Mears Share Discussion Threads

[sphere25] 17/3/2022 10:46

525k mopped up at 184p. Buyers in size sat there which might provide some confidence for at least a technically oversold bounce here.

We were up at near 220p with the market beginning the re-rating on the back of the recent bullish updates...and then...

Putin hammered us down.

Overdone for more defensive MER?

Results are due on 31st March.

All imo
DYOR

[pottsypotts] 07/2/2022 15:04

What's the MOD contract worth that's up for renewal in April

[castleford tiger] 07/2/2022 11:35

Had a nibble at 2.12
Tiger

[tole] 06/2/2022 07:50

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/investing/article-10479781/MIDAS-SHARE-TIPS-Fix-finances-Mears-Group.html?Midas verdict: Social housing maintenance may not sound glamorous but the work is necessary, the benefits are tangible and contracts last for years. Most are inflation-linked too, providing an extra layer of security in today's uncertain environment. At £2.05, Mears shares are likely to deliver long-term growth and attractive dividends too. Buy.

[sphere25] 03/2/2022 14:33

Sneaky little breakout here?

It is lumpy one this so hard to tell. This is one of those shares that folk might want to cheekily stick a buy order well down on the book via DMA. You might get a fill. Look at the little plunge down today.

A slow grind higher here would be a monstrous out performance in this market. I think the institutions will get behind this.

Doing the usual off topic now. Nobody out there, benefit for the few. Boards are a ghost town.

It looks like this market has knocked the stuffing out of some. If you're in THG, BOO, ITM, ODX, ABDX, NCYT etc etc etc in the UK you likely don't want to play anymore.

If you're following the Tik Tok and Youtube brigade on crypto and the hyped meme and bonkers tech stocks like those in ARK, you don't really want to play any more.

Profit warning central or massive doubt in the likes of IGR, JOUL, STU, XLM, SDRY over here. DLAR anyone? So err yeah...not smooth.

It is a far tougher market now. Value is carrying enormous weight but it is still going to be difficult to not get clobbered more on inflation or supply chain linked issues somewhere down the line.

If in doubt, waiting for the statement first before making a move unless something exceptional happens like at LOOK. There are always a few where you can follow the buying.

Could be an interesting weekend this one, post on that tomorrow!

All imo
DYOR

[essentialinvestor] 01/2/2022 09:07

I know the company well from back in the day but find it difficult to get excited about.

Their ill timed entry in to domiciliary care is now behind them,
cash conversion looks good from today's update, but is there a compelling reason to buy?. Not sure on that.

A tie up with MTO an outside possibility. Not one for me atm but luck to holders.

[sphere25] 01/2/2022 09:00

Only an acquisition target if I am not in it :-)

I can't catch a bid to save my life! Two recent examples of blocks being bought at substantial premiums to the market price at LOOK and SAA and both turn out to be stake builders without a proper (silly merger propositions don't count) all cash offer!

They are talking about an offer over at DLAR coming in the next few months, nop....no chance. That looks a takeover or further disappoint so possibly highly binary. Suspicious one too that a large holder would put something like that out too, makes me wary.

But over at MER, that is the second upgrade in the space of just over two months. The market is behind the curve here. I think MER are going to outperform this year and there is at least 20-30% upside here once these sellers are cleared.

MER is definitely not getting the credit it deserves at the moment but let's see if someone comes in to clear out the sellers. Prone to sharp moves once sellers are cleared but an interesting one to watch through the year.

All imo
DYOR

[essentialinvestor] 01/2/2022 08:36

Possible acquisition target for MITIE?.

[essentialinvestor] 01/2/2022 08:22

Cash conversion looks strong.

[sphere25] 01/2/2022 08:04

Bought.

Only a matter of time this breakouts now.

All imo
DYOR

[sphere25] 07/1/2022 13:02

A little flurry of activity here to take a note of. The market has bid the price up on the back of someone coming in to gobble up 835k and 500k at 190p.

