So EBITDA could be close to c.£50m based on previous "DA"? Improvements on that and de-leveraging should IMO see equity continue to rise & have bought more accordingly. DYOR |
James Fisher & Sons, a leading marine services company providing innovative solutions across energy, defence and maritime service, issued an update on trading for the year ended 31 December 2024 this morning. The Group saw solid overall trading performance through the second half supported by end markets. Good execution, together with a contribution from several specific non-recurring items, will result in Group underlying operating profit of c.£29m, ahead of current market expectations and up from 4 successive years of operating losses. The business is finally being turned around is set to record positive EPS in FY25...from WealthOracle
wealthoracle.co.uk/detailed-result-full/FSJ/1200 |
James Fisher Seal Carrier looks neat :-
Seal Carrier Air drop |
Ricardo you are right historically, but new management IMO have done a great job in last 12 months to start turning this around. RS is an ACTIVE fund manager from that interview across his investments, so won't let them fall asleep at the wheel. Let's see what 2025 brings, but as leverage continues to head towards c.1XEBITDA, then equity play should keep increasing. Maybe even some yield....DYOR |
Vox Markets - 31/1/25:
The Exchange with Richard Staveley of Harwood Capital
52:25 James Fisher |
Shocking what capital destructive junk this has been even by basket case U.K. standards. |
One year high |
Decent progress IMO... |
Thanks, Bottomfisher. |
According to the last annual report Schroders was the second biggest shareholder after the Sir John Fisher Foundation with a 9.89% stake. |
Interesting. Always pleasing to see a company clean up their balance sheet by paying off debt |
I always struggle to understand the RNS notices about holdings; I wish they would spell out whether the change was a purchase or sale. Did Schroders add to a holding or was this an entry? |
Yes, Schroders are in for the recovery too. |
Indeed nobull....1st step in right direction of flipping value into the equity....DYOR |
Successful sale of RMSPumptools
Secured the balance sheet. That was step 1. Now they can negotiate better debt finance rates and concentrate on returning margins to historic levels. Onwards and upwards, hopefully! |
Shephard - 3/5/24:
JFD showcases Shadow Seal TDV at SOF Week, eyes US market expansion
...The Carrier Seal, which has the capacity to carry eight personnel, has a maximum surface range of 150nm (travelling at 30kts) and a 40nm range underwater. The range can be extended with the integration of fuel bags.
Meanwhile, Shadow Seal has a maximum range of 60nm on the surface, typically travelling at speeds between five and seven kts. It can carry a total of four operators.
Elsewhere, Wilson said the procurement of an undisclosed number of Carrier Seals had been ‘earmarked’ in Sweden’s latest defence budget. He also suggested TDVs were in service with undisclosed customers in northern Europe and Asia.
Finally, he suggested some kind of TDV capability could be applicable to the strategic AUKUS agreement between Australia, the UK and the US. Pillar 2 of AUKUS is focused on the underwater battlespace. |
 Baird Maritime.... 29 April 2024
In early 2020, when the UK’s James Fisher and Sons had a market capitalisation of over US$1.3 billion, we asked whether there was “something fishy at James Fisher.” None of the company’s numbers made any sense to us, and the metronome-like consistency with which the company reported earnings growth across all four of its divisions every year for years, whilst bingeing on random acquisitions and adding good will to the balance sheet, seemed inexplicable – suspicious, even.
Since we wrote our piece, the wheels have completely fallen off the company. Write-down after write-down has followed, the business has had three CEOs in five years, and earnings have collapsed. But don’t worry, it now has a gender inclusivity target on page 26 of the presentation!
The company sold its two subsea and diving vessels Subtech Paladin and Swordfish for cents on the dollar at the bottom of the market in 2021 and 2022. It has now announced that it will be closing the Subtech Europe office, incurring a loss of around US$4 million.
