Conduit Share Discussion Threads

[rivaldo] 29/4/2016 07:31

Big kudos for CRE just announced



"28 April 2016 - 10:49pm | posted by Stephen Lepitak

IPG Group and Creston named Holding Companies of the Year at RAR Awards

InterPublic Group (IPG) and Creston have been named as the Holding Companies of the Year in their individual categories by the Recommended Agency Register (RAR) Awards 2016.

IPG was named as Holding Company with £1bn + Turnover while Creston won the corresponding category with less than £1bn Turnover....

...The RAR awards are based on client recommendations and reviews of their agencies, with satisfaction scores used as a measurement for success. Client ratings are collected for criteria such as creativity, effectiveness, strategic thinking, client service, etc.

Said Steve Antoniewicz; MD of the RAR: “The response from agencies and brands this year has been incredible. The finalists and winners deserve huge credit for their achieving superb levels of performance and satisfaction for their clients.

“These awards continue to be a real indicator of the most trusted agencies, not just in the UK but now internationally. Congratulations to everyone and special mention to our Grand Prix winners and to IPG and Creston who have proved a high level performance right across their groups.”"

[rivaldo] 27/4/2016 10:22

...and another. L'Oreal are a pretty impressive new client, and it sounds like there may be more to come...



"TMW Unlimited picks up L'Oréal briefs
by Gurjit Degun
April 21, 2016

L'Oréal, the beauty company, has appointed TMW Unlimited to handle its integrated ad business for three brands.

TMW will work on the Clarisonic brand, which produces a range of facial cleansing brushes, and haircare brands Redken and Kératese.

The agency has also won a place on the L’Oréal roster. There is no incumbent on the accounts.

L’Oréal put a tender out for the brief in September last year.

Agencies pitching for the business were impressed that the company offered them £5,000 for expenses."

[rivaldo] 20/4/2016 07:14

Yet another new client win....:



"Nelson Bostock Unlimited secures Criteo UK brief

April 19, 2016/in Industry News /by Richard O'Donnell

Global digital marketing company Criteo has appointed Nelson Bostock Unlimited as its UK PR agency, following a competitive pitch.

Criteo currently works with more than 10,000 advertisers across 80 countries on “dynamically generated ads”, which are personalised with products and services that consumers are searching for.

Nelson Bostock Unlimited has been briefed to enhance Criteo’s profile as a go-to thought leader for the digital marketing and advertising industries.

Sarah-Anne Bray, PR Manager, UK and Northern Europe, at Criteo, said: “Criteo is a rapidly-growing company with market-leading technology, and we’re proud of the success we’ve achieved in an industry characterised by rapid change and consolidation.

“In this environment it’s crucial that our PR partners have a deep understanding of our business and the competitive landscape, to help us cut through the noise and highlight the central role Criteo plays in the performance marketing space.

“The Nelson Bostock Unlimited team impressed us with their wealth of experience in the advertising and marketing technology industry, as well as their creative ideas for helping us to engage with our UK audience.”

Nick Clark, MD of Nelson Bostock Unlimited, added: “We’re incredibly excited to work with Criteo, a true market leader and global innovator. We’re looking forward to helping the company hone its story for the UK market, and solidify its position as an industry thought leader. This win is a real boost to our already strong portfolio of marketing, advertising and high-growth technology companies, demonstrating the depth of industry expertise our team has built over the years.”"

[rivaldo] 18/4/2016 12:19

Liberum reiterate their Buy and 170p target today:

[rivaldo] 18/4/2016 11:21

New note from Edison - they go for 12.4p EPS this year, with a 4.4p dividend.

Good to see CRE back in a £1m net cash position too:



Extracts:

"Strong cash performance

Creston’s brief year-end trading update indicates that FY16 revenue and
earnings figures will be in line with indications given in January and our
expectations. However, the cash performance is significantly better than
we had anticipated at over £1m. FY17 should benefit from more focused
recent attention to overhead management after the less consistent trading
in H216, with no trading improvement currently factored in. The valuation
remains at a significant discount to other smaller marketing agencies and
the shares carry a premium yield on a well-covered dividend."

"Valuation: Significant discount

The combination of a lower share price and the better cash position means that
Creston’s EV has reduced since our last note in January, increasing the discount to the agency sector on which the shares trade. Its valuation now stands at 5.6x CY15 EV/EBITDA, a 34% discount to the marketing services sector; a 32% discount a year further out. DBAY Advisors, represented on the board since February by Iain Ferguson (ex-Havas), has taken advantage of the lower price and increased its shareholding to 28.0%."

[rivaldo] 18/4/2016 07:24

Excellent news today. The year end trading statement confirms trading in line with expectations of around 11.3p EPS - and a 4.2p dividend.

With around consensus 12.1p EPS forecast for this year, CRE are on a P/E of just 8.7, with a 4% divi yield.

Most importantly, the statement notes that clients' prospects have stabilised and improved.

[lingy] 13/4/2016 18:56

in for a few today fingers crossed

[rivaldo] 13/4/2016 07:12

DBay continue to buy and are up above 28% with 16.45m shares:



With Artemis now at almost 15% the two of them own 43% between them.

[rivaldo] 07/4/2016 07:31

RNS - DBay have just bought more than 1m new shares - they now have 16.37m shares, or almost 28%...they'll have to put in a bid soon at this rate!

[rivaldo] 07/3/2016 13:40

Hadn't bothered reading the RNS re the new NED appointed whilst I was on hols until now. Very interesting indeed.

Not only is he a representative of DBay (who now own more than 26%), but "His background includes several years at Havas SA where he was a member of the Executive Committee and was Worldwide CEO of Marketing Services based in New York".

