GKN Share Discussion Threads

[northernlass] 19/5/2012 16:16

Bullet Sets 300p Target

THE TELEGRAPH'S BUSINESS BULLET

10:12AM BST 18 Apr 2012

Business Bullet on risk-averse markets, Tesco's £1bn re-vamp, GKN's profit growth and the madness of EU bankers

Use the slider to get to the GKN story, 1.50 min into the video:

[thirdmillion] 17/5/2012 14:31

Triple yr money in a month then come back here when Greece sorted next month? Maybe..

Frontier Mining (FML) will announce maiden copper production within 2 weeks after years & years of waiting. Massive upward re-rate expected.

Currently 5p..Bloomberg report 30p then 60p (2013) targeted..

very small cap & WELL under radar.....minimal risk/no dilution/fully funded

Be VERY quick though!

DYOR

[the other kevin] 04/5/2012 13:56

Tipped by TMF today as "undervalued business."

[bluebelle] 01/5/2012 13:30

valedo
The Volvo deal is clearly crucial. Some key players aren't keen on it and I don't think the price will move upwards again significantly until that is resolved. I'm happy to hold for that !

[valedo] 26/4/2012 10:13

hvs - "Way overvalued".
On what basis do you come to that conclusion? The only thing that needs clarification is the Volvo deal which should unravel shortly. Otherwise the ST article fairly comments "GKN is trading on just 7.7 times 2012 earnings, representing a 37% sector discount and offering one of the best value stories in the UK capital goods sector."

[deadly] 25/4/2012 10:14

Xd today for 4p and the price rises too. Car sales worldwide and aerospace markets are strong and this company looks well set to prosper. The price is too cheap.

[hvs] 23/4/2012 13:28

When anal ysts say buy and The Sunday Times says its time.

Best to keep away.

Way overvalued.

[bluebelle] 19/4/2012 09:21

Good, positive statement !

[valedo] 19/4/2012 09:05

'Excellent' start at GKN raises hopes worldwide
The resurgence of car production around the world and a recovery in the civil aerospace industry has helped GKN to drive up sales and profits.

The engineering group, which makes parts for cars and aircraft, said that its revenue had grown by 17 per cent in the first three months of 2012, with £1.74 billion of sales in the first quarter, compared with £1.4 billion for the same period last year.

GKN is often regarded as a bellwether for the global economy. The group found the going tough during the recession as car production fell sharply and orders for new aircraft dropped significantly.

So any sustained increase in manufacturing at GKN will be regarded as a sign of a nascent recovery. In an upbeat trading statement yesterday, Nigel Stein, its chief executive, said the FTSE 100 group had made an "excellent" start to the year.

GKN's pre-tax profit rose 17 per cent to £125 million on the back of increased sales of parts for light vehicles - global production went up 4 per cent to 20.4 million vehicles in the first quarter, with Japan recording a leap of 49 per cent. There was also strong growth in North America and India, which helped to offset declines in Brazil and Europe.

Some of GKN's biggest clients include Audi, BMW and Volkswagen, which have reported growing demand for their new cars. Last week SAIC, the Chinese car manufacturer that owns the MG marque and is another large client of GKN, said that its March sales had increased by 10 per cent compared with the same time last year.

GKN said its civil aerospace division and the agricultural, construction and mining markets were also "improving".

Mr Stein said GKN had boosted its margins in all four divisions and added: "Despite some macroeconomic uncertainty, we expect 2012 to be a year of good progress for GKN, based on our market leadership positions, advanced technology and global footprint."
Times

[valedo] 18/4/2012 16:07

the volvo deal needs to be sorted asap one way or other. If the deal is on then it will stall the share price short term but good for long term i'd say, once the rights issue is out of the way it will be onwards and upwards again.

[mj19] 18/4/2012 10:24

so why we down is it about the volvo deal?- l------a---------c-----k------ -----o-f info?

[deadly] 18/4/2012 08:49

Strong statement:
GKN has continued to make good progress with sales for the three months ended
31 March 2012 totalling GBP1,742 million, a 17% increase over the comparable
period in 2011, or an 8% increase on an underlying basis.

