Gooch & Housego Share Discussion Threads

[garth] 23/6/2004 10:07

J,

I seem to recall that at the time you described it as 'a couple of guys in the loft' LOL :-)

G.

[jan-mar] 23/6/2004 09:34

stefield

it was a fibre optic switch,if thats the one you mean, i met the two guys working on it several years ago, they had it set up on a work bench, it worked but getting it down in size to be commercially viable was the problem. Archie Gooch was showing me round the factory at the time, all good stuff, i hope the share price keeps going for you.

[walthera] 21/6/2004 09:12

You could try looking at Deltron (DET) - based in sleepy Suffolk - and Carclo (CAR) - or maybe Wakefield is too racy for you. ;-) [Chessfou]

Thanks for the info - I'll keep an eye on them before plunging.

[stefield] 20/6/2004 01:36

i have no idea what any of these switches do, but i remember the shares hitting 6 quid on 'a rumour' they were developing a new 'super switch'. so if they actually bring it to the market,the shares could rocket.
but even without new products, i really cant see any downside, before sept. 11 they made 4 million profit.with the way things are going, and if the dollar starts to strengthen, i think they could be well back to these levels in 2005 and a share price closer to 3 quid.
it would be nice to see ian bayer buying a few more shares at current price, if he is low on cash, maybe we could club together and buy him a few ! :)

[garth] 19/6/2004 15:13

Stefield,

Thanks for posting that - now if that had appeared in the FT I'd probably have added prior to the results! Hindsight eh?!

"Chris Pannell, an expert in optics, opto-electronics and fibre optics, was appointed group chief scientist with a brief to develop new products and technologies."

At the time of the euphoria around the 'photonic switch' I had the good pleasure of a telephone converation with Chris Pannell while he was at UKC. He told me that whilst the 'switch' looked good he had encouraged Gooch to go for something more ambitious - a tunable photonic add-drop filter for routing data down fibre-optic cable (I think). From talking at the time I got the impression that it would be on a scale of breakthrough similar to the products BATM were talking about. I wonder whether that is one of the 'upcoming 3', and what the impact might be?

G.

[garth] 18/6/2004 14:19

Hi spud. (where did you catch the tip?)

Things certainly seem to be moving along at IGE. I keep looking out for a comment from Rapiscan re. the US launch of the 3D20 - I assume that it will come early next week. The move towards the Sharp screen is also excellent, IMO, as one of the initial concerns raised by staff at Heathrow appears to have been around the use of eye-gear. The autostereoscopic screen from Sharp removes that barrier.

Rumour is also that the Houses of Parliament have been evaluating use of the 3D20. A high profile site like that would be great for the profile of this little gem!

G.

[sack of spuds] 18/6/2004 14:08

thanks for tip garth on ige looks very interesting I have bought some.it seems all good news for ige at present.they have momentum of good news.
GHH still doing well i'm pleased to say.

[garth] 18/6/2004 14:03

Pushing ahead already Stefield.

Had a look at the stock situation - roughly £150K lower than the comparable period last year, so some inventory coverted to profit may have helped the numbers? But an increase also in debtors.

Have to say again that I was surprised by the interims - much better than I anticipated. So what might the next set look like with US interest rates rising & demand picking back up?

I'm optimistic of a rise through to around 180p (or maybe a little more?) over the coming weeks.

G.

[stefield] 18/6/2004 06:29

hopefully there will be some positive press over the weekend and this will push a little higher.

[chessfou] 17/6/2004 14:48

Any other country based small company suggestions always welcome [Walthera]

You could try looking at Deltron (DET) - based in sleepy Suffolk - and Carclo (CAR) - or maybe Wakefield is too racy for you. ;-)

[garth] 17/6/2004 14:04

Diversification!

IGE looking interesting again, IMO.

G.

[jan-mar] 17/6/2004 13:57

no, sold out years ago, i can remember buying them at 103p and a week later they were over £5. I also had a tour of the factory with Archie Gooch and met the two guys working on the fibre optic switch, good days. I have all my money in BPRG 75k shares they will be huge one day, that's if they can stay independent, my view is they will be bought out, had a rough time of late, fell from 160p to 70p but i'm still in profit, should have sold at the top and bought back in, hindsight.

regards jan-mar

[garth] 17/6/2004 13:47

Hi mate.

Long time no meet. How are you doing? Still in these?

G.

