Sthree Share Discussion Threads

[paleje] 26/11/2011 10:45

Thanks chris I knew it was soon, I'd got the divi diaried not the update:) agree the market background. last time 2008 I thought they'd bottomed at 200 but they went lower, don't think it'll sink so far this time, in better shape now.

[chrisb1103] 25/11/2011 18:18

Yes paleje next Fri 2nd Dec is the trading update along with the extra-bumper very welcome divi payment too :-) let's hope that won't be our consolation for a poor update eh. Still have a lot of confidence myself, am rather hoping this is putting a bottom in here, but it all hangs on the wider market doesn't it.

[paleje] 25/11/2011 10:15

HVN updated this morning, trading in line, specifically acknowledging the eurozone problems but confident despite them. I think STHR update next week and from the persistent share buybacks I'd say management are similarly confident even though the market seemingly is not.

[paleje] 16/11/2011 09:20

Cheers Southfly, explains the blue this morning.

[cockneyrebel] 12/11/2011 10:23

yes.

A lot of the Euro story is hype imo (tho obviously serious). Italy has run this sort of level of debt for eternity at around 110% GDP. What the market wants to see is them having a credible plan to get the debt down. I see the BBC ae now trying to move the agenda onto France now that Italy looks like it has peaked in fear - bond vigilantes and hedgefunds trying to call th tune and after they've fired their big Italian cannon they need to try and create something even scarier to spook the market imo.

Just a bit of stability will see busineses investing, growth picking up and hiring picking up. Might not see hiring increase for 3-6 months but if you wait to see the actual news, shares like this will already be factoring it in as they move ahead of the news as ever imo.

Back to £4 next year some time imo - that's my opinion anyway - and possibly a lot higher if growth and employment finally takes off - job numbers getting better in the US.

CR

[paleje] 12/11/2011 08:00

You could be right CR, I thought the euro mess, which doesn't seem to be over, would have kept the share price subdued but relentless buybacks this week in spite of it.

Plenty of cash to weather the storm, make buybacks, maintain divi and still some to spare without affecting expansion plans.

[cockneyrebel] 11/11/2011 16:09

A bounce here imo.

MPI already starting to gallop again - the charts are identical nearly.

CR

[paleje] 27/10/2011 14:56

CR - after the banks of course:)

Germany was a potential fly in the ointment but the DAX is well above the FTSE so far so presumably the Germans are happy with eurozone developments at least for now. Bodes well for STHR although have to say volumes aren't exactly convincing.

[cockneyrebel] 27/10/2011 11:32

Flying today - following MPI who is up over 6 %.

Recruiters are the ones to have on a market bounce imo - high beta.

15.7p divi coming on Dec 2 if you hold on Nov 4th - that must look attractive to punters in the coming week imo.

CR

[gerard j] 18/10/2011 09:29

100,000 shares traded at 262.5p.
Directors buying again?

[gerard j] 17/10/2011 10:34

Not sure about 400p but over 300p round the corner.
Directors have been buying this stock and long term prospect is very positive, plus big div is also an attraction.

[yaesu] 16/10/2011 16:43

First post !!
Bought STHR recently. Like the big divi coming up, and hope to see them back to 400+ someday. What are the chances ?

[gerard j] 16/10/2011 11:24

SThree is a specialist permanent and contract staffing business currently comprised of 4 operating brands. First office opened in 1986 in London and in 1998 Sthree began an international expansion with the launch of their first European office in Brussels. STHR currently have 22 UK offices and 33 non-UK offices. Throughout their 25 years have grown organically and been consistently profitable and cash generative throughout this period. They began trading on the London Stock Exchange on 16 November 2005.
In 2007, STHRE launched a US Level 1 ADR facility (symbol "SERTY"). .

Worldwide presence
At present STHR has 55 offices in 15 countries, circa 2,200 staff and a diverse client base of over 7,500 clients, and are still expanding.

Recommendations Breakdown Source www.morningstar.co.uk
BUY 7
WEAK BUY 1
HOLD 2

for more details go to www.sthree.com

[paleje] 11/10/2011 21:28

I'll second that chris, next update early Dec, hopefully Euroland will be looking more stable by then. Crucial period, MPI just issued a visibilty warning but I think we're more diversified.

[chrisb1103] 11/10/2011 19:13

Strong finish today, good to see some recovery here, hope it continues. Big divi not far away perhaps that's got people's attention.

[paleje] 27/9/2011 17:23

Another 40,000 non exec director purchase....the same director takes up a full time CFO position for another company on Monday but still dipped in.

[paleje] 27/9/2011 14:35

Fair point mctmct, the rns says no current intention to reduce further, have to take a view. I've met Sunil and thought he was a genuine bloke although have to admit 'current' could mean today but not tomorrow.

[mctmct] 27/9/2011 09:26

Is the rest of Sunil's holding likely to be sold?

[paleje] 27/9/2011 07:34

Sunil's departure from the company has long been known, the market collapse has happened around his plans rather than the other way round imo.

[paleje] 26/9/2011 17:19

That's the biggest daily buy-back we've seen so far 270k, apart from the small director purchase earlier. This buying has been virtually constant for the past 4 weeks, I'll add again this week I don't believe the directors would be so reckless with shareholder money if they thought we were on the edge.(only banks do that:))

HVN report on Friday I'll be very keen to hear what they have to say.

[paleje] 16/9/2011 14:04

Apart from endorsing the undervaluation of sthr, that's a nice little compilation of other ideas worth a look.

[shauney2] 16/9/2011 11:15

Little article from motleyfool




Which blue-chips could benefit most when the market takes a turn for the better?

