Smiths News Share Discussion Threads

[edmundshaw] 17/10/2023 08:51

E-e-e-exellent, e-e-e-excellent! :)

[lord gnome] 17/10/2023 08:37

A nice surprise. Unexpected incremental profits.

[retsius] 17/10/2023 08:17

More good news today!
R.

[royaloak] 06/10/2023 14:23

Catabrit, not sure if you are right or wrong, but good stuff, food for thought, I am long in SNWS.

[andydaf] 05/10/2023 19:21

Nothing wrong with Smiths news,i am betting they wont suffer as much as many others in a slowing economy.Management here seem content to concentrate on running the business in a sensible manner and to the benfit of shareholders.Small caps are unloved but surely thats the time to buy solid deep value companies.GLA

[nicholasblake] 05/10/2023 13:16

@fft Edison has produced note forecasting flat 2024 PBT on slightly reduced revenue.

[norbert colon] 05/10/2023 12:36

Exactly - nothing to see here move along please! I love it that there's no fanfare. Throwing off cash like topsy. Operating profit of near GBP 40m and GBP 90m mcap - I know what side of the trend I am on. :)

[1knocker] 05/10/2023 12:12

Personally, given the nature of the business, and the experience we have had with 'transformative' get rich quick efforts under the previous management, nothing pleases me more than to see a copy and paste of last year's statement.

[norbert colon] 05/10/2023 11:55

I think you are looking at it through the eyes of a trader rather than a part owner of the business who's invested based on a valuation disconnect.

[hillock1] 05/10/2023 11:50

Well said Catabrit

[catabrit] 05/10/2023 11:38

FWIW I tend to get quite nervous when positive updates are met with share price resistance. Just means I am potentially on the wrong side of the trend.

[catabrit] 05/10/2023 11:37

As I am sure you already know, a lot of stocks are in the doldrums and testing new lows, especially small caps. The marginal buyer just isn't there at the minute and a lot of small cap funds are meeting redemptions because of poor performance and that just feeds on itself. We have seen a migration to fixed income and cash and you can hardly blame people when the US is still quite bubbly and safer alternatives *finally* pay you a decent yield with lower probability of loss vs a higher yield in equities which is offset by capital losses. It is a super hard market to navigate and I think many of the old trends, rule books need to be re-examined. We are five years into a lost decade for the FTSE all share and I still believe you mostly take profits when they come. The trend for so much of this stuff is lower and I don't think we've hit anywhere close to peak pessimism yet. I do think this will come good and meanwhile at least you are getting paid to wait. But because of the terminal (secular risk) and the wider risk off mindset, I don't think you can assume mega upside here. So perhaps it is not as inefficiently priced as holders assume. It's a tough one but I think the odds of permanent capital loss are super low if you grind your teeth and hold on.

[hillock1] 05/10/2023 10:47

I am little bit disappointed of the share price performance after the trading update, especially I think the management continues to do a great job But anyway, happy to get the dividend And I still believe the company has room and potential to increase the dividend once the limit is lifted

[norbert colon] 04/10/2023 16:09

Given the very negative macro I'm happy to be parked up here with a overweight PF position as despite the slight pressure on valuation of late, I don't expect investors to get a nasty shock and lose money here. The income is fantastic (and growing) and mgt are seemingly doing a solid job of managing the business.

[cw2000] 04/10/2023 15:41

Just read and compared the Trading Update to the one issued 12 months ago.
Todays was a copy and paste from last year.
Last years was well rec'd in time - hope the same for this one.

[schofi2] 04/10/2023 10:26

With dividend cover now about x4, once the reins are off this share could rocket.

[schofi2] 04/10/2023 10:19

(Sharecast News) - Newspaper and magazine wholesaler Smiths News delivered a "good trading performance" in the second half.
Adjusted operating profits for the 52 weeks ended 26 August were expected to be at least in line with market expectations of £38.3m, reflecting year-on-year growth, while overall revenues increased by 0.2%, driven by strong cover price rises and additional sales from the World Cup and one-off news events.

Smiths also said the securing of sustainable operational efficiencies and an improved contribution from adjacent categories had mitigated the impact of inflation.

As a result, Smiths expects to recommend a final full-year dividend of no less than 2.7p per ordinary share, taking the total dividends for the year up to the full distribution permissible under its current banking facilities.

Chief executive Jonathan Bunting said: "In what has been a challenging period for the wider economy, our strategy of securing operational efficiencies, while enhancing core operations and developing adjacent revenues, has been central to mitigating the impacts of inflation."

[fft] 04/10/2023 09:16

Davidosh,Unfortunately, that's what we're saying when the price was 54-56p. Suspect the market is waiting for some forward guidance after the results are out in November.

[davidosh] 04/10/2023 08:36

If they can pay 4.1p in dividends now whilst restrictions are in place then potentially that could rise to anything up to double that amount per share if they have nothing to invest in or consuming the cash.

So long as the business remains steady the share price should return to well above 60p based on those expectations. I will try to get the company along to the Mello conference (29th and 30th November) once the results are released in early November

[nicholasblake] 04/10/2023 07:48

The debt is into last two years, so a refinancing is on the cards in next six months. Fall in debt levels would suggest a substantial increase in limit on shareholder restrictions, perhaps before next interim.

[norbert colon] 04/10/2023 07:40

What will be a lot better is average net debt:Interims to May 23 - £26.3mFY22 - £44.9mFY21 - £82.6mFY20 - £98.8m Debt free in the next 12 months or so lower interest payments and a likely significantly higher distribution to shareholders.

[this_is_me] 04/10/2023 07:35

It looks like the numbers will be marginally better than last year giving a yield of around 10% and a P/E of around 4 or 5.

Happy to hold for the dividend and might buy more in the near future.

[stevensupertrader] 28/9/2023 14:56

SNWS in capitulation- unloved and unwanted
H1 result ok yet no investors would dare to buy at this share price . Yield about 10% I wonder why? Either no investors want to commit or wait for RNS , no investors want to take a risk in this high interest environment and cost of living maybe newspapers , many people can afford to cut this expenses !

[norbert colon] 27/9/2023 12:23

That's my expectation!