Latham (james) Share Discussion Threads

[1c3479z] 29/11/2023 14:27

Results due tomorrow, share price Angel, the only coverage, suggests that cash on the balance sheet could amount to ?70m by year end next March: expect the results for previous 6 months to be all right, held up by the rise in interest rates on the cash, comments on recent trading and outlook will be the main interest.

[1c3479z] 23/8/2023 15:49

at the AGM, told that cash is placed with safe banking covenants eg Clydesdale bank attracting about base rate interest and has accumulated steadily through the year,previous year's cash balance was a good 20m less, if I remember correctly so also mentioned was their cash generation ability as the capex is limited and they apparently own most/all depots. according to annual report, wishing to relocate and expand the Belfast depot and take more space being vacated at their Dublin premises.
there are approx 180 drawing a pension and similar number of deferred members,
market expectations are presently t/o 395m, eps 95p, pretax profit 26m...though the figures can be taken with a pinch of salt as last year's market expectation was wildly out...and it's still relatively early in the year. Difficult to imagine any circumstance that could result in a marked outperformance of expectations presently and figures may come in lower than expectations would have thought depending on what happens to economy in next 9 months
Several congratulated on their achievement, thanked their hard work and performance in last 2 years and generosity to employees with approval from all of the gathered 20 or so, shareholders.

[cwa1] 23/8/2023 12:54

LOL :-)



The Chairman of James Latham is pleased to provide the following trading update at the Company's AGM being held today.



Revenue for the first four months of the current financial year, namely 1 April to 31 July 2023 is £128m. This represents a reduction in sales per working day of 12% compared with an increase of 15% against the same period last year. After two years of strong price growth, we continue to see price weakness in some of our key product areas, with average product prices overall down nearly 2% since the start of the current financial year. Volumes are slightly down on the same period last year, mainly down to a reduction in some direct business. Margins have returned to the longer term average achieved pre-pandemic. Overheads and resulting profit are in line with market expectations.



Our cash balances remain strong, and debtors days and bad debts remain consistent with the same period last year.



Most of our customers are still quite busy, but they are seeing signs of contracts being postponed rather than cancelled. The shift in product mix to more lower value products has continued, and we expect this will not change for the rest of the financial year as our customers look for more cost effective solutions.



The Company's interim results for the six months ending 30 September 2023 will be announced on 30 November 2023

[davidosh] 23/8/2023 12:07

No news or update from the company.....Agm today

[1c3479z] 13/8/2023 22:15

staff given just under 8% bonus last year according to the accounts, evidence of a very benevolent employer, helps with the cost of living and ties employees into the company so must have many longstanding employees and cuts down on training and recruitment cost. Just 26 paying remaining employees paying into the defined benefit pension scheme closed to new entrants in 2003, the youngest of whom is 46. Don't know how many are drawing a pension in retirement out of the scheme. Scheme benefits capped at 1% over CPI so quite generous presently.

timber prices 'back to pre-pandemic level' on R4 early morning report 14/8/23 today.

[wad collector] 09/8/2023 20:51

Plunged after you posted that!
It may not have gone anywhere, but compared to most of my holdings recently , that is a good thing.

[davidosh] 09/8/2023 10:47

Spawny....This piece by Maynard Paton may help you

[SharePad] Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: JAMES LATHAM #LTHM

I selected 40-bagger James Latham because it traded on a remarkably low trailing P/E of 6:

[spawny100] 09/8/2023 08:27

This one has literally gone nowhere in a couple of years and doesn't have a chunky enough dividend to compete with instant access savings rates right now. What's the investment case here?

[wad collector] 07/7/2023 22:00

IC article today sits on the fence, with uncertain demand and margins ahead rates a hold. That was also their position 8 months ago. FWIW.

