RPC Group Share Chat (RPC)

Share Name	Share Symbol	Market	Type	Share ISIN	Share Description
RPC Group	LSE:RPC	London	Ordinary Share	GB0007197378	ORD 5P

	Price Change	% Change	Share Price	Bid Price	Offer Price	High Price	Low Price	Open Price	Shares Traded	Last Trade
	-9.20p	-1.12%	812.00p	811.80p	812.40p	836.40p	808.20p	826.60p	729,713	13:36:29

Industry Sector	Turnover (m)	Profit (m)	EPS - Basic	PE Ratio	Market Cap (m)
General Industrials	3,747.7	316.6	61.6	13.2	3,310.52

RPC Group Share Discussion Threads

Showing 2176 to 2200 of 2200 messages

Chat Pages: 88 87 86 85 84 83 82 81 80 79 78 77 Older

Date	Subject	Author	Discuss
25/9/2018 13:11	jeff who are the peer group and might have an interest in buying RPC After all the BOD have invited offers	phillis	Read Full Thread Reply
25/9/2018 12:14	It's just a feeling, but I don't really see this Private equity thing happening. What does surprise me, given that the market is described as 'fragmented' and RPC had (have?) a policy to grow by acquisition and 'consolidate the market', is why a trade purchase is not more attractive that a PE deal? RPC is not only cheap on fundamentals, but also trading at a discount to its peer group, in addition to which the weakness of the £ would be an added benefit to a foreign purchaser. I understand why managements like PE - because they are left in place and usually are given performance shares and incentives - but wouldn't shareholders be better served by a trade takeover?	jeffian	Read Full Thread Reply
24/9/2018 16:07	I would be surprised if an offer was not forthcoming, given the bashing this has had over the last few months it’s ripe for an opportunistic bid. It’s an ideal candidate for private equity to take private for 3-5 years and then sell on for a large profit. A great opportunity. All IMO. Kinda worrying if they don’t bite at this level. RPC has been the Hunter for so many years however it has become the hunted. That 100m share buy back was a waste of money.	oli12	Read Full Thread Reply
23/9/2018 19:51	Ali47,Only 2 weeks in to the 4 week period, even then there could be a request for an extension - we will have an announcement within that period.	squidsgone	Read Full Thread Reply
23/9/2018 17:11	can posters please focus on the prospects of growth without the take over or otherwise- having seen the share price fall before the TO was announced- if there is no offer surely the share price will retrace to where it was before the announcement and then what ? i am surprised that no further annoucement was made and from my experience if none is made before the deadline , a big fall is due- in that case i would rather take some profits as abuffer- welcome some insightful comments!	ali47fish	Read Full Thread Reply
22/9/2018 12:09	You hope :D	cashcow5	Read Full Thread Reply
22/9/2018 11:37	If you worry about sleight-of-hand accounts and whether the company is trying to hide its true performance, cash and the cashflow section of the accounts are the place to look. Auditors may accept all sorts of "adjusting" factors and write-offs but you simply cannot disguise cash - it's either there or it's not and the cashflow section shows you exactly how much was generated and how it was spent. Last year RPC generated £386.7m cash after paying tax and interest. They spend £106m of that on dividends and the rest went on "discretionary" spending/investment (i.e. they could choose whether to spend the money or not) such as acquisitions and share buybacks. Their "adjusting items" in the accounts (the things such as "integration costs" which they said were non-recurring exceptional expenditure but which Northern Trust said were simply disguising real and continuing costs) amount to £69.3m, so even if you refuse to accept that they are "exceptional", it only knocks 10p-odd off the earnings per share leaving the statutory 61.3p/share and plenty of cash generated. For many years I was an investor in Roxboro which transformed itself into Dialight, a developer and supplier of LED lighting systems. The old company had fitted my criteria of being cash generative, paying a good and increasing dividend and it had no borrowings and £15m cash in the bank. Although they went on reporting rising profits and paying increasing dividends, something didn't feel right to me because over a relatively short time that £15m net cash turned itself into £45m net debt. Scrutinising the cashflow figures showed that year after year they were capitalising part of their expenditure, calling it "development costs" and adding it to the Balance Sheet as an "asset"! It's one of the few times I have ever sold a share at the top, as it crashed from a peak of £14 to around £4 when it had to own up it had run out of cash and suspend the divi. That is not what is happening at RPC.	jeffian	Read Full Thread Reply
