Empresaria Share Discussion Threads

[glasshalfull] 05/9/2013 07:33

H1 results out

We are now witnessing a considerable improvement in EPS...

Earnings per share increased 29% to 1.8p (2012: 1.4p). On an adjusted basis, earnings per share grew 43% to 2.0p (2012: 1.4p)

Clearly Europe has been tough but the statement reads positively of the economic improvement during Q2 across the board in most markets.

Green shoots in the UK; start-ups in Hong Kong & Singapore now expected to contribute to profitability; no further claims re. German provision; Germany now restructured; Chile restructured; minority stake purchases contributing to improved earnings... & outlook positive.

"We remain focused on improving the efficiency of operations and delivering sustainable profit growth and are also taking a selective approach to external investment opportunities. Based on performance to date, we remain confident that earnings for the full year are expected to be in line with market expectations and look forward to delivering further growth with confidence."

Look v good value to me based on meeting expectations of 6p EPS this year and delivering 10%-15% next year...PER 5

Regards,
GHF

[daneswooddynamo] 30/8/2013 14:15

talking of fingers mine are crossed for a reasonably upbeat results statement and this should push usefully higher

[battlebus2] 30/8/2013 14:13

Watching this one GHF :)) finger on the button.

[glasshalfull] 30/8/2013 14:09

Not a post for a while and 30 mins after my observations above, EMR release a RNS.

www.investegate.co.uk/empresaria-group-plc--emr-/rns/disposal-of-business/201308301349538845M/

Disposal of non-core payroll services. £100k cash consideration upfront with £660k deferred dependent on performance targets.

However, I sense the underlying effects of the newish CEO tidying up EMR....purchase of minority stakes in subsiduaries during the last year and now non-core disposal. Such actions augur well for the future IMO...far tidier & focused operation.

Regards,
GHF

[glasshalfull] 30/8/2013 13:17

the benefits of twitter.

Empresaria Group plc ‏@EmpresariaGroup 3h
Fun in the park: LMA taking an afternoon off hxxp://fb.me/2ITs8I6u5

....because they hit targets :-)

hxxp://www.empresaria.com/media-centre/news-from-empresaria-brands/lma-recruitment-opens-office-in-hong-kong


Regards,
GHF

Twitter : @glasshalfull1

[cheshire man] 22/8/2013 07:25

22 August 2013

Empresaria Group plc
("Empresaria" or the "Group")

Appointment of Shore Capital as Nominated Adviser & Broker
and Notice of Results

Empresaria Group plc, the international, multi branded specialist staffing services group,is pleased to announce the appointment of Shore Capital and Corporate Limited as Nominated Adviser and Shore Capital Stockbrokers Limited as sole broker, (together "Shore Capital"), with immediate effect.

Interim Results

The Group will announce its unaudited half year results to 30 June 2013 on 5 September 2013.

Enquiries:



Empresaria Group plc

Joost Kreulen, Chief Executive

Spencer Wreford, Group Finance Director

[cheshire man] 13/8/2013 09:16

A much more friendly spread here this week :-)

[daneswooddynamo] 09/8/2013 14:35

currently you can sell 50,000 online at 30 but not even buy 2,500 at 32

[glasshalfull] 09/8/2013 13:01

As mentioned, I've taken a large slice of EMR and NWKI - both unloved & illiquid. I see NWKI has woken up today. Time for EMR to do likewise?

Matchtech's statement indicate that things are looking up for the sector.

hxxp://www.shareprophets.com/views/1252/matchtech-group-full-year-trading-update-value-in-the-staffing-sector

Following my recent analyses in the staffing sector (see HERE), AIM-listed, UK specialist engineering and professional services recruitment company, Matchtech Group (MTEC) has today updated on its year ended 31st July 2013. The following reviews.

The company reports that, following "encouraging" trading in recent months, it now anticipates that underlying profit for the year "will be slightly ahead of its previous expectations". This is as it particularly noted that "demand for contract staff within Engineering and Connectus, our technology business within professional services, remains strong" – helped by continued investment in UK infrastructure programmes. This fuelled a 12% increase in 'Contract' net fee income over the prior year (to £27.4 million), with 'Permanent' net fee income 4% higher (to £11.1 million) – the company noting on the latter that "whilst demand for highly skilled candidates across all the group's brands is still very high, the time to hire period has been elongated as candidate confidence remains fragile".

The update has seen house broker, Numis, nudge its forecasts for the year and the now current year higher (earnings per share from 29.9p to 30.4p and 31.1p to 31.8p respectively), whilst noting "given the strong H2 trajectory, we believe this outlook into 2014E could prove conservative if the general UK macro recovery continues to gather momentum... Following the upgrade to forecasts we increase our target price to 510p, implying a July 2014E PE of 16x, which remains at a significant discount to c.20x for the larger UK staffers".

Unsurprisingly, given also the sector performance, these shares have been stronger performers – currently trading at 425p having commenced the year at 238p. Although the company's operations are UK-focused it notes "global demand for the products and services that our clients offer" and Numis notes that the company is benefitting from a niche position in areas of high demand. Although the stated share price rise means the deep value here looks to have been eroded, there is certainly much worse value in the sector currently and indeed within the market as a whole. There also remains a pretty attractive prospective dividend yield on offer here – approaching 4% for next year.


Regards,
GHF

[daneswooddynamo] 08/8/2013 10:33

keep posting it is having the desired. been adding to an already top heavy position in for a penny in for several pounds

[glasshalfull] 07/8/2013 23:53

Quite a few small buys during the last fortnight...and a horrible illiquid spread that simply doesn't encourage investment.

