Marston's Share Discussion Threads

[gbb483] 30/6/2014 06:27

There go our profits.

[manrobert] 29/6/2014 21:41

had a lovely meal at marstons,the marsh harrier at st ives cambs and with my discount got two meals fo only £9.65.

[salchow] 25/6/2014 14:50

Spacecake - not really to do with just Marstons but I eat out a lot and although I have occasionally commented on Trip Advisor I would not pay the slightest attention to many so caller reviews. Go yourself and make your own decision. Whenever I read someone say the staff were rude and arrogant I always wonder how the writer treats the staff. There are probably more rude, arrogant customers than staff.

[fangorn2] 25/6/2014 14:22

It's more likely England will win the Cricket than ever lifting a footie World Cup again.Unfortunately. We'd stand no greater chance if we put a GB team up.

[zeppo] 25/6/2014 13:26

PUGUGLY

Hope England win in Europe in two years time then.

Don't want to end up sub £1.00 in the run-in to the next World Cup.

Perhaps the name Marstons is being confused with Hodgstons.

z

[pugugly] 25/6/2014 12:50

Momentum continues downwads - Chartwise cannot see much support before 120p and if that breaks we could fall like the English Team - Heaven help both (IMO & dyor)

[zeppo] 20/6/2014 18:14

England supporters drowning sorrows.


z

[gbb483] 20/6/2014 16:27

Brewers have surged, anyone know why?

[manrobert] 13/6/2014 12:16

libertine,many thanks have since spoken to company and they asked for copy of my contract note whih I have e mailed to them.

[libertine] 13/6/2014 11:09

manrobert

E-mail Investor Relations (link on company site) advising them that you hold through nominees.
They will reply with a contact who will advise you to get your nominees to confirm your holding to that contact. Card will follow.

[manrobert] 13/6/2014 10:00

how do you get your discount card if you buy in nominee names

[gbb483] 07/6/2014 08:31

A pub serving "pub grub", whatever next!

[spacecake] 06/6/2014 13:00

Trip adviser reviews on my local P&P



"Rude, arrogant staff and average food"
"Only thing going for it is the location"

or

"Great pub on the river Newcastle"
"Fabulous place"

It seems to have a bit of a split personality, expensive when compared to nearby pubs/ restaurants with good reviews, it's put e off going for years even with a shareholders privilege card for the discount.

Wish they would do something about the prices.

[skinny] 04/6/2014 08:24

Deutsche Bank Hold 151.15 150.80 170.00 170.00 Reiterates

[zeppo] 27/5/2014 12:02

Life on MARS is looking good.

I thought I may have crash landed but take-off looks imminent.

z

[baxter99] 26/5/2014 17:32

Took my wife to the Pitcher and Piano, Richmond, today for lunch. Not been for years. Was quiet when we arrived just before 1pm. Good ambience and soon filled up. Service was very good as was the food. £22 for lunch for two with soft drinks. If the rest of the chain is like this then they have it right.

[redartbmud] 24/5/2014 16:15

Anyone tried the pub menu recently?
It should be a good guide to success going forward.

[es222mo] 23/5/2014 12:14

Sunday Times Buy on 10 th Feb 2014 at 146 p IC Buy 23 rd May 2014 Buy for cheap growth

[skinny] 23/5/2014 12:01

SHARE TIPS FROM INVESTORS CHRONICLE

Harriet Russell
A far-sighted growth strategy that Marston's (MARS) put in place in the wake of the credit crunch in 2009 looks set to step up a gear, providing the prospects of substantial profit and dividend growth from 2015 and beyond along with the potential for broker upgrades, if recent strong half-year results are anything to go by. However, priced at just 10 times forecast earnings and promising a yield of over 4 per cent, the shares do not seem to be taking full account of the impressive outlook for income and growth.

While a recent slew of sales of non-core pubs is expected to result in flat earnings this year, the move provides the opportunity to significantly boost returns by focusing the pub group on its strongly performing managed estate and its innovative franchise pubs. Indeed, the plan is for 85 per cent of profits to be generated from such pubs in coming years.

According to chief executive Ralph Findlay, Marston's success in rejuvenating its estate since the credit crunch can be attributed to paying close attention to the changing nature of the British consumer. He calls it the 'F-Plan': focusing on families, females, forty-somethings and - most importantly - food. Traditionally, pubs focused on drinks sales because it was a higher-margin business. But Mr Findlay says that has changed. Britain's average consumer, he says, is looking for the most "bang for their buck" and wants food to play a part in weekly trips to the pub. Mr Findlay also points out many household spending decisions are made by females and described them as a 'prime customer target'. Much of the pub sector is now slowly catching on to this trend, but Marston's has a head start on its rivals.


