Interquest Share Discussion Threads

[davydoo] 27/5/2011 08:22

oops, ignore that, mustve been filled on PLUS

[davydoo] 27/5/2011 08:21

gah i only put in a small order, and the price is soaring before im even filled

[paleje] 27/5/2011 07:15

Nothing new but the tone is very positive, GA on the acquisition case and I reckon that would include HK/Singapore ambitions as well as UK.

[cfro] 26/5/2011 18:30

It will be interesting to see what these have to say tomorrow, if anything that is. Set you alarm clocks early guys.

[death by donut] 24/5/2011 11:28

Funny , my small buy hasn't showed up from yesterday , had to go and check to make sure it was in my sipp :0) , and it is , 59.3p.

Well that was my last £1k of cash , sit back and see what happens over the summer now. Big bounce from Lloy would be nice lol , hoping that in 5 yrs that will have been a good buy , pays ur money as they say.

DbD :0)

[jeff h] 23/5/2011 19:49

I wonder if the 310k trade was a company buy back?

I bought 10k @ 60p today.

[cfro] 23/5/2011 18:22

Good luck DbD.

That was a very odd large sale today and not a good time in which to execute it i wouldnt have thought. I cant see anything untoward for the present time and a remain bullish for now. But obviously this does need keeping an eye on. But this share is so illiquid that the trade would have had to been worked at the price of 61p, as a plane 'dump' would have sent the share price plumeting down much more imo. For every seller there is a buyer, so it will be interesting to see who declares here.

[paleje] 23/5/2011 15:06

My watchlist too but no funds available till next month, haven't seen or heard anything nasty.

[interceptor2] 23/5/2011 15:04

Welcome DbD hopes this proves a shrewd move.

The drop was caused by a 310k sale @ 61p under the spread of 63 - 65. A big trade for ITQ, no idea whats behind it, maybe nothing?

ITQ is very illiquid so only have a small initial position with a wide stop, on Friday we should have a much clearer picture.

ic2....

[death by donut] 23/5/2011 14:46

Well , took the plunge , hope the fall isn't anything too dramatic.

Cheers

DbD :0)

[death by donut] 23/5/2011 14:26

Something up then , another drop down and outs the yield up to 4.6%.

hmmmm

DbD

[death by donut] 23/5/2011 14:20

Someone get wind of a not so good update then? or is this just part of the all over red day going on today?

This is on my watchlist , so taking an interest.


DbD

[cfro] 21/5/2011 18:38

Trading Update due Friday 27th May. Cant wait, should be revealing with a bit of luck.

[interceptor2] 19/5/2011 20:40

AGM next week on Friday. if very positive I might add to my position from some sale proceeds today.

I can't claim ITQ are a Zulu stock, but here is the rolling data at this time.

Twelve month rolling calculations @ 64.5p.

PEG = 0.55

Growth = 11.7%

PER = 6.5

ic2.....

[paleje] 17/5/2011 08:53

:-) yep reckon they've got one or two good uns amongst that lot - well obviously, ITQ.

[interceptor2] 16/5/2011 07:49

paleje - Thanks for posting the list, many companies I have never researched. Should keep me busy today.

ic2.........

[interceptor2] 09/5/2011 22:19

I'm not sure if this is a new contract or part of the Carphone Warehouse contract reported in March. Either way it gives some more background info that I haven't read before.

ic2........

May 9, 2011
Following an initial 6 month appointment


Best Buy Europe chooses InterQuest Solutions to manage its temporary, contract and interim recruitment


InterQuest Solutions is pleased to announce its appointment by Best Buy Europe Distribution Ltd as its supplier for all temporary, contract and interim appointments.

Best Buy Europe is the joint venture retail operation set up by US retail giant Best Buy and Carphone Warehouse. The joint venture was formed through Best Buy's purchase of a 50% stake in Carphone Warehouse's retail division.

Following an initial 6 month appointment, InterQuest Solutions has been awarded a long term contract during to be responsible for sourcing and administrating Best Buy Europe a contingent workforce, whilst focusing on delivering significant cost savings.

Lisa Dixon, MD of InterQuest Solutions says: "At InterQuest we look forward to working with Best Buy Europe. The team will continue to focus on delivering significant cost-saving and quality improvement through this partnership."

David Price, Resourcing Manager of Best Buy Europe comments: "We have been delighted with our partnership with InterQuest Solutions. They came into a difficult situation and quickly won people over with their straightforward and practical approach.