21/9/2018 20:51	Yes Dave, if investing were precise and the future predictable with accuracy then there would be less volatility and excitement, with stocks gravitating to boring 'utility status'. No danger of that with RPC.	cheshire pete	Read Full Thread Reply
21/9/2018 20:43	Gearing is what matters	phillis	Read Full Thread Reply
21/9/2018 20:36	Cheshire Pete: I believe it is more than accountancy. They provide a snapshot but not a picture. Auditing is done, but nowadays rubberstamp anything - so now under review by gov. Accounts can only tell part of a picture, no matter how standardised and only tells a story over multiple periods - and then is only backwards looking when share price is typically based on forward value. My answer is inconcise and unclear - as most see it, hence much debate following any co's results and matching BOD comments to figure what rings true and often looking for what is not said, rather than what is said...zzzzz...yes...guesing, expecting, projecting, hoping...investing is not precise and we all favour different methods. IMO :-) Dave (born in Chester).	dr_smith	Read Full Thread Reply
21/9/2018 19:31	Thanks for the clarification DR_SMITH. I recall Neil Woodford commenting a while back along the lines that he finds company accounts do not provide the information that he needs as a basis for making an investment. It seems that while company accounts meet legal requirements, for a rapidly growing company such as RPC they can be somewhat open to interpretation. Maybe there is scope for an accountancy software package that addresses this. Meanwhile, it seems perverse that M&A activity should be suspended or slowed down because of accountancy practices and conventions.	cheshire pete	Read Full Thread Reply
21/9/2018 18:43	The question is, is normal business progressing organically and managed well. The M&A activity with its exceptional one off costs and the like are merged in with the bread and butter organic side, so whether you are beginner or expert on (largely amalgamated) accounts it is difficult to see if one is supporting the other. Cashflow is one tool of many to signpost the answer. I believe it is this lack of clarity that stakeholders and BOD have differing opinions on. NT would favour a static period to demonstrate co is doing well under current guise. If M&A continues as per BOD wish, more exceptional costs can possibly mask any current weakness, a natural concern for investors.	dr_smith	Read Full Thread Reply
21/9/2018 10:20	Jeffian and DR SMITH, regarding the comments on cash flow, my understanding is that much of the containers made by RPC are supplied to basic industries such as food producers and pharmaceuticals where demand is, broadly speaking, non-cyclical (unlike construction). I haven't studied NT's announcements and not being an accountant probably wouldn't glean much anyway, however I'd be surprised if cash flow is an issue even with the ambitious 2020 strategy. Declaration: have held RPC for 5 years +, taking up rights along the way and remain optimistic for the future even if the takeover doesn't happen.	cheshire pete	Read Full Thread Reply
20/9/2018 16:15	Quite so - and that was the trigger in the Carillion domino fall.	dr_smith	Read Full Thread Reply
20/9/2018 15:57	Not me 25 years (I first bought in 2006 and added since then) but they have a record of unbroken dividend growth over 25 years and if there was any "masking" the cash would have run out by now. If NT have a point, then it will become apparent in the cashflow figures; you can't "mask" that for very long.	jeffian	Read Full Thread Reply
20/9/2018 15:49	Fair comment Jeffian. I am not drawing parralells but after Carillion masking, it is hard to have a proper feel just sat behind a pc. Good track record is a starting point for me in stock selection, I only tend to go back 5 years, so good to hear you have had positive vibe for 25 years, though share price pre 2010 was uninspiring.	dr_smith	Read Full Thread Reply
20/9/2018 14:29	I meant it's a red herring to the running of the business. The Board may well feel that taking it private is the only way to advance their strategy - as Alliance Unichem did before re-listing as the much bigger animal Alliance Pharma - but that is not a way they would have chosen to go without the destabilising effect of the Northern Trust shenanigans. Personally, I don't see any PE bid going ahead unless shareholders are prepared to see RPC sold on the cheap. I hope we go back to doing what we did before and if they've been "masking" financial underperformance, David, they've been doing a pretty good job of it for the past 25 years or so!	jeffian	Read Full Thread Reply
