Steppe Cement Share Discussion Threads

[aleman] 29/10/2023 10:24

They did not quite say "expected", although it amounts to very similar.

The current objective is to pay a dividend of 2 to 3 pence per share before November 2023.

[elpirata] 29/10/2023 10:20

whats the relevance to stcm wilo?

[wilo101] 29/10/2023 09:26

see the news as to Arcelor Mittal and their nearby assets, hxxps://corporate.arcelormittal.com/media/press-releases/statement-regarding-tragic-accident-in-kazakhstan

[1knocker] 29/10/2023 09:19

I thought the company said it 'expected' to pay a dividend of between 2 and 3p 'by November'?

I can't see that an extra couple of weeks will make much difference to the numbers, so a dividend ought at least to have been declared, or an update issued saying that no dividend will be paid, by now.

I have no issues with the company reducing or pulling the dividend to keep expensive debt to a minimum, but shareholders are entitled to be told when the company's expectations /intentions change.

[catabrit] 26/10/2023 08:01

Probably one of the few places where management buying and selling matters. So on that note I have followed the CEO and bought some for the dividend. Not expecting much out of this but curious to see how it fares.

[eggbaconandbubble] 25/10/2023 19:47

7.00am! I will have run a couple of back to back marathons by then!!!

[andydaf] 25/10/2023 19:11

I do not expect a dividend announcement until middle of november when they know exactly what they can afford to pay.At the agm they were at pains to state that they did not want to borrow at todays interest rates.I am hoping for 2.5p myself but time will tell.With that said with my track record of predictions this year i had better get up at seven in the morning and look out for a dividend rns!GLA

[hairflick] 24/10/2023 20:12

Last year was as inconsistent as it gets with the extended delay in determining how and if the dividend could be paid out with tax considerations. Previous years to that saw more than one dividend paid out in a year so I’m damned if I can see any consistency.

[wilo101] 24/10/2023 10:51

will be about the same date as last year, company is always consistent

[zangdook] 24/10/2023 10:43

They do have a consistent history of being late with announcements.

[eggbaconandbubble] 24/10/2023 09:22

Maybe, just maybe they are holding out on the divi announcement to be sure that they are able to give a better divi than expected.

Ever the optimist!!!

[aleman] 24/10/2023 08:28

Cement Production in Kazakhstan decreased to 1235.20 Thousands of Tonnes in September from 1326 Thousands of Tonnes in August of 2023.

That's a strong number for September, well above 2022 but slightly shy of 2021's record. It's the third consecutive month of annual rises and looking like there could be a monthly record soon, weather permitting.

The recent national Kazakh cement trend is looking strong. Where's that dividend news?

[aleman] 18/10/2023 10:08

Big jump in Kazahstan industrial output in September. Last winter's slowdown looks long gone.


Industrial production in Kazakhstan increased 9.4% year-on-year in September 2023, accelerating from a 5.4% rise in the previous month, led by mining and quarrying rising to 14% from 8%. Considering the January to September period, production surged by an annual 4.4%.

[wilo101] 12/10/2023 09:40

Nothing to worry about, there are very few shares in public hands

[aleman] 12/10/2023 09:29

National numbers still improving.

The annual inflation rate in Kazakhstan eased to a 19-month low of 11.8% in September 2023, from 13.1% in the previous month, as food inflation advanced the least since February last year (11.4% vs 12.4% in August).

The National Bank of Kazakhstan decided to reduce its benchmark interest rate by 50 bps to 16% during its meeting on October 6th following a 25 bps cut in August.

[tdickit68] 12/10/2023 09:18

A lot of off book trades recently including 3 totalling 1.5 million today at 8.28 at around 26-27p range

[danmart2] 11/10/2023 15:55

It would not be wise to issue a dividend at this stage, they need to build the book and no doubt will have to go through a tough winter

[aleman] 11/10/2023 15:50

How do you expect them to calculate margins in 11 days? They had extra maintenance costs in H1 on line 5. With high volume in Q3, it looks like they won't have had chance to do much maintenance.

[scrwal] 11/10/2023 14:03

They sidestepped the issue of margins - not that a Q3 update would necessarily show that but given the interims had a 26% gross margin compared to 46% for the previous interims more emphasis should have been placed on reporting an improved margin unless it has worsened - the market may take the view that it has worsened and this will cause the price to drift downwards and the share may well take a bigger xd hit.

[wilo101] 11/10/2023 12:25

Nothing to be so depressed and negative about at all, oh yeh of little faith and knowledge, the numbers are not too bad at all.

[aleman] 11/10/2023 12:16

if the domestic market continues to contract.

It's not contracting. Nationally, summer volume has been above 2022 and August nearly up to 2021's record. The trend is such that I'm wondering if September's national volume will be a new September record when we get it. Q4 will no doubt be more weather sensitive but should still be up on a disrupted 2022. All the national general economic numbers are currently good and population demographics suggest good growth to come.

Despite a slightly smaller domestic cement market so far in 2023, we remain confident that the Company will continue deliver strong sales figures going forwards

[1knocker] 11/10/2023 11:19

Contracting market and price reductions (despite increasing production costs) to more or less maintain existing market share = steeply reducing profit. Notable that there are numerous references to 'revenue' but not to profit margins. The share price could fall plenty further yet, especially if the domestic market continues to contract.

2p now looks to be the very best we can hope for by way of a dividend, and it looks increasingly unlikely that it will be paid this month, Quite likely we will get 2p, as companies do not like fall short of guidance, but the dividend outlook thereafter is pretty bleak.

Not a time to buy or top up. Wait at least until after the ex div date, and probably well into next year, perhaps longer, IMO.Very tempted to take the hit and sell in the expectation of a much lower re-entry price down the line.

[eggbaconandbubble] 11/10/2023 10:43

Aren't the directors in a closed period?

[aleman] 11/10/2023 10:25

H1 KZT16702m -16%
Q3 KZT14116m +8%

That's quite a turnaround. (Add these together and there is a slight discrepancy with reported 9 months of KZT31093m. I think electricity sales to the grid account for occasional slight variance in some numbers?)

The national month to month trend looked to still be improving up to August so one would hope that the rest of the year be set fair even if the shares don't think so at the moment.

[lloydypool] 11/10/2023 10:20

Low volume of panic sells pushed the price down, I wouldn't be surprised if we see a modest director buy again in the next few days as they know how cheap the shares are & will know if they are going to run with a 2p divi (which I think is likely).