Debts.Co.Uk Share Discussion Threads

[eoc74] 08/9/2006 11:28

Anybody know why DFD is flying and the others are not getting any of the glory? They seem like a lot more professional company than debts.

[twentyoneeleven] 08/9/2006 10:25

DFD up to new highs today ... well above the £5 mark! Looks like market sentiment for tickers in this sector is strongly on the positive side again. Results for DETS due next month ... looking forward to a few ticks up before and after!

[diogenesj] 04/9/2006 14:01

Yes, everyone should read that statement from Debt Free Direct. It's one of the most bullish trading statements I have ever seen.

[cambium] 04/9/2006 10:15

Good t/s from dfd

[twentyoneeleven] 04/9/2006 09:43

Good to see all in this sector recovering nicely this morning following last week's profit taking / tree shake! Invested in a pocket full of CLEA this morning too ... results due out next Friday (15 September 2006) and if recent trading statements are anything to go by, I think the share price should be at least double what it is now! IMO DYOR!

[cambium] 02/9/2006 15:11

in from 206p

[twentyoneeleven] 31/8/2006 13:14

...and so begins again the climb upwards!

[diogenesj] 31/8/2006 10:10

Well, banks are regulated, and it hasn't stopped them ripping customers off. Regulation will come, and will tend to benefit the established companies. Note DFD's statement today welcoming it. A storm in a teacup imo.

[eoc74] 31/8/2006 09:33

I think its rich of the HSBC to criticise their professionalism. I recently rang the HSBC to make an international transfer because their absolutely bottom of the range business banking service does not allow it online. I was told by the HSBC person at the other end "Im sorry, Im not qualified to deal with your request......". Ultimately, regulation will knock the shareprice temporarily.

[twentyoneeleven] 31/8/2006 09:02

EOC74 - I would think there's probably a bit of profit taking going on today by some of those who have benefitted from the steep rise over the last week or so. I'm holding tight though, as this one has a lot further to climb pre-results IMO! (...and post-results too!)

jakleeds - I think regulation of these companies is a good thing ... but that should also apply to the banks who lent individuals so much money in the first place! IMO though, any regulation won't reduce the business of these companies, but purely standardise practice ... and there is still going to be a lot of work coming their way over the next few years until banks tighten up on their own lending criteria!

[jakleeds] 31/8/2006 08:55

Calls grow in UK to rein in bad debt industry - report
LONDON (AFX) - The Insolvency Practitioners Association is to meet debt management companies in the next few weeks to call for more training and qualifications and a kitemark standard after fears about the lack of regulation in the sector, the Financial Times reported. [e-mail] gh/jfr

[eoc74] 31/8/2006 08:54

Breakout downwards it seems! Whats going on today with the debt companies? Is there new regulation or something coming?

[moormoney] 31/8/2006 01:48

looking good---results soon!

[spiv 1] 27/8/2006 23:59

Yep, I'm in acg as well. Picked up some in the recent placing at 270p (which was twice oversubscribed by institutions).

[diogenesj] 27/8/2006 11:45

DFD got a bit ahead of itself, I think, and now looks fairly priced (but not cheap) imo.

CLEA appears to be good value, but the illiquidity and huge spread put me off. ACG and DEBT still look cheap to me.

What I meant was put an email address up and then (when it had served its purpose) delete it. You can do this by clicking on the 'edit' button which appears beside all your own completed posts. It's best to use a disposable email address (such as a Hotmail address) for this purpose, because you may find that even a brief appearance here attracts some spam.

[mr homer j simpson] 27/8/2006 01:41

Don't forget to look at Clear Debt Epic:CLEA !

A bit more info on the company and as much potential as any other IVA company, if not more.........

[eoc74] 27/8/2006 01:07

Thanks for that Diogenes. Not to worry about the document as youve given me most of what I need. There seems to be definite mileage in this one. I also hold only a few. I bought them withe the profit of my DFD shares which I was recently stopped out of. Ive been reluctant to get back in to that one. Im wondering at what level Ill put more on this particular one. By the way, how do I temporarily put an email address up here?

