Fisher (james) & Sons Share Discussion Threads

[our haven] 11/3/2021 09:50

Leedslad Currently holding up and no big sell off which is encouraging.

[leedslad001] 11/3/2021 07:46

Big sell off I think

[our haven] 11/3/2021 07:37

Results being slightly ahead of expectations and the debt reduction probably means that we should open positively but I am not expecting any fireworks

[illiswilgig] 09/2/2021 09:19

Pleasantly surprised by the recent shareprice strength - most likely on the back of rising oil prices and positive outlook for oil in 2021. Disappointed by the lack of positive newsflow,

cheers

[bouleversee] 07/1/2021 09:51

I don't find their communications at all helpful. Glad to see the share price rise a bit but don't have any feel for the future and the relationship with shareholders seems to have changed.

[elsa7878] 07/1/2021 09:18

Not a shareholder - clearly been very highly rated in the past. 20 X earnings plus...now more like 15 X. Not sure on the debt figure. Seems high as clearly w/c and capex are a drain on cash generation.

[illiswilgig] 07/1/2021 09:12

Good moaning and a Happier New Year to you all!

James Fisher post-close trading statement out this morning.

Hard to read the future with so few tea leaves in the bottom of the cup?

Operating Profits confirmed to be towards the upper end of the 35-40m guidance given in November with revenue for the full year down 16%.

Which in itself may prove to be a relief?

On the glass halfempty view - Marine Support (excluding ship to ship xfr) is clearly a problem and a significant writedown in assets - 25% of the assets - can be expected, giving some kind of guidance for the future of this division going forwards?

Could have been worse and I expect the share to trade higher as a result - 950-1000 perhaps - pretty much where I expect it until there is some positive newsflow.

On the glass half full side - there has been no deterioration and trading continued to improve in Q4 by 7% over Q3. Specialist Technical, Offshore Oil, Tankships and the ship to ship xfr side of marine support are doing well. The rest of marine support is being rapidly pruned back to size.

Management guidance appears to be cautious and conservative at the moment - which I like, but in the absence of strong growth prospects it's frustrating to have so little information!


cheers

Illis

[our haven] 07/1/2021 08:24

Great trading update showing the recovery.

[roddiemac2] 01/12/2020 20:08

boule

Our obsessive visitor likes to see his own thoughts in print.

[emeraldzebra] 12/11/2020 09:51

Exactly. You just have to put up with a lot of nonsense between (hopefully positive) company announcements. And try to opportunistically buy after an undeserved hit.

[bouleversee] 11/11/2020 21:32

Manipulation. I think you are right. I couldn't see any logical reason why they had come down so much. I used to do pretty well with shares but I am not a trader and I can't cope with all the yo-yoing we get these days. It's just gambling.

[emeraldzebra] 11/11/2020 20:31

bouleversee. - i think it can partly be explained by the advent of shorters, day traders / algorithm programmes - 'smashing' a price down in order to buy back 'cheap'. In a relatively illiquid stock like this, its surprisingly easy to do. The playing field has changed.

[bouleversee] 11/11/2020 18:32

How do you explain these dramatic drops and rises in such short order? I can understand the rise better than the drop.

[bottomfisher] 11/11/2020 16:28

Mildly reassuring to see the wife of the finance director topping up the family stake with real money rather than exercising nil cost share options which do nothing to align an executive's interests with those of small shareholders. As a result the FD, whose family has close to 75,000 shares, is the only FSJ director who can seriously claim to have any ‘skin in the game’.

Three of the five non-executives, who have been on the board for years, own no shares in James Fisher despite receiving annual fees of between £44,000 and £61,000. Malcolm Paul, chairman, who joined the board in 2011, owns 13,000 shares which are worth little more than half his £205,000 annual fee (which rose 31% in 2019). Justin Atkinson, the only other non-exec with a stake in the business, owns 3150 shares, which are worth less than half his £65,000 annual fee.

