Latham (james) Share Discussion Threads

[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!

[c3479z] 28/11/2022 09:31

brickability today suggests 'normalisation' of timber margins in their subsidiary Taylor Maxwell.

[c3479z] 12/11/2022 22:30

busy, yet happy workforce, all 500+ of them, were rewarded with a 11.78% bonus on last year's results, should indicate a generous approach from the family firm.

[cwa1] 07/11/2022 16:00

Pleasantly perky of late and today in particular

[c3479z] 14/10/2022 21:41

can see that Magdalene College Library, Cambridge, for which they supplied the wood,no expense spared, and seems to be a beautiful, peaceful construction even to someone with no architectural knowledge at all, won the RIBA Sterling Prize, main award yesterday.

[tim1478] 07/10/2022 12:39

Encouraging share price is rising when market is so dull -- Any reason why?

[c3479z] 01/9/2022 23:14

profit may almost halve this year though the first half should be good, the second half may suffer from cost increases and slight slowing of demand though customers are still presently reported 'busy.'
what the next year will bring is anyone's guess,
shares don't seem expensive though given the cash and strong balance sheet, and improved pension fund position - a bugbear in the past,
statement does mention the possibility of an acquisition, always makes me nervous in view of the outlook for the economy.

[alter ego] 31/8/2022 12:40

"The Chairman of the Company 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 2022 is £142m. This represents an increase in sales per working day of 15% compared with the same period last year. Prices continue to be the biggest driver of the turnover increases but with volumes slightly down on the same period last year. Prices though have been stable overall in the first four months of the current financial year, with some weakness seen in commodity panel products. Margins were similar to the second half of the previous financial year and overheads have been well controlled but we are not immune to the current inflationary pressures.

Our customers remain busy but we are now starting to see signs of weakness in some sectors, as inflation, reduced consumer confidence and higher interest rates are dampening demand. There is a small rise in bad debts and in customers needing more time to pay suggesting a more difficult second half of the financial year, as we have previously indicated.

Our cash balances remain strong and with our robust supply chains, this puts us in a good position to take advantage of the opportunities that exist in our market."

The Company's interim results for the six months ending 30 September 2022 will be announced on 1 December 2022.

[c3479z] 12/8/2022 14:15

...richard beddard has a generally favourable write-up....

[investopia] 28/7/2022 09:45

Golden cross with the 50-day moving average rising over the 200-day, yes. However, the share price is below the 20-day moving average and below the 50-day moving average.

And it looks like the stock has just suffered a pivot failure.

My guess is the price could move down nearer to 1200 to touch the bottom of that one-year-long base formation. Then up. But how long before it breaks out of the base? My guess is Latham will be a slow-burn at best. But, of course, I could be wrong and it may shoot up to new highs tomorrow!

[davebowler] 19/7/2022 11:28

Chartists might like the fact that LTHM is showing a 'Golden Cross' classic buying signal.
On an irresistible P/E of 6 I've bought in.