"We are confident in their ability to deliver a progressive, effective and = value-added service to Best Buy Europe over the course of this new contract."

[paleje] 07/5/2011 08:54

Thanks, makes sense. Interested to note net margins have been in decline last 6 years, there's enormous pressure in the UK to reduce fees, some of the new entrants into the financial markets like tesco demand fees nearer 12% than the preferred 25% depending on position. Overseas margins currently being achieved with less haggling, in financial sector anyway.

[interceptor2] 06/5/2011 17:12

paleje - I use PSR mainly to work out a future price target, which I find useful with cylical stock like ITQ. But as you say net margins have to be taken into account. For growth stocks I wouldn't take much notice of the PSR, but would use PEGs, growth rates, historic earnings etc, mainly from the Zulu Principle.

ic2.......

[paleje] 06/5/2011 15:38

There should be more share buybacks to come, plenty if they want to make a difference, nice to see a start though and GA true to his word.

IC2, if you don't mind me asking why do you particularly favour PSR in your research. I can see its use in historic value comparisons but against other co's each with different margins? just wondered, thanks for putting the comparisons in.

[cfro] 05/5/2011 18:27

Share buy backs, thats great.

And what lovely research interceptor2, congrats on that. Definately looks like certain sub-sectors of the recruitment sector are in an upturn.

Agree re. EMR. Such a cracking company that, like you, i hope to be back in there at some point. Im keeping a keen eye and if they can sort out the German issue then that could well be the catalyst for me.

Incidently i paid 65.04p so same as you. ;-)

[interceptor2] 05/5/2011 16:47

Interquest Group

A recruitment specialist with emphasis in IT to financial sector and public sector. The public sector has contracted since 2008 and now only accounts for 20% of net fee income. The driving force is financial services which increased 29% in 2010.

New CEO Mark Braund recruited 21st March 2011, ex Chairman of Barker Personnel in 1998 which was taken over by Carlisle in 2002. Also in management at Lorien and helped turn the business around before being taken over by CDG Group.

*Mark Braund has an interest in 167k shares which = 0.54% of company.

Interquest are UK focussed but Chairman Gary Ashworth recently stated that ITQ would be on the lookout for acquisitions in specific niche IT recruitment areas. And will also look to open offices in either Hong Kong or Singapore where margins tend to be higher, and barriers to entry lower.

Recent results for 2010 show net margins recovering to 1.6% from a low of 1.3% in 2009. Worth noting that net margins in H1 2010 = 1.4% which would mean that H2 was closer to 1.8%. I would say that for 2011 ITQ should achieve net margins at slightly over 2%. In 2006/7/8 ITQ averaged 2.5% with a price peak of 153p.

Net margins are likely to increase quickly, with a first contribution of profits from the IQ Equity division, ITQs new incubator for start up businesses. Last year saw a reported loss of £182k in H1, which reduced to £144k in H2. The final quarter of 2010 saw a loss of only £19k, which would indicate that IQ Equity are moving rapidly into a profit for 2011.

PSR is 0.18 at todays price of 64.5p, the PSR reached a peak of 0.51 in the last cycle, so I have an initial price target of 145p working on a target PSR of 0.40.

The PEG is only 0.12 and 0.37 respectively which gives a forward PER of 6.86 and 5.92. They have low net debt of £2.7m which gives gearing of 12.8%, they also have bank facilities of £12.0m which gives plenty of headroom for acquisitions.

So in conclusion I believe that recruitment in IT for financial companies is recovering very strongly now. And with a proven successful new CEO working with the very able Chairman Gary Ashworth, the business can continue to recover, but also drive forward into new exciting areas.

[interceptor2] 05/5/2011 16:04

Looks like the company view the price as good value. See below...

[interceptor2] 05/5/2011 15:52

Thats not fair I had to pay 65.04p :-)

ITQ is one of these companies where it's worth digging around to see past the public sector work, thats been a drag on performance in the last two years. I have a write up of my thoughts on ITQ on file, I will copy them here, there may be some bits of interest to read.

EMR - Is one of these companies that I can see myself buying again, once the situation is clearer in Germany. It's a shame I had to sell them, because they were a high conviction company for me.

STAF - I will continue to hold, but with a trailing stop/loss in place. I figure that if the acquisition was a mistake the price will still have at least a 12 month run before sentiment may change. I feel that the acquisition could be a good opportunity, but it's hard to judge and I might be wrong.

ic2..........