Gateley (holdings) Share Discussion Threads

[bbluesky] 01/5/2019 15:38

New high for Keystone Law Group today. And with Rosenblatts going strongly on good results, sector looks encouragingly strong.Trading announcement for GTLY last year 21 May, so not long now.

[jonwig] 22/3/2019 07:49

I haven't followed DWF Group which seems to be the largest of the bunch. I see the share price hasn't moved from the issue at 122p.

Of the existing listed firms, Keystone and Rosenblatt seem to have their own individual 'racy' characteristics which have been positive for their share price. Gordon Dadds (which I held for a few weeks) might have made a bad misstep with its big acquisition. That one looks dodgy to me.

Gateley might be thought the stodgiest and most conventional of the firms, which suits me fine. I went to an AGM a couple of years ago and was quite impressed.

The ii article, thanks:

[bbluesky] 22/3/2019 07:29

Good article on the sector in Interactive Investor Daily News (21 March) following the DWF IPO

"DWF IPO: Are these AIM law firms better value? by Andrew Hore "

[bbluesky] 20/3/2019 09:34

I see Keystone Law Group is at an all time high and powering on. Just a matter of time now for GTLY?

KEYS pe 82.5 and 0 divi, £141m market cap. GTLY 13.87 pe and 4.31 yield, £169 market cap

Knights PLC another law group on AIM similarly at an all time high...

[jonwig] 25/2/2019 17:44

I'd be reasonably happy at the way the share disposal went. They've handled the transition from LLP to PLC pretty skilfully so far, and they've just said:

"The Group is on track to deliver full year earnings in line with market forecasts, which were raised following the positive Trading Update announced on 23 November 2018, with revenues of not less than £102m and EBITDA margins in H2 19 not less than those achieved previously."

(Strange, as the year end is 30 April!)

[robsy2] 08/1/2019 08:30

Yes.I've joined the fray this morning.Looks like a pretty good company.
R2

[podgyted] 08/1/2019 08:21

Good result as foretold in the TU - confident outlook.

The share price has backtracked for a few months - this now looks good value IMHO.

[bbluesky] 12/10/2018 18:58

Apols something has not appeared: 4% points behind Labour among 18 to 29 year old in 2015, but today it is 40 points behind. If...

[bbluesky] 12/10/2018 18:55

Increasing receivables is always a worry, but that is what lawyers are for (and strong management)! As for the housing market,some of which has been tanking, I am a long term bull. From The Times: the Tories were 4% points behind Labour among 18 to 29 if the Tories can ever take their minds off Brexit, they are in for a rude shock, as to survivability, which is generally when politicians make decisions!

[jonwig] 11/10/2018 07:54

I think I said I'd sold because of the size of the receivables and the way they are increasing, with some overdue debts. GTLY are exposed to housing and construction, and I beleive they will be charging legal fees on alternatives to immediate billing. (See 2018 accs note 13.)

Has the Motley Fool author looked at this? Quite honestly, I don't see the balance sheet as 'rock hard', and generally find MF articles to be a bit superficial.

That said, the current share price does seem to discount a lot!

[epo001] 10/10/2018 13:19

Erm, any ideas? Anyone?

[countless] 04/10/2018 10:52

Interesting write up by The Motley Fool team:-

Regular readers of The Motley Fool will be aware of the importance of shopping around and not limiting their stock searches to the FTSE 100 or any other of London’s major bourses.
Whether you’re hunting for big dividend yields or proven profit generators there’s no shortage of contenders amongst the capital’s smaller indices. In fact, if you’re looking for both right now then a quick glance at Gateley Holdings (LSE: GTLY) is definitely worth your while.
The firm is a specialist in commercial law with operations spanning from the UK to Dubai. Since listing on AIM back in 2015 — it was the first business of its kind to do so — it has continued its long story of churning out robust earnings growth, culminating in last year’s impressive double-digit-percentage advance.
And trading at the business remains extremely robust, leading brokers to suggest more sustained earnings growth (rises of 8% and 9% are predicted for the years to April 2019 and 2020 respectively). A critical driver of its strong performances has been its dedication to investing across the business.
Expanding its labour base is one such way that Gateley continues to thrive, and last year it bulked up the average fee-earning staff numbers on its books to 509 from 457 the year before, up 11.4% year-on-year. But what has really lit a fire under the bottom line is the company’s dedication to hunting down tasty acquisitions.
Acquisitions coming thick and fast
After making its first two acquisitions back in fiscal 2016 Gateley now has the bit firmly between its teeth. The legal eagle made a further two takeovers in the last 12-month period and since then it has seized business psychologist Kiddy & Partners to boost its employment services portfolio.
The business is showing little appetite to slow down on the M&A front. At this week’s AGM, non-executive chairman Nigel Payne said it continues to hunt for “additional complementary businesses which are earnings accretive and assist in diversifying the Group even further.”
Gateley certainly has the financial clout to keep its spending spree on the boil. Cash generation remained impressive last year and operating cash flow rose to £12.2m, up from £7.7m in fiscal 2017, while net debt tumbled £4.1 year-on-year to just £0.7m.
Delicious dividend yields rise to 5%
To the delight of income investors, Gateley’s rock-hard balance sheet and bright earnings prospects are leading the City to predict that dividends can keep growing and that it can offer inflation-busting yields as well.
Last year’s 7p per share total dividend is anticipated to advance to 7.5p in the present period, and again to 8.2p in the following year. As a consequence, yields stand at 4.6% and 5% for fiscal 2019 and 2020 respectively.
The market seems fairly oblivious to Gateley’s exceptional growth (and income) prospects, however, and this is reflected in the company’s cheap forward P/E ratio of 13.8 times. I’m convinced that the law specialist is a share that offers plenty of upside at current prices.

[whilstev] 25/9/2018 15:34

Agm tomorrow hopefully we will get a trading update.

[epo001] 03/8/2018 13:47

Why the share price weakness? The yield is good and PE moderate and haven't heard any bad news (or good news for that matter). Buying opportunity or hopeless cause?

[walbrock82] 18/7/2018 07:01

Here is a brief summary of yesterday’s results:
The post also covers Ideagen, NCC Group and Daejan Holdings.

[jamgr0] 17/7/2018 16:34

Lovely set of results, especially following the acquisition of Kiddy earlier this month. Kiddy's clients include 20 of the FTSE 100 so this will hopefully increase cross-sales between the different service groups as we've seen with Hamer and Capitus. I predicted an acquisition at the end of 2017, and have been treated with two by Q1 instead

[jonwig] 17/7/2018 07:10

I did say selling might have been a mistake, and hope you're successful ... overcautious me.

[eentweedrie] 17/7/2018 07:08

Touche not touch!!

[eentweedrie] 17/7/2018 07:08

Touché :)

[jonwig] 17/7/2018 07:06

Urban myth. June 2015 IPO Prospectus p14:

The legal services market in the UK (and globally) experienced challenging market conditions over the most recent recession, resulting in reduced earnings and margin pressure on firms, which, in some cases, has forced firms into mergers or insolvency. The market has shown signs of recovery over the last couple of years with some consolidation, in particular a number of mergers of firms in the mid-market subsector.

[eentweedrie] 17/7/2018 06:57

lol if there is a recession it is the law firms who prosper more than ever!