Daejan Share Discussion Threads

[mctmct] 17/1/2008 12:51

good few days ...

[bisiboy] 12/1/2008 16:42

about as safe as they come in a very unloved sector.
well positioned ungeared and able to take advantage of bargains.
must be losing money in the states however but perhaps more than compensated by those
never revalued old london properties they have.

[pip_uk] 09/1/2008 13:40

Holding up quite well considering the market, and the attempt by the experts to downgrade the commercial property market even more over the coming year.
Not expert in this field but it looks on fundamentals to be a good bet.
Any of you obvious clued up share holders care to give your opinion.
Regards.

[topvest] 06/1/2008 17:12

Still safe over the long term. Sold half my holding at a much higher price, but still significantly in profit at current price. DJAN will survive and pick up some bargain assets if a full blown property recession happens, which I doubt it will anyway.

[jonwig] 06/1/2008 16:54

Thanks, NTV.

Positive - low gearing (8.8%)
Negative - US exposure, including residential.

[ntv] 06/1/2008 16:26

PRICE AT FRIDAYS CLOSE WAS £28.05

[ntv] 06/1/2008 16:25

started a new thread

[drectly] 05/1/2008 23:46

the fact they cannot be taken over easily does not help
John Lee is consistently positive on DJAN at present and is usually makes a good call long term.
( For 2008 2 of his strong rec'c were LSB (London Scottish Bank) and DJAN. LSB must be one of the worst shares in the last week, so not always )
Agree based on valuations you would think we are close to the bottom. Holding some and looking to buy more. There does not seem any reason to rush to buy at present and look for opportunity to buy more a bit cheaper later.

Yes some charts would be much appreciated.

[masurenguy] 05/1/2008 11:02

If the current NAV is £52 (presumably based upon investment property valuation in March 2007) then the current discount to NAV at yesterdays close of 2805p was 46%. The current average sector discount to NAV is circa 35%.

There will probably be some write down following the March 2008 revaluation but this would have to be as much as 17% to bring the current share price into line with the average sector NAV discount. I would have thought that this was extremely unlikely and that a write down should not really exceed a maximum range of 7% - 9%. On this basis a 35% discount to NAV would equate to a share price of circa £30, which could suggest that we are close to the bottom of the current decline particularly since there has already been a fall of circa 55% since December 2006.

No position here yet but maintaining a close watch to seek a good entry point.

NB: Hybrasil - could we have some charts in the header please.

[jonwig] 05/1/2008 10:02

John Lee has mentioned Daejan a few times, and he's right that it's a high quality company.
He never seems to mention why it's been particularly weak over the past months - exposure to US property, including residential.

[drectly] 05/1/2008 08:59

FT REPORT - WEEKEND MONEY: Time to snap up the bargains
By John Lee, Financial Times
Published: Jan 05, 2008


To say that 2007 was an interesting investment year would be an understatement. I concluded the previous year's year-end article as follows: "At some stage there will be a stock market correction or worse but I have prospered over the years by being fairly fully invested, not overpaying, and above all being patient."

By mid-year, I wrote: "I am adopting a rather cautious, steady-as-you-go approach, maintaining rather higher cash reserves than normal." The cooler sub-prime winds were already beginning to be felt on this side of the Atlantic!

The second half of 2007 was mixed - while financial and property shares were well down, and companies producing bearish trading results or statements were severely punished, a number of stocks such as palm oil producer MP Evans, soap/toiletries PZ Cussons, and Irish/UK drugs distributor United Drug hit all-time "highs". Sadly these bright spots were heavily outweighed by the negatives - my disproportionately large holding in property developer Pochins being the prime culprit - falling from 375p 12 months ago to 240p, though we did have a good dividend boost during the year.

Other heavy falls were experienced in hospitality industries services Christie Group, software specialist Delcam and window ventilator manufacturer Titon. So, overall, it was a poor year on paper with my portfolios down 14 per cent - the first deficit for many years.

Looking back, I recognised that property values were becoming dangerously overheated and took defensive action. I sold some Pochins just short of £4 having disposed of 25 per cent of my Town Centre Securities holding at 595p the previous year - current price 330p.

But, as usual, my dilemma was: take profits and trigger CGT or take the longer view?

Thankfully, housebuilder Ben Bailey was a Pep holding and thus tax-free when it was taken over just before the sector took a dive! As I have said repeatedly, the stock market always overdoes things but sadly no bell rings either at the bottom or the top. As Bernard Baruch, the US financier, said: "Don't try to buy at the bottom and sell at the top. This can't be done except by liars!"