[jan-mar] 17/6/2004 13:41

Nice to see one of my old favs doing well

[walthera] 17/6/2004 12:09

Speaking from not so sleepy, cider fuelled Somerset, home of GHH these are excellent results and bode well for the future even if the shares do seem hard to get hold of - what are all those 10,000 trades this morning???

These small "out of the large towns" companies are frequently winners, see Mears (MER) though now not so small, Hardys & Hanson (HDYS) and the once small but now large Clarks shoes (also Somerset based) - but try getting hold of their hugely profitable shares.

Any other country based small company suggestions always welcome, but meanwhile keep up the good work Gooch & Housego (GHH)

Walthera

[garth] 17/6/2004 09:48

"Notable LEADERS today include Gooch & Housego, which rose 11.8% to 132.5p after the company disclosed doubled interim pretax profits of £1.27m. Turnover increased above expectations on higher demand for all product types. It said the results represent a continuation of the trend seen in the second half of last year, and signal the group has returned to growth mode."

Source: an ADVFN competitor

[garth] 17/6/2004 08:24

Well, in the face of the currency movements we've seen those results look excellent.

Revenue up 20% - so some cost cutting done or some reduction of inventory (I haven't had time for a good look). Interesting to see how the growth now flows in subsequent periods.

Well done to the management!

G.

[stefield] 17/6/2004 07:49

morning guys, and what a wonderfull morning it is for gooch shareholders !!
E.P.S. up 92% at 4.2p and everything else looking good.
couldn't have hoped for any better results, i would expect to see at least 1.50 today.
stephen

[stefield] 14/6/2004 09:54

thanks for that garth, i spent an hour on ft.com and couldn t find it anywhere.

[garth] 14/6/2004 09:39

"But I like to think that I can always recognise quality and value and foresee profits growth "

LOL wasn't John Lee also in now bust Jasmin? (Can't LOL too loud though, 'cause I was too)

Nothing said that adds anything - but Gooch are little-known and its pulled in some punters. Nice work if you can get it (cf. R.Burns - difference here is that JL seems to be long-termer)

I won't be adding any more today. I intend to following results - either way, once the short term picture is clearer.

G.

[garth] 14/6/2004 09:33

FT MONEY - INVESTING: I'm branching out in growth markets
By John Lee
Financial Times; Jun 12, 2004



My quest for value frequently finds me visiting very different types of business. But the contrast has rarely been greater than in May's forays to Gooch and Housego, an Aim-quoted maker of precision optic devices, and Wyevale, the country's top quoted garden centre company.

What they have in common, however, are price/earnings ratings well down from historically higher levels, solid established profitable operations, a reasonable rising dividend yield, asset backing, and - in my judgement - considerable upside potential.

After both visits, I substantially increased my shareholdings, although in the case of G and H it took some days, given the very tight market.

G and H has an impressive list of multinational customers including BaE, Bechtel, Boeing, Honeywell, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Smiths, Thales and the US Food and Drug Administration.

Quite what their chief executives would think if they visited the company's headquarters in a former magistrates court in the Somerset town of Ilminster, I dare not think, but a new purpose-built facility is planned and 60 per cent of group sales are in the US through subsidiaries there.

This tiny company, established more 50 years ago by two former employees of optics supplier Barr and Stroud, has a range of markets for its optical-based products. Half go to commercial markets, 28 per cent to research, 16 per cent to defence and 6 per cent to the medical sector. It is clearly a much undervalued national jewel, whose independence has so far been protected by the Gooch family's 40 per cent holding.

An increasingly professional management is now moving forward with a new corporate identity, cross promotion of group products, a shared customer database and the appointment for the first time of a group chief scientist.

G and H's single most important product, the Q switch, is somewhat beyond my technical comprehension, with a touch of James Bond about it. But I like to think that I can always recognise quality and value and foresee profits growth and an upward re-rating ahead.

[garth] 14/6/2004 09:30

Doesn't take many tho move it when it gets going. Still somewhat concerned as to currency impact on these numbers..... Longterm I'm very happy.

G.

[stefield] 14/6/2004 09:26

up 10p already,
whatever john lee said, it must have been bloody good !!!

[stefield] 12/6/2004 12:33

picnic
could you expand a little please ??
hi garth
i don t post much but hav probably held these as long as you, i seem to hav become too sentimental with old archie(even though he s stepped down now ), i averaged down and am now holding 35,000 shares at 115, which is about half of my portfolio !!
i am still confident they are a solid investment, but it keeps looking like it will take longer and longer. hopefully there will be some positive news with these results !