Smaller caps had their bonanza last year and then faded as the year went along. It wasn't like MER had the biggest of bonanza moves with the price still significantly off pre covid levels, but it still wasn't immune to the sentiment change.

I think it is Primestone at least partly responsible for the weakness too. They cut from 12.92% to 4.99% in late October. There are other minor moves on the register but Primestone was the big mover. Hard to not influence the price when you want to sell that many in an illiquid share like MER. The movement in the chart does tie in with that move too.

The price is moving as I type...

Keep an eye on 200p for a breakout...

I don't know if they are fully out or sold what they wanted to - Premier Miton were on the other end. Fart around in a range here for abit if sellers aren't done, but if they are, then 200p could get challenged.

It was Brough at Schroders who said that MER were having to turn work down (stick it in a queue), which ties in with revenue being ahead of expectations.

IF it can crack 200p, we could get another spike like the last time. Traded this one loads of times, posts are all above. Easier one to spot anomalous activity on...the best one was 5th Nov 2020 where there was irregular activity on the book and then......fireworks :-)

Be nice to get more of those but anywho, let's see if any more whoppers hit or 200p can get challenged.

All imo
DYOR

[masurenguy] 08/12/2021 15:36

A reminder of last months trading update issued on 25 November 2021. No position here yet.

Mears update on current trading and the outlook for the financial year to 31 December 2021.

Since the time of the half year results on 12 August 2021, trading across the Group has continued to strengthen. Based on the performance to date and with good visibility through to the end of the year, it is now expected that the Group will deliver revenues for the full financial year to 31 December 2021 of c.£850m slightly ahead of management expectations and adjusted profit before tax of c.£25m, towards the top end of its previously stated range. This improved trading performance has been driven by good demand in reactive maintenance as clients prioritise the clearance of repair backlogs and by continued elevated volumes within the Group's Management-led contracts. As previously referenced planned maintenance revenues have been slower to return to pre-pandemic levels. Inflation in the supply chain and the availability of materials and labour costs have remained manageable.

Cash generation, debt reduction and working capital management remain key objectives for the Group. Average daily net debt for the 10 months to 31 October 2021 of c.£5m is running significantly ahead of previous guidance for full year of £25m. The Board is encouraged by recent trading and the growing number of opportunities emerging across the Group. Looking to FY2022, the expected normalisation of Management-led volumes and slower recovery in planned maintenance will impact revenues, partially offset by MOJ and other 2021 business wins, supplemented by indexation ratchets within contracts. Further progress is still expected on operating margin improvements, despite industry-wide cost pressures within the supply chain, which are not expected to abate near term.

David Miles, Chief Executive Officer of the Group, commented: "I am delighted at the strong financial performance of the Group and the business remains firmly on track to deliver revenues and adjusted profit before tax for the full financial year at the top end of our previous guidance. We are trusted partners to our clients and our customer and colleague satisfaction data remain at the high levels we demand of ourselves, despite a challenging operating environment. With these fundamentals of our business in such good shape and the long-term challenges of affordable housing, public health and climate change high on the political agenda at local and central Government, we look forward to the future with confidence."

[lucy123] 16/11/2021 20:19

Any reason why the share price in dripping down every day recently?

[sphere25] 23/8/2021 08:26

Rogue closing uncrosses happen from time to time in these illiquid shares, as they do in some daily auctions. It is often on quieter day's when the participation isn't there so the rogue orders can cause an uncrossing price that deviates well beyond the offer price, the RSP or the daily VWAP.

These types of lurches can happen at any time with these illiquid shares. An example just happened now too with the bid at 204p early on, but one buyer at 08:13 has cleared out all the small orders on the offer from 217p and sat on the bid at 220p so that's a 16p leap higher in a flash.

Those orders just got sold into and now the bid is back at 211p. Iliiquid shares like this also show the importance of being very careful if using stops, easy to get closed out on a morning. Mental stops are often best with these, best to wait for the orders to fill through the morning to see how the underlying price is actually moving.

Clearly if there is bad news or some major sell off about to happen in wider markets, then folk might just accept the existing bid or less, depending on their time horizon.