Over the year I have prospered by buying at what I judged to be attractive levels. In a bearish market, of course, prices could fall even further but at some stage one has to back one's judgment and take the plunge. As British financier Sir John Templeton put it: "To buy when others are desperately selling, and to sell when others are greedily buying requires the greatest fortitude and pays the greatest reward."

What we have seen in recent months, particularly among small caps, is steady "drip" selling with virtually no buying - most investors are maintaining liquidity while watching and sitting on their hands. No doubt there has also been some hedge fund "short selling". I am still endeavouring to discover just what this is, although it does seem to have made a few individuals exceedingly wealthy!

In summary, I believe many stocks have fallen too far, presenting excellent long-term buying opportunities, although in one or two cases I moved in too early.

Let us look at some anomalies comparing what I term "real" worth and current market prices. Take Bodycote, where the Sulzer board was seemingly prepared to pay 346p for a recommended bid in May. "Too little" said Bodycote. Its share price is now 190p. So who got it wrong - the boards or the investors?

Or take property company Daejan with published conservative net assets per share of £52. Last December, its shares were pushed up to £65 - I bought in June at £41 and have just bought more at £29. As its chairman said in his last annual report: "Since March 31 the shares have suffered from the downward pressure which has afflicted the property sector as a whole. Both the upward and the downward movements have been quite detached from the reality of your company's steady long-term growth."

John Lee is an active private investor writing about his own investments. He may have a financial interest in any of the companies, securities and trading strategies mentioned.

www.ft.com/myportfolio

[drectly] 03/12/2007 06:59

FT REPORT - WEEKEND MONEY: Now back to the real world
By John Lee, Financial Times
Published: Dec 01, 2007

My performance is usually very average - I find it difficult to break away from my normal, profitable, established small caps - thus my growth was a pretty uninspiring 5 per cent. But this time I resolved a more speculative strategy, choosing three shares that have fallen substantially: property share Daejan, short-term small loan provider London Scottish, and housebuilder/developer Redrow.

In 2006, shares in conservative Daejan rose to £65; today they are only half that - a clear example of the stock market overdoing it both on the upside and the downside. However, getting one's timing right when buying a falling share is very tricky - for my real Pep portfolio I bought Daejan in June this year at £41. Now they are nearly £10 lower, but I will await recovery.

JL still very positive, think I will wait to add to initial holding but this may cause a little action early on Monday
cheers drectly

[drectly] 13/11/2007 09:40

bought today to build longer term stake, trades not showing on ADVFN, do these show anywhere else ?
Otherwise not a great initial sign
cheers drectly

[bisiboy] 10/11/2007 11:30

i agree the low gearing means you will not lose all your money
these are shrewd operators and i am happy to hold.
if they fall below 25.00 i will buy back those i sold at #63.
there are selective companies in this sector which now look very compelling
value. i predict takeover activity/stake building very soon from those that have the firepower. not into djan though because of family control but maybe
djan could be in a position to do the stakebuilding!

[jonwig] 10/11/2007 11:04

NAV 1369p, share price 3139p (ie. 41% discount) and low gearing (8.8%) should make this a bargain.
But exposure to US property (including residential) and expected dollar weakness are probably the explanation.

[ntv] 22/10/2007 09:06

no its just the order book does not contain that many shares so a strong seller/buyer with access to a DMA platform can play with the price if he has a big wallett

[66bishop] 20/10/2007 15:58

Did I do Something by buying shares last week to destabilise DJAN???!!! Just noted the Shareprice Nosediving by almos £2.00 late Fri PM! (5.5%!) Did I miss some news?

[topvest] 20/10/2007 08:42

Property stocks are starting to look interesting again. Isn't it amazing how sentiment changes. DJAN and most property companies have now fallen 50% from the peak. They were overvalued - no doubt and I haven't bought property company shares for about 3 years, but now it's starting to look interesting. Many robust property companies, including DJAN, are starting to look attractive from a dividend yield perspective.

[ntv] 19/10/2007 19:50

picked up a few at 3381
interesting mkt this hybrasil
whats your take on the property sector?
there have been some falls in the last couple of weeks again
cal still falling went short this morning in auction and closed quickly as i thought we were in for abounce
wrong again :-(((

[hybrasil] 19/10/2007 08:36

Its quite funny to look back,
Above all it shows the value of advfn.

Or is it sad that I have been on these boards for over 6 years?

[v01101999] 09/10/2007 16:21

the story is that they are apparently trading a deep discount to their NAV. However they were very illiquid and therefore I did not want to hold any more.

[bloodsports] 09/10/2007 15:38

Hi been following this since john lee or kevin goldstein-jackson( dont remeber which) mentioned it in the ft a few weeks ago.

What the story/ they have come down a long way this year?

[v01101999] 22/9/2007 11:31

I sold out 100% of my holding at 3800 ..