Conduit Share Discussion Threads

[boonkoh] 17/8/2012 17:35

Bsharman3: havas stopped buying right after they started, otherwise we would have seen more rns as they crossed thresholds.

[bsharman3] 17/8/2012 16:44

What an interesting week this one has been with Creston, African Barrack Gold and now Chemring! All my investments are receiving bid interest!!

[madengland] 17/8/2012 14:38

Agreed D1nny...

[d1nny] 17/8/2012 14:33

I'm assuming a tree shake after a roughly 10% climb mid week. i NEVER invest on speculation of a bid. If you look at the actual share price this is good value at 85p and i think it will still be good value at 110p.

[bsharman3] 17/8/2012 14:17

I can't work this one out. Is this a tree shake or have Havas stopping buying? I wonder what their gameplan actually is!

[madengland] 17/8/2012 12:32

Looks like someone is taking the stock. A few sellers pre weekend, offer next week or will Havas just build stake slowly?

[markt] 16/8/2012 22:34

Magl.
...Russian mine exploration....that does sound like a punt...but maybe Russian stuff has advantages over European stuff in current economic climate !...Im generally not buying/selling at the moment so no free cash to spend this week....but may take a look at it one day...mining I avoid since I know nothing about the sector...

(CRE gone from 55 almost to 85p....surely one day there will be a pull back in the graph...and top slicers may queue up to sell a few......maybe !....)
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Wall street is up again..NASDAQ up 1% (Cisco up 8% I think, good results)..on nice recent run...and DJIA and Nasdaq look set to exceed 12 month highs and go higher.....which would be expected to benefit the FTSE...(and no harm maybe to some UK Tech. Stocks tomorrow)..as long as Greece or any of the numerous other countries with debt or liquidity problems dont fall over...(even UK has high debt level wrt GDP...and Germany)

[cutlosses] 15/8/2012 20:41

Sorry if I spoilt the party !!

[madengland] 15/8/2012 19:02

Cutlosses, best sell then if that's how you feel rather than hoping others are right would be a thought. So far there has been no tangible evidence of a bid though. If a resonable bid is 150p and a no bid PE of 8 is fair then buying in today was not a bad move for those who did imo

[madengland] 15/8/2012 18:53

Markt - have done well of late, but not hugely well over long term with CRE. I am very much with you on the the shareholder returns vis a vis remuneration of exec. I have tended to average down when I thought the stock cheap, as I still feel it is for now. I have been less good at selling and I have not only bought cheap. So I would not advocate following me, or anyone for that matter. I have sold up a most stocks, as I have a venture to pay for. One I hold a lot of in the bottom drawer is AMC. Not likely to appeal to many on here, its a Russian mine exploration company. Good bunch folks on BB. If it comes in it could be a biggy, at current price its a good punt, but that certainly is not a tip. Have a look, see if you like the risk reward. Am not buying anymore CRE now, but not fancying selling yet either. Good luck

[cutlosses] 15/8/2012 18:05

I am just getting a little nervous that it has now been 10 days since any tangible evidence of a bid yet the share price has put on about 20p.

If there is any negative news here, a lot of shorter term investors will get out, leaving the share price lower than it was before the speculation. ETO would be an example of this.

But I hope Madengland etc are right.

[markt] 15/8/2012 18:03

"few pints HSD" ?

Not HSB ? (Horndean Special Brew)
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Looks like you've done well with CRE. (share price action....I'm still a bit surprised by the strength...but hey a gain is a gain...)....maybe we should follow you on any new share picks !...got any ?!

[madengland] 15/8/2012 16:44

HNT had a decent day on back results I see

[madengland] 15/8/2012 16:21

Not in Cornwall mate, but after a few pints HSD who cares. Will we be sat at 90p+.....reckon so

[madengland] 15/8/2012 15:11

Is it summer where you are riv?

