Me Share Discussion Threads

[foolsgold1] 20/6/2024 20:43

Was I asleep at the wheel or did this fly under the radar? Was well predicted in this group that wasn’t core activity. Will the pizza business follow?

Alliance News) - ME Group International PLC on Wednesday said its subsidiary ME Group GSS sold its entire interest in Sempa SAS to Food Machine Invest for EUR4.6 million.
Following a review of Sempa's operations, Epsom, England-based vending machine operator ME Group decided to sell the business and focus on ME Group's core activities, which is to site and operate automated-vending equipment in return for commission and/or fixed fee.
ME Group acquired Sempa in 2019. Since then, it has recovered the acquisition fee through Sempa's profit contribution, resulting in ME Group booking no material write-downs as a result of the deal. ME Group continues to operate 441 freshly squeezed orange juice machines in Japan.
ME Group intends to reinvest the sale proceeds in the continued growth of its core business areas of photobooths and laundry operations, which both delivered strong growth throughout its financial 2023.
"Modernisation and digitalisation of the business continue to be a strategic long-term focus," the company said.
Shares in ME Group were down 0.8% to 167.24 pence each in London on Wednesday morning.
By Greg Rosenvinge, Alliance News senior reporter

[s34icknote] 11/6/2024 16:49

As I said , falls on day of results ! Rises rest of week !

[masurenguy] 11/6/2024 16:31

Demonstrating potency with a 5% rise on a down market day after yesterdays positive trading update.

[gswredland] 10/6/2024 18:44

Yes probably better than Liz Truss as PM!

[jsforum] 10/6/2024 18:20

Stocks dipping? Must be a Labour government in coming! Imagine Diane Abbott chancellor of the exchequer!

[disc0dave46] 10/6/2024 17:30

Fair point, will have to see what they say next month.

[doobz] 10/6/2024 14:16

Pretty rare I see decent or stable results rewarded in the markets these days. I expect drops on results days generally now and generally pay little attention to the sp

[davidosh] 10/6/2024 13:36

discodave46....I do not think you can extrapolate the figures for new openings as some will only just have started at the end of the period and it naturally takes a month or two for potential customers to realise they are there to use.

[disc0dave46] 10/6/2024 12:06

Laundry LFL Rev growth must be virtually flat if I've read it correctly. Tough comparatives with previous year and a marked drop in growth.

[s34icknote] 10/6/2024 11:57

One of those shares that dips on results day Then rises the rest of week as institutions buy in !

[johndoe23] 10/6/2024 11:43

Buy on dips, hold, wait for the takeover

[masurenguy] 10/6/2024 10:41

Downday in the markets today and a little bit of profit taking. Nevertheless, the shares are on a PER of circa 12 against projected results for 2024 and with no debt, a 4.6% yield and net cash of £22m. If I wasn't fully invested here - this is my 2nd largest holding - then I would be adding at todays price.

[shanklin] 10/6/2024 08:01

PBT growth looks well above expectations, so no idea why the sell off.

[johndoe23] 10/6/2024 07:44

Certainly feels like that. Last year's H1 update was stellar growth and ahead of, so maybe some expecting same again

[mrbeaky] 10/6/2024 07:38

To judge by the selloff, looks like the market was expecting an Ahead of Expectations update. Reaction seems a little harsh. 7% taken off the share price in a week.

[crazycoops] 10/6/2024 07:27

I would suggest it is as much a case of a weak Yen than it is a strong GBP

[slogsweep] 10/6/2024 07:18

Strong £ hitting profits but that should not last long after the election.

[masurenguy] 10/6/2024 06:19

Great update !

Trading Update

Positive trading momentum continued throughout H1 2024 compared with the six months ended 30 April 2023 ("H1 2023"), with Group revenue up 4.6% (up 8.6% excluding FX impact) and profit before tax up 10.3% (up 13.6%, excluding FX impact). The Group remained focused on the continued growth of its core photobooth and laundry operations. 1

Photobooth activity across all territories performed as expected with Photo.ME revenue up 2.3% (up 7.4% excluding FX impact) compared with H1 2023, driven by global demand for official photo ID. The 3,548 photobooths previously acquired in Japan have now been fully integrated into the Group's Japanese operations and have started to benefit from network optimisation.

Wash.ME Revolution laundry operations is the fastest growing business area with revenue up 17.4% (19.6% excluding FX impact) compared with H1 2023, as the Group delivered on its rollout of Revolution laundry machines and built on its record performance. The number of Revolution laundry machines in operation grew by 18% compared to H1 2023, with a record 420 Revolution machines installed in H1 2024. The Group continues to expand across its established partnerships in high footfall locations, such as supermarkets and petrol forecourts, and its installation pipeline indicates that it is on track to deploy a record number of Revolution machines during FY 2024.

Financial position

The Group remains in a well-capitalised and strong financial position, with high cash flow generation and long-term customer contracts providing the Group with good predictability and visibility on revenue streams. At 30 April 2024, the Group had a gross cash position of £82.9 million (H1 2023: £113.1 million), and a net cash position of £21.9 million (H1 2023: £24.4 million), excluding investments in convertible bonds of £4.7 million (H1 2023: £4.7 million).

Outlook

Historically, the second half of the financial year is seasonally the strongest for the Group in terms of revenue and profits generated as well as the installation of machines across key locations. As the Group capitalises on the significant market opportunity for laundry and photobooth services, the Board is confident in delivering record profitability for the year, in line with market expectations.

The Group will publish its interim results for the six months ended 30 April 2024 in mid-July 2024.

1. Impact from foreign exchange rates ("FX") during H1 2024, particularly the Japanese Yen which saw a 15% decrease in value against £Sterling (average rate of exchange used in H1 2024 was Yen/£ 187.64 vs H1 2023: 163.16), and a 2.2% decrease in the Euro against £ Sterling (average rate of exchange used in H1 2024 was €/£ 1.138 vs H1 2023: 1.163).

[johndoe23] 04/6/2024 06:23

Next Monday it is

[johndoe23] 03/6/2024 19:09

Another large buy after close

[gswredland] 03/6/2024 14:09

Thanks for posting that 2magpies

[2magpies] 03/6/2024 13:01

A bit of perspective (I think that hyper-spike was in the dot.com boom):





free stock charts from uk.advfn.com

[johndoe23] 01/6/2024 12:26

Not sure I want a takeout here, until full value realised plus lovely divis along the way. All conjecture, of course!

[2magpies] 31/5/2024 21:45

HH

Or, it COULD be a single buyer. Why not?

In any case the 'strike' price was well above the best offer at 16.30hrs.

The sit-up-and-take-note thing, of course is the sheer size of the trade.

IMO it was a single trade. Single buyer, but, perhaps, multiple sellers.

Monday, onwards ought to be v, interesting indeed.

[hopeful holder] 31/5/2024 18:47

I would suggest that the trade is not a single buyer. This is the closing auction. From google search....The closing auction happens as multiple buyers and sellers are brought together to trade at a single price in a single transaction. During the auction period the market is paused, and orders are collected from market participants, establishing a final price for any one stock.