S & U Share Discussion Threads

[ydderf] 14/12/2007 14:19

Trouble is 'nice 7% yield' will seem not worth holding for, when most of the competitor investments are on low single figure p/es and 30% of their highs - see for example PDG and SUY - new candidates are being added weekly.......

[chrismcglone] 06/12/2007 21:55

Agree. Quite happy with the interim management statement today. The ship is steady as she goes....as usual.

Boring but predictable. Nice 7% yield at the current price.

Would expect to see a period of steady rising share price from here. A lot of the worry has subsided from the banking/financial sector for the time being with rises across the board. Especially after today's statement from RBS, the interest rate cut and the U.S expected to follow.

Back to £6 by March?

[taylor20] 06/12/2007 09:53

Having halved my holding in May, happy to pick up a few here, conservative target price 550p. Meanwhile those divi's keep rolling in.

[its the oxman] 06/11/2007 09:33

sold for a small profit a while back - not tempted to buy back in though for the reasons others have stated re sp, growth, boring etc- maybe i'm just more of a risk taker but my money went into Barclays c.500p yesterday - just as good a yield and crucially far better growth prospects in my view and hopefully not too risky from here (although if they are hiding something i guess i could end up eating my words on that). gl all.

[chrismcglone] 04/10/2007 21:41

Agree. As the wider credit crunch hits the big market over the next couple of years i fully expect S&U's market share to grow.

This is never going to be an exciting stock to own but i can sleep soundly knowing there are few nasty surprises waiting round the corner.

Slow, boring and predictable. Just what the doctor ordered.

[philjeans] 04/10/2007 12:10

Back to growth - underlying business and share price - for SUS.

Superb lock away in your ISA.

[chrismcglone] 01/10/2007 00:39

Small article in the weekend FT.

[chrismcglone] 27/9/2007 17:01

Just logged on PUGUGLY and haven't yet read the report. Any resemblance purely coincidental. Just a stab at what i think may happen.

I think we are all bound to be tarred with the same brush for the time being. The market does not tend to discriminate when a sector is being bashed. One for all and all for one.

I only hold 1000 shares of these but i will be very tempted to add some more if we drop further. The business model has been very predictable and transparent through thick and thin in the past and i don't see a great deal of difference going forward.

A small worry is that the dividend will continue to grow but eat into earnings that are static at best. The current management will be keen to maintain that divie as they are the biggest beneficiaries.

Going back to my previous post however, i think the current worries in the 'big' market may actually open the way for a resumption in growth for the small loan market. It's on the fence at the moment but then that's where investing puts you more often than not.

[dd776] 27/9/2007 11:01

a problem at one particular part of the business has been resposible for the shortfall but has been said to be resolved now . no comment on the margins being reduced and could see it benifit from the credit crunch on people. so growth could come about

[pugugly] 27/9/2007 08:48

Interims confirmed my worries about growth. Revene up but bottom line down. eps shows a period on period decline of -3.17%. While interim dividend remains the same the justifiable (imo) caution expressed in the statement could lead to a stagnating or declining share price


chrismcglone:. Agree with all you say. Are you sure you are not a member of management? Your 3rd paragaph is virtually the same as managments comments in today's interims !!

[pugugly] 26/9/2007 15:08

Be interesting to see interims - Major investment difficulty here is that gross yield is only about 6.4% (Refs at £5) 5 year share price growth minimal 03 High 550- low 340. 05 High 655p and from thereon largely down hill. OK yield is interesing but with minimal growth and probable increase in long term interest rates which (if prognosis comes to pass) will make current yield look less attractive. Look at rates currently being offered for short term bonds 6.5% plus and over 6% on 1 month money market deposits.

Any other views?

Not trying to be negative as the Coombs have a nice business here - but I cannot see the growth and ntav is only 342p (refs Sept 07)..

Other views..

[taylor20] 26/9/2007 08:45

Interims tomorrow, concerns about its capital structure weighing on the share price I assume.

[cwa1] 03/9/2007 13:52

Modest signs of life...

[chrismcglone] 16/8/2007 18:45

It is at times like this i am glad i have some of my dosh in a company like this.

Boring old stock.

[chrismcglone] 06/8/2007 15:48

Simply being pulled down with anything else remotely connected to lending money for the time being.

Would appear to be as good a time as any to follow management if anyone is thinking of adding.

[philjeans] 06/8/2007 15:17

Small buy by director; always encouraging.

Bottom of the normal trading range currently.

[chrismcglone] 26/7/2007 21:01

The yield also gets very juicy at these levels.

[chrismcglone] 26/7/2007 20:59

Will probably add a few philjeans once things settle down.

Looking at the charts as suggested however, it never seems to stay down for too long and it only takes a couple of small buys to move it 20 or 30 points.

[philjeans] 26/7/2007 18:46

Pull up the long term chart and you'll see this quite normal for SUS; very large swings over the year.

Buy the dips - no worries.

[philjeans] 26/7/2007 18:08

Incorrect actually; the sub prime market is basically mortgage lending to poor credit risk customers.

That means borrowing hundreds of thousands of pounds per case and borrowing against a property asset, which is falling badly in the US and Australia for example, whilst the borrowing rate has increased significantly.

S & U lends thousand of very small ticket loans (average case £300) unsecured and the interest rates are up to 300% pa. Fixed.

S & U build in risk protection by prudent risk assessment and sky high rates, together with weekly credit collections.

Different market entirely.

[chrismcglone] 26/7/2007 17:06

I think you are right jeffian. We are being pulled down by the sub prime horror stories being put around ( had anyone even heard of sub-prime this time last year?).

However, if anything, i think even more people could be driven toward the S&U's/ Cattles etc if the wider credit market implodes.

I am not too concerned though. People will always want to borrow money, regardless.

[jeffian] 26/7/2007 14:16

Never mind mortgages. These guys' operations are all 'sub-prime' (otherwise their customers would simply go to the bank). Rightly or wrongly, if the market worries about a credit squeeze, they're all going to be tarred with the same brush.

Regards, Ian

[taylor20] 26/7/2007 09:56

They've suspended their subprime mortgage operation, which doesn't actually contribute to profits anyway, so not sure there is any need for concern.

[jeffian] 25/7/2007 23:12

chris,

I don't know if you've noticed, but US is about to implode under the impact of the 'secondary lending' market where poor quality credit customers are reneging on their loans. This is exactly the market served by SUS, Cattles, etc. in the UK. Maybe the two are linked?

Regards, Ian