Sthree Share Discussion Threads

[mikehardman] 22/7/2008 06:46

brokers, post interims:
- Landsbanki - upgrade from Hold to Buy
- Investec - reiterate Buy
- Kaupthing - Fair Value
- Panmure - reiterate Sell

and

"The 70% fall in the value of the recruitment specialist SThree recently looks harsh, especially when viewed in the context of yesterday's impressive half- year performance.
SThree has a reputation honed over 20 years and has developed a highly diversified client base coupled with its growing emphasis on expansion into overseas markets. The shares enjoyed a near-15% bounce yesterday, and, underpinned by a 7% yield, look good value. Buy says the Independent."

[mikehardman] 21/7/2008 14:40

batman9 - thanks for chipping in!

[batman9] 21/7/2008 11:06

MH- I still care. Bought in before Christmas and just sitting back waiting for the share to achieve its true value - it was £4.99 last July.

[mikehardman] 21/7/2008 09:09

interims - pretax profit +24%, divi +29%, £3.9m cash (up from $40.6m debt), £18.9m returned by buy-backs;
bit of slack in UK more than offset by international gains;
up a useful further 10% in the bounce at the mo'
but it looks like I'm the only one who cares :(

[mikehardman] 06/6/2008 08:39

tr.stmt - solid/good - £3m net cash (up from £40m net debt) and using cash for programme of buy-backs, businesses doing OK, no significant exposure to bank/etc sector/s, (newer) international ops coming on well;
chart not doing much (apart from the uptrend coming to an end when I bought-in recently!)
might be heading for Golden-X

[mikehardman] 30/5/2008 10:52

further buy-back, ~£200,000 then ~£141,000

[kili2003] 11/4/2008 15:35

It might be this gem from the update:

"As in previous years the Group performance will be weighted significantly towards the second half."

Professional services recruitment is just starting to slow, especially in the UK where S3 is heavily exposed. candidates are keeping their heads down and not applying for jobs unless they have been laid off. The second half of the year doesn't look too promising. Also, during the last recruitment downturn 2001/3 S3 got absolutely caned with perm revenue falling through the floor. Their "seasoned management team" were running it then as well. The only difference was that they were private as they had to pull their float in 2001.

[hornets] 10/4/2008 18:16

Any thoughts on why this one is falling? These look very cheap with pe of around 7

[ncoups] 15/2/2008 08:10

does seem to have made a kickstart.

[borchardt] 10/2/2008 21:31

tipped again in the weekend press - lets hope this kickstarts the shareprice

[pbracken] 05/2/2008 07:53

From today's Inependent:



SThree

Our view: Buy

Share price : 200.75p (+1.5p)

Shares in the recruitment firm SThree have fallen 60 per cent since July. The whole sector has been badly mugged. The worry was that recruitment work would dry up as employers stopped hiring because of the credit crunch.

The market got it wrong. SThree continued to prosper. It also sees no sign of a slowdown this year. Profits for 2007 rose by a quarter to £50m. Fee income grew to £522m, while the dividend payout was up 29 per cent – not the action of a company in distress.

There was an easing of demand for jobs in the credit and risk market, which should come as no surprise, but this represented a small part of the total business.

The bulk of jobs are filled in the information and communications technology area, where pay is around £45,000-££50,000. So SThree, which trades under 12 different brand names, such as Computer Futures and Huxley, is comfortably placed in the middle of the market.

The number of people placed in permanent jobs rose 30 per cent, with fees up nearly 10 per cent. Temporary work, which tends to be more resilient when the economy is sliding into recession and firms are reluctant to hire full-time employees, went up by 20 per cent, with a similar rise in commission.

Overseas work now accounts for a third of the total. Offices were opened in Amsterdam, Brussels and Rotterdam, and a toehold established in Hong Kong. There are now 52 branches in 10 countries.

The company has begun filling other jobs in accountancy, banking, engineering, and pharmaceuticals. All indications during the first two months of the current year – such as the number of people attending interviews – supports its view that this year will be strong.

The shares sell on just over six times forecast earnings for 2008. Buy.

[midasx] 10/1/2008 11:35

Hays Q2 net fees up 27 pct on international growth; confident for FY UPDATE




(updates with share buy-backs, recent share performance)
LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Hays PLC, UK's largest recruitment company,
today posted a 27 pct increase in second-quarter net fees and said that whilst
it is mindful of the current economic uncertainties it is confident in its
outlook for the year.
The company said that strong growth is supported by continued strong demand
in Europe and Asia-Pacific with its International division now making up 40 pct
of group net fees.
Hays' International division has grown organically by 45 pct in the quarter
while UK & Ireland recorded net fee growth of 13 pct.
The company's International business comprises Asia Pacific, which saw
second-quarter growth of 61 pct and Continental Europe and the Rest of the World
with growth of 49 pct.
New chief executive of Hays Alistair Cox said: "Having reviewed the business
in my first few months with Hays, I see good opportunities to strengthen our
market leading position in the UK and I have been impressed by the exceptional
opportunities for rapid and sustainable growth in our International specialist
recruitment markets."
The company said it had continued with its share buy-back programme during
the quarter with 14.9 mln shares being bought at a cost of 19.2 mln stg. As
previously reported, Hays said it would buy back a minimum of 75 mln stg worth
of shares during the year.
Hays shares lost about 30 pct of their value since October 2006 on
uncertainty in the macro economic outlook. They closed Wednesday at 106 pence
valuing the company at 1.52 bln stg.
By Anita Likus: [e-mail]
aml/aml/hjp/aml/hjp

COPYRIGHT

Copyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.
The copying, republication or redistribution of Thomson Financial News Content,
including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior
written consent of Thomson Financial News.