Marston's seemed to realise the pub landscape and the clientele was changing as early as 2009. Since then, the group has built over 100 'family-friendly' pubs, investing more than £250m in new sites. And prescience of the move was illustrated last year by the British Beer & Pub Association's annual pub-running guide entitled which found that pubs with higher dry sales (food) are now better able to boost profitability, as food margins now range from 56 to 61 per cent, compared to drinks margins ranging from 49 to 54 per cent. What's more, the same report showed the highest level of gross profit was achieved by rural-destination pubs and food-led pubs, which are a particular focus for Marston's. Its estate is mostly regional and underlying operating profit at its destination and premium sites - including branded Pitcher & Piano chain - grew 18 per cent in the first half of 2014. This was down to an increased spend per head as well as more customers.

The strong contribution from these 356 managed pubs, accounting for almost two-fifths of underlying profit, helped the group to beat most brokers' forecasts in the first six months of the financial year. Underlying revenue was up 4.5 per and underlying EPS rose 11 per cent to 4.1p, but forecasts have not been upgraded for now. The ongoing conversion of tenanted pubs to the group's innovative franchise model (currently accounting for 545 of the group's 1,078 'Tavern' pubs) has also helped overall performance and has helped limit risks.

However, Marston's - along with much of the sector - carries a hefty debt pile and has made reducing it a major strategic objective. The medium-term target is to bring the ratio of debt to cash profits down to 5 times and the ongoing disposal programme, which generated £116m in the first half, will help. Importantly, though, expansion plans are also still high on the agenda. The 2009 new-build programme doesn't look set to slow: this year the group is on track to open 27 new family-focused pub restaurants, 11 of which already opened their doors in the first half.

Share tip summary

It'll be a fine balance, Mr Findlay admits, between paying down debt and building new pubs, but as consumer confidence returns, Marston's should be well-positioned to achieve growth. Given its increasingly attractive expansion strategy, a hearty yield, forecasts of double-digit EPS growth in both 2015 and 2016 (13 per cent and 12 per cent respectively), and the potential for upgrades, the shares are a buy priced at just 12 times 2014 forecast earnings dropping to 11 in 2015. Buy.

Last IC view: Buy, 143p, 29 Nov 2013

[jeffian] 21/5/2014 23:44

"contrarian2investor 11 Aug'11 - 00:29 - 1053 of 1388 0 0

Well I am waiting to repurchase MARS. I feel that I might get an opportunity during or when all this market turbulence is over with to get in at a ridiculous."

Yes, looks like you should have! What were you waiting for?!

[contrarian2investor] 21/5/2014 19:50

Hello again everyone.
My last post on here was post number 1053.
I have got MARS back on my radar in the hope that all the restructuring will start to "beer" fruit over the next 12 months or so. Investors might even start taking notice and bid up MARS to new highs once it gets above £1.70p. Yes that "beer" spill was intentional. c2i

[bit thick] 20/5/2014 12:27

You could buy beer and help the profits!! Take a look at RR. or BAB as good companies with a good dividend. DXNS will pay a divi once merged with Carphone, but price is volatile! As always DYOR and this is not advice (holding DXNS is a bit scary and not boring!!)

[thamestrader] 15/5/2014 19:36

I predict lots of ongoing flatness here, but a nice boring safe 4% divi. There are much better divis out there, and I hold some of them too, but this is amongst the safest. Oh, and they do make some jolly tasty ales.

If I sold, I wouldn't really know what to buy instead.

[bit thick] 15/5/2014 13:28

Regretfully I sold 1/3 of my holding today. I cannot see how the price will increase, given a good set of results, increased divi and a cut in pension deficit. What do they have to do to get the price up!!!!

[leeson31] 15/5/2014 09:02

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
· Underlying Group revenue up 4.5% to £374.3 million.
· Underlying profit before tax up 9.4% to £29.0 million.
· Underlying earnings per share up 10.8% to 4.1 pence per share.
· Interim dividend up 4.3% to 2.4 pence per share.

pretty good. so far the share price on the line chart looks like it may break up out of its range from oct '13...