[diogenesj] 26/8/2006 11:34

EOC74: as you say, they floated in a cloud of secrecy and incompetence (which some might interpret as contempt for potential investors), and these are not good signs.

However, there is some minimal information available. There are (I think) 19.44m shares in issue, giving a market cap of £42.18m. Of these, 2.77m were sold at the float on behalf of existing holders, and the same number were new shares raising £4.4m for the company (to be used to increase marketing spending). They had net cash before the float, and if their new status as a public company has not gone to their heads (or the directors' wallets) they should have more now. They were also already cash flow positive, which suggests that their business was more mature than those of some of the other debt companies.

Seymour Pierce's forecasts (which have been correctly quoted in the Telegraph articles mentioned above) are given more fully in my post No. 86 a bit higher up the thread. I have not been able to obtain a copy of the Seymour Pierce note. However, the company has recently stated that Q4 (to end July) was ahead of forecast, and that it is confident that results for the full year will be in line with forecasts. (It did not say that the full year would be ahead, which suggests that Qs 1, 2 and 3 may have been slightly behind.) It added that with a big increase in marketing spend, it now had the office space and capacity to employ up to 400 people and process up to 500 IVAs a month, as well as for big increases in its debt management and secured loan businesses, and for the planned launch of a remortgage business in 2007.

Assuming all this is correct, it seems to me that Seymour Pierce's target of 260p is rather modest and should be easily attainable. (My own target is a little higher, nearer 290p, subject to all the uncertainties about this particular company. However, I am only holding a few shares, because of these uncertainties.)

If you would like a copy of the admission document, put an email address up here temporarily and I will send it to you.

[currypasty] 26/8/2006 08:34

i had a chat with my broker at SYP, he thought there was more to come, and said to hold onto my shares

[twentyoneeleven] 26/8/2006 08:22

From last Sunday's Telegraph (20/08/2006):



Debts.co.uk

Buy shares in Debts.co.uk (191p), the Aim-listed debt advice specialist that floated in May at 180p.

The company has a 5 per cent share of the fast-growing Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) market. IVAs allow people in financial difficulties to cut their debts to an affordable level on the advice of an insolvency practitioner.

During the second quarter of 2006 IVA numbers rose by 35 per cent on the previous quarter, taking the annual increase to almost 155 per cent. The rise took the total number of personal insolvencies over the past year to 88,146. Experts expect this to hit 100,000 soon.

Shares in the sector suffered recently following accusations of sharp practice by some executives at the major banks. That prompted other IVA companies to pull planned floats. But we like this sector as an investment opportunity. Invocas, a similar IVA company, has gained about 20 per cent since we recommended the shares in March.

Debts.co.uk has appointed Bernard Asher, a former chairman of HSBC Investment Bank, as non-executive chairman, giving it added weight in the City. The group is trading ahead of expectations and next month is expected to report pre-tax profits of £2.1m for the year to July 31. This is expected to rise to £3.7m next year.

Seymour Pierce, the IPO sponsor, initiated coverage recently with a target price of 260p. Buy.

[eoc74] 26/8/2006 08:10

The risk I see with this one is that there is NO financial ionformation at all available. I have scoured the internet and cant even find their admission document. I dont know what theyre hiding. I think thats why people here are suspicious. Not knowing what debts they have makes it impossible to make an informed decision. Having said that, if they do achieve what they said and reach their target(which conveniently, they dont tell us what it is, but according to the newspapers is a profit of £2.6m), then the shares will soar. £2.6m is more than Debtmatters made last year. It would be handy if somebody could confirm this target.

[rossstar3] 26/8/2006 02:09

twenty no good if there managed badly high risk and stupid if you ask me this stock is a no go

[twentyoneeleven] 25/8/2006 20:34

Why brave Nobel? A company involved in one of the fastest growing businesses in the UK doesn't seem like a bad investment to me!