Steppe Cement Share Discussion Threads

[aleman] 21/11/2023 17:18

So volumes were -11% in H1 but +9% in Q3/23 v Q3/22 (itself 2% above Q3/21). The company said at Q3:

"It is pleasing to report increased revenues for the third quarter this year, with improved volumes being driven by adjusted pricing. Despite a slightly smaller domestic cement market so far in 2023, we remain confident that the Company will continue (to) deliver strong sales figures going forwards and look forward to providing updates in due course"

The national Kazakh cement market has now started Q4 at a seasonal record level (just) after a recovery from a series of significant monthly y-o-y falls between August/22 and March/23, aggravated by sharp rate rises between March/22 and January/23 (10.25% to 16.75%) and disruptive winter weather - but now with easing inflation and a couple of interest rate cuts (to 16.0%).

June 30 saw debt at $6.7m and cash at $6.0m. Cash at 10/10/23 was reported as $10.0m so a rise of $4.0m in the first 15 weeks of H2.

Yet the share price continues to fall. I find it utterly baffling, given the strong economy, strong cement market and much improved Q3 sales. I topped up again and very much look forward to the year-end update in January.

[tag57] 21/11/2023 16:41

Sellers must have missed that Aleman.

[aleman] 21/11/2023 15:43

.... and, as I speculated due to the recent improving monthly figures v a year ago, Kazakhstan national cement production squeaked its way to a new October record.

[mattjos] 20/11/2023 20:45

20 September 2023:Directors Dealing

Steppe Cement Limited announces that is has been notified that the family of the Company's Chief Executive Officer, Javier del Ser Pérez, yesterday purchased 160,000 ordinary shares of nil par value each in the capital of the Company ("Ordinary Shares"), on market, at a price of 23.28 pence per share, for a total consideration of £37,250.

11 October 2023:Trading Update for the Third Quarter ended 30 September 2023

"It is pleasing to report increased revenues for the third quarter this year, with improved volumes being driven by adjusted pricing. 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 and look forward to providing updates in due course”.

68.85% of the entire issued equity is now locked up amongst just 4 holders:

Tan Sri Azmi bin Wan Hamzah 31.0%
Family of David Crichton-Watt 16.97%
Apollo Asia (Claire Barnes) 12.34%
Family of Javier Del Ser Perez (CEO) 8.54%

A Further 5.37% is with Firebird spread amongst three of their funds

That leaves max 25.78% of the equity in issuance as the 'free-float'.
There'll be a few sub-3% holders who will likely lock up 5-6% so, now its down to 20% of 219,000,000 = 43.8m shares

I believe Firebird's presence will help stymie any possibility of a low-ball offer from the other four.

They could offer £1 / share for everything they don't already own and it would still be dirt cheap.

However, am not sure that Claire Barnes would wish to lock up Apollo Asia's cash in an unlisted entity for an undetermined length of time.

Some interesting bed-fellows for sure.

I believe we'll see a dividend, per the guidance and that we're at/near the cycle lows with regards the business itself.

[1knocker] 20/11/2023 20:09

Certainly the outside shareholders do not count for much with this company. I was tempted to top up on the dip today, but I am becoming increasingly concerned that this is not a safe investment for PIs. If it is taken private, we won't get much. We have no friends at court.

[andydaf] 20/11/2023 18:14

May be there will be no dividend here this year.The concert party might just decide having a aim listing is just not worth the trouble and cost.Would not suprise me if they take it private,it would cost 100million to build a cement works as big as steppe,they may well decide that as they do not wish to raise capital from the markets it would be better to bin the aim listing just as rotala have done.With that said the dividend rns will probaly come first thing tommorow!GLA

[eggbaconandbubble] 20/11/2023 14:26

Terrible shareholder communication - there might be a reason for remaining stumm, and remember the CEO bought 160,000 19th Sept, the first day out of closed period.

[renewed1] 20/11/2023 10:09

Yes Im afraid this level of respect for there shareholders doesnt inspire much loyalty in my book.

[1knocker] 14/11/2023 11:14

So where is the dividend, or notification of a revision to their their dividend objective?

No dividend was paid or even declared, 'before November' (ie by the end of October), and by my calendar we are now half way through November.

[aleman] 14/11/2023 08:26

For full context:

In response to evolving tax legislation in the jurisdictions of our intermediary holding companies, we have diligently continued the restructuring of the Company's holdings to mitigate the potential risk of withholding tax on the dividend stream. Our efficiency enhancement strategy focuses on both streamlining the structure and minimizing associated costs. In line with this strategic realignment, Steppe Cement has incorporated a wholly-owned subsidiary in the Astana International Financial Center (AIFC) as a future holding company of the Kazakh operating entities. The Kazakh operating subsidiaries will remain 100% owned by Steppe Cement through its subsidiary companies. The current objective is to pay a dividend of 2 to 3 pence per share before November 2023.

[return_of_the_apeman] 14/11/2023 08:07

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

That's not announce a divi or go ex-div, it's pay a divi before November

[1knocker] 08/11/2023 17:22

Or 'no divi' announcement? Either way, i'd like some announcement sooner rather than later.

[rahosi] 06/11/2023 12:04

Last year was Thur Nov10 so guess Thur Nov09 this year

[eggbaconandbubble] 03/11/2023 12:19

Divi announcement?

[king suarez] 03/11/2023 11:47

"101123" ?

[aleman] 03/11/2023 10:14

Kazakhstan services PMI 51.1 from 52.3.

[aleman] 01/11/2023 10:11

Kazakhstan manufacturing PMI 50.3 from 52.6. Still much better than most. Most countries now seem to have been in a manufacturing recession for months on end. (UK PMI indicates manufacturing job losses for 13 consecutive months and production falls for 8 consecutive months.)

[zangdook] 29/10/2023 12:13

Every year they say the results will be out in April, then they publish them in May or June. If they say 'dividend by November' it's probably realistic to add a month or maybe two.
Then again they may have been dithering about whether to pay it at all :-(

[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.