Personal Share Discussion Threads

[robsy2] 13/9/2005 14:06

I am a happy holder of this stock. I love the yield and I am comforted by the business discipline required to pay that dividend. The key to the IFA business is having a large client base.The takeover of BM is made in heaven and beautifully timed as well.This is a company that is doing well and is going to do well in the future . I see potential for the share price to break out.
This stock is boring but Boring is Good!!
All the best
Robsy

[flc] 08/7/2005 09:09

The BM acquisition is quite significant in what is becoming a very competitive market. If they can integrate this to maximum effect within the current business it will pay dividends. They will need to as they are losing market share against the likes of AIG, CBS etc. and finding it increasingly difficult to land major accounts.

Still think they are a solid company and worth buying but it will be interesting to see how the next 12 months pans out for them.

[josephjoe] 07/7/2005 11:40

get ready for lift off, look at the great chart, great dividend as well, enough said.

[josephjoe] 01/4/2005 12:32

tipped in todays i/c, these are a very strong buy, shares are tightly held.yield7%.

[topvest] 28/3/2005 07:48

All a bit quiet on here. Results seem to have gone by without any comment. They looked ok to me. Outlook for the current year looks good with Berkeley Morgan starting to contribute and the impact of all the new client wins coming through. Also, on a chunky yield. Rooney seems to think they are worth buying.

[josephjoe] 03/3/2005 14:01

not a fall. went x/d on march 2nd.

[makingheaps] 02/3/2005 17:00

I believe the company has a responsibility to inform the market as soon as practicable though I'm not sure about AIM. Certainly this was a lot longer than I would have thought acceptable. Seemed deliberately timed to coincide with the institutional purchase and the dividend statement.

This kind of mystery does nothing for the share price performance and building on the poor handling of the acquisition before Xmas is why we have such a dull profile. Still good value however imho.

Why the fall today?

[topvest] 26/2/2005 17:18

Sounds a bit of an admin blunder to me. It's not a massive sale though.

[mw8156] 26/2/2005 13:04

Sold a lot of shares in January but we are only now being advised.

[mctmct] 25/2/2005 09:50

So why did CEO Rooney sell over a quarter of his shares yesterday?

[moogies] 24/2/2005 20:49

VHV HOLDING AG

Seems to be a german insurer who have bought a 5.96% holding on 23/2/05.

not sure of the relevance.

The only info I could find re VHV was at

[mw8156] 24/2/2005 19:41

Who is VHV and what are their intentions?

[moogies] 28/1/2005 12:29

Tipped today in Investors Chronicle

[topvest] 14/12/2004 21:28

Yes, PR on the deal very poor. I don't think they need to talk this deal up though. Think it is an excellent one for Personal Group. Mr Pardoe will be a great asset to PG.

[makingheaps] 13/12/2004 17:46

No share price movement on the announcement. Firstly the RNS was very poorly worded in terms of the future plans for the enlarged company and potential synergies. Secondly there has been no press coverage that I have noticed anyway. PGH was already an attractive proposition so long as it held onto its customer base but it seems even more so now if this new business is sustainable in the form it has shown in the last six months. Also good news that they are leveraging up to do it rather than issuing shares.

[topvest] 10/12/2004 14:51

£12m to buy a business that has just announced interims with profits of £1.5m in 6m seems a very good deal. I have shares in both companies - good deal for Personal Group, poor one for Berkeley Morgan shareholders imo. Then again, BM has been through a torrid time over the last 2 years and at one point looked close to going bust. From that perspective Mr Pardoe has delivered. This one must be significantly eps +ve to Personal Group. Mr Pardoe will be a great asset to Personal Group on their board as well.

[makingheaps] 10/12/2004 13:47

Any views on todays acquisition? £12m for a business that made £1.3m last year looks good value but I've only had two minutes to scan the announcement.

[topvest] 27/9/2004 06:37

Interim results out today. Profits relatively flat with a 5% increase in the dividend. New business pipeline working well though which should bode well for the future.

[flc] 22/9/2004 11:01

Steam - you'll find that the claims ratio is far lower than 50%. Problem with Personal Group is that they are becoming a victim of their own success. Any company wanting to use them should see how much money they are making out of staff. I know of a few chunky accounts where their financials have lost them the deal.

[steam belcher] 21/9/2004 15:32

Just can't help thinking that one day this stock will disappoint and be punished accordingly - I held Marlborough Stirling (MAS) and watched that plummet - I suppose there are still plently of lazy HR people that think it is a simple solution to get some glossy booklet put together 'free' in exchange for allowing your staff to get the pleasure of PGH's direct sales force. 50% claims ratio = plenty of fat.

[false dawn] 04/4/2004 09:08

Apologies for sounding negative. I can't dispute the fact that their credentials look impressive and I wish I had bought in to the company when it was floated.

All I'm saying is that they will not find the market as easy as it has been for them in the past and I'm taking a long term view. They also look attractive as a takeover target by one of the banks or large insurers.

Simon - they do make a lot more money than my company but at least we take some pride in what we do as well as moral ethics. But heh... I suppose it's all about making money so good luck to PGH!

Let me know if you need any other info about the company.

FD

[cockneyrebel] 03/4/2004 10:09

False dawn, I respect your views but currently they are delivering and backed by a yield of around 6% the downside risk must be very limited indeed.

They are currently delivering on promises and nothing at the moment leads me to believe they won't continue to from what they say.


Christopher Johnson bought 10K shares at 170p. Not much compared to him holding 50% of the company but I'd have thought if he never believed they could sustain their growth the last thing he'd want is another 10K.

I've held for nearly a year now, I treat them as a background foundation stock that helps balance the volatility and continue to hold for a very decent yield and respectable growth.

CR

[simonevans] 03/4/2004 08:33

False Dawn - you seem to continually knock this company, but it continues to deliver very impressive results. Sounds like they are doing better than the company that you work for!

[false dawn] 03/4/2004 06:01

CR - if you know the market then you'll know their growth is not sustainable at the current level. Too many larger competitors entering the market with better products, a changing market sector and ever increasing criticism over their approach to the market.

I work in this sector and I think it's a disgrace how PGH milk employees. I talk to many of their corporate clients both current and previous and I rarely hear praise. I also know their management team quite well who sell this on the front line.

[cockneyrebel] 31/3/2004 09:09

A well undiscovered, under-rated stock. I've held these in my 'steady-eddy' portfolio for some time, one to sleep on and let it do the business by stealth imo, a bit like WDNY.

Today they announced earnings growth of 13% and divi growth of 25%. For income hunters these are paying a yield of 5.5% and that should growth in the year ahead to at least 6% and it is paid in 3 stages through the year.

A well run business, the executive Chairman holding over 50% and adding more at 170p recently.

Todays results beat concesus expectations and spot on with Rowan Dartington who have PGH down for 15.88p eps the year ahead. I'd expect a bit of an upping from brokers for the year ahead. A PE of 11.4, earnings growth of 13% plus a 6% yield and a pretty solind long term track record of earnings growth too.

CR