Compare the fees and share ownership of the James Fisher non-execs with that of a blue chip company like Unilever. The latter’s chairman is paid around £750,000 a year and the basic fee for its non-execs is around £100,000 pa. The really big difference is in the share ownership as a percentage of non-exec fees which is disclosed in the annual report. It ranges from 101% to 369% for all but two of the dozen or so non-execs.

If only Fisher's non-execs could show the same sort of commitment to their company as Unilever's board, then it might just be possible to shrug off last week's depressing trading update as a temporary setback rather than a sign that all is not well inside FSJ's engine room.

[bouleversee] 11/11/2020 14:31

Illis -

Would you like to manage my portfolio? I made a small top up of SMT yesterday at 1016 (as it had done so well for me this year) but it has hardly moved whereas FSJ has soared since your purchase. Oh well, at least my and my family's existing FSJ holdings will have recovered to the same degree as well. No doubt if I had bought more it would have gone the other way.

[mike bulldog] 11/11/2020 13:56

Porsche you're a clown , nothing under the bonnet, see today's rise nufsaid.
!) We will always need engineers, Manufacturing is an essential Bread and Butter for the economy.
2) Why would i want to buy over valued American Stocks on a high P/E, I will stick to what i know
3) Woodford , yes i agree he was put under strict rules by St James Place...due to his under preformance.
4) Covid is a plague on the Whole world.


This is what he wrote.

Porshe1945....it already is out of fashion, it might be needed but it has little growth and thin profits, buy Apple and Amazon and sleep at night, these shares have lost half their value, more in fact, that is a scary investment, who needs it? Trouble is with the ftse is its full of growth-less stocks, declining business models, its why Woodford destroyed his investors, its been left behind, it isnt just brexit thats sucked the life out of U.K. then covid, the companies themselves are a problem.

[emeraldzebra] 11/11/2020 13:21

Roddy - Porsche makes some useful points of which to take occasional note - but i see his contributions quite regularly on the Aston Martin thread and from his comments there and here - for reasons best known to himself, he is emphatically not a great supporter of the UK in general. Remarkably unpatriotic and something of a 'remoaner', his commentary is constantly critical of the 'Tories' and betrays rather a bitter and resentful anti British standpoint. It is almost as if he has already written us off as a sovereign power - confident and assured enough to take care of our own future. All this seems out of step with the national mood. There is no doubt that Covid could have been handled better. But it is easy to forget that France and Germany and many other places that he seem to have great love for - are locked down too ! Needless to say - I do not share his pessimism and see our glory days as VERY much in front of us ! GLA.

[roddiemac2] 11/11/2020 12:08

Porsche 1945,

I will stick with FSJ because I think I understand the business model and the potential. What has "fashion" got to do with a company`s potential? ---No need to answer that one. I understand your take on the UK in general, but it is not all doom and gloom.

Illis,

Yes, I think we will not see acquisitions for some time .

Debt:- yes, ---needs watching. Debt is the underlying problem in so many companies.

[illiswilgig] 11/11/2020 11:47

Yes, better than no directors buying. And the PCS to the FD. Finance Directors not known for splashing the cash just make a point. The new(ish) CEO bought at around 1150 if I remember correctly.

With my captain hingsight glasses firmly on I noticed that the shareprice bottomed - at least temporarily - at 737p, spookily close to my predicted 742p value. Having opening my mouth I added some money by buying a nominal 257shares but missed the bottom and bought at 762p.

cheers

Illis

[our haven] 11/11/2020 11:46

Same thing bouleversee in real terms.

[bouleversee] 11/11/2020 08:57

It was PCA to director but still a good sign.

[our haven] 11/11/2020 07:19

Good to see director buying at these levels.

[porsche1945] 10/11/2020 14:22

...it already is out of fashion, it might be needed but it has little growth and thin profits, buy Apple and Amazon and sleep at night, these shares have lost half their value, more in fact, that is a scary investment, who needs it? Trouble is with the ftse is its full of growth-less stocks, declining business models, its why Woodford destroyed his investors, its been left behind, it isnt just brexit thats sucked the life out of U.K. then covid, the companies themselves are a problem.