Mccarthy & Stone Share Discussion Threads

[mfhmfh] 14/11/2017 09:48

dividend also increased.

[mfhmfh] 14/11/2017 09:36

medium term improving the ROCE should really push the share price up:

'Our continuing investment in land and build in order to deliver future growth together with the lower underlying operating profit delivered in FY17 led to a decrease in ROCE by 4 ppts to 16% (FY16: 20%)...'

'The workflow of the business remains firmly on track as a result of our continuing investment for growth and allows us to target future increases in both margin and ROCE with the aim of achieving a ROCE of 25% over the medium-term.'

All IMHO.

[nw99] 14/11/2017 09:08

Happy days

[nw99] 14/11/2017 07:29

Cracking numbers stock not rallied at all might do now

[skinny] 14/11/2017 07:15

Financial highlights

· Legal completions in line with prior year at 2,302 units (FY16: 2,296), despite a significantly lower number of first occupations during the year (FY17: 49, FY16: 69)

· Revenue increased by 4% to a new record of £661m (FY16: £636m)

· 52 new sales outlets opened during the period (FY16: 64)

· Average selling price increased by 3% to £273k (FY16: £264k)

· Strong recovery in underlying operating margin in H2 to 17% (FY16: 17%) from H1 underlying operating margin of 10% (+700 bp) (FY16: 16%)

· Profit before tax decreased by 1% to £92m (FY16: £93m)

· Underlying profit before tax2 at £94m (FY16: £105m), mainly impacted by age and mix of units sold and increased incentives and build costs

· Underlying basic earnings per share3,4 decreased by 12% to 14.2p (FY16: 16.1p)

· Basic earnings per share decreased by 1% to 13.8p (FY16: 13.9p)

· Strong financial position, with £31m of net cash4 (FY16: £53m) at the year end notwithstanding significant ongoing investment in land and work in progress

· The Directors are proposing a final dividend of 3.6 pence per share, giving a total dividend for the year of 5.4 pence per share (FY16: 4.5 pence per share pro-rated for period since listing).


Strategic and operational highlights

· 75 high-quality development sites (FY16: 65 sites) added to the land bank. Total land bank of 9,967 plots (FY16: 10,186), equivalent to 4.3 years' supply

· Sufficient land under control and operational platform in place to deliver strategic objective of building and selling more than 3,000 units per annum over the medium-term

· Workflow on track to support growth strategy and deliver c.80 new sales releases (FY17: 52) and more than 65 new first occupations in FY18 (FY17: 49)

· New strategic relationship with PfP Capital to access the growing rental market with the bulk sale of 126 units in FY17

· Awarded Five Star rating for customer satisfaction by the Home Builders Federation (HBF) for the twelfth consecutive year - the only UK housebuilder, of any size or type, to achieve this accolade

· 15 Quality awards (FY16: 10), 7 Seals of Excellence and 1 Regional Winner at the 2017 National House Building Council (NHBC) Pride in the Job awards, underpinning exceptional build quality.


Current trading and outlook

· Forward sales as at 10 November 2017 (week 10) up 11% at £277m (11 November 2016: £250m)

· c.80 new sites planned for sales release in FY18 (FY17: 52), of which 96% are already in build

· First occupations are planned to increase to more than 65 in FY18 (FY17: 49) and are expected to be weighted towards the second half of the year due to the timing of build programmes

· The demand for high-quality retirement housing remains strong and the Group remains confident of delivering its medium-term growth objective of building and selling more than 3,000 units per annum.


Commenting on the results, Clive Fenton, Chief Executive Officer, said:

"We achieved a strong result in the second half of the year and delivered an improvement in both margins and volumes compared to the first half of FY17. Our full year completion volumes were in line with the prior year despite some headwinds as a result of the increased level of uncertainty in the secondary market and the expected lower number of first occupations. We delivered to market 49 high-quality new developments and maintained our exceptional build quality and levels of customer satisfaction.

"The Group starts the new financial year with a strong forward order book and a robust balance sheet. We remain focused on delivering profitable growth and are on track to open c.80 sales outlets and deliver more than 65 first occupations in FY18. We have sufficient land under control, much of which already has detailed planning consent, to deliver our strategic growth plan of building and selling more than 3,000 units per annum."

- Ends -

[7kiwi] 19/10/2017 13:56

That's true duckdown,

ANd of course, mainstream estate agents are poor at selling the benefits you so eloquently set out. MCS did have their own estate agency a few years ago, but the PE investors shut it down.

