GKN Share Discussion Threads

[addison17] 29/7/2013 08:20

yep, great article in the Sunday Times yesterday, share price rising nicely this morning and Interims out tomorrow.

[valedo] 28/7/2013 22:28

GKN takes on the world

THE usual jingoistic complaints about the sale of Britain's heritage have been trundled out in response to the prospective takeover of Invensys.

It may be a business with a long and proud history, with origins in companies such as British Tyre & Rubber. Yet its industrial software and controls businesses are now too small to compete against industrial titans such as GE, ABB and Schneider Electric. That's why it is at risk of succumbing to a bid from Schneider.

GKN is not waiting to be gripped by a similar fate. Its top team, led by Nigel Stein, chief executive, and Mike Turner, chairman, realise that standing still and crossing their fingers is not enough to ensure the £5bn engineering stalwart will remain a trusted and valued supplier to some of the world's biggest industrial manufacturers.

Under their guidance, GKN has been on the front foot, plundering gems from around Europe. Its investors like what it has done, helping its shares climb 54% in the past year.

In 2011, it snapped up the all-wheel-drive business of Getrag, the German industrial player, for £295m. Last year it gobbled up Sweden's Volvo Aero, which makes jet engine parts for GE and Rolls-Royce.

This latter deal transformed GKN, giving it a more balanced split between auto and aerospace. It also sharpened the focus on the rewards on offer in the booming commercial aerospace sector, which it is estimated will be worth $4.8trillion over the next 20 years.

If British businesses can compete with rivals from around the world, they won't just survive, they will prosper.
sunday times

[broadwood] 25/7/2013 15:50

Looks like its coming.







Car and aviation parts supplier GKN is rumoured to be planning to bid for US-based Spirit Aerospace.

The City has been abuzz with rumours that the FTSE 100 engineer might be looking to make an acquisition.

Earlier this week The Times reported that the bid might be in the US, before on Thursday the Daily Mail tightened the focus onto former Boeing subsidiary Spirit AeroSystems.

The Square Mile whispers indicate that GKN is poised to launch a $5.0bn cash and shares takeover, worth around $35 a share.

Based in Wichita, Kansas, Spirit is an aerostructures manufacturer and would fit in with GKN's recent strategy of looking to strengthen its aerospace arm.

Last year, GKN moved to reduce its exposure to the defence sector by buying Volvo's aerospace division.

It is reported that Bank of America-Merrill Lynch have been signed up as advisers on the deal to GKN and have rounded up the required institutional backers to provide the requisite funds.

A GKN spokesperson declined to comment on whether a bid was being prepared.

[valedo] 25/7/2013 09:07

Bears, repeatedly torched by GKN's intractable price strength, continued to try to bet against the car parts supplier because they had heard whispers that it might raise money soon to make a chunky acquisition, probably in America. SunGard's Astec Analytics ran the numbers. The number of GKN shares on loan - a ready reckoner of the magnitude of wagers against their price - jumped nearly sixfold last week. That has not hindered GKN, a further 1¼p higher at 341p yesterday and back within a whisker of last week's record best.
Times

[philo124] 23/7/2013 09:16

Sold 40% held since c200p.

[valedo] 23/7/2013 08:37

GKN eased 2½p to 339¼p amid speculation that the car parts supplier might be looking to make an acquisition, possibly in the United States.
Times

[valedo] 05/6/2013 08:43

Forget the sum, market decides the money really lies in the parts

Defence spending may be wilting and Europe's car industry stalling, but GKN still ran to its best in nearly 14 years.

The supplier of parts for the automotive and aerospace industries - and a regular subject for bid speculation among London's rumour-mongers - improved thanks to a push from UBS, its own broker.

Rami Myerson, UBS's aerospace and defence analyst, is now responsible for coverage and he was suitably upbeat. Recent acquisitions, he argued, had transformed both divisions of GKN.

In September 2011, the Footsie engineer bought the all-wheel-drive components businesses of Getrag KG, a private German company. A year later, it snapped up Volvo's aircraft engines parts business for £633 million.