A bear market is an indiscriminating beast.

The shorter and sharper that bear market, the less discriminating it is. This creates opportunity.

The short, sharp summer sales began in earnest around the end of the first week in July. The investing landscape is a very different place just 9½ weeks later. I would say it's more different than the actuality. In other words, the world's collective economic outlook hasn't deteriorated as much as the market has.

Many would disagree. This is what makes a market. And at the moment, the bears have it.

The bulls' turn
At some point, though, it will be the bulls' turn. So I thought it would be worthwhile trying to use a few stats to see which blue-chips have the best chance of breaking quickly out of the traps.

But in so doing, I've also tried to build in a value safety net, looking at yields, earnings, tangible book value, and defensiveness, lest there is more woe yet to come.

I've taken an initial population of the worst fallers from the FTSE 350 since 7 July to the closing prices of 12 September. Of course, the worst fallers may have no bearing on the future. Historical prices have no relevance to today's prices. But the suddenness of the falls may mean that a review of the worst fallers has the best chance of picking up some of the companies most unfairly affected. And we have to start somewhere!

So here's the hall of shame:

1. Thomas Cook (LSE: TCG) -73%

2. Enterprise Inns (LSE: ETI) -48%

3. SThree (LSE: STHR) -46%

4. Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE: RBS) -44%

5. Exillon Energy (LSE: EXI) -43%

6. Barclays (LSE: BARC) -42%

7. Ocado (LSE: OCDO) -41%

8. International Personal Finance (LSE: IPF) -41%

9. TUI Travel (LSE: TT) -40%

10. Essar Energy (LSE: ESSR) -39%

11. International Consolidated Airlines (LSE: IAG) -39%

12. Melrose (LSE: MRO) -39%

13. New World Resources (LSE: NWR) -39%

14. Kofax (LSE: KFX) -39%

15. Premier Foods (LSE: PFD) -39%

16. Logica (LSE: LOG) -37%

17. Cookson (LSE: CKSN) -37%

18. Michael Page International (LSE: MPI) -37%

19. St. Modwen Properties (LSE: SMP) -35%

20. 3i Group (LSE: III) -35%

21. Kesa Electricals (LSE: KESA) -35%

22. Misys (LSE: MSY) -35%

23. Inchcape (LSE: INCH) -34%

24. Lloyds Banking Group (LSE: LLOY) -34%

25. Yule Catto (LSE: YULC) -34%

26. CSR (LSE: CSR) -34%

27. Regus (LSE: RGU) -34%

28. Afren (LSE: AFR) -34%

29. Cable & Wireless Worldwide (LSE: CW.) -34%

30. Aviva (LSE: AV) -34%

Unfair 4% yield requirement
Next, applying the requirement for a 4% dividend, the list is quickly whittled down to 10. This, of course, is unfair. It takes out resource stocks, tech stocks and fast-growers. It also takes companies whose valuations are based more on asset values such as 3i and St. Modwen.

But it's expedient, and if a company pays a dividend which is well-covered by earnings and cash-flow, so the profits and cash-flow figures can be better trusted. Also, in return for lending our capital at risk, we want at least a fair bit more than the High Street banks can give us.

So we're left with Thomas Cook, SThree, Barclays, TUI Travel, Melrose, Logica, Cookson, Kesa, Regus and Aviva.

Low P/E forward & back
A look at price-to-earnings ratios looking both forward and back and stating a requirement for less than 10 in both directions takes out Regus and Melrose.

A couple of the others had the odd blip here and there for which we'll forgive them.

Becher's Brook book value
Next, the biggie; net tangible assets (NTAV). According to my filters, the best (or least worst!) here are Barclays, SThree, Kesa, Cookson and Aviva.

As Aviva has been well-covered many times on the Fool, I won't do so again. Also, with Barclays, I've proven my ability to read this one completely wrong so far. But I believe history will prove the present prices of 148p for Barclays and 296p for Aviva to have been bargains.

SThree
At the current price of 228p, international recruiter SThree has lost half its value since May. The brokers' expectations place the shares on a P/E of nine for next year, whilst NTAV amounts to 47p per share. The company has plenty of cash, and said thing are going well last week.

It has plans to will open around six to seven new offices in 2012, focusing mainly outside the U.K. and Europe.

It looks undervalued to me.

Kesa
At 90.7p, Kesa is priced at 8.9 times next year's anticipated earnings. The third largest electrical retailer in Europe, and owner of Comet, made underlying earnings of 9.5p last year.

But it sees difficult trading ahead as we may imagine, and there isn't enough in the way of tangible assets to tempt me to buy.

Cookson
At 427p, Cookson, a materials science company is priced at just 5.6 times next year's expected earnings. The shares peaked at 727p just four months ago.

Since then, Cookson reported a strong first half and said it said it anticipates a marginally stronger second half performance. The company had net debt of £429m (the current market capitalisation is £1,180m).

The NTAV of 75p per share isn't particularly impressive. But the NAV figure (including intangibles) of 493p per share is impressive to me, given the nature of the company's business.

The anticipated yield is an impressive 5.7% which is well covered by earnings and cash-flow. But Cookson is, of course, sensitive to economic confidence, hence the pessimism in the valuation. The shares were below 120p in the early part of 2009.

This looks more like an opportunity than a threat to me and I will be buying Cookson shares as soon as the Fool's trading rules allow me to.

[paleje] 14/9/2011 09:16

Good spot shauney and adds weight to the deal. Looking to add again but I'll hang on to see where EU debt crisis goes, pressure building with China and US blaming EU disarray.

Tiny blue trades this morning, thought my screen had run out of blue.