20/9/2018 13:57	it cannot be a red herring then make your mind up In my view the BOD feel constrained in their strategy they have therefore invited P/E in to help finance their own buy out	phillis	Read Full Thread Reply
20/9/2018 13:17	I don't know to what extent M&A activity has been good (or v good and masking other not so good aspects). Jeffian, your views differ to Northern Trust. Accounts and reality can be 2 different things, even correctly audited, so impossible for me to get a proper feel, so see both arguments. If we assume BOD are dogs bllcks and they put their heart and energy into roles for a year, then be told their time and energy is in wrong direction, it is totally demoralising, sapping energy for future progess, be it organic or M&A. So.. I guess 2 outcomes. 1) Takeoever (and BOD probably continue in like role for new owner). 2) No buyout but s/h talks will mean BOD can continue with a better defined agenda renewing confidence and zest. IMO	dr_smith	Read Full Thread Reply
20/9/2018 12:24	"I still don't know if bids were invited/instigated by BOD, or came unsolicited. The latter carrying more weight for a follow through to my mind." Standard Life's comments in July that RPC was "highly vulnerable" to a bid followed closely by the Chairman's trading update at the AGM were widely interpreted as effectively inviting offers and putting the company 'in play'. Whether they actually 'solicited' the current PE interest is a moot point, but PE don't need much encouragement! Phillis, the PE guys are spending time and money on it because that's their job. The company is perceived as cheap and both the Chairman and main shareholder have hinted that it's up for grabs. Dangle a joint of beef in a shark pool and see what happens! PE are constantly researching deals in the knowledge that probably only 1 in 100 come off......but when they do, the payday's worth it.	jeffian	Read Full Thread Reply
20/9/2018 12:02	jw121 - My own notes have a pre-close trading statement 28/9/17. Now book keeping is on compters and with dynamic links and like it should be easy to display accounts at any any time, but management interpretation and explanation and goal horizon/politics and the like are more probably reason for less frequent reporting by some co's. Is timing co-incidental or orchestrated? I'd go for co-incidence as they can provide accounts in talks to prospective bidders (subject to due diligence etc) at any time. I still don't know if bids were invited/instigated by BOD, or came unsolicited. The latter carrying more weight for a follow through to my mind. I see the 8th is a Monday - so staff of bidders/rpc may be spending the preceding weekend at all night sessions, round a board table, curries or chinese?? - in RPC packaging for subliminal effect? IMO. :-) Dave.	dr_smith	Read Full Thread Reply
20/9/2018 11:48	why do you think the P/E guys are spending time and money?	phillis	Read Full Thread Reply
20/9/2018 11:31	This whole 'bid' thing is a complete red herring and I wish it had never started. Until Northern Trust began their de-stabilisation campaign, there was no question of a takeover (quite the reverse, in fact, as RPC's strategy is specifically growth by acquisition/consolidation in a fragmented market) and it only came about as a result of the Chairman, egged on by large shareholder Standard Life, seeking to support the share price. Frankly, I think the whole Private Equity 'interest' was cooked up and has every chance of going nowhere which will further destabilise the share price. In the meantime, it takes the focus of the BoD away from their proper role - running the company. I would like to see the whole thing knocked on the head on 8/10, take any short-term pain in the share price, and then get back to growing profits, earnings and dividends which is what has made this company such a great long-term hold.	jeffian	Read Full Thread Reply
20/9/2018 08:04	Maybe to help stabilize the share price in the event that a bid does not materialize?	redartbmud	Read Full Thread Reply
20/9/2018 07:36	RNS out this morning states that the group "will publish its trading statement for the quarter ending 30 September 2018 on Monday 8 October 2018". Typically they don't publish quarterly statements, just half year and full year ones. What should be made of this? 8th October is the deadline for bids from the two suitors.	jw121	Read Full Thread Reply

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