"We believe that those changes, together with GKN's continued focus on efficient cost and cash management, mean that GKN is now in a better position strategically and operationally," Mr Myerson told clients. Buy the shares, he urged, lifting his price target for them over the next 12 months from 275p to 350p.

Shares that fell below 40p at their worst in March 2009, were duly buoyed 15p to 313½p.
times

[broadwood] 04/6/2013 13:32

Shares in GKN were performing well on Tuesday morning after UBS lifted its target price for the stock from 275p to 350p and kept its 'buy' rating, saying the engineering group has "more than meets the eye".

The broker said that GKN is well positioned after the acquisitions of Getrag and Volvo Aero which have transformed its Driveline and Aerospace divisions and strengthened its position in both markets. "We believe those changes, together with GKN's continued focus on efficient cost and cash management, have put GKN in a better position strategically and operationally," UBS said.

[broadwood] 04/6/2013 13:25

GKN is a barometer of the engineering industry, particularly cars and aeros.

With manufacturing recovering, and the two more important drivers showing increasing strength, why would you not want to hold?

[ladywormer] 04/6/2013 12:14

Sold yesterday at 299 after holding for two years. Weep and despair.

[leeson31] 04/6/2013 11:32

sweet i only bought in y/day at 299p, but out now, 315p

[philo124] 04/6/2013 10:59

Well done. I can't see the ftse correcting more than 5-10%; I think late
August maybe a good time to pick up quality stocks if the mkt drifts lower
than that.

[valedo] 04/6/2013 10:15

A stock for the longer term this, even if I am up 174% already! I suspect the market will correct up to 20% but impossible to time that. September maybe?

[philo124] 04/6/2013 09:46

UBS 350p target.

[kotze] 23/5/2013 10:12

Not a nice dip today, but might give an opportunity to add more to it. Wait to see what the day and tomorrow unfolds.

[malcolmsm1th] 20/5/2013 20:09

Some people in a company, Jonny, usually the ones in the rarified air of the upper echelons of the ivory tower, have a bonus scheme in their contract.

What this says that if various conditions are met then they are allowed to purchases shares at a certain reduced price. So, let's say that the share price is about 120p and they're allowed to have 100,000 shares at 50p then what happens is that they can sell the shares straight off for 70p each.

Does it affect the share price? Not sure really as they have to bought and sold but the end of the day it's the same as giving the poor overworked boardroom members a quick £70,000 bonus before they head off for another round of executive meetings on the golf course.

[jonnydd4] 20/5/2013 19:29

Exercise of options - What does this mean in terms of affecting the share price, can anyone please explain? Is it likely to go down etc?

Thanks,

Jon

[daz] 20/5/2013 08:34

rhatton, the chart looks a little stretched after the recent run, so I've sold a few.

Brokers go for 26p for 2013 and 30p in EPS for 2014, so certainly not expensive even after the recent rise.

[broadwood] 20/5/2013 08:32

Having a great run, new car sales figures recently gave another boost to the share price.

[rhatton] 20/5/2013 08:29

Just gone long here. Looks like a solid company. Cheap too! Anyone have any broker targets?

[jonnydd4] 18/5/2013 15:04

Thorpematt,

Cheers for the response, it's greatly appreciated. Longed these yesterday as they look like a very strong company with good growth prospects.

Jon

[thorpematt] 17/5/2013 23:06

Jon,



In some instances companies need to buy back stock to enable it to then offer the shares to employees as a form of bonus / options.

In GKNs case it already held 26m in treasury and only 0.5m were needed here thus 25m remains for future options/incentives.

The amounts here are neglible for a co. of GKNs size. They get much more contensious for small caps where a BoD could vote for enhances options based upon "growth". What can happen is that the dilution required to enable the incentive plan actually dilutes the EPS to such an extent that shareholders equity decrease despit the "growth" in earnings.


Meanwhile we head towards my first line of resistance. I believe 400p is on the cards here shortly however...

[jonnydd4] 17/5/2013 19:35

Can anyone explain what is actually meant by treasury stock and the affect this has on the share price in the short term etc?


Thanks all,

Jon

[philo124] 17/5/2013 13:45

Through £3.