hit another downward breakout. The shares look to cheap based on the dividend.

[clocktower] 31/10/2023 12:08

Come on JG surely the buy back program has still got the spare cash to swallow up all these shares that are available at under 15p or has business slowed and costs risen?

[clocktower] 27/10/2023 16:08

Maybe he has got hold of another 50k or so today.

[clocktower] 27/10/2023 12:17

JG should be buying at this price to put more in treasury.

[charo] 13/10/2023 21:48

Alternatively Coral happy to buy!

[clocktower] 13/10/2023 17:26

14.7p this time, so going up a mite what JG is paying, some happy to sell.

[charo] 13/10/2023 08:31

CT has no idea what plans are for treasury shares.As to early repayment of debt this often has a penalty.
The cost so far is around £120 k or buttons. The dividend saving covers cost of borrowing.

[charo] 13/10/2023 08:27

Think Clocktower owes jg an apology,see latest purchase RNs.

[clocktower] 12/10/2023 17:31

Well put base7 and very balanced view.

Remember buying back shares, if they are not going to be used to acquire another business also benefit JG and others that hold.

However it is not always the best use of cash when a company has debt, better to pay down the debt and reduce interest that is being paid impo.

[base7] 11/10/2023 17:23

I agree that V posted some excellent comments.However my view is that a fair number of PIs will have bought at 5p & continue holding & only a few paid 23/25p & they , I suspect are long gone.
As I have said previously, Cru is not a blue sky tech/bio.crypto type stock which could multibag ( eg ARB before its fall from grace & many others).I also appreciate the headwinds in the economy in addition to the anti plastic lobby.Hopefully the relatively new CRU Group is diverse enough to continue generating cash & paying dividends & will consolidate its position as a small company & at some point, JG will want his exit & with view to his advancing years that could be sooner rather than later.
Cru has had a rocky past & there remains the possibility that those days will return 7 ,as we all know, that is the risk of investing in any equities.

[clocktower] 11/10/2023 16:52

charo, that has not been the case for those that paid 23/25p a few years back.

How many are left that paid 4/6p?

It also seems to me that JG is not willing to pay 15p to put them in treasury now, though he has previously.

Very fair and good post from valuschmalu, I agree.

The buy back was only to stop the rot in the share price impo.

[effortless cool] 11/10/2023 14:11

Excellent post, valuschmalu.

[charo] 09/10/2023 12:31

CRU have increased ebitda over 22 and 23 and if as they say will meet market forecast this year 24,share price nowhere.IF JG passes divs for 24 and 25 he will basically eliminate debt other than for invoice factoring.
Share price wont worry him if shareholders sell down he will buy back increasing his net worth.Then resUme divs .Those who stay the course win .

[valuschmalu] 07/10/2023 09:43

My uninvited thoughts on where we are now with CRU (all IMHO):
-pace of acquisitions in 2022 raises eyebrows. It may be that these are 'deals of the century' but the counterargument is they got overexcited (again) by being cash rich and spent it too quickly. The prior M&A record is not 100% perfect and I would rather 1-2 a year rather than 4 or so in short order then silence
-the buy and build strategy only works if you buy at a significantly lower multiple to where you are trading. So CRU needs to be trading at 8x EBITDA and buying at 4-6x.
-The way to getting to 8x (+) is to generate steadily growing EBITDA over time with minimum volatility. Yes COVID etc hasn't helped but CRU is synonymous with earnings volatility. What it needs to do now is beat last year's EBITDA level and do it again next year etc. The recent trading update will (fairly or unfairly) make a lot of people think 'here we go again'
-Given the above comment about earnings vol, debt is too high at 2x. They need to get it down to 1 to 1.5x. For a stronger more consistent company, 2x leverage is fine but we are not there yet with CRU. We are also in a higher rate environment and what was acceptable leverage last year is no longer the case
-The easy way to get leverage down is not to overdistribute via dividends and buybacks. Unfortunately to cut the dividend would smash the share price so I don't think that's the way forward. Deleveraging will have to be done the hard and slow way via earnings retention. That also links into the above comment on M&A. I struggle to see at 2x leverage how they can safely do any more M&A in the short term. The big 'unless' here is unless they sell a subsidiary. Global One-Pak may be an option? I know JG rates it but there has been a lot of earnings vol from this company since acquisition
-They should appoint a CEO as soon as possible. I expect it will be one of the recently appointed directors but I doubt institutional investors love a 70+ year old being exec chairman (and not having a CEO)

[this_is_me] 06/10/2023 07:25

Now almost 1% of shares in treasury; not a huge amount but we should see buybacks continue at the current far too low share price. Many other small companies have also seen their share price fall to very low prices and have rightly instituted a buyback programme.

[clocktower] 29/9/2023 16:08

charo, what were they used for - a purchase but they have done very little for older shareholders that paid around 25p a share some years ago.

Easy to push the price up if he is willing top pay a premium to what the market thinks they are worth going forward.. As I said it is not this years dividend, it could be next year if things get tight.

Plastics are no longer fashionable, everyone trying to do away with them.

[charo] 29/9/2023 15:20

Or he knows they are worth more.Dont forget last year they had nearly 7 million shares in treasury.

[clocktower] 29/9/2023 14:17

Well it is not surprising that JG is buying back shares to keep in treasury, as I reckon he is unhappy seeing it down to this level. I guess they feared it going lower.

[clocktower] 29/9/2023 14:17

Double post error