[valedo] 15/4/2012 09:23

Inside the City: GKN is ready for takeoff Sunday Times

GKN has had a rough ride lately. The company, which makes parts for cars and aircraft, is seen by many investors as a gauge for the health of the global economy.

When times are difficult people put off buying new cars, and airlines cancel plane orders. Yet the FTSE 100 group received a fillip last week when a raft of data proved that the bears had overdone it.

SAIC, the Chinese carmaker and big GKN client, said that March sales jumped by 10% over the previous year.

Car sales in North America also registered an unexpected increase.

Investors will be hoping that those sales rises will have percolated through to GKN, which reveals its first-quarter trading figures on Wednesday.

There is another reason, however, that there is a cloud over the company. The Sunday Times last month revealed that GKN is considering spending up to £800m for Volvo's aerospace division, which makes parts for jet engines.

The City is broadly supportive of the deal, if not necessarily the mooted price. Convincing investors to get behind it, and the rights issue that would probably be needed, would be a big test for Nigel Stein, who took over as chief executive at the turn of the year.

Analysts expect the company to give little away this week, but they will be hoping for some clarity soon - especially after MTU Aero Engines apparently pulled out.

There are sound reasons to do the Volvo deal. It would reduce GKN's reliance on the highly cyclical motor sector - it accounts for 50% of turnover - as well as the military world. Nearly half its aviation business comes from defence, which is coming under pressure as America, Britain and other countries take the axe to military spending.

And if Stein decides not to pull the trigger? GKN still looks a good bet. It has lost 11% over the past month, closing at 199p on Friday.

Credit Suisse said: "Market concerns over the structure of a deal for Volvo Aero [have] gathered pace . . . We see these concerns fully discounted in the current price.

If a deal for Volvo Aero does not materialise, then GKN is trading on just 7.7 times 2012 earnings, representing a 37% sector discount and offering one of the best value stories in the UK capital goods sector."

[broadwood] 12/4/2012 12:02

And BlackRock is buying!

[valedo] 12/4/2012 10:47

Engineer GKN was the biggest riser in early trading after reports of an upgrade by Credit Suisse. The group saw share price rise by 4.6% to 200.3p (at 0829 BST) following the news.

Credit Suisse raises its recommendation on the automotive and aerospace parts manufacturer to "outperform" from "neutral" with a 240 pence target price on valuation grounds.

Over the last month GKN has fallen 9.9 percent, compared with a 8.2 percent decline for the sector, while its 14 day sector relative strength indicator at 33.7 is among lowest in its peer group.

"Against this backdrop we upgrade our recommendation with concerns over the acquisition of Volvo Aero in our view discounted in the current price," Credit Suisse says in a note.

[valedo] 17/3/2012 10:59

Times today talking about a possible rights issue here to fund the Volvo deal. Would water down share price short term but pay off handsomely in the longer term I suspect.

[honiton] 12/3/2012 21:30

Read across to Senior, anyone??

[bigbigdave] 11/3/2012 07:09

ST

GKN plots £800m raid on Volvo

The FTSE 100 engineer is poised to swoop on Sweden's biggest aerospace manufacturer as confidence grow in UK industry

GKN is in advanced talks for an ambitious £800m deal to buy Sweden's biggest aerospace company.

The FTSE 100 engineering group is set to swoop on Volvo's aircraft business, which makes engines and components for the world's largest aerospace and defence manufacturers.

If GKN clinches the deal, it would represent one of the biggest acquisitions by a British manufacturing company since the banking crisis.

Gleacher Shacklock, the group's long-time corporate adviser, is leading negotiations to grab the Volvo business, which would greatly expand GKN's aerospace division.

The boutique investment bank has also been instructed to sell GKN's wheels business, which makes components for construction vehicles and other heavy plant. GKN has sent an information memorandum to interested parties in the past few weeks. The unit could fetch about £130m.

