Sig Share Discussion Threads

[elongate] 09/9/2022 11:02

Grafton loss, Shi gain.

Grafton shares tumble as chief executive Gavin Slark reveals exit plans after transformational tenure
* Gavin Slark joined the Dublin-based company from BSS Group 11 years ago
* Among the acquisitions he had overseen while in charge include Leyland SDM
* In recent years, Slark has helped lead Grafton through the Covid-19 pandemic
By HARRY WISE FOR THIS IS MONEY
PUBLISHED: 15:51, 4 July 2022 | UPDATED: 17:04,
Building materials supplier Grafton Group has announced that its boss will stand down at the end of the year after more than a decade in charge.
Gavin Slark joined the Dublin-based firm as chief executive in 2011 following a five-year spell holding the same position at plumbing and heating products distributor BSS Group, where he oversaw its £557.6million sale to Travis Perkins.
During his tenure at Grafton, he has steered the retailer through a dramatic transformation, making numerous acquisitions in the UK and overseas, such as stair contractor Stairbox and decorating retail brand Leyland SDM.
The company also transferred its primary stock market listing from the Irish capital to London, expanded into the Nordic region and sold off its traditional merchanting arm in Britain to Huws Gray.
In recent years, Slark has helped lead the firm through the Covid-19 pandemic, which initially caused some downturn in trade as a result of store closures across the British Isles before recovering very strongly as lockdown restrictions were loosened.
The Sunderland-born boss said the choice to leave was made 'with a heavy heart,' but added he was 'confident that this is the right time for a new CEO to lead the business as Grafton embarks on its next phase of growth and development.
'I remain very committed to the leadership of the business over the next six months and to working towards a smooth transition to my successor.'
Last year, Grafton posted its highest ever annual profits of £341.2million thanks to exceptional performances from its Northern Irish distribution business MacBlair, DIY brand Woodie's and Selco Builders Maintenance.
Alongside this, overall revenue climbed by around a quarter due to prices of building materials in its British Isles distribution segments being driven higher by supply chain disruption.
This happened in tandem with low interest rates, strong mortgage demand, and a temporary stamp duty holiday introduced by the UK Government in July 2020 boosting demand for property renovation and new housebuilding.
Trade has continued to be positive since then, with total revenue between 1 January and 17 April up 15 per cent from the equivalent period last year. The retailer has also announced a share buyback programme worth up to £100million. 
Chairman Michael Roney remarked that Slark 'has made an outstanding contribution to Grafton and provided exceptional leadership over the past eleven years.
Under his stewardship, the group has further extended its geographic footprint and has been transformed into a portfolio of higher quality and higher returning businesses with excellent market positions and strong growth prospects.'
Markets reacted negatively to news of his departure, with Grafton Group shares  tumbling 7.7 per cent to 721.6p on Monday, making it the second-biggest faller on the mid-cap FTSE 250 Index today.
AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould said: 'The sign of a well-respected business leader is when the share price sinks on news of their departure. That’s happened with Grafton after Gavin Slark handed in his notice after 11 years at the top. 
'He’s helped to sharpen the company’s focus and expand geographically, breathing some life into the business, and that’s why investors are disappointed he is now leaving.'

[trinid2] 09/9/2022 08:40

Smelly boy did you pick some up at 30P .................obviously not looool🤣315;🤣㊃5;🌲🌴🌳🌲🥑

[trinid2] 08/9/2022 15:56

Are we poised for a break out?? Descending trend line on the daily looks like it may be breached ...........lets hope it closed above and opens above today/tomz

[trinid2] 08/9/2022 13:10

3 million plus sell against 240000 buys.................crazy or some of those sells are actually buys....and price goes up

