Smith (ds) Share Discussion Threads

[discodave4] 13/6/2019 14:17

"Earnings per share were impacted in the period by the equity rights issue on 25 July 2018".

[discodave4] 13/6/2019 13:28

Just a quick question, adjusted eps was 35.5p last year so how does 33.3p represent an 8% increase?.Tempted with these as been on my watch list for a while.Thanks

[heapos] 13/6/2019 13:16

I only bought x7 stocks last December.
Gocompare
Amazon
DS Smith
Hays
RBS
Phoenix.
Netflix.
With the intention of doing nothing with them but watch over the course of 12 months from purchase and bank the dividends for those that pay one. Amazon and Netflix don't.
I'm not able to day trade or have the intellect to do so when compared to the financial institutions.
Ps I'm not putting this info on here to "punt" any of the stocks I bought into - but because you guys on here, all seem to know a lot more than I do - so thanks to all who have commented and offered advice. Really appreciated and very helpful.
Cheers.

[1nf3rn0] 13/6/2019 13:07

If you're just starting off, from my own experience, I'd suggest not spreading yourself too thinly across many individual company stocks, especially if you are tempted to trade them ( 1. It's a lot to manage, 2. Fees quickly start to eat away at profits).What works for me is a core super long term holding of boring index trackers and funds which i continually add to, covering global developed, emerging markets and smaller companies (maybe 75% / 80% of portfolio and more heavily weighted to the former). Around that I invest in more speculative / higher risk, by which I mean picking individual shares such as DS Smith. This is the more "fun" element for me, but of course open to risk of bad judgement calls. The core holding however ensures that even on a bad year for my own personal stock picking I shouldn't underperform the market too horrendously. I'm sure others have alternative (and better) strategies, but I think something like this will avoid you getting burnt too badly as a newbie.

[heapos] 13/6/2019 12:49

Thanks for the advice GabsterX. Really do appreciate the input. I bought into this lot for the longterm due to the following.
The long term dividend.
The rise of e-commerce and the use of packaging
Companies want to use packaging companies who recycle and environmental benefits.
Topped up a lot on the sale of the plastics business earlier in the year.
They have the contract with Amazon who I also bought into last year on the dip before Xmas.
Will see if it's played out well over the next couple of years or so.

[heapos] 13/6/2019 12:46

Thanks for the advice GabsterX. Really do appreciate the input. I bought into this lot for the longterm due to the following.
The long term dividend.
The rise of e-commerce and the use of packaging
Companies want to use packaging companies who recycle and environmental benefits.
Topped up a lot on the sale of the plastics business earlier in the year.
They have the contract with Amazon who I also bought into last year on the dip before Xmas.
Will see if it's played out well over the next couple of years or so.

[jeffian] 13/6/2019 12:45

Hear hear! It's a hard lesson to learn as a newbie - where the tendency is to dabble too much and try to micro-manage their portfolio - but Masterly Inactivity is the long-term investor's friend.

[gabsterx] 13/6/2019 12:31

Don't try being too clever trading on a short term basis, you're competing against big institutions with insane computing power, resources and algorithms that blindly buy and sell. They will eat you alive.

Buy on sound fundamentals, add more on short term dips and enjoy the passive income from increasing dividends.

[heapos] 13/6/2019 12:08

Thanks for the reply. I'm at break even here after holding for 6 months - so I feel that for me, with the 11p final dividend, i'll be in the black so worth holding for me. I bought in because I wanted a decent dividend for the bulk of my portfolio. Steep learning curve as a novice though. Having watched "The Big Short" too last night, I realise how difficult it is to predict anything these days lol

[lord gnome] 13/6/2019 12:04

That depends on why you invested in the first place, Heapos. The company is sound with good prospects and a good yield. I did originally buy these as a LTBH recovery play with a decent and growing dividend, but given the political turmoil to come I have been selling out of some stocks where opportune, in order to garner a bit of cash. Today was an opportunity to sell out of SMDS at a profit when my holding had been under the water having bought at 350.

[heapos] 13/6/2019 11:55

@lord gnome - as a novice trader here, is the final dividend a reason to hold or to sell?

[gabsterx] 13/6/2019 11:08

Looking at these short term fluctuations would drive anyone insane. Just calculate what YOU think the company is worth (DCF or GGM work well), divide by the number of shares and set this as your price target to buy around. Anything else is just noise.

[lord gnome] 13/6/2019 11:01

I'm out. Volatile is the right word, Inf3rno. Probable trading sell and I will look to buy back if/when they fall back again.

[1nf3rn0] 13/6/2019 10:51

The market can't make its mind up on these can it! Very volatile today for a FTSE 100 stock. Personally thought the results were good and happy to continue holding / adding

[buyzantium] 13/6/2019 10:48

Getting a bit nippy round the knees, time get those long trousers on !

[lord gnome] 13/6/2019 10:30

Woosh! Shorts closing by any chance?

[flyinggogo] 13/6/2019 10:29

This now seems like a more appropraire share price response

[broadwood] 13/6/2019 10:00

- Packaging firm DS Smith reported a 35% increase in pre-tax profit for the 12 months to 30 April although organic corrugated box volume growth did ease in the second half after a strong first half

The company will pay a final dividend of 11p, taking the total for the 12-month period to 16.2p, up 13% year-on-year.

A record return on sales margin of 10.2%, ahead of its 8% to 10% targeted range, saw the medium-term target increased to 10% to 12%.

CEO Miles Roberts commented: 'This strong set of results from DS Smith demonstrates the company's growing scale and strategic progress in key markets. We are continuing to gain market share throughout Europe, particularly among more resilient FMCG customers, and our US business is performing well following our recent acquisition there.

'While volatility in the macro-economic environment and input costs remains, our focus on pricing discipline, operating efficiencies and cash flows supports our expectations of further good progress in the coming year.'

[gabsterx] 13/6/2019 09:54

hxxps://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/companies/news/222048/ds-smith-slips-as-it-reiterates-ongoing-macro-uncertainty-in-final-results-222048.html

[gabsterx] 13/6/2019 09:53

DS Smith slips as it reiterates ongoing macro uncertainty in final results

[...]

So let's ignore all the good concrete results and nit-pick on speculative events.

[emeraldzebra] 13/6/2019 09:31

Totally fail to see why this gets trampled all the time, and not being bought more aggressively. Great results, low rating etc etc - complete mystery.....

[97peter] 13/6/2019 09:16

Wow market drops by 10p on the great news, it must be shorters.

[dr_smith] 13/6/2019 08:29

Given green issues, some plastics are hard to replace, given strength and properties for food/liquid spill, but you would expect much middle ground where paper based can be used.
I am therefore surprised the outlook is OK but no bullish enthusiasm.
I would expect a massive shift to greener products/packaging to reveal itself as massive paper demand increases, the biggest increases in decades.

My gut tells me CSR for packaging users is more lip service, a few twigs planted on a rolling hillside for a glossy photo in the annual reports, nothing more.

Buyzantium.
I had the same thought getting out of bed seeing my MTB shorts from about 3 weeks ago.