[rivaldo] 15/8/2012 14:47

Continuing to move up. Decent volumes too on a quiet summer's day, with 310k shares so far today and 430k yesterday.

[rivaldo] 15/8/2012 09:30

Nice start again - being marked up on small volumes so far hopefully indicates not much stock around.

[markt] 15/8/2012 08:39

How much money have the exec. dirs. made as a result of the CRE shares being unpopular a few months ago....and being more popular now....while the share price is lower than it was when the CEO took over 12 years ago and lower than most of the share issues to fund acquisitions ?

1.1M at 54p at end of June.
Price now to buy 84p-85p
Difference of 30p.

330k

Maybe 18% of the yearly dividend paid to the 2 exec. dirs as a bonus just for 2 months.

Does that incentivise the staff of Creston to work harder or achieve their targets on time .....knowing that the 2 execs. are making shed loads in a few weeks....as a result of a low share price before ....and as a result of -ve share price growth over 12 years ?

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The exec. dirs. are rewarded by the renumeration committee headed by David Marshall for getting the share price low...down to 54p ?

When the CEO started the company at 96p/share cash in 2000, it was a shell.
12 years later 54p. And did cash placings at prices such as 130p.

That disgracefullly bad performance of the share price is rewarded !!??

Ridiculous imo.

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David Marshall created Creston since he agreed to Don Elgie taking over the shell that he had created by selling off the property assetts of Creston in 2000....

his family has also benefitted over the last 12 years....

he has employed at least 1 son at a subisidiary/associate company that his family trusts control ...while keeping it secret from shareholders (not reported in annual reports)....approx. 3/4M benefit/salary over approx. 10 years.
Any benefits to any other family members.....we do not know about since only at director level is some information occasionally forced by the regulations.

Mr David Marshall has also been careful to structure the benefits scheme of the 2 listed companies (LSE and Plus) where he is the chairman to be secret. How many shares are going to him or any family members....secret !! (except for 1 family member that has become a dir. at LSE listed company, that forced his options to be revealed)....
(to achieve this he puts the benefit shares with a trust...and it appears that the trust does not have to report who it awards share options to or under what conditions.....so much for transparency and openess in London markets).....and if you ask....they refuse to tell you...!!
Have they got something to hide ?

To me it appears to be intentional playing of games by David Marshall to "avoid the regulations" and the spirit of the regulations and avoid giving information to shareholders.....which imho is morally/honourably wrong and listed company directors are required to show integrity (IPOs with dubious directors can be blocked by the system/FSA). (dir. share options are reported I think for 99.9% of listed companies.....the .1% imo is David Marshall controlled companies)

David Marshall is also the chairman I believe of the renumeration committee of CRE, where some PIs criticise the dir. benefit levels related to the company performance. (high benefits and low performance targets (beat the UKD GDP growth !) and low performance).

[red army] 14/8/2012 16:33

Its all to do with the sector companies starting to generate cash and companies like Sky and WPP etc etc will do well.

[markie7] 14/8/2012 16:25

maybe not six months, maybe about the last 3. The re-rating of the sector isn't puzzling as the majors are on 8 times, and the small ones are on 4 times. These gaps are bound to get a bit closer - regardless of "this climate"

[rivaldo] 14/8/2012 15:59

You misunderstand, I'm not talking about CRE - as you say, it's been cheap for ages. Your post implied that a re-rating had just begun. However, if you're noting what's been happening from 6 months ago that's slightly different and there's no need to reply!

[markie7] 14/8/2012 15:50

hardly puzzling, it has been on about 4* EBITDA for months. The Creston story seems to have pointed this out to people. Look at CHW, NFC, HNT, TMMG over the last say 6 months.

[rivaldo] 14/8/2012 15:47

Interesting Markie7. What else have you come across, and why the re-rating across the sector in this climate if you don't mind me asking? CRE have an advantage at present with their expertise in digital and health, but a sector-wide re-rating is a little puzzling, unless it's to do with the US elections, Olympics etc.