Rws Share Discussion Threads

[phillis] 11/4/2010 18:25

Dividend growth assured

[phillis] 05/3/2010 14:59

Av euro rate for 09 was 1.15= 1 pound

Current sterling weakness will again be a positive for RWS

[phillis] 15/2/2010 11:34

Divi to be paid on Friday
:-)

[phillis] 22/1/2010 10:19

well a 12% increase in the final and a balance sheet that is underleveraged should provide for upside on future divs
A MUST for any SIPP

[phillis] 22/12/2009 14:29

£1m?

[jeffian] 21/12/2009 19:05

I agree in principle, Phillis, but a lot of Directors treat these sort of options as part of their remuneration rather than an investment in the company.

[phillis] 21/12/2009 12:00

it is a little discouraging that Directors want to cash their options in

[phillis] 15/12/2009 18:39

if as you say there has been a cutback in patent activity, what are the numbers and where do you get them from?
(BTW I think you will find that the translation activity applies to applications as well)

[orange1] 15/12/2009 15:38

Back in June Brodie said this:

"Earnings are still based on a backlog of patents from as far back as 2005, and it won't become clear until 2011 whether the recession has caused companies to cut back on patent activity, said Mr Brode, who holds 45 per cent of the stock.

"Our thesis is that people don't cut back on research and development in a recession," he said. "That's how it's been in previous recessions but whether it's like that in one as deep as this, I'm not sure.""

As stated, my understanding is that there has been a cutback in patent activity in the year to date.

On 24 November, Nokia announced that it was to make further cutbacks in its Japan research and development sites, following an announcement less than a week previously about redundancies in its Danish and Finnish centres.



That is bound to lead to a cutback in patent activity. If that is the situation at Nokia you can be sure that the same will apply elsewhere.

This, for example, is the situation at Pfizer:

[orange1] 15/12/2009 12:50

Errr.. there is nothing in the Times article which addresses the point I made (which Brodie himself has alluded to in the past). If the number of patent applications is now down in relation to previous years this means that in the future when those applications become granted patents, there will less translation work commissioned at RWS.

See post 118 above.

[phillis] 15/12/2009 11:11

indeed
hence the aquisition focus on technical translations

[wjccghcc] 15/12/2009 08:54

I suppose the main question with these is whether the discussions on a EU wide patent which keep resurfacing ever come to anything.

[phillis] 15/12/2009 08:13

You are mistaken

from today's Tempus

RWS

"Three minuses and one plus" was how Andrew Brodie, chief executive of RWS, scored yesterday's full-year results.

Profit growth at the AIM-listed patent translator was held back by recession (reduced demand; increased competition from cheaper rivals); legislative change (May's implementation of the London Agreement, which waives the requirement of European patents to be translated into the language of individual European Union states) and rock-bottom interest rates (which cut the income earned from the company's £24 million cash pile).

And the plus? A weak pound, a key consideration for a company that draws 95 per cent of its sales outside the UK. The upshot was that results for the 12 months to September 30 were still ahead of the previous year - revenues up 2 per cent, pre-tax profits up 4 per cent - and much in line with forecasts.

The encouragement is that trading should get easier from here. There are signs that, in RWS's core business - translating 50,000 documents a year for the likes of Porsche and Shell - the cost pressure on clients to buy on price rather than quality is starting to recede. Elsewhere, RWS appears to be making progress in previously hard-to-crack markets: notably the US and China.

With the shares trading at ten times earnings once the cash is ignored and Mr Brodie's 45 per cent stake ensuring that dividends (up 12 per cent yesterday) should continue to rise, 315 looks a good point to buy"

[orange1] 14/12/2009 19:22

The numbers of patents being applied for is also something to watch out for. If I am not mistaken the number of applications is currently on a downward trend which means that two or three years down the line when those applications are granted they will also be fewer than in previous years and fewer to be translated.

[phillis] 14/12/2009 11:51

I spoke to Brode at the time re the IMS claim that net shareholder funds would be in excess of £46m. They are in fact £48m+.
The mistake was due to foreign exchange misread on the management accounts

Still it seems unclear from the RNSs how much volume has been lost and been compensated for by exchange gains.
When we have spoken before he has mentioned £10m loss of revenue from the London Agreement so I think we have to take him at his word (and why not).
Cash generation is impressive and we should get an idea from the next interims what is happening to underling volumes.

Some buying activity this am - in advance of the XD date?

[jeffian] 14/12/2009 11:38

Hmmm, maybe. The good news remains excellent cash generation, rock solid balance sheet with plenty of net cash and well-covered growing dividend. Despite that, and the the fact we were warned in October that "underlying profits will exceed 2007/08 levels but fall modestly below consensus", I can't help feeling mildly disappointed. Basic eps, which were ahead over 21% at the halfway stage, are up only 5% despite favourable exchange rates and contributions from acquired businesses (offset, of course, by the fact that they are now getting negligible interest on their cash pile), and that suggests to me that the core business has gone backwards slightly. Still a very creditable result in a very difficult market, but I would like to see growth in earnings restored to drive the share price forward from here. One easy way would be to get that £24m cash invested to show a better return than they currently get on deposit. If they can't find suitable acquisitions, perhaps they ought to consider a special divi or return of cash to shareholders.

[phillis] 14/12/2009 11:18

pretty much as expected and nothing wrong in that!

[jeffian] 11/12/2009 08:42

There's so little interest, ADVFN appeared to have given up bothering to update the chart!

[phillis] 11/12/2009 08:35

no shares available for any institution to get a meaningful stake as you say so upside I think is limited.
I am in this for the divi flow over time

[jeffian] 09/12/2009 15:10

I see results are due on 14/12 so maybe someone has had an early glimpse! (now up 30 - not that you'd know it from ADVFN chart - spread 310/330!)

[phillis] 07/12/2009 19:40

results next week and then the ex-dividend in Jan
Should be a goodly increase.
They generate cash faster then they can spend it
My kind of Company

[up in smoke] 04/12/2009 13:17

no they have not gone back down yet.

In fact Having sold @320 I will buy in on any weakness, but there is so little volume and the spread is so huge I need a big drop to get back in

[cnx] 04/12/2009 12:26

did you guys get many at 200.............hope so

[phillis] 09/10/2009 16:23

a lot more