All imo
DYOR

[lucy123] 20/8/2021 16:51

Closes at 207p, after 2 auction extensions, 698 UT shares traded at 224p, what’s going on!.

[sphere25] 17/8/2021 16:38

Who done that?

Who done that?

Who caused that big breakout?

Market isn't waiting for anyone.

Still, it pays to watch where the anomalous demand is coming in

One or two good one's more than offset the duff/non-starters.


All imo
DYOR

[sphere25] 16/8/2021 11:23

Significant activity at MER on the back of the results last week. Someone came in for 1m at 185p on the results day and someone has also gobbled up almost 2% of the company at 190p today (1.98m trade at 10:08:57).

It looks like Heronbridge are the sellers. They went from 7% to just under 5% recently, unsure if they want to lob the lot (if they do, a few more need placing after today). Fidelity one of the buyers? They are upping their position quite aggressively.


Market Cap @ 196.5p is £218m
Adjusted profit before tax guidance in the range of GBP23.0-25.5m
Full year average daily net debt expected to be GBP25m

Is it value though?

Highly illiquid share. Chart is range bound, easy to mark out with the psychological 200p being key on the upside.

Continued stalemate on these exchanges (with the market happy to trade in this range) or will these exchanges cause an imbalance to allow the breakout higher?

It is the type of demand for shares that can cause price moves, but it looks a wait and see if Heronbridge have sold what they want to.

All imo
DYOR

[deadly] 12/8/2021 14:21

Good results today; should be going higher:

" · Resilient trading performance and successful transition back to normal commercial mechanisms

· Profitability strengthened towards normal levels in the first half, delivering £11.1m adjusted profit before tax1 (H1 2020: £8.1m loss).

· Excellent cash performance continued with net cash at 30 June 2021 of £47.6m (31 December 2020: £56.9m net cash) and average daily net debt of £8.2m (FY 2020: £97.3m net debt)2

· Good sell-through in Development portfolio with 41unit sales and working capital utilisation down by £10.4m to £15.9m as at 30 June 2021

· Solid pipeline conversion with over £150m of contract wins year-to date"

[saltaire111] 12/5/2021 22:34

Narrative here improving. Long way to go though!

Salty

[deadly] 12/5/2021 09:10

Solid results today

[deadly] 24/3/2021 19:40

Recovering slowly and hopefully surely.

[saltaire111] 19/1/2021 14:02

Goodness me. There’s life in the old dog yet...

[sunshine today] 06/1/2021 05:03

A PURE JIM SLATER STOCK


Good morning..

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Did you know in the U.K. it’s just about impossible to invest in a listed blockchain company, ARGO BLOCKCHAIN is , I think, the only pure play and it’s totally dependent on the price of Bitcoin. ( no chance of stable EPS)

Did you know on Monday the USA bank regulator give the thumbs up to Blockchain.

One other tiny company has the chance to become a Zulu stock ( IT IS NOT ONE TODAY BY A MILE)

TRD. £11M market cap, no debt, and £4M cash. ( BAAS) Blockchain as a service.

Stratis / Microsoft/ TRD

I hope to join you here in 3 years time, with a bit of luck thrown in .

Happy new year.

[buffettjnr] 06/1/2021 04:48

Looks like it’s breaking out...

[sphere25] 10/11/2020 17:30

Housing and social care provider Mears (MER) has agreed to sell its land and planning services specialist TerraQuest for £72m, which Liberum says is a lower multiple than expected.

Analyst Joe Brent retained his ‘hold’ recommendation but increased his target price from 115p to 150p. The shares rose 5.5% to 153p yesterday.

He said the conditional agreement to sell TerraQuest for £72m was a ‘higher price but lower multiple than we had expected’.

‘It is in line with the strategy and will help Mears to focus but highlights the low margins in housing management. We now expect net cash at the year end, noting other liabilities.’

Brent said the disposal was ‘unsurprisingly’ dilutive and he reduced full year 2021 earnings per share by 16%.