Phsc Share Discussion Threads

[lehibou] 15/8/2018 09:38

I wonder if the income funds will come for PHSC as they did in Aug 2016 when the price spiked up 50% in 2 days?Then they were seeking the 1.5p div.Now we have above average market yield with a recovery situation.Also with two directors holding almost 50% they have been generous in the past and could be in the future.

[muffster] 15/8/2018 08:53

Thanks micro. I'm looking for that. Have added.

[microscope] 14/8/2018 16:40

Hi NTV, thanks, yes all good points. I'm guessing your comments re-lease refer to Amesbury? I should have twigged that putting goodwill there indeed would reduce the tax bill. It does make the results look less shiny than the reality, perhaps, while as you say doesn't effect cash, but it's clever accounting as with 36p a share in assets shouldn't impact the dividend.For anyone looking for an income stock with solid accounts, this looks a good bet to me!

[ntv] 14/8/2018 11:47

microscope
property sale still pending and circa nett £300k to phsc
they will relinquish a lease so that will save money by moving to the one site, on as far as i can make out an owned property
having said that there could a dilapidation claim from the landlord
continual writing down of goodwill will reduce tax charge?
but doesn't affect cashflow and hopefully not dividends

[microscope] 14/8/2018 10:35

Overall a good set of numbers I feel and the dividend is a very healthy bonus. (Meijiman I no longer post my average price on bulletin boards but I feel i timed my buys pretty well :)).

Given that the goodwill impairment of 200k appears pre-ebitda, otherwise the company has made a profit of just over 200k from non-Adamson's (ie from continuing) operations. That will be after the dividend (approx 146k at 1p per share) as well.

The cash position remains healthy (cash and cash equivalents up from last year despite the dividend) and I presume the unclaimed but available HSBC loan of 300k remains intact.

While there will be some minor costs of Adamson's for some years, (lease of machinery, insurance for unfinished contracts etc) it's clear nothing like the 160k+ loss for the year reported.

No mention (unless I missed it) of the sale of the Adamson premises, which promises to being in a windfall of over 300k and it looks as though consolidation of the other subsidiary mentioned will mean another property for sale. That division appears to be the one small other concern with cost savings enacted. However it looks as though the likes of QCS is set for another good year.

There's the usual waffle about brexit, the high street and the weather, classic Stephen King, and while I don't doubt possible minor effect, once again i think currency is the one area where he makes a good point. Emphasis seems to be on the Euro's potential negative effect, but then we see that the dollar has had a positive impact further into the heart of the statement.

Nav of 36p a share and the trading outlook section which includes a first quarter ebitda profit similar to last year of 121k is another positive and on valuation grounds this stock remains in my opinion deeply undervalued. I have a 12 month target to next year's full results of 25p, with the dividend remaining healthy, Adamson's effectively gone and QCS continuing to advance. (I think 25p would still substantially undervalue the company, as it would still be a market cap of well under 4 million!)

Dare we hope we might even get a one-off bonus dividend as well after the sale of the Adamson's property? After all 300k+ would equate to well over 2p a share windfall for the company :)

The current yield at 12p (offer) is over 8%, now looking secure too for next year imho, and reason enough by itself to continue to form very much a part of my portfolio.

[battlebus2] 14/8/2018 10:21

Best paragraph for me was they continue to make progress with divisional structures. This will be very important in future years if we want to sell all or part of the business.

[arthur_lame_stocks] 14/8/2018 08:28

I still think the best thing they could do is sell it all off, return the cash and wind it up. We would see some real value then.

[value hound] 14/8/2018 07:47

Around there NTV depending on what you paid. For me, it's a solid 10%. Historically, add another 5%.

Overall, a mixed bag as ever - but with the added freehold sale net proceeds of £300k and the fact that the two people running it own 43%, it's all good IMO.

[ntv] 14/8/2018 07:41

results show that it is on a 9% yield !!
am I reading that correctly?
they should be able to maintain it going forward as well
shame the monies from the property sale not in yet but will be a big boost to the balance sheet
it needs to get bigger somehow with a decent sized reverse takeover or some decent organic growth in the existing business

[meijiman] 13/8/2018 12:26

What is your average in price?

[microscope] 13/8/2018 12:16

Yes lehibou agree with most of that. Strand Hanson I think from memory won an award along the lines of best dealmaker (can't recall the exact wording) on AIM last year. So was an interesting choice.
Results were predicted for early August, so hopefully this week, and, while we can expect some one-off costs associated with Adamson's, the overall business numbers themselves are set to be decent, from the TS.

I will be more interested to read the outlook, doubtless the usual cautious Stephen King-speak lol, but also to see if momentum has continued in the hitherto rapidly growing QCS division.

