Oxford Instruments Share Discussion Threads

[wad collector] 19/1/2018 11:16

That's a 4 month high now , Liberum upgraded to buy last week, target £11 ,which is down on the £11.50 target from November despite being a hold then!
Reminder to ignore broker notes.

[wad collector] 16/1/2018 16:23

Interesting looking share price recovery , up 3% towards the bell though not much volume. No news I can see.
Still a long way back to the £18 high of 4 yrs ago. Hands in pockets time I think . Although the yield is a pitiful 1.4% , it is well covered and I am still hoping this company can really use its market position to find a money making niche rather than vague optimism about the future products.

[essentialinvestor] 27/12/2017 12:50

My rudimentary take on OXIG, either the BOD succeed in reigniting growth,
or it may look attractive to someone else, particularly with debt metrics
looking fat more robust following the disposal proceeds.

[simon gordon] 21/12/2017 11:02

EI,

Cheers.

Until you mentioned it the other day I hadn't paid attention due to my old perception of the under strain balance sheet.

It doesn't look cheap nor expensive. Suppose the upside is a takeover at a c.40% premium.

[essentialinvestor] 21/12/2017 10:02

May be a fair observation.

Andor was viewed as a rock solid growth company not too long ago.

[meijiman] 21/12/2017 09:58

Yes and overpaid for it IMO.

[essentialinvestor] 21/12/2017 09:24

Hi Simon, digital look have £40 M on pre tax and 56.66 on EPS, year ending 03/2018.

It looks very much a work in progress to me, so still a lot to prove,
has to be kept in mind imv.

The main positive from this year is debt metics are transformed with the
large disposable.

They bought Andor in 2014, from memory.

[simon gordon] 21/12/2017 09:11

EI,

Do you know what the EPS forecasts are going forward?

Cheers

[essentialinvestor] 21/12/2017 09:08

In this AM, small amount.

Further portfolio consolidation would not surprise me.

[wad collector] 14/11/2017 09:23

Half year report


Financial Highlights:

-- Reported orders up 6.0% to GBP148.5 million (2016: GBP140.1 million), an increase of 1.8% at constant currency

-- Reported revenue in line with previous year, down 4.5% at constant currency
-- Adjusted profit before tax from continuing operations up 24.4% to GBP16.3 million (2016: GBP13.1 million)

-- Adjusted operating margin up 180 basis points primarily reflecting currency benefits
-- Profit before tax from continuing operations of GBP12.7 million (2016: loss of GBP0.6 million)

-- Constant currency order book of GBP141.8 million up 3.3% and 11.8% against September 2016 and March 2017 respectively

-- Significantly strengthened balance sheet with proceeds from sale of Industrial Analysis leading to reduction in net debt to GBP45.5m (2016: GBP141.1 million)

-- Interim dividend maintained at 3.7 pence



You wouldn't buy them for the yield! 1.4% - or are we still pretending that this is a R&D company that will bring in jam tomorrow?

[wad collector] 25/9/2017 15:01

Bought back at 960 ; seems irrational drop to me.

[wad collector] 12/9/2017 07:34

Statement

"As previously reported, in the year to March 2017, the Group delivered a profit performance in line with expectations. We made good progress in developing and announcing the new Horizon strategy to reposition our Group for long-term growth. In July we completed the sale of Industrial Analysis. The management team is now implementing the next phase of the Horizon strategy as we commence the structural changes required to move the business towards sustainable growth.

"Turning to trading for the first five months of the current year: reported revenue is in line with last year, supported by favourable currency benefits. In the same period, revenue and operating profit at constant currency is behind last year due to lower optical microscopy sales and an increase in the proportion of customised magnet and cryogenic systems with longer production lead times.

"Looking ahead, we expect the second half of the financial year to benefit from the timing of new product introductions and the normal seasonal bias, as well as from the favourable currency impact. Overall, expectations for the full year remain unchanged."

[wad collector] 01/9/2017 10:35

Traded some out at 1060. The share price has become a bit of a traders dream if the spread stays narrow. Which it mostly doesn't!

[wad collector] 13/6/2017 12:40

Still can't decide whether this should be valued as a producer or R&D. Market seems to like the results. Might take a quick 6% as the wider market is in an odd place at the moment , could take a tumble.

[meijiman] 13/6/2017 09:29

Reassuring update I thought.

[wad collector] 07/6/2017 15:16

Bought them back at 1010 just now .

[wad collector] 15/5/2017 13:26

Time to sell some I reckon ; 1095 tempts me. I suspect the buyback opportunity will arise soon.

[wad collector] 09/5/2017 09:30

Some broker tipping here , though quite a lot of disparity with targets , almost as if they are guessing....

[hiddendepths] 03/5/2017 13:40

A few chunky sells today but someone's clearly mopping them up!

[wad collector] 02/5/2017 15:39

Activity does look a bit suspicious of stake building but may just be noise. Hold and hope....

[meijiman] 02/5/2017 14:34

Let's hope its a predator and we can wave goodbye to this serial underachiever...

[hiddendepths] 02/5/2017 13:34

Well, they rose sharply on the asset sale at a hefty premium to asset value. I thought it would fall back gently after that and sold a third of my shares.

But it started off again at midday today. That suggests US buying to me, maybe hedge fund - or just possibly the long-awaited predator.

[brahmsnliszt] 28/4/2017 15:48

Always felt this would be ripe for a foreign takeover. Was the reason I invested initially. Someone obviously likes this.

[wad collector] 26/4/2017 10:47

Let's hope they are not selling this too cheaply though the market response suggests otherwise; £35M in assets sold and an annual income of £3.3M for £80M.



Oxford Instruments plc, a leading provider of high technology solutions, information and services for industry and research, today announces that it has agreed to sell its Industrial Analysis business to Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation ('HHT') for a consideration of GBP80 million on a cash and debt free basis. HHT will acquire the companies, assets and liabilities that comprise the Industrial Analysis business.

The Industrial Analysis business is a leading global provider of handheld and bench-top instruments using X-ray Fluorescence (XRF), Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) and Optical Emission Spectroscopy (OES) technologies for analysing materials in a broad range of industrial applications. Headquartered in Oxford, UK, the Industrial Analysis business has research and development and assembly operations in Finland, Germany and China and sales and support operations in a number of countries around the world.

The transaction is subject to regulatory approval in Austria, confirmation of receipt by the relevant regulator of the share transfer filing in China, and completion of a pre-sale reorganisation to carve out the relevant businesses. Assuming satisfaction of these conditions, the transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of the 2017/18 fiscal year. Proceeds will be used to reduce existing borrowings. The current Industrial Analysis management team will transfer with the business.

In the financial year ended 31 March 2016, the Industrial Analysis business had revenue of GBP49.5 million, adjusted operating profit(1) of GBP3.3 million and normalised business level adjusted EBITDA(2) of GBP8.2 million. The gross assets at 30 September 2016 were GBP35.6 million.



Just noticed that I missed the update 2 weeks ago ;

Trading in the second half of the year was consistent with the expectations disclosed in our interim results, supporting our guidance that we expect performance for the full year to be in line with the prior year.

A good performance from NanoTechnology Tools has continued to mitigate an anticipated deterioration in our OI Healthcare business.

Our focus on strengthening the balance sheet has resulted in a reduction in net debt at 31 March 2017 against the same period last year.

Oxford Instruments' results for the year ended 31 March 2017 will be released on 13 June 2017.