90 per cent value destruction for shareholders
Today, James Fisher and Sons is worth approximately US$150 million. The charitable trust that is the company’s largest shareholder has seen the value of its investment seriously damaged – and yes, we did point out that the trustees were extremely ill-advised to have doubled down in 2021 and bought more shares in the business, as the torrent of bad news showed no sign of abating.
Since then, the shares have fallen another 66 per cent and now stand at 276 pence, back where they were in 2004. The trustees should perhaps focus on the fact that their primary responsibility is to the charity, and to its ability to fund its charitable causes in Barrow-in-Furness, not to supporting the share price of the marine company that is their largest investment.
The latest set of annual results (here) announced two weeks ago show the extent of the wipe-out. As usual, James Fisher’s embattled management focused on “underlying operating earnings” of £29.6 million (US$37 million). Unfortunately, these underlying operating earnings exclude the small matter of the company’s finance charges, the cost of refinancing the business, taxes, and the cost of restructuring its disastrously ill-managed businesses.
Again, we counsel readers to ignore such obfuscation and focus on the bigger picture and the actual reported numbers.
On a fully inclusive basis, taking into account all these pesky details (because, you know, tax is actually a cost, as are interest and refinancing charges), James Fisher and Sons lost £18.6 million (US$23.3 million).
Ouch.
Asset-light because barely any assets remain
Now the company has announced that it will be selling off RMS Pumptools for £90 million (US112.5 million) in an effort to stabilise the balance sheet, which had over US$180 million of debt at the end of 2023. RMS makes drilling intervention tools and artificial lift equipment for oil and gas companies. James Fisher has also sold off its nuclear business.
Looking ahead, James Fisher says that it wants to be “a services company operating in the Blue Economy, leveraging market and customer synergies” with a claim of becoming “asset-light with a focus on pooling assets, people and resources.” Given that there are barely any assets left, this seems appropriate.
Our bet is that the remainder of the business will be bought by a private equity company and leveraged up again. Its bubble curtain business will be attractive to green investors like Cyan Renewables and other sustainable investors – bubbles curtains are deployed to shield the marine environment from the noise of windfarm piling.
The sad tale of James Fisher is a reminder of the line from the HBO miniseries Chernobyl about the Soviet mismanagement that led to the destruction of the eponymous nuclear plant: “Every lie we tell incurs a debt to the truth. Sooner or later that debt is paid.” |
Cheers, Rivaldo. The writer called the crash in the share price almost to perfection with his first piece in 2020. Question is, can the new management team get defence and what's left of the energy division growing? Maritime looks fairly solid though cyclical. |
As an ex-shareholder here (a long time ago now!) FSJ remain on my watchlist. But I've just come across this opinion piece which might interest readers here.... |
Zero: The Climate Race podcast - 25/4/24:
The slow and painful recovery of the wind industry
Denmark’s Vestas has been making wind turbines exclusively since 1989 — well before the notion of an energy transition was commonplace. But that foresight hasn’t made for smooth sailing: When Henrik Andersen joined Vestas in 2013 as a board member, the company was deep in debt and shareholders were worried. A decade later, Andersen is CEO and has pulled Vestas out of trouble yet again, just as wind power is starting to play a critical role in the global energy transition. Andersen describes some of the government policies that have hindered or helped the growth of this sector, and describes the innovations making wind harvesting even more efficient. |
FSJ mentioned at the 25-minute mark:
Odyssean Investment Trust – Q1 2024 Portfolio Manager Update – Wednesday, 24th April 2024 |
The CEO mentioned the recruitment of "an outstanding general manager" to lead JFD America, he was a Captain in the US Navy from where he recently retired and his CV on LinkedIn looks pretty heavy-duty.
Keith Lehnhardt |
Have to say Monsieur Vernet is an excellent presenter. Struggling not to be convinced.. |
FSJ on YouTube - 16/4/24:
Full-year results for the year ended 31 December 2023 |
JFN not looking particularly scary:
"The increase in provisions in 2023 largely relates to a £6.4m charge relating to potential liabilities on parent company guarantees for JFN." |
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