Fdm Share Discussion Threads

[cwa1] 14/5/2007 15:02

Not QUITE alone D :-))

[diogenesj] 14/5/2007 14:44

Finally reacting at last to the trading statement. Still looking pretty good value imo. I guess you all sold on the last correction, and I'm alone here.

[diogenesj] 10/5/2007 22:48

Daniel Stewart today repeated its buy recommendation, with a target price of 160p based on current forecasts, which it regards as conservative.

[diogenesj] 10/5/2007 10:09

AGM today (see RNS). Thomson Financial summary here:

"LONDON (Thomson Financial) - FDM Group PLC said its trading in the first
quarter has been in line with its expectations, with sales well ahead of the
comparative first quarter of 2006 and several new client wins.
Chairman Ivan Martins said, "FDM remains firmly on track to achieve its
objectives for 2007 and beyond and we view the future with a high degree of
confidence."
Debtor days have continued to improve, with a consequent positive impact on
the group's cash position, he added.
The information technology staffing and services company added that with the
opening of its London training academy, it remains on target to have 194
Mounties on billing by June 30 this year compared to 118 last year.
Mountie utilisation rates have remained steady at 98 pct, the company said."

[paddyfool] 28/4/2007 14:38

tracking back to 110 at which point I will buy expecting a good run up to the interims.

[paddyfool] 22/3/2007 10:07

You are right that FDM are unusual in respect of retaining their margins. They have avoided moving into the commodity space to aquire new business. Not following other organisations looking to buy business at lower margins some of the formally quoted organisations bought business at procurement auctions for less than 4% margin.

FDM fish in rich waters at the moment these are rare and sought after places. To grow the business in this sector and retain those margins will be very tough if not impossible. Indeed growing this at the cost of margin in less prestigous areas may have a negative affect on their emerging brand. However as per King Canute you cannot buck this tide. Increasingly organisations are using procurement departments/companies to drive prices down. Sooner or later this will impact FDM.

I too have had realtionships with many agencies and yes FDM are among the best. However the provenance they need is not with teh contractors but with teh buying organisations. A clear indicator of that dynamic was Eurolink managing to hold on to many contractors whilst everyone in the market suspected that the organisation was founded on weak ground.

£40 million turnover and 2 million profit is pretty thin. Overheads must be high this is a worry.

[paddyfool] 21/3/2007 14:21

You are right at the first hint of a down turn the contract workforce will come under presure. I still reserve my view on growth though. a) the mountie throughput is relative static, i.e. to turn this up significantly would be difficult. b) the contractor headcount could increase but again this would be difficult. c) the training business could have enourmous growth but not enough to make up fo the two other components which will likely flatten in the coming year.
Pure contract agencies have a disasterous track record on the stockmarket. They virtually all fall from grace in spectacular style. Why? a number of reasons but they can be grouped as follows:

1. The contract market is very cyclical potentially devastatingly so.
2. There is little or no brand loyalty, contract agencies are seen as a necessary evil, being seen as too close to any agency is potentially damaging to ones corporate career.
3. There have been many charasmatic leaders in this space none of whom have lasted the pace.
4. As per point 1 you cannot stand a business on this alone and scale it, you have to diversify.

FDMG do have an advantage right now which is they are in the midst of some very strong trading. The clock is ticking and the downturn will arrive. They have time to upscale the non-contract arms and to find other areas to grow. If they pull that trick off the sky is the limit.

[paddyfool] 21/3/2007 09:14

Could be tricky to reproduce that growth this year.

[liarspoker] 21/3/2007 07:49

Nice results as expected - trading on a forward P/E of 11 on 25% EPS growth ( although I am not sure if they'll do that because of London Capex ).

[paddyfool] 20/3/2007 14:14

and they will be good

[tole] 20/3/2007 13:34

Results tomorrow.

FDM will be announcing its preliminary results for the year ended 31 December
2006 on 21 March 2007. There will be an analysts meeting at 9.30a.m

[henryatkin] 09/3/2007 10:54

Thought it was to good to be true, but at least i've been compensated with another 7% on RHL.

[diogenesj] 09/3/2007 09:52

Actually looks as though the jump was due to a trade between market makers of 10,000 shares at 133p (6p above the offer) at 8:17.

[diogenesj] 09/3/2007 09:14

Ours not to reason why, henry. Perhaps some high roller has tried to place an order for a couple of thousand shares. :-)

[henryatkin] 09/3/2007 08:37

Just found a +10% on my screen - not complaining but anyone know whats going on? No rsn1

[liarspoker] 09/3/2007 08:23

Lurvely. :O)

[cwa1] 09/3/2007 08:22

So has it been tipped this morning?

[liarspoker] 26/2/2007 12:57

10K delayed buy would have pushed it up too. Probably a few more delayed trades to come imo.

[masurenguy] 26/2/2007 12:32

Hmmmmmm......circa 2500 shares bought and 5500 sold before 11.00am and then, although there have been no further trades, the prices suddenly spikes up 6p at around 11.45am !

The games people play !!!

[liarspoker] 26/2/2007 12:24

No - you are quite right DJ. :O)

[diogenesj] 26/2/2007 12:06

Correct me if I'm wrong, chaps, but I seem to detect movement here.

[liarspoker] 22/2/2007 13:16

They'll do well imo DJ. ;o)