[pet lover] 19/10/2017 13:27

In part, I agree re the lifestyle.

So the clever thing is to buy second hand, (at 1/3rd of the price,).

The service charges are not cheap though.

[duckdown] 19/10/2017 12:25

Resale values for retirement properties kind of misses the point.

They are a lifestyle choice for elderly people (often who have lost their partner) who want ease of maintenance, to be within walking distance of the shops and (most importantly) a social circle so that they are not lonely. This also gives peace of mind for their children who aren't always able to visit regularly.

These retirement developments age with their residents, hence why resale values are lower. When the new sites are released most buyers are around a similar age (75-80), but 10 years later those residents are all obviously 10 years older so it's not as attractive a proposition for those 75-80 year old buyers because all of the other residents are now 85-90.

They are not an investment to make money from like other property types, they are solely to help older people enjoy the last few years of their lives. From first hand experience talking to some people who live in them, they seem to love it and it gives them a new lease of life.

I suppose it depends how much you value quality of life over property investment.

[mfhmfh] 19/10/2017 12:04

high volume again today

[3rd eye] 18/10/2017 16:15

Yep but why.? I thought spread sheet phil was going to help young buyers and disadvantage older buyers in the budget. ???????????????????????

[3rd eye] 18/10/2017 16:15

Yep but why.? I thought spread sheet phil was going to help young buyers and disadvantage older buyers in the budget. ???????????????????????

[mfhmfh] 18/10/2017 14:25

Massive volume today

[7kiwi] 02/10/2017 13:18

HTB will have no impact on MCS

[cwa1] 02/10/2017 08:29

* HOUSEBUILDERS-Hopes that PM will increase Help to Buy scheme(FT)..........+1%

[argylerich] 02/10/2017 08:16

Broker note for the sector this morning?

[pet lover] 18/9/2017 13:24

The fact is most of the new development sites are in very poor locations.

The ones in very good locations will sell, be it new or old.

The smart thing is clearly to buy 2nd hand and put in offers 25% off asking prices.

Some of these flats can be bought second hand for under £80,000 which is good value.

The real problem for this company is shifting stock as the market falls of a cliff turnover, and price wise.

You need to build out the whole site prior to the first punter moving in.

[7kiwi] 18/9/2017 11:33

It's always a mixed picture Ben.

But MCS has always had some problem with the resale value on some sites.

As I understand it from their statement to Moneybox that was read out, about two thirds of their sites have experienced stable to rising prices on resale.

THe implication of this is that one third have seen prices fall, in the face of generally rising house prices.

This is not good.

This BBC article suggests half of all retirement properties re-sell at a loss. MCS makes up by far the largest part of the market.

[bengrady] 18/9/2017 09:37

Regarding the very negative press comments about resale values of MCS retirement apartments, I live in the north and there is a MCS development near me which was completed in 2013. There is a waiting list for units which become available as demand is high, and on looking at the sale prices of units which have changed hands over the last few years they are more than holding their own price wise with no apparent fall in price. Apartments which come up for sale are usually sold within a week and as I mentioned above you have to register with the dedicated agent and hope he contacts you with news of an apartment coming up for sale.

[wan] 12/9/2017 08:37

I don't think the following recent Report will help sentiment either -

Housing our ageing population

Learning from councils meeting the housing need for our ageing population

08 Sep 2017

Excerpt from Page 17 -

However, there has been a substantial
increase in non-grant funded private sector
retirement housing and housing associations
rebranding and improving their older people’s
‘offer’ by developing more ‘mid-market’
choices, in particular targeted at a more
affluent or ‘downsizer with equity’ market.

Full Report -

[7kiwi] 11/9/2017 11:16

speedsgh 7 Sep '17 - 08:12 - 300 of 306 0 0
McCarthy & Stone is bouncing back, says Peel Hunt -

Analyst Clyde Lewis retained his ‘buy’ recommendation and 220p target price on the shares, which was trading up 1.6%, or 2p, at 163p at the time of writing.

Company broker recommends a "buy" and a few trading days later, the price is well below his buy rec.

And they wonder why nobody believes their 'research'.

[7kiwi] 11/9/2017 10:11

Looks like somebody is offloading

[7kiwi] 09/9/2017 09:14

MCS did create their own estate agency to manage resales. They had some success in supporting resales prices, because they had a better database of people who might want to buy than traditional estate agents.

But, this was closed when the refinancing happened a few years ago.

Looking like a short-sighted decision now.