Sthree Share Discussion Threads

[kingsy101] 30/11/2007 13:37

and michael page up 10% on the back of Sthrees RNS

[kingsy101] 30/11/2007 13:34

Strong RNS update after share price battered over recent months yet down 3%. how come?

[midasx] 30/11/2007 09:37

Hardly hidden below layers of fluff! net slightly lower because of investment for the future.


Gross profit up 31%, net profit effected by one off costs not to be repeated in 2008.

The Group will report another year of significant growth. The Board anticipates
gross profit for the Group being not less than #178m for the year, an annual
increase of approximately 31% in line with consensus market expectations and
consistent with continuing strong demand for the Group's services.


During the second half of the year the
Group's net debt position continued to improve and as at close of business
today, 30 November, is expected to have been reduced to nil (3 June 2007: net
debt of #40.6m).



The Group undertook unusually high levels of investment during the year. In
addition the Group had one-off systems related costs (see below) of
approximately #3m. The Board anticipates that as a consequence of these items
the Group's overall conversion ratio will be slightly lower than anticipated,
with a current estimate of circa 29-30% (2006: 30.3%). As a result profit before
tax for the year will be approximately #3m (circa 5%) below consensus estimates.



As costs and investments have now returned to normalised levels the Board
expects the conversion ratio to recover fully in 2008 in line with recent trend
levels.



Investments for the future



2007 was an investment year, in line with our strategy of rolling-out our proven
business model into non-ICT disciplines and further expanding our geographic
footprint. During the second half we accelerated this roll-out and as a
consequence, premises and staff costs for the year (as mentioned above) will be
somewhat higher than anticipated. Some investments planned for early 2008 were
brought forward.



Total office space increased by approximately 40%. This investment involved both
relocating to larger premises in eight established locations as well as the
establishment of five entirely new offices in Amsterdam (2) Rotterdam, Brussels
and Hong Kong.1 In January 2008 the Group will open in Sydney and Dubai2
bringing the total to 52 offices in 10 countries.



The Group continued to invest substantially in increasing sales headcount. Sales
headcount in the UK increased by approximately 40% and outside of the UK by
approximately 80%. Approximately two thirds of the growth in sales headcount was
outside of the Group's UK ICT franchise reflecting the Group's rapid expansion
within newer geographies and sectors.



During the year the Group rolled out major ERP and CRM packages. The ERP
implementation caused some disruption most significantly in the area of cash
collections. In rectifying this situation the Group incurred some one-off costs
including the deployment of temporary finance and technical staff. Staff levels
in this area are now at normal levels.



As a result of the issues experienced with the ERP implementation, the decision
was made that the CRM roll-out should proceed at a slower pace than that
originally planned for. As mentioned above this had some additional one-off cost
implications including the deployment of temporary technical and training staff.
This programme is now complete and staff levels have reduced accordingly.



Total capital expenditure for the year will be approximately #12m (2006: #5.4m)
which the Board regards as not indicative of the level of investment required
for future years (2008 current estimate circa #6m).

[wiganer] 30/11/2007 08:33

You have to look hard, but they've actually buried a profits warning in there:

"As a result profit before
tax for the year will be approximately #3m (circa 5%) below consensus estimates"

Which probably explains why the otherwise bullish RNS hasn't led to a bigger bounce.

Might be decent value, but I'm not sure I want to put my money into a company that issues RNSs such as these, where the bottom line bad news is hidden away below layers of fluff.

[matthewa] 30/11/2007 08:23

Massive buy down here. Could even be a take out target for likes of Addecco. Good Fit here.

[qs9] 30/11/2007 08:21

looks way oversold I agree....

[midasx] 30/11/2007 08:20

Great update ! profits up, debt completely repaid, share buy back programme from to today until February, all positive going forward.

There should be a steady rise from here!

All aboard!

[hornets] 30/11/2007 07:17

good trading statement which contains the following, these should fly today :

"The recent weakness in the Group's share price does not in the Board's view
reflect the underlying quality of SThree's business, particularly given the
Group's increasing exposure to markets with strong structural growth
characteristics."

[midasx] 29/11/2007 09:50

Statement on year end results tomorrow ! share has gone from above £5 to £2.

The results would have to be completely dire to account for this dramatic fall.

Chief financial officer just invested £100K of his golden folding earlier this month at £2.11.

He should know!

Rally tomorrow?

[maximoney1] 22/11/2007 01:14

Fall looks to be overdone and oversold imo.

[whatgoesupcomesdown] 15/11/2007 23:37

don't expect any bear squeeze:

On Loan 1.71 m On Loan as % in Crest 1.31 %
In Crest 131.16 m In Crest as % in Issue 93.68 %
In Issue 140.00 m On Loan as % in Issue 1.22 %

[midasx] 15/11/2007 10:09

Standard Life holding now above 12%, small buys now instead of small sells. If this has been shorted, which I would guess, they are going to want to take their profit before the 30th.

The buying should? start to accelerate from here!

[0rient] 14/11/2007 10:41

It looks like it MidasX...I'll try and find a few k....director buy speaks volumes :-)

[midasx] 14/11/2007 10:39

Update due 30/11, director buy of £100K is this the turning point?

[oscarino] 07/11/2007 13:37

cant believe how low this is going.
hope to get back in soon. when market is less volatile.

[midasx] 30/10/2007 10:25

One would hope/think so ! over 50% fall in share value based solely on sentiment? Few Director buys would help!

[dan_dare] 26/10/2007 11:15

Next year end (to be reported) 2 - Dec - 2007

Interesting to see if there is a run up during November.

[midasx] 24/10/2007 22:13

Still cant work this fall out? Results to end November will lead to big bounce!

Michael Page on forward p/e of 14.8 Sthr forward p/e of 8! got to be a bargain!


Michael Page cheers record third quarter profit
Date: Thursday 04 Oct 2007

LONDON (ShareCast) - Specialist recruitment consultancy Michael Page toasted a record third quarter profit today of £123.4m, 38.5% better than the same period last year.

UK gross profit for the period was up 19.9% at £40.8m, with the business continuing to experience good levels of activity across all disciplines and regions of the country.

Third quarter profit rose 59.7% in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) to £48.4m, was up by 27.8% to £15.5m in Asia Pacific, while the Americas reported profit up 81.1% to £10.6m.

Group headcount increased by more than 450, or 10.5%, during the period.

"Notwithstanding the recent developments in specific banking sectors, we continue to experience strong demand for talent around the globe and are confident in the ongoing prospects for Michael Page," said CEO Steve Ingham.

"'We are particularly pleased with the performance of our French business where the growth rate, which has increased throughout the year, was 41%."

[adyjudge] 17/10/2007 10:52

hi all just found this one on a scan in sharescope, chart wise could be a start of a double bottom pivoting back into an upward trend

[midasx] 17/10/2007 09:58

If there was anything that would materially effect the results going forward, an announcement would have to be made by the company!

As there has been no such announcement, one can only assume the projection of results still holds true. The shares will not be at these levels after the results.

[sirhokko] 16/10/2007 12:11

Don't quite understand this drop either. Read a while back that there were concerns that growth would not continue, but nothing in their results or in the sector suggest that.

Hard to understand why it has fallen nearly 50% - You'd swear they'd issued a profit warning. Am waiting to buy but everytime I think it can't go any lower - it does!!

Would love to know from anyone with ideas on why this fall has occurred.

[midasx] 16/10/2007 11:57

Standard Life increased holding above 10%

[midasx] 11/10/2007 22:15

100K purchase after the bell ! 4X buy to sells and it still goes down!

Positive results from hays ! another £5K tomorrow I think ! this will come good!

Only me interested?