Stm Share Discussion Threads

[jimtech] 16/9/2021 16:16

That's why I am holding. Low risk and reliable. Undervalued but not going to change the world. Not convinced about acquisition plans as they are proposing buying small companies which won't make a huge difference. More upside if it was taken over.

[baner] 15/9/2021 12:32

Everything is relative, Jim. I believe this company could well earn £4m after tax in 2-3 years time, which at a PE of say 15 would generate a share price of 100p. Maybe this is uninspiring however i believe this represent a sound risk/reward, not the least as the downside seems to be limited and there is a good dividend yield.

[jimtech] 15/9/2021 12:02

Nothing new in results. Quite uninspiring.

[baner] 14/9/2021 21:41

Total agreement Arthur! They will be taken over unless the shares start to move north soon. Very large proportion of recurring income could be plugged into larger infrastructure and generate good profits. Further: if they could invest their net cash in for example their own Office building, profits would increase by £1m+ - at very little if any risk. They should acquire a vacated site on the cheap, move in themselves and Woops the value will increase as well as the results going forward. As simple as that.

[arthur_lame_stocks] 14/9/2021 14:01

No one got any comments on the results? I thought they were adequate rather than actually good but i'll continue to hold and rake in the very healthy yield.

I would like to see 50p before I sell these.

[arthur_lame_stocks] 02/9/2021 12:01

I reckon these are worth 50p easily.

[smithie6] 13/8/2021 13:23

they did go a bit crazy 2-4 years ago with taking on additional