It may be they want to update in more detail on Adamson's, which could lead to a minor delay I guess.

More positively we could get firm news that the premises have been sold and even though that would be a post-balance sheet event, might give them enough confidence to pay another dividend. In truth I don't expect a divvy, until the next interims, but it would be a nice bonus.

I remain very happy with my holding here

[lehibou] 08/8/2018 23:07

Getting rid of loss maker.King 63.Should be cash on balance sheet.Below net assets.Boutique Strand Hanson.I'm hopeful of profit making cash shell and perhaps some corporate activity with phsc on the receiving end.

[arthur_lame_stocks] 04/8/2018 11:45

I fail to see the relevance lehibou?

[lehibou] 04/8/2018 11:23

Rns 14/12/17.

[lehibou] 04/8/2018 11:18

Look at profile of Strand Hanson.

[ntv] 03/8/2018 18:37

needs a new major shareholder
say take a 30% holding and find something to do with it as others have said it is really too small to be listed
it is finding the right company and right shareholder to take decent stake . find the right company to add to it's portfolio would be a difficult one. as most reverse takeovers seem to be about how certain people can make as much out of the deal in fees and nothing to do with the quality of the company
Be interesting to see if there is some news of some sorts pretty soon
lingering write offs may not be helpful unless of course they are minor

[value hound] 03/8/2018 09:45

I think the finals will probably come out some time next week / early the following week. We already know the likely ebitda and cash figures, so unless there have been any major developments in the last two months, it will all be about the outlook commentary (and exceptionals).

Personally, I see this as a future income stock given the directors' combined holdings of over 46%. The two main exec's salaries (King & Coote with over 43% between them) were £90k and £70k last year, plus rel' small bonuses. These may still be quite big salaries for a tiny £1.4m co., but seem reasonable overall - and you can bet they'd like to return to the divi level of most previous years of 1.5p (pre Adamson’s troubles).

Given the price achieved for the freehold, if trading is improving, they could pay a final divi of 1p which would only be £73.4k - but more likely half that at a guess, given any further exceptional costs ref Adamson's (anyone have any idea re these?).

It's still too small to be listed, though. Maybe someone could put it out of its misery at 25pps? :-)

[microscope] 02/8/2018 14:59

All gone quiet and a few boredom sells by the look of it. From the TS, results in early August, so am looking forward to them. Should confirm that there is real value here imho

[diku] 19/6/2018 08:03

Zoopla is not a good indicator...

[arthur_lame_stocks] 16/6/2018 18:32

I'm pleased with the price they look like achieving for that property. Zoopla had an estimate of about £220k on it so if it completes it's a significantly better price than I imagined. Really shareholders should get together and put pressure on the board to sell this off piecemeal and return the proceeds to shareholders. I reckon we'd triple our money. It doesn't deliver much to minority shareholders but provides a nice lifestyle to the two founders.

[cjohn] 08/6/2018 19:20

Yes, I'd agree with you there, Microscope.

I'd have thought the 300k net cash from the freehold property sale would more than cover the various remaining Adamson's costs.

The company is trading at a discount to tangible assets, which is really quite unusual in an asset-light company - consultancies - like this one.


On sum-of-the-parts as well, it looks way too cheap.

[microscope] 08/6/2018 13:28

The one day i go out early morning!

Finally had a chance to catch up and have to say a mix of relief and feeling very pleased. I wasn't aware that the Adamson's insurance situation would go on for years, though I can't imagine it will be particularly financially significant.

Otherwise i feel very happy with the statement. A lot of things I suggested in the header have come to pass. The ebitda figure of 185k for the year is actually a fair bit better than the break even i thought it might be, and given that it was 197k in the first half, it means that despite Adamson's hefty inroads, they have all but broken even second half, so other divisions must be doing well (QCS mainly I'd guess).

Yes it's clear there will be (I would imagine they'll be exceptionals) several other exceptionals in this half re Adamson's, as the statement indicates, but then there is or will be the 330k sale of the plant, which will I think go a long way to covering the costs at some point, even if the contract is completed after year end.

I didn't think there was any likelihood of a dividend but if the sale of the plant goes through before year end, it might be possible, though redundancies etc probably mean cash will have been under some pressure. If not it should be restored hopefully if they have a good first half to the next financial year.

The company at 10.5p is valued at under 1.6 million, so with these numbers I can't see much downside in terms of intelligent valuation at least, and in my view the shares should be a lot higher than they are.

[cjohn] 08/6/2018 10:20

Yes, very decent update. No unpleasant surprises.

[battlebus2] 08/6/2018 08:01

Pleased with this mornings update. ALS as per and 300k from property sale 👍