S & U Share Discussion Threads

[hifkdmer] 24/11/2006 22:29

Also bought my first batch today at 2000 @472p just before 11am with no sign of the trade anywhere.
Interesting movement today.

[chrismcglone] 24/11/2006 15:20

Bought my first batch today. Bit of a gamble i know but the yield of over 6% after the share price drop today was too good to miss.

[chrismcglone] 24/11/2006 15:12

Took advantage of the pull back today and bought in. No obvious reason for the drop but i see it has corrected rather quickly. Looks like some others have done the same.

Yielding over 6% with good potential for both increase in EPS and share price growth.

[brownbear] 24/11/2006 14:01

And all the way back up again. Another buying opportunity missed! Must have been some rumour doingthe rounds, now scotched presumably. Well done Taylor

[taylor20] 24/11/2006 12:23

Probably winnfrith taking his losses!

With it yielding 6.3%, I think its worth another top up, even if there's no capital growth over the next 12 months...

Added @ 495p

[masurenguy] 24/11/2006 10:57

Why has this been marked down by virtually 10% today on a paltry volume of 2600 shares traded ?

[jeffian] 06/10/2006 10:37

Agreed, taylor20, hence my comment in 341 that Coombs might better spend his time examining the Cattles business model rather than obscure Classical references!

Regards, Ian

[taylor20] 06/10/2006 10:26

Thanks for that Jeffian,

Another badly researched piece of Journalism though. Including the completely fatuous statement:

Increasing bad debt, as Britain's unsecured debt mountain climbs ever higher, has hit even lenders at the top end of the scale, never mind the sub-prime market in which S&U operates.

Its about lending discipline and balancing risk, which affects both ends of the market equally! Since the lower end is used to dealing with defaults on a daily basis it is clearly much better placed to manage and react quickly to a deteriating climate. It also has a much closer relationship with its customers and doesn't just throw debt at people who can't handle it, which is what the 'top end' of the market has been doing for the last few years.

I seem to remember Cattles reduced bad debt this year, more than can be said for Barclays (up 50%?) or HSBC.

[v11slr] 06/10/2006 09:33

"The AIM-listed S&U". FTSE Fledgling index actually.

[jeffian] 06/10/2006 09:28

From today's Independent investment column:

"S&U

Our view: Hold

Share price: 592.5p (-2.5p)

It's not the best moment to be in the home credit market - or doorstep lending as the rest of us call it. The AIM-listed S&U, the third-largest player in the industry, announced first-half pre-tax profits yesterday that were down almost 10 per cent from £5.3m last year to £4.8m for the six months to the end of July 2006.

S&U blamed "more challenging" trading conditions. That's to put it mildly. Increasing bad debt, as Britain's unsecured debt mountain climbs ever higher, has hit even lenders at the top end of the scale, never mind the sub-prime market in which S&U operates. Then there's the intense regulatory spotlight under which doorstep lenders have been operating - the Competition Commission recently suggested the sector has been making persistently excessive profits from their customers.

S&U's managing director, Anthony Coombs, says the Government's "blizzard of initiatives" in this area has "distorted and disturbed relationships with customers". On the other hand, as prime lenders tighten credit controls, lenders such as S&U will be serving a larger market. And further consolidation in the sector is likely - several smaller players have already merged or closed. Hold. "

[jeffian] 05/10/2006 11:01

Errrrrrmmm..........three times covered at the interim, philjeans, but the final is the more substantial divi. They have been paying a maintained divi (31p) out of falling eps for several years, so 2005 cover was 1.82x, 2006 1.74x and, assuming the 2007 full-year figures continue the trend of the interims, that will be down again this year. Not a problem yet but not that comfortable either. I like high yield/low PER shares, but they do need to meet a basic criteria of maintaining/increasing profits, even if growth is low. A downward trend, unless reversed smartish, spells trouble for the share price (viz. Metalrax (MRX) and Cosalt (CSLT)).

Like taylor20, I've always enjoyed Mr. Coombs's 'robust' commentaries on trading and life in general and, whilst the Ossa and Pelion reference made me smile, I couldn't help wishing he spent more time studying how Cattles manage to get this business right rather than studying Greek mythology!

Regards, Ian

[philjeans] 05/10/2006 10:22

Slight dip in earnings but divi held; fantastic yielding safe bet.

Net earnings per share 28.4p - divi 9p - three times covered still!

One to get in your ISA and forget!

[taylor20] 05/10/2006 10:04

One thing that I like about this company is the rare delight of Tony Combe's rants! Great stuff.

"piling Ossa on Pelion" a phrase I've not come across before, for info:

Aloidae, in Greek mythology, two giants who warred against the Olympian gods. Their names were Otus and Ephialtes, and they were sons of Aloeus' wife by Poseidon. They tried to reach heaven to overthrow the gods by piling Mt. Ossa on Mt. Olympus and Mt. Pelion on Mt. Ossa. Some said they were killed by Apollo, others said they killed each other while shooting at a hind sent by Apollo. For their wickedness they were condemned to eternal torture in Tartarus. Thus the phrase "to pile Pelion on Ossa" means to attempt an enormous but fruitless task.

[dd776] 27/9/2006 21:06

int results 5th oct

[philjeans] 14/9/2006 14:34

Nudging up steadily - sleepy stock with few traders but this should go past six quid before results when divi will be increased.

Again.

Little by little - excellent value, if unexciting.

[jeffian] 14/9/2006 12:18

True, but it's quite a substantial discount unless SUS is stuck in a rut. At least CTT shows it can be done.

Regards, Ian

[taylor20] 14/9/2006 11:07

Agreed, I hold both and think the whole sector is undervalued.

However SUS is unlikely to grow earnings or increase the dividend this year (which won't make great headlines), whereas CTT has increased both by 12%, which is perhaps one of the reasons for the disparity?

[jeffian] 14/9/2006 10:13

Good results out today from Cattles bodes well for SUS. CTT valued at 14.9x historic (2005) earnings, maybe 13x current year's earnings, and 4% divi yield while SUS is on histroic PER of only 10.8 and yields 5.3%. Cheap IMHO.

Regards, Ian

[dd776] 06/9/2006 12:48

joined in for the income today . results quite soon.

[jeffian] 24/5/2006 23:30

I've been in these for years. Great divi yield and reasonable capital growth. The only thing to watch out for is that they are incredibly tightly held - probably less than 30% of the total equity available outside the boardroom - so any deal tends to affect the share price disproportionately. A 5000 buy will kick the share price and vice versa. Difficult to trade in volume or emergency! Nice one to tuck away for the long term IMHHO.

Regards, Ian

[philjeans] 24/5/2006 15:55

Well written and extremely thorough article by TW on SUS; confirms all my own positive feelings about this one - if it gets picked up by others it will fly. A few buys and the MMs hoist the share price alarmingly!

Still excellent value with a 5% running yield currently.

[taylor20] 06/4/2006 09:57

I heard it was tipped as a BUY by Whatshot, hopefully the 20p spread will deter the pump and dump brigade.

Mind you the last share I was watching that got tipped by TW and co. was PlusNet [PNT]. Unfortunately they tipped it when it was only a few pence above my target buy price and I lost out on a near 100% rise! Gits.

So glad to have doubled my holding on the dip to 580p last week...

[verynervy] 06/4/2006 09:39

Lets hope so!!

[speed camera] 05/4/2006 19:16

Coombs putting in a bid?