Latham (james) Share Discussion Threads

[cwa1] 28/11/2019 07:38

Results out this morning:-



Interim dividend

The Board has declared an increased interim dividend of 5.5p per Ordinary Share (2018: 5.0p), which is covered 6.1 times (2018: 7.4 times). The dividend is payable on 24 January 2020 to ordinary shareholders on the Company's Register at close of business on 3 January 2020. The ex-dividend date will be 2 January 2020.

Current and future trading

The second half of 2019/20 has started well with margins slightly ahead of the previous period. We are seeing increased sales at Abbey Woods, the Irish timber distributor purchased in February 2019, and also an improvement in our panel product volumes. Purchase prices of our commodity panel products remain weak. The investment in our Gateshead facility, to improve the site efficiency, is going well, and should be completed in June 2020. The racking investment at Purfleet will be completed by the end of December 2019. The majority of our customers are busy, and we remain confident that we can continue to grow our business, but remain mindful of the uncertainties caused by the forthcoming General Election and a weakening global economy.

I am also very pleased to have reported this week the strategic purchase of Dresser Mouldings for GBP1 million, which will allow us to continue to grow our sales of added value timber.

Nick Latham

Chairman

28 November 2019

[davidosh] 17/9/2019 18:13

This fire today was at the old major woodyard site that we sold to developers ten years ago.....

[barnesian] 21/8/2019 15:11

Looking good.

[mw8156] 21/8/2019 14:53

looking at the statement again, margin improvement is mentioned that ought to have a geared effect on profit.

[mw8156] 21/8/2019 14:49

steady statement at the AGM, looks as though the Irish acquisition is going to turn out OK pending Brxt...

[iasike] 22/3/2019 13:00

Cheers pieeric, appreciated.

[pireric] 22/3/2019 06:47

£228m revs 64.4p normalised EPS

[iasike] 22/3/2019 04:48

Anyone know what market expectations are?

[ed 123] 21/3/2019 16:40

Thanks, Alter ego. I would have missed that. :-)


I view 'in line with market expectations' as being good in the current climate of uncertainty. Happy with the statement.

Agm should be towards the end of August. (It's not far from Buncefield - I remember the explosion.)

[alter ego] 21/3/2019 16:26

trading update out this afternoon

"Revenue and profit before tax for the year ended 31 March 2019 are expected to be in line with market expectations. Integration of the Company's recently acquired business in Ireland, Abbey Woods, is going well and results so far have been encouraging."

Prelims on 27 June

[faxglacier] 04/3/2019 10:11

Small price rise this morning and no apparent explanation yet for Friday's blip. Anyone have any other information as to what may have caused it?

[barnesian] 01/3/2019 21:23

OK Thanks. Didn't know that.

[cockerhoop] 01/3/2019 21:12

Trades that are large (for the stock concerned) are reported with a delay to later in the day or even overnight.

[barnesian] 01/3/2019 21:09

Yes I missed that one as the trade numbers are not in the same order as the times. A bit weird. Perhaps someone can explain?

[faxglacier] 01/3/2019 18:25

Mostly light trading except one deal that went through for 39,000 shares @ 625p when other shares around that time were changing hands for around 700p.

[barnesian] 01/3/2019 16:38

Light balanced trading today. Very curious. Market makers playing silly bs or a low priced placing in the works?

[vulgaris] 01/3/2019 15:55

9% drop on no news. What is going on here?

[podgyted] 29/11/2018 12:13

Market seems to like - well at least at the moment.

[its the oxman] 29/11/2018 08:28

Looks a pretty decent set of results and outlook ok, all things considered.

[podgyted] 29/11/2018 07:37

Looks good.

Revenue, operating profit and dividend up 10%. EPS up 32% partly due to property sale.

[podgyted] 23/11/2018 11:14

AGM statement:-

"We are pleased to see that sales per working day for the first four months of the current financial year, namely April to July 2018, are 9.1 % higher than the same period last year. Volumes have increased through both our warehouses and direct, with the majority of the volume increases being in panel products. Cost prices of our products have continued to rise, having a positive effect on revenues but creating pressure on our margins, which are slightly lower than the second half of last year.



The level of activity for both our timber and panels customers remains strong, with good demand for our added value timber products and some commodity product lines, especially melamines and doors where we are seeing the benefit of our extended racking capability at our new facilities in Leicester and Yate. The Company's cash reserves are strong, and we received £1.72m from the sale of the old site at Yate in April.



Further to our success at the Business Design Centre in Islington, we are pleased to announce the opening of our second product specification showroom located in Manchester.



We know we are entering a period with more uncertainty and greater competitive and market pressure. We remain positive that we can meet the challenges ahead and continue to grow our business.



The Company's interim results for the six months ending 30 September 2018 will be announced on 29 November 2018"

The share price has perked up recently after a bit of a drift + hoping the positive statement above transfers in good results.

[podgyted] 14/11/2018 17:25

Obviously the UK will cease using wood post Brexit and we will no longer need to build 300,000 homes a year.

Market is funny at times.

[mw8156] 10/10/2018 15:50

wonder if they are facing stronger competition from Hadleigh?