Interesting news from Germany today which highlights that the economic recovery is gathering pace. Snippet I've taken is from UK Analysts daily stock market report.

"Industrial production in Germany increased in June according to new figures released by the Economy Ministry in Berlin. German industrial output rose by 2.4% in June, representing a strong rebound from the 0.8% monthly drop in May. The data will add further fuel to the fire of economic expectation for the European powerhouse, with many economists looking to the Germans to drag the continent out of the doldrums. A breakdown of the figures revealed that capital goods production increased by 4.1%, while consumer goods production was up by 1.1% over the period. Postbank analyst Heinrich Bayer commented, "It's an outright surprise to me, too. All the more so since there had been fears that the June floods in Germany would negatively impact production levels."

---

With Continental Europe accounting for a third of NFI & their German subsidiary Headway accounting for 87% of European revenue, then rising output will hopefully have a positive influence...especially with Headway operating in the provision of blue collar workers in logistics and industrial sectors.

Regards,
GHF

[glasshalfull] 25/7/2013 21:49

Just noticed that Edison have produced a short update on EMR & reiterated forecasts of 6.1p EPS this year, noting:-

Valuation: Discount overdone

Around the prelims, Empresaria's share price had closed some of the historical discount at which it has traded. Since then, exaggerated by stronger performance from the larger stocks in the sector, the discount has drifted out to a level that we do not feel can be justified by the trading outlook. While some discount is reasonable, reflecting the limited liquidity in the stock and shorter-term lack of enthusiasm for exposure to the German market, pricing at less than a third of the peer group's current year EV/EBITDA is excessive.

hxxp://www.edisoninvestmentresearch.com/?ACT=18&ID=10133

PER 4.5 is far too low IMHO.

Regards,
GHF

[glasshalfull] 23/7/2013 18:02

Looks like I cleared the overhang yesterday.

30p for 22k today...2p over the offer at the time & small trade at the end sent it higher.

Danes - It may be a frustrating share but the poor sentiment and lowly shareprice has allowed investors an opportunity to add when all signs are now pointing to an improvement in the macro picture.

For instance, EMRs UK business (35%) contains subsidiaries that look to be direct beneficiaries of the improving UK economy:-

"FastTrack" - operates in construction & engineering sector
"Teamsales" - new home sales
"reflex" - building controls

Also RoW was showing strong growth per AGM statement, so all we need is Europe (Germany & Headway) to return to the growth path and the current lowly shareprice will become a distant memory.

Regards,
GHF

[daneswooddynamo] 23/7/2013 09:07

the most frustrating share i hold currently and i hold a lot. still i thought that about inl six months ago

[glasshalfull] 22/7/2013 21:55

Thanks phoenix.

I happen to agree with the sentiments of the article (as id documented on this thread) and have been mopping up loose stock. Took a further 25k today and reckon EMR's time will come.

Interesting to see them pick up further minority interest of MediradiX which had been achieving strong demand for healthcare workers in Finland and broadening its candid base within the Blatic region.

Regards,
GHF

[phoenix1234] 20/7/2013 10:56

Empresaria - shares trading at an excessive discount?

[shanklin] 24/5/2013 16:33

GHF

Thank you for the information. I will take a more detailed look.

It has to be said that the share price chart is not a thing of beauty.

Cheers, Martin

[glasshalfull] 24/5/2013 13:31

Yep, CEO fell on his sword. It's all on the thread if you care to trawl back. Not many posts so won't take long.



&



Explains the tsunami that hit them...& which has slaughtered the shareprice over the last few years. I now believe the company to be an excellent recovery buy & heartened with the focus on exisitng businesses & organic growth.

The fact that they are unloved is a bonus at picking up stock at what I consider a very reasonable price.

BLASH!

Regards
GHF

[shanklin] 24/5/2013 10:28

GHF

EMR seems very unloved. Has any of the management team changed since the negative issues you refer to in your post?

Cheers, Martin

[glasshalfull] 23/5/2013 21:55

AGM statement was fine & my reading of it was that the company are mindful of their acquisitive past and are now looking to organic growth. Augurs well for forecasts of a reduction in debt by c.£2m by the year end.

Allenby have a price target of 50p which equates to 75% upside.

"There are no changes to our forecast which call for a 20% rise in adjusted EPS to 6p for 2013 and a further 10% rise in 2014. Valuation multiples remain very modest with the group on 4.9x projected earnings for 2013 and 4.5x for 2014. The board has successfully restructured the earlier problem areas of the group's operations and Empresaria is now well placed to benefit from any recovery in demand for staff in the UK and Europe."

PER < 5 appears low when factoring in 20% growth this year...IMHO.

Regards,
GHF

[phoenix1234] 23/5/2013 18:50

AGM trading update, still offering staffing sector value?

[this_is_me] 23/5/2013 09:53

You should be well ahead in a few years although it is risky.

[daneswooddynamo] 23/5/2013 07:49

Lucky you I have had a large holding for a while. Cheap share but now the market cap and liquidity issues particularly with Caledonia sitting with big overhang make it a cheap situation but no-one really cares. Hopefully something will give eventually with 80-90% of the stock with a few instis and directors.

[this_is_me] 23/5/2013 07:33

I have had a small holding for a while. the cash generation is bound to make it come good eventually.

[shauney2] 11/5/2013 16:41

Some research WHIreland