Msb Share Discussion Threads

[snappy] 12/10/2005 12:27

no billy bee 2002-2003 was the worst time for the recruiters things have improved since then, albeit activity levels are still way below those of the mid to late nineties but do continue to improve.

I am not expecting any of the companies you mention to go bust and I expect MSB to prosper over the longer term.

[cornelious billy bee] 12/10/2005 11:41

stemis,

look at the sp's and charts of all those companies, not going up are they?

It is a bad bad time for the rec market and MSB with its reliance on one market seems to be coming off the worse.

One of those companies I mentioned WILL go bust not if but when....

[snappy] 12/10/2005 11:36

what's the story with the Unisys deal?

lower margin (as you would expect from a sole supplier agreement) or has something gone wrong there?

[snappy] 12/10/2005 11:23

1. did that trade induce the fall or did the fall induce the trade?

2. are there more to come?

answers on a postcard to the Times marked for the attention of the 'rumour of the day dept'

[1bensons] 12/10/2005 11:02

big trade yesterday of 170k @40p ?????????

[1bensons] 12/10/2005 08:13

I would have thought that had already been discounted in the price by the analysts re alignment of expectations. Unisys account is no major secret

No profit warning ??? They have to look like good value at these prices

[sharw] 12/10/2005 00:55

Hmmm....

The Times:

Rumour of the day

MSB International, the recruitment agency, fell 9½p at 43½p on talk that Monday's interims may disappoint. Although the second quarter is expected to show a slight weakening, most attention is likely to focus on MSB's low-margin managed services arm, which provides contract staff companies such as Unisys.


That's all very well, but unless there is a large T trade yet to show, it doesn't say why the price suddenly slumped late in the afternoon. Perhaps the "talk" was among the MMs!

[snappy] 11/10/2005 18:38

Things will be clearer at 7am on Monday morning

[stemis] 11/10/2005 17:35

Snappy,

I hope you are right. Let's reconvene at 8.30 am tomorrow, when everything may be clearer!!

[1bensons] 11/10/2005 17:33

I agree Snappy..........£11m cash..no debt.....Pretax profits of around £500k and an average trading statement...

I reckon someone is selling short........If they were going to issue a profit warning then they wouldn't do it 3 days before results.......

[stemis] 11/10/2005 17:32

For those interested, you can also share Cornelious Billy Bee's pain on the state of the recruitment market on his recently created threads:-

Will Spring last till Spring (18-7-05)
Over supply of Rec Agencies in this marketplace (15-6-05)
Could HVN be heading for an UPGRADE? (17-5-05) - Billy's final answer by the way seems to be NO.
End of the road for MSB (11-10-05)

[snappy] 11/10/2005 17:29

Looks just like the drop before the last results as Unicorn wanted to sell some stock.

I'm going for the following in this great game of Cluedo

1. Large seller out there depressing the price (possibly Eaglet and if it is expect shareprice weakness until it is cleared)
2. Nothing wrong with the accounts.
3. FD not on gardening leave.
4. Pretax profit £600,000.
5. Possibly tax refunded on European losses of the last few years.
6. Dividend maintined at 0.7p or possibly increased to 0.8p.
7. Sales ahead of last year, but outlook remains unpredictable in UK plc land as already reported by competitors (projects on hold etc).
8. Balance sheet healthy and costs well under control.

[stemis] 11/10/2005 17:19

If there is anything wrong we will get an announcement first thing tomorrow. FD is in a meeting.

Could be a board meeting discussing a profits warning.

Then again it could be a meeting discussing the FDs new company car.

If nothing else he doesn't appear to have been sent home on garden leave...or arrested!

[cornelious billy bee] 11/10/2005 17:17

what about for example some dodgy accounting, this company has a reputation for some rather shady recruitment practices

[snappy] 11/10/2005 17:08

billy they are in good shape financial as of the last results and there has been no profit warning. Yes the recruitment market is overcrowded but they are more profitable than others in the sector so I don't think they will be going bust and certainly not before Monday!!

[snappy] 11/10/2005 17:06

It's a funny old market. I think there is a large line of stock waiting to get cleared, otherwise the price wouldn't have dropped 18% in the last hour of trade today, let's wait and see the trade reports over the next few days and roll on the results.

Maybe they have an acquisition to announce with the results and somebody has got wind of it? If not the company should start re-purchasing stock on Monday in the market (they have shareholder approval for upto 10%)

[cornelious billy bee] 11/10/2005 17:03

The basic economics of the situation are there are far too many agencies out there in relation to the amount of business on offer.

Put simply a couple have to go bust before we will see a pickup, maybe this is it.

God knows what will happen tomorrow, and the other 3 days till results

[stemis] 11/10/2005 17:01

MSB share price at 43.5p is now a discount to its net current assets (56.5p per share).

As far as I am aware they are still forecasting a profit.

With £90+ million of turnover you would have thought they presented a very attractive acquisition target.

[stemis] 11/10/2005 16:57

Seems a very large drop for no news.

MSB share price at 43.5p is now a discount to its net current assets (56.5p per share).

As far as I am aware they are still forecasting a profit.

With £90+ million of turnover you would have thought they presented a very attractive acquisition target.

[cornelious billy bee] 11/10/2005 16:56

We'll see on Monday I guess but its not been good for these boys (and others HVN, SRG, LOR) over the past few years just look at the chart. Maybe a HOLE has been found in the accounts.

If not they look like a Bargain.

[snappy] 11/10/2005 16:52

cornelious billy bee - 11 Oct'05 - 16:49 - 36 of 37


going bust i reckon, bad market..too many agencies..too low margins...no sign of improvement..

-------------------

billy, they have no debts and are forecast to make £1.2 - 1.3 pre tax this financial year. There has been no profit warning so why do you think they are going bust?

[snappy] 11/10/2005 16:50

The market makers wouldn't just cut the price by 18% on a few thousand pounds worth of sells without somebody trying to shift a load behind the scenes (maybe a delayed trade on the way). It's bad timing just a few days before the results because it makes it look like results will be poor but as the company have not warned on profits they would appear to be doing better than some competitors.

Perhaps there is a reason why the interim results are later this year. Will have to wait until Monday to find out.

[cornelious billy bee] 11/10/2005 16:49

going bust i reckon, bad market..too many agencies..too low margins...no sign of improvement..

[mctmct] 11/10/2005 16:44

Why - do you know what caused this slump in price?

[mctmct] 11/10/2005 16:43

Sharp drop on small volume. Any theories?