My earlier comments about CRE being sold/subject to corporate action are even more valid after this appointment.

[rivaldo] 26/2/2016 14:26

RNS - DBay have bought almost another 600,000 shares - they have more than 26%...



DBay and Artemis now own almost 41% between them.

If I was a betting man I'd say CRE will be sold within a reasonable period of time. Their blue chip client base - with an average retention time of 20 years - will be a tempting morsel.

[smithie6] 18/2/2016 14:28

Madengland
"With so many separate companies bought, previously led by entrepreneurs who are long since gone with payouts, and a philosophy of paying top dollar to the top brass (for achieving very little), "

got my vote

difficult sector imo for investors......the stars at creating ideas and slogans etc.....know who they are....and why work for X per year when they can set up on own and get much more...they dont need to build factories or invest millions in R & D (except for the digital section perhaps)....so they can extort the mega salary they want, reduce company profit or can leave....with risk that clients impressed by them might also leave....

[madengland_] 18/2/2016 09:27

So that probably means £1.50 :-)

[madengland_] 18/2/2016 08:20

With so many separate companies bought, previously led by entrepreneurs who are long since gone with payouts, and a philosophy of paying top dollar to the top brass (for achieving very little), it's hard to see how Creston will bring in the talent to generate any buzz at the level that counts. When your strategy is to buy revenue generated by people behind desks, don't be surprised when the desk alone generates little leadership or revenue. I suspect this is no short haul and with a softening economy some painful decisions needed. Heading to 50p or lower.

[madengland_] 18/2/2016 08:13

So Dbay wanted some blood, and took the non exec chair out, putting one of their men on the board to "observe". The strategy is not working then, it's official. Time BB went also. These should go lower I'd expect

[toffeeman] 10/2/2016 12:14

Cheers MaG - I concur!

[madengland_] 10/2/2016 11:33

Maybe at 80p, or if BB actually delivers any results. Certainly not at 106p

[toffeeman] 10/2/2016 10:46

This was it

CRE doesn't make sense - it's market cap is £60m and it comprises of 30 operating units (29 agencies and an HQ)

This means the value of each agency is about £2m (tiny)

It employs 900 staff so rev/employee is about £67k

Cello's rev/emp is double Creston

Someone tell me where the value is!

[madengland_] 10/2/2016 08:51

Not sure what your question was.I would love to see the ratio of directors renumeration to sales per employee.My suspicion is the much lauded "synergy" strategy invented by Don "no returns for shareholders but plenty for me" Elgie and then continued by Barrie "no change here then" Brien is an illusion.Clearly only the BOD benefit. The shareholders pay, the employees load around with not enough work to do most of the time, probably lacking clarity of strategy and motivation/inventive.

[toffeeman] 04/2/2016 09:20

Can someone answer my question above please?

[rivaldo] 04/2/2016 09:01

With DBay and Artemis now owning 40% between them I suspect CRE may become a bid target before too long given their fantastic - and longstanding - blue chip client base.

Forecasts have now settled at consensus of:

year ending soon (31/3): 11.1p EPS, 4.3p dividend
next year : 11.95p EPS, 4.55p dividend

News of a new partnership:



"2 February 2016 - 10:41am | posted by Stephen Lepitak

Creston agrees partnership with Ariadna Group helping it grow into LatAm

Creston Unlimited and Latin America-based Ariadna Holding Group have agreed a partnership to allow both to grow their international standing.

The agreement between the two marketing communications groups will enable them to make the most of each other's local expertise for existing clients across the UK, US and Latin America, with joint pitches being enabled across global opportunities.

Creston Unlimited, which owns agencies such as Nelson Bostock and TMW, shares major clients such as Diageo, Nissan, Toyota and Unilever with The Ariadna Group already. The pair also hold relationships with German network Serviceplan as well.

Barrie Brien, chief executive of Creston’s Group, reiterated the partnership lets the company grow into the Latin American region and said that it was "thrilled".

Juan David Pinzon, Ariadna Holding Group’s president and chief executive , added: “After a successful European partnership with Serviceplan, we’re extending our service offering across the UK and US with Creston Unlimited. As a specialist in Latin American marketing, this enables us to take our most successful campaign ideas global. With a similar dedication to unlocking the power of technology to meet client challenges, Creston Unlimited is the natural partner for Ariadna.”

The Ariadna Group, which offers a range of marketing services such as creative, media, tech and strategy, was founded in 1999 and has 350 staff across 10 countries.

Last week, Creston announced a number of new client wins within the group, including contracts with Vodafone, British Airways and Weetabix. "

[smithie6] 03/2/2016 11:50

Good point..

..one risk always exists for such companies with big fixed costs...stumble and profit gets nailed due to X expensive staff without work for Z weeks

Value of agencies within Creston.....Ive no idea on that....long history of Creston buying agencies at high prices....(imho USA acquisitions were an absolute disaster....arguably gross or willful negligence imho )
and closing some badly performing ones.....and using up the cash generated..
---

Bit strange imo that your turnover per employee value is so low when 50% or so of turnover is in digital sector !!!!...(operating campaigns via internet and social media should allow a few skilled digital workers to manage high value campaigns..imo..)

---
I assume that last MD is enjoying spending the 6M he made at Creston....

[toffeeman] 29/1/2016 17:16

CRE doesn't make sense - it's market cap is £60m and it comprises of 30 operating units (29 agencies and an HQ)

This means the value of each agency is about £2m (tiny)

It employs 900 staff so rev/employee is about £67k

Cello's rev/emp is double Creston

Someone tell me where the value is!

[qs99] 29/1/2016 15:59

personally have tucked a few TMMG away instead, cheaper rating IMO and at least they deliver! or so far anyway,....DYOR...