[1c3479z] 29/6/2023 08:52

no nonsense report and accounts and special dividend, over 60m cash on the accounts, should be able to withstand any more challenging market conditions ahead,

[1c3479z] 25/4/2023 11:38

thanks Maynard and interested to learn from your article that some of their freehold property is held at 1997 valuation, + depreciation so value well understated.
also their non-executive Fabian French is, I'm told, married to a Pippa Latham so his holding is effectively also 'family'. The other non-exec, Ms Kerrigan, doesn't have any shares, as far as I'm aware, but is chair of the remuneration committee, would have thought that she should be a shareholder in such a post? Though Directors are not overpaid at all or taking too much out of the business by today's standards and options not an issue.
Pension deficit/surplus volatile but should become less over the next period if the scheme was closed to new accruals in 2005 or 2009, forget which, and chance that payments into the scheme may reduce after next year,
agree that this is a conservative, old-style company, stuffed with tangibles with Finance Director who's been in post for donkey's years and said to be excellent in his post and educated experienced family continuity very similar to Goodwin.
also, it's on AIM, attractive to the likes of me.

[tmfmayn] 24/4/2023 09:26

Thanks 1c3479z and glad you liked the article. Fair point on the cash; £37m versus market cap of £239m is about 15%. Not sure if all that cash is 'surplus to requirements' though. Perhaps the cash position is all part and parcel of running the business in the 'Latham way', to ensure long-term ambitions are met and reassure customers, staff, suppliers etc during difficult times. Anyway, here is the SharePad article for anyone interested:

[SharePad] Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: JAMES LATHAM #LTHM

I selected 40-bagger James Latham because it traded on a remarkably low trailing P/E of 6:

[1c3479z] 21/4/2023 14:45

excellent article by Maynard Paton on his website,
all metrics brilliant apart from FCF and operating margin put down to the competitive nature of their market, think though he could have discounted their balance sheet cash in assessing the overall valuation which on balance looks fair value to cheap. Buy towards £10-11 if it drops slightly.
also article in the Times pointing out the building homes for the future regulations which will bring in much greater use of timber frame especially in England by 2025. Most of the timber will be imported which is a strength of LTHM.
so ought to be good for both James's, James Jones and James Latham.

[1c3479z] 03/4/2023 12:33

note that Lords' has made a very small acquisition of Chiltern Timber in Hemel- they reckon its milling capability may differentiate it from competitors.

[c3479z1] 30/3/2023 11:49

ditto, holder for much more than 20yr but held too few initially to make any difference. It's always the case! agree with the rest of your post++

[alter ego] 30/3/2023 11:49

It was you David that brought LTHM to my attention with mention of the prospective Clapham site sale. I lived not far from their Lea River site and saw it frequently on my push bike journeys. I only know I bought in between 2010 and 2012 and my average price is £2.35 so like you, no complaints.

[davidosh] 30/3/2023 11:44

I have been a shareholder here for nearly twenty years and certainly have no complaints.

It has a stockrank of 92 and this week 20 years ago it was 81p. I do not know my average buying price but Lathams are a very well run family firm in a very steady enduring sector and pays dividends. A perfect long term buy and hold

[alter ego] 30/3/2023 11:26

plus a good record of under promising and delivering more.

[c3479z1] 30/3/2023 11:12

Many thanks, both,
if those figures are correct, the company appears to me rather cheaply rated given its market position, balance sheet and record though its business is cyclical, it's a distributor so will never be highly rated and the share capital is controlled by the family and connections so not much institutional interest.

[alter ego] 30/3/2023 10:30

Stocko have 147p as the estimate for normalised eps for '23 too.

[wad collector] 30/3/2023 10:25

Good question; unhelpfully they don't remind us in the statement what those expectations are. Nor do they mention them in the last Half Year results. Nor do they even have a copy of this RNS on the copy website yet.
If you go on Yahoo they list only one broker covering LTHM who come up with the figure for 23 of 146.76p EPS. That is all I can see in a quick trawl.

[c3479z1] 30/3/2023 09:45

'In-line with market expectations for profits.'
Can anyone enlighten an amateur like me what the market expectations might be?

[c3479z1] 23/3/2023 09:45

year end trading statement due next week?

[wad collector] 18/12/2022 22:30

IC article looking at the results is cautious , concluding HOLD , as concerned by falling market volumes. FWIW.
I see on recent trades the spread has been pretty wide, typically about 50p. That is too big for me.

[1tx] 01/12/2022 15:44

Good results and useful divi increase.I think the narrower margins albeit at top end of average level were expected & as advised.We can't expect massive stock valuation gains every year!