Diploma Share Discussion Threads

[adrunkenmarcus] 11/5/2023 09:58

I’m not complaining !

[faz] 11/5/2023 09:27

odd share price movement today. Up 4% on only a small number traded

[faz] 21/3/2023 11:11

As a non-trader, I am interested in the acquisition which seemed a decent one. However more impressive to me was - they didnt need this financing to acquire TIE, they used the funds of the placing to 'refinance it' ie free money back into the accounts - they report growth of 30% in Q1 23 - and this "The largest acquisition (over the last four years) ...was Windy City Wire, acquired in October 2020. In two years under Diploma ownership the business has doubled operating profit, significantly outperforming its acquisition case with returns in-line with the Group ROATCE and set to increase to more than 20% this year.". FInally, they have a pipline of acquistions lined up running to some £800m, mostly small to mid-sized. Clearly they are very very busy in the M&A arena and needed funds without going to the bank. This year could be very significant for Diploma and I'll add further if I can find funds (maybe I'll issue shares in me, cos my portfolio aint helping right now!)

[jeffian] 21/3/2023 10:51

Well in the end I did fire off an email to DPLM and copied in PB (although not CEO personally) but it was more to get it off my chest than expect any response, let alone action. My point to DPLM (of which I remain a strong supporter) is that it's pure window-dressing (£1m vs £236m placing) which, if it's designed to show concern for their smaller non-institutional shareholders, does quite the opposite for many of us. Each year shareholders give them authority to issue shares to raise fresh capital for acquisitions and I'm quite happy for them to use that for Placings. Yes, I would like the opportunity to participate in Rights issues, but I quite understand that the administration, time involved and uncertainty of outcome gravitates against this when they need to commit to a deal fast and with certainty. I just feel the whole PB setup is a bit Mickey Mouse appealing, I suspect, mainly to traders (probably not even existing shareholders) looking for a quick turn, which might be fine for AIM and minnows but is a bit tacky for a FTSE 250 company.

IMO, of course!

[faz] 21/3/2023 10:25

Jeffian: You might also want to give your views to this man : hxxps://www.linkedin.com/in/james-deal-74b61519/?originalSubdomain=uk

I had to give my AJBell account details when registering with PB (over a year ago). THey have to have an account to deposit the shares in; whether that makes them an associate is the point.

[jeffian] 20/3/2023 19:00

A bit more on the PB situation. I did, in the end, register with PB just to see what it was all about (albeit no use in this case as the offer opened and closed so quickly I'd have missed it anyway) but you may be interested to hear that although PB name Hargreaves Lansdown as one of their associated brokers and took details of my HL account including account number etc, I have today had a message from HL saying that although they are considering linking with PB and several other platforms, they currently only deal with REX and are "trialling" the system. I haven't (yet) given) DPLM the benefit of my views on this but I might vent my feelings to HL.

[toffeeman] 17/3/2023 10:21

PB gave me two thirds of my requested investment.

[adrunkenmarcus] 17/3/2023 09:38

Agree with comments here and I’d have subscribed for a RI or more traditional placing. They did similar with Windy City Wire in 2020!

[faz] 17/3/2023 09:19

9degrees - Id love to know how, PB kept telling to download the app. Anyway I got 188 shares (around £4700 ) having bid £6000. I'm happy with that, and that is fast. I look forward to getting the £1300 refund soon.

[n0rbie] 17/3/2023 08:54

I’m assuming they don’t bother with the decimal point and round to the nearest million.

I got 91% of my requested amount.

[9degrees] 17/3/2023 08:54

Fax I bought mine using my laptop no problems encountered

[jeffian] 17/3/2023 08:32

By the way, I don't know if my maths is dodgy or I'm being dozy but how does 50,000 shares at £25.25 raise "gross proceeds of approximately £1 million."?

[n0rbie] 17/3/2023 08:32

I think it’s basically frowned upon to not offer it to retail investors via PB now. It’s exceptionally easy for the company and fast.

I regularly buy into companies via PB, normally to flip shares for a few % or sometimes hold longer if I like the look of it.

I’m new to Diploma but bought some via PB (no idea how much yet!) as I liked the stable share price, encouraging recent results, and seemingly smart acquisition strategy.

Ultimately as retail investors, we’re small fry and being able to buy on the same terms as the big boys is nice.

[jeffian] 17/3/2023 08:28

It's a suspiciously round number and, I suspect, all they made available to "retail investors". It's really just a token gesture to show they are interested in smaller/PI investors but to my mind it shows just the opposite and they might as well not bother.

[faz] 17/3/2023 08:05

50k shares? Thats nothing! Well anyway to move on, it looks like yet another great acquisition, and there was a trading update in the RNS yesterday too which shows current trading is strong.

[n0rbie] 17/3/2023 07:17

Only 50k in total to PB so expect applications have been scaled back.

[faz] 17/3/2023 06:36

I agree with you jeffian and either as Silverfern or faz have posted almost as long as you on this thread. Lukcily, I had registered with PRimary Bid a couple of years back but then you could manage it from your PC; now it's mobile only, which is another gripe I have. Anyway I'll find out what price and how many soon I hope.

[jeffian] 16/3/2023 22:59

Having gone through the rigmarole of registering, I, too, discovered that the offer had already closed. I used to really, really, really hate them, but now I really, really, really, really hate them!

I saw on the App that they can't sell directly to an ISA but you have to buy in your unsheltered trading account and then 'Bed&ISA' into your ISA assuming you already have the funds available there.

I can understand why a company would use PB because for them it is extremely quick, cheap and avoids a lot of faffing about and uncertainty. My beef as an existing investor is that it effectively cuts me out of any 'Rights', treating me just the same as any retail punter, so although they pay lip service to the interests of their shareholders, they actually treat us just the same as any old Joe.

I still like Diploma but this really sticks in my craw, not that they care, I suppose, and fully expect them to go on using this method in the future. Grrr!

[faz] 16/3/2023 19:42

it doesnt likely because there is no way to account for how much cash you have placed in your ISA that year. But I cannot believe if you have cash in your ISA a way couldnt be found

[hydrus] 16/3/2023 19:37

Broker told me that HMRC don't allow placings in an ISA. Surely that's not true.

[toffeeman] 16/3/2023 19:22

Seems too simple - 10m shares at £25 per share?

[faz] 16/3/2023 19:21

I have applied but just as well I checked this evening . Expected to close at 20.00. A farce really and I hate Primary bid

[toffeeman] 16/3/2023 19:12

This way they can sort out a placing with Instis for the vast majority of the raise and can say that retail was available - so do it in a day at a guaranteed price rather than the rigmarole of a rights issue.

I applied via PB - have followed DPLM for quite a while and its (hopefully) a good entry point.

We shall see!

[faz] 16/3/2023 19:01

I dont like it either. Clearly a break from the past where it has used banking facilities to acquire - maybe interest rates put them off, maybe the CEO wants to make his mark.