The move to snap up the Volvo division is a sign of the confidence running through Britain's manufacturing sector. It could also mark the start of a deal spree in the industrial sector, likely to be led by American giants such as GE, Dover and Honeywell, that have built up huge war chests during the economic slowdown.

GKN employs 40,000 people in more than 30 countries. It is a supplier of aircraft components to both Airbus and Boeing and makes parts for most of the big carmakers.

The company raced into pole position for the Volvo business after MTU Aero Engines, Germany's leading engine maker, dropped out of the auction. Other bidders included the buyout groups Carlyle and Nordic Capital.

Volvo put its aero engine business up for sale in November. The division makes the RM12 engine for Saab's Gripen fighter jets, used by the Swedish military, as well as supplying engine components to the three main jet engine manufacturers - Rolls-Royce, GE and Pratt & Whitney.

GKN's aerospace division is its biggest after Automotive, the car parts unit. It recorded sales of £1.5 billion in 2011.

The group last month reported a 15% increase in full-year pre-tax profits to £417m, on sales up 13% to £6.1 billion. On Friday GKN's shares closed at 212.5p, valuing the company at £3.3 billion.

GKN declined to comment.

[valedo] 29/2/2012 09:15

Difficult to gauge acceleration
Martin Waller: Tempus ,Times
February 29 2012 12:01AM
Sandy Morris, the GKN-watcher newly installed at Jefferies, makes the point that the consensus on 2012 revenues and earnings forecasts for the company is so wide that there isn't really a consensus. I suspect there has been a degree of uncertainty over prospects for the automotive sector and that some analysts may not have updated their estimates yet.

That uncertainty remains. Automotive sales were up about 3 per cent last year globally, held back perhaps two percentage points by the after-effects of the Japanese disaster, and GKN is pointing to industry estimates of a 5 per cent rise this year. But the sector has already recovered much faster than many had expected from the nadir of late 2008 and that figure might turn out flat, as well.

The automotive side of GKN, which is slanted towards high-value marques such as BMW, Jaguar and Land Rover, was behind the progress last year. Its Driveline business increased trading profits by 15 per cent and Powder Metallurgy, about three quarters of whose products also go into the car industry, was up 33 per cent. These numbers are significantly up on the market as a whole and reflect improved market share and the introduction of new products.

The aerospace division was flat, with trading profits only 2 per cent higher. Although older programmes such as the Airbus A320 are still delivering, the full benefits of the newer Airbus A380 and Boeing 787 programmes are not there yet and probably will make an impact in 2013. GKN provides components worth $2.6 million in every 787 and $8 million in the A380, which gives an idea of their importance to the group.

The military aviation side is holding up for now but will not be immune to US defence cuts. The unanswered question is whether the company will make an offer for Volvo's aerospace components side, now up for sale. A potential German bidder has pulled out; GKN was saying little yesterday, but expect it to be looking, although in no mood to overpay.

This uncertainty, and a bout of understandable profit-taking, was behind the 10¼p decline in the shares to 222¼p yesterday. Pre-tax profits, excepting one-offs, came in 15 per cent higher at £417 million, while a final dividend of 4p makes a useful 20 per cent rise in the total to 6p.

That sharp rise in the shares since the autumn might tempt others to take profits. But the shares sell on a relatively modest forward multiple of less than nine times' earnings, even if immediate progress may be limited.
ge acceleration

[bigbigdave] 29/2/2012 06:36

Indy.......China's luxury cars appetite lifts GKN



Telegraph.......GKN raises dividend 20pc as car sales drive profits

[mj19] 28/2/2012 12:10

I bought last night and this morning at 8am now down...

[daz] 28/2/2012 11:15

I must be the only person who has bought this morning LOL. Not expecting fireworks but looks decent value given that US car sales are growing and the far east is still going strong. I think it's just the sell on news syndrome today and as the results get digested, the shares will move ahead gradually.

[gumberr] 28/2/2012 10:57

Nevermind Driveline the share price seems to have taken a DIVELINE!! LOL!!!

[gumberr] 28/2/2012 10:56

only hope is a takeover and the dividend thats all now!