Driver Share Discussion Threads

[norbert colon] 13/5/2021 08:19

https://www.equitydevelopment.co.uk/news-and-events/driver-group-interim-results-investor-presentation-with-qa-10-june-2021

[barkboo] 02/5/2021 11:30

Thanks Norbert - I like the company, I like the honesty in their market communication...and I especially like the fact that DRV are not on the radar of large traders, chancers and small swing traders.

This is a stock to accumulate and forget about for a year or two..and as a long term investor...myself and scaffolders are looking forward to the future of this business.

[mr dexy] 30/4/2021 15:42

Norbert,

Your time and sage words are greatly appreciated... thank you!

You are definately one of the few posters that command respect on these boards... so please take the compliment as it was intended...

Best wishes and good luck!

Regards to all


Mr D

[norbert colon] 30/4/2021 14:28

Mr D

Thanks for the compliment. Yes sure but these are just my opinions albeit from a position of some insight as I also work in the sector.

There are a few things to consider when investing in Driver Group, the primary one being that its cyclical. The second is that we are new under new leadership with Mark Wheeler at the helm. I like Mark a lot and think he has re-focussed the Group in the right way namely focusing on Diales and their other higher margin expert witness offerings with gross margins of 30-40%.

There will still be bread and butter / commodity type work as it keeps the lights on but clearly a focus on their higher margin work makes sense.

As far as where we are in the cycle is concerned, this is somewhat reflected in the current valuation. There will be a few good years, a few flat years, a few poor years etc. Whilst Covid has, in the short term, created challenges it has also created a huge number of claims / delays / disputes across various sectors including construction which is my area. There is a lag between these claims being submitted (lets say from a Contractor to the Employer) and them ending up in dispute and potentially litigation / arbitration. Often it will take 18-24m for disputes to end up in Court.

Now covid restrictions are easing and things are (hopefully - lets not mention India...) opening up, the opportunties can be better grasped and over the coming months all of these Covid related delays will start to wash through the system.

We also have a number of tail winds in the form of Govt stimulus for high value infrastructure projects both here in the UK and in the US. This will create work as such projects invariable throw off claims / disputes as regularly as day turns to night.

Another sign of the coming upturn is newsflow from the likes of Litigation Capital Management (LIT) - if you look at their most recent update from March they are seeing a strong demand for litigation finance for the very same reasons.

So, without rambling on too much we are now in the up-cycle and should enjoy at least a couple of very good years. There is no reason why DRV cannot now deliver high single digit to low double digit margins with their renewed focus and if so the share price will not be 50p for much longer.

There is always the chance of M&A too from the likes of those mentioned in one of my replies above.

Many investors are after a quick buck in this market - DRV rarely have 3 months visibility of order book and aren't going to 10 bag, but they are a very well run and reputable business with a good management team, pay a dividend and at current prices offer a good risk reward with the potential of at least 100% upside from these levels.

Hope that helps!

[mr dexy] 30/4/2021 13:33

Hi Norbert,

You've always seemed to be a decent chap... and you appear to have a handle on this stock... which I've had on my watchlist for a while... would you be so kind as to share your thoughts on it's likely prospects over the next 6 - 18 months ish... please?

I've been looking for an announcement that might be the cue to invest... but the trading update seemed a bit dour... in my humble...

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Best wishes and

Regards to all


Mr D

[norbert colon] 30/4/2021 13:21

That list of competitors by the way is rather suspect to say the least as it includes the likes of Waterman who are not a competitor in any shape or form.

[norbert colon] 30/4/2021 13:18

It could in theory be Ankura, Navigant, HKA or FTI but I'm not certain which (if any) of those. It's not unusual (albeit inconvenient and disappointing) to loose small teams in this sector and one of DRVs objectives is to add such small new teams to key regions where appropriate so it's swings and roundabouts.

[norbert colon] 30/4/2021 13:14

The APAC region revenues were GBP7.7m (2019: £9m) mainly due to closing down a low margin project services business in the region. In summary about 15% of Group sales last year.

[orange1] 30/4/2021 12:57

This is a list of competitors:



The two people who left were from the Singapore office.

Systech has an office in Singapore. Could be that they went there. Or maybe somewhere else.

[pyemckay] 30/4/2021 12:50

how much of their business is in APAC?

[networker] 30/4/2021 09:33

Does anyone know the name of their principal competitor(s) in the APAC region, to whom reference is made in today's (slightly downbeat) trading statement?

[netcurtains] 16/4/2021 10:08

Drive with care, traffic lights broken

[networker] 16/4/2021 09:47

Barclays are not currently offering online any shares at any price. Merely saying 'Try again later'. This is indicative of MM uncertainty or else they are trying to complete an existing unfilled (?buying) order.

[tradertrev] 16/4/2021 09:40

see what you did there :-)

[netcurtains] 16/4/2021 09:15

Driving along nicely.

[barkboo] 15/4/2021 15:59

Nice and slow.

[thordon] 12/4/2021 21:11

Like the dividend as keeps ticking away , has held strong over the Covid period apart from the share price
The New York office will be interesting what that brings to the party.

[netcurtains] 12/4/2021 16:04

I was yawning for a while but now I've woken up

[barkboo] 12/4/2021 14:56

I'm fairly confident here - and I like the fact that this is a silent gem...no Hollywood noise from ADVFN rags.

[dangersimpson2] 12/4/2021 12:02

It'll be a trading statement this month. Their period end is 31st March so results for this won't be out until the end of June.

This is one of the only small cap stocks that hasn't joined in the recent rally, and combined with a historical P/E of 11 in a year severely affected by COVID and a third of the market cap in cash, this could have a big catch-up if trading simply returns to trend.

On top of this, we know that COVID-19 has caused significant construction delays, and this will have led to disputes which will need expert resolution.

With courts maybe not yet back at full capacity, it may be too early to predict that this pent-up demand will appear in the upcoming results. However, markets are forward-looking - just see how strongly many travel companies have bounced on the idea that there will be pent-up demand in a period where their operations have been largely closed!

Today, there are very few companies that have such a big disconnect as Driver does between the level of pent-up demand that will be coming at some point and what the market is currently pricing.

[spooky] 12/4/2021 10:44

Results probably this week.

[barkboo] 16/3/2021 13:09

I'm long and strong!

[thordon] 15/3/2021 21:38

Long wait - do look forward to the dividend which is auto invested in Driver.
Long term - so benefitting from the low valuation from more shares from dividend.
solid Company - adapts well to shifts in regions

[barkboo] 11/3/2021 08:09

I think it is about to warm up - just a guess.