Marston's Share Discussion Threads

[lord gnome] 28/7/2008 10:19

Very reassuring. Time to buy a few more when funds allow.

[whackford] 28/7/2008 10:01

Yes, I agree. The £150m "headroom" referred to suggests to me they might even consider more acquisitions/share buybacks.

[pherrom] 28/7/2008 09:40

Nothing to surprise here:



A good yield which seems relatively secure so a good long term hold as we wait for the next upturn in the economy - just the usual business cycle.

[lord gnome] 22/7/2008 15:03

That's now a nasty looking chart. The 200 level, having been tested, has now become the resistence level. Enterprise figures today haven't helped one little bit. The read across won't be good for MARS.

[mitzis] 02/7/2008 09:26

I like Adnams.

[pherrom] 02/7/2008 09:24

Still here and still buying Pedigree.

[cockneyrebel] 01/7/2008 21:04

sold after it started retracing from the recent high.

Adnams (on Plusmarkets) trading statement wasn't very cheerie yesterday.

CR

[lord gnome] 01/7/2008 21:02

Still going down. Anyone left alive on here or am I all on my own now?

[lord gnome] 20/6/2008 15:03

Looks like my post 56 is a forlorn hope. This has had one hell of a beating in the last 72 hours. Any idea why? Only thing I have heard is some market nervousness over debt levels in pubcos. Hardly explains such a downgrade.

[waldron] 24/5/2008 16:48

Mars probe set for risky landing

Please turn on java script. Media requires java script to play.

Extreme Mars challenge: Entry, descent and landing

A US space agency (Nasa) probe is preparing for a risky landing on the surface of Mars.

The Phoenix lander is due to touch down on Monday in the far north of the Red Planet, after a 423-million-mile journey from Earth.

The probe is equipped with a robotic arm to dig for water ice thought to be buried beneath the surface.

Scientists say the mission should give the clearest indication yet of whether Mars could once have harboured life.

The final seven minutes of the probe's ten-month journey is regarded as the riskiest part of the mission.


The main goal of the mission is to get below the surface of Mars to where we are almost certain there is water
Dr Tom Pike

After it enters the top of the Martian atmosphere at nearly 5.7km/s (13,000 mph), the probe must perform a series of manoeuvres to come safely to rest.

It will release a parachute, use pulsed thrusters to slow to a fast walking speed, then come to a halt on three legs.

If all goes to plan, the Phoenix lander will reach the surface of Mars at 0053 BST (1953 EDT) on 26 May.

Nasa controllers will know in about 15 minutes whether the attempt has been successful.


David Catling from the University of Bristol is a co-investigator on the mission. He said the landing phase would be one of the most exciting and tense parts of the journey, with so much riding on Phoenix's safe descent.

"Everyone involved is on tenterhooks and eager to start this unique exploration," he said.

If all goes to plan, Phoenix will begin a three-month mission to search for ice beneath the Martian surface.

It will use a robotic arm to dig through the protective topsoil layer and lift samples of both soil and ice to its deck for scientific analysis.

Building blocks

Dr Tom Pike of Imperial College, London, is part of the British team involved in the project.

"The main goal of the mission is to get below the surface of Mars to where we are almost certain there is water," he told BBC News.

"The orbiters that are around Mars have already surveyed in great detail the area in which we are landing and we know that there is ice - solid water - 10cm, or maybe even less, below the surface.

"Water, of course, is of critical importance because it is one of the building blocks - one of the essential habitats we need - for life."

Landing on Mars is a notoriously tricky business. Of the 11 missions that have tried to land probes on Mars since 1971 - only five have succeeded.


Phoenix is an apt name for the current mission, as it rose from the ashes of two previous failures.

In September 1999, the Mars Climate Orbiter spacecraft crashed into the Red Planet following a navigation error caused when technicians mixed up "English" (imperial) and metric units.

A few months later, another Nasa spacecraft, the Mars Polar Lander (MPL), was lost near the planet's South Pole.

Phoenix uses hardware from an identical twin of MPL, the Mars Surveyor 2001 Lander, which was cancelled following the two consecutive failures.

The probe was launched on 4 August 2007 on a Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.


Story from BBC NEWS:


Published: 2008/05/24 15:08:27 GMT

[cockneyrebel] 23/5/2008 15:35

Cheers for the info.

CR

[lord gnome] 23/5/2008 15:19

Altium Capital also reiterate hold with a 250 target this time.

SP has done ok today. Currently +5p. I'll be quite happy if we can make steady progress from here.