[elongate] 08/9/2022 08:55

SIG APPOINTS NEW CHIEF EXECUTIVE
8 Sep 2022 Yorkshire Business

A new chief executive is set to take up the role at listed specialist building products distributor SIG.
Steve Francis will step down in early 2023, after three years in his role, with Gavin Slark set to join the company as his successor on 1 February.
Francis will remain employed by Sheffield-headquartered SIG until 8 March 2023 and he has agreed to remain available as a consultant to the company until 30 April 2023 to complete an orderly handover.
Slark was previously chief executive at Grafton Group for 11 years, and prior to that he held a number of roles with BSS plc, including as CEO from 2006 to 2011.
SIG chairman Andrew Allner said: "Steve joined SIG in February 2020 at a time of huge uncertainty for the company. It is to his tremendous credit that Steve not only steadied the ship but went on to lead SIG out of turnaround and delivered a return to growth. It has been a pleasure to work with Steve, including in the decisions regarding the timing of this leadership transition.
"The board wishes to publicly recognise Steve's significant contribution to SIG and to record its thanks to him."
He added: "Gavin's proven track-record of delivering shareholder value in our industry made him the stand-out candidate to succeed Steve, and the board is delighted that he will be joining us as CEO early next year. We look forward to working with him to continue SIG's growth and development."
Steve Francis said: "I am proud that I will leave SIG as a growing and successful business. It is in a far stronger financial and operational position than it was when I joined early in 2020. I would like to thank my colleagues across the business, from the boardroom to our branches and warehouses, for their dedication and commitment during my tenure.
"I am very pleased that Gavin will be my successor, he is an ideal person to carry forward the company's momentum and to build SIG for the future."
Gavin Slark added: "Following the announcement that I would be stepping down from Grafton, I had anticipated a period without an executive role. However, SIG is a company I have followed for many years, and therefore when the opportunity arose to become its CEO, I was delighted to put my name forward. I was very pleased to see the progress SIG has made under Steve's leadership and I look forward to continuing this journey.
"I am hugely enthusiastic to be taking up the role as SIG's CEO and am excited by the opportunities for the business in the years to come."

[qsmeily456] 07/9/2022 17:21

And the mass media know more about British gas than shi....says it all. Their PR reach is abysmal 😭

[qsmeily456] 07/9/2022 12:43

Shi(t) need to lead and champion transforming the insulation and heat retention of Britain's homes.

Their silence in this regard is deafening when compared to a few energy Companies PR re the cost of energy crisis.

If they cannot do it now they never will or change the top team.....🤣🐘🐘

[elongate] 07/9/2022 10:21

7th. September 2022

SIG UK has published its first sustainability report detailing the company’s commitment to achieving net-zero carbon by 2035 after beginning its sustainability journey a year ago.
The document Sustainability Report 2021 Commencing our journey 2022-2025 explains how SIG intends to continue its sustainability journey into the future in three strategic stages:
* Years 1-3: Commencing the Journey will involve the practical implementation of key initiatives
* Years 4-7: Advancing the Journey involve enhancements and improvements to existing sustainability programmes
* Years 8-10: Completing the Journey will see the last corrective and mitigating actions to achieve the targeted net-zero position.
As Philip Johns, SIG UK managing director outlines in his forward, SIG holds a key position at the centre of the supply chain. “This provides us with a prime vantage point from which to work with both suppliers and customers to deliver a defined sustainable product range that meets and exceeds environmental standards.” 
In 2021, SIG UK began its sustainability journey in earnest. Early successes included a 52% reduction in operational carbon footprint compared with its emissions level in 2010; enhanced health and safety capability and know-how with new appointments to key positions; and the establishment of a CEO-led steering group to support the ESG agenda.
In addition, in January 2022 SIG became a partner of the Supply Chain Sustainability School to help raise awareness of sustainable building practices both internally and with its supply chain. Afterwards, in February 2022, SIG UK was named CO2nstructZero Business Champion by the Construction Leadership Council in recognition of the company’s work and commitments to reaching net zero goals.

[qsmeily456] 05/9/2022 17:12

And there she blows 🤣🩳👍

QsmeIly456

22 Aug '22 - 13:22 - 3648 of 3650  Edit

0  0 2

30p anyone 🛩💥🌲🌳7796;🎄Ԑ51;🩳🤣;

[trinid2] 23/8/2022 13:51

Am sure you got plenty of that to spare🤣

[qsmeily456] 22/8/2022 17:23

The only thing missing from this share is the T 🤣

[qsmeily456] 22/8/2022 13:22

30p anyone 🛩💥🌲🌳7796;🎄Ԑ51;🩳🤣;

[cerrito] 10/8/2022 13:29

I listened to the Q&A of yesterday 's webinar.
I was doing chores at the time co could not give it my full attention and impressed by the CEO' s management philosophy.

[bobbybullet] 10/8/2022 08:05

Recovery plan marching on. Debt is not a problem as long as it is accretive in ROIC and with 3%+ margins achieved earlier than plan odds of a substantial profit margin in the medium term has increased substantially.

[elongate] 09/8/2022 17:01

Investors Chronicle has a misjudged hand in that.

[yorkie19] 09/8/2022 16:55

And yet....

Despite solid results the share price is back in the 32s. Why does nobody else see this "potential"?