[midasx] 08/1/2008 11:12

Standard Life holding now over 14%

[midasx] 08/1/2008 11:10

Yes things are really tough in the sector!! over 50% share price fall ???????



Michael Page Interna Michael Page Q4 gross profit up 37.6 pct, confident of future prospects UPDATE




(updates with further UK trading detail, employee figures)
LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Michael Page International PLC today posted a
37.6 pct increase in fourth-quarter gross profit on strong demand for candidates
and said although it is mindful of economic uncertainty, it is confident of
future prospects.
Fourth-quarter gross profit rose to 128.2 mln stg while full-year gross
profit increased 37.1 pct to 478.1 mln.
Chief executive Steve Ingham said: "These results are testament to our
organic growth strategy of increasing the diversification of our business both
geographically and by discipline."
Michael Page's UK business has experienced a moderate easing with
fourth-quarter gross profit increasing 15.6 pct, while previous three quarters
saw growth of about 20 pct.
The company said in a statement that during the fourth quarter, save for
some weakness in specific banking sectors, the UK business continued to
experience good levels of activity across all other disciplines and industry
sectors.
Michael Page shares have suffered on economic uncertainty and have lost more
than 7 pct of their value since the start of January as the macro economic
picture is looking increasingly less certain with talk of recession in the US
and a sharp slowdown in the UK, possibly having a negative impact on permanent
placements.
But analysts previously said that Michael Page's expansion in territories
and disciplines offers an element of defensiveness.
CEO Ingham stressed that 61 pct of the company's 2007 gross profit has been
generated outside the UK during the period.
Fourth-quarter gross profit in Europe, Middle East and Africa -- its largest
region representing 41 pct of group gross profit -- rose 55.9 pct over last
year's figure.
In Asia Pacific, fourth-quarter gross profit rose 30.6 pct. Michael Page
said its Asian business has experienced some weaknesses in specific banking
sectors but still recorded fourth-quarter gross profit rise of 26 pct.
Michael Page's Americas business saw a rise of 81.6 pct in fourth-quarter
gross profit.
The international recruitment company, which operates out of 149 offices in
25 countries, said that it had increased its fourth-quarter headcount by 5.8 pct
or 275, for the first time exceeding 5,000 employees.
The company said that it has repurchased and held in trust a further 3.5 mln
shares at a cost of 14.9 mln stg during the fourth quarter. In the year, Michael
Page repurchased and cancelled or held in trust a total of 15.1 mln shares at a
cost of 74.4 mln.
Michael Page shares closed Monday at 248 pence, valuing the company at 803
mln stg.

By Anita Likus: [e-mail]
aml/jlc/aml/jag

COPYRIGHT

Copyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.
The copying, republication or redistribution of Thomson Financial News Content,
including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior
written consent of Thomson Financial News.

[wiganer] 16/12/2007 13:01

Gives a whole new slant to:

"At SThree, our philosophy demands sustained, organic growth. We like to give new opportunities to our own people"

[qs9] 05/12/2007 06:26

And so it proves: more share repurchases should help this to rebound further IMO, probably mopping up institutions who post results are heading for the door....lets see.

[qs9] 02/12/2007 18:20

I believe a c.£3m hit on the figure they produce is not massively material, share buyback IMO will underpin shares from here at the very least. If trading holds up, and yes that is an if on ALL recruitment shares, then this IMO is a decent "in" price....

[midasx] 02/12/2007 17:44

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).

Capital expenditure forcasted to be £6m less in 2008, straight to the bottom line.

These should pick up from here, share buyback programme in place, planned expenditure for 2008 already made in 2007.

Steady rise back to £3, unless someone comes in stake building, then not so steady!

[wiganer] 02/12/2007 10:07

MidasX re post 47
It is unclear why capital investment should depress net profits so materially, unless they have a particularly prudent depreciation policy.

[batman9] 02/12/2007 10:03

With the share price now 195p
Company expanding
£40m debt paid as of 30 Nov
Starting a share buy back
This was published: 24 July 2007 The Independent on Sunday
Edited by Andrew Dewson

SThree

Our view: Buy

Current price: 488.75p

Despite being perhaps the least well known name in recruitment among the mid caps, SThree has kept up the pace with higher profile rivals Robert Walters and Michael Page.

Its shares have risen by more than 125 per cent since listing in late 2005 and if yesterday's interim results are anything to go by there looks to be more upside left.

Although the company has invested heavily in the last 12 months on headcount, information technology systems and new offices, first half pre-tax profits still rose by an impressive 32 per cent to £19.2m, and would have been 54 per cent better had it not been for the investment programme.

SThree provides staff across a wide range of sectors, providing temporary and permanent placements in computing, engineering, telecoms, human resources and pharmaceuticals, even if 80 per cent of its business is still in IT.

It operates out of 48 offices in seven countries and there is scope for more expansion in emerging and developed economies. New offices were opened in Rotterdam and Brussels in the first half and Hong Kong and Dubai will open in the second half.

SThree has moved away from more cyclical temporary recruitment and now makes exactly 50 per cent of its profits from permanent placements. Trading on under 15 times forecast 2008 earnings, SThree is on a discount to its two main UK peers and the recruitment industry looks to be in excellent health. Yesterday's bout of profit taking represents a good buying opportunity.

[kingsy101] 30/11/2007 15:38

Now down 5% despite huge buys