[lord gnome] 23/5/2008 10:19

Charles Stanley reiterate HOLD on MARS with a target price of 240. Not exactly generous, but it'll do for now.

[whackford] 23/5/2008 09:58

Yes, I thought results were fine. I topped up at 218. The market seems to be taking it ok.

[lord gnome] 23/5/2008 07:35

Well to my untrained eyes the interims look ok. A 10% increase in the divi is most welcome. Now watch the market slaughter the share price ....

[lord gnome] 17/5/2008 09:40

Evolution reiterated their buy rec on MARS yesterday. Target price stays at 320. Which is nice :-))

[cockneyrebel] 16/5/2008 11:40

On the up again - look cheaper the more I look.

CR

[cockneyrebel] 13/5/2008 22:11

Hmmm, I don't think it's as much about the REIT status as funds suddenly looking at at the sector and thinking 'cor blimey, these have got very oversold. A bit of warm weather and sales will compare much better v last year when it was cold and wet all summer. A PE of 9, 6% yield and those that stopped using pubs through the smoking ban will start to come round imo.

CR

[fjaf] 13/5/2008 09:29

Can't imagine why shares in Marston's soared on REIT speculation. They seem to have made it quite clear in the past that converting to a REIT is not on their radar presumably for the simple reason that at least half their business comes from the managed estate and booze sales and even within the half that is tenanted an undisclosed portion of income comes from booze sales. To convert to a REIT they would have to separate out their tenanted rental income into a company which would benefit from REIT status but the rest of the business would not. This would not create major value changes and management clearly believe there are better ways to enhance the business.

Even in Enterprise Inns the market seems to have overdone it. If the entire revenue stream qualified for REIT status then the most it could add to value is 33%. Look at the accounts. Only 46% of gross margin is rent so only half the profit maximum will qulaify for REIT status. Potential value increase therefore no more than 16.5% but the shares lept 30%. I doubt if we are even looking at 16.5%

[cockneyrebel] 09/5/2008 07:41

Thank you tipsytoad - it all a mirage tho :-)

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Shares in Greene King Plc. and Marston's Plc. have been upgraded, while JD Wetherspoon Plc. and Restaurant Group Plc. have been downgraded at JP Morgan, all on valuation grounds as part of a UK pubs and restaurants sector review, traders say.

In a research note published early Thursday, JP Morgan noted this week's news from Enterprise Inns Plc. that it can qualify as a real estate investment trust (REIT) has caused a sharp jump in share prices across the sector. But the broker said that while the move for Enterprise and Punch Taverns Plc. looks to be justified, it thinks investors are now likely to re-focus on fundamentals.

JP Morgan said it has cut its full-year 2009 forecasts by 5-8 percent to reflect a slower rebound from the smoking ban and ongoing cost pressures for the pubs.

It added that it doesn't expect comps to become easier until the fourth quarter and recommended that investors continue to be selective in the sector. The broker concluded that although price-earnings valuations in the sector are now near historic lows, it would wait for confirmation of improved trading before recommending the sector overall.

Punch Taverns, rated 'overweight', remains the broker's top pick following REIT news and it has upgraded Greene King to 'overweight' from 'neutral' and Marston's to 'neutral' from 'underweight' following their recent share price underperformance.

But it has downgraded JD Wetherspoon and Restaurant Group both to 'neutral' from 'overweight' on valuation grounds.

JP Morgan said it remains cautious on Mitchells & Butlers Plc. given the stock's valuation premium and expects little to come out from the strategic review.

[tipsytoad] 09/5/2008 07:36

read and agreed with many of your posts on different threads CR
your quite astute imo

[cockneyrebel] 09/5/2008 07:19

Marston - upgraded to neutralweight from underweight @ JP Morgan today.

CR

[cockneyrebel] 08/5/2008 18:50

I dunno about that tipsytoad, but in my experience when you get a good bottoming out like this, on news that the market wasn't aware of (ie REITs) then there's a lot waiting to catch the next leg up imo.

Up 38p yesterday on 7m traded - down 10p today on 7m traded - tells you a lot of todays trades were buying imo.

A load of stale bulls will have got out over the past two days - bulk are now firmer holders and less likely to feed buyers imo.

Reckon all the pubs will get upgrades and buy notes over the coming weeks.

Pub sector becomes a bigger acquisition target now too imo.

CR

[tipsytoad] 08/5/2008 17:06

yep - sorry folks - kiss of death - thats me!
it'll go back up tomorrow..........
CR knows about these things

[cockneyrebel] 08/5/2008 14:48

Always going to give a bit back on a large rise - punters will look to buy the first dip tho imo, as is usually the case.

CR