[elongate] 09/8/2022 16:41

That article by Investor’s Chronicle says,

‘ Although a near-doubling of adjusted cash profit meant its leverage ratio fell to 3.0 times, from 3.9 times at the end of last year, the danger for investors is that as interest rates continue to tick higher, the additional earnings the company generates will once again be eaten up by debt servicing. Hold.
Last IC View: Hold, 39.8p,11 Mar,2022’

Were that ‘danger’ a possibility, I would expect it to have been listed as a ‘principal risk and uncertainty’, but in any event it appears to be incorrect, as Shi says,

‘The Group's liquidity position remained solid throughout H1 2022 with the capital structure comprising €300m 5.25% fixed rate senior secured notes and an RCF of £50m. These mature/expire in November 2026 and May 2026 respectively. The senior secured notes are subject to incurrence-based covenants, and the RCF has a leverage maintenance covenant which only applies if the facility is over 40% drawn at a quarter end reporting date. The RCF was undrawn throughout H1 2022.’

When the time comes, Shi will refinance. In the meantime, with foresight, it took the opportunity to ‘fix’ on refinancing in November last ahead of time, and at improved rates to previously.

[zho] 09/8/2022 15:29

Insulation specialist SIG thickens margin

Underlying operating margin widens to 3.1 per cent, from 1.3 per cent a year earlier

[elongate] 09/8/2022 10:19

Summary

GROWTH STRATEGY BEARING FRUIT AT SIG
9 Aug 2022 Yorkshire Business

SIG has reported a strong set of interim results with the listed specialist building products distributor hailing the impact of its growth strategy.
In the six months to 30 June 2022, underlying revenue at SIG rose from £1.1bn to £1.4bn, driven by the effective implementation of the company's Return to Growth strategy as well as the inflationary tailwind.  
Profitability continued to improve in the half, with underlying operating profit of £42.5m, up from £13.9m, and statutory operating profit climbing from £8m to £39.8m.
After the period end in July, SIG swooped for the immediately accretive acquisitions of Miers Construction Products in UK and Thermodämm in Germany.
SIG launched its Return to Growth strategy two years ago in response to a period of share loss and profit decline that pre-dated Covid. The strategy was designed to return SIG to 3 per cent group operating margin in two to three years, with a longer term goal of 5 per cent.
The business said it was "delivering on our plan ahead of expectations", having transformed our customer engagement, market share, profitability, financing, leadership bench strength, industry reputation and commitment to sustainability.
Chief executive Steve Francis said: "SIG is a structurally different business to two years ago - more specialist, more local, more productive, more flexible. Over this time, we have delivered above market performance and enabled a rapid return to robust profitability, along with a rhythm of steady progress. The first half of 2022 in particular saw significantly stronger growth than originally planned, which resulted in margin improvement across our operations.
"SIG today is resilient, flexible and sustainable: 80per cent of our products serve the insulation and building energy efficiency markets. We are by far the largest independent supplier in Europe of these products, which are needed now more than ever.
"Our strong market position, growth strategy and decentralised model will continue to enable us to navigate the pricing environment well and drive market share gains.
"In addition, our scale, diversification and resilience in uncertain markets mean that we are confident both in delivering the board's expectations for the year and in our growth path to 5 per cent operating margin in the medium term."

[elongate] 09/8/2022 09:03

The point is the recovery plan post recapitalisation ( and refinancing ) is proving effective.

‘We are delivering on our plan ahead of expectations, having transformed our customer engagement, market share, profitability, financing, leadership bench strength, industry reputation and commitment to sustainability. Since the start of Return to Growth, every business has gained share and improved margin (except Benelux, which represents four percent of Group sales), becoming more valuable to our customers and suppliers as a result.’

[cerrito] 09/8/2022 08:44

Pretty reassuring statement and I can go back to sleep with my holding here.
Saw the comment on some softness in the Repair, Maintenance and Improve market but did not get clarity as to how they see the future.. No doubt this will come out in the webinar, which I hope I will organize myself to watch

[zho] 05/8/2022 09:38

At the end of April SHI reported that "Group sales were 25% up on 2021 for the quarter to 31 March on a like for like ("LFL") basis. This represented a performance well ahead of previous expectations, with this momentum continuing into the month of April to date."

Towards the end of June, KGP reported a record H1 (with trading profits expected to be up 26% compared to 2021) but added that “We have seen the mood in most end markets deteriorate over the last two months with order intake volume down significantly on the May and June period in 2021 …”

So it's reasonable to expect a broadly similar story when SHI report H1 results next week.

[qsmeily456] 05/8/2022 08:53

The Bank of England, raising rates by 50bps yesterday, forecast a squeeze in living standards and a recession lasting five quarters, along with a rise in UK inflation to a remarkable 13%

[qsmeily456] 05/8/2022 08:31

Got 30p re test written all over it..🩳㊥1;🛩💥🌴🎄🌲🌳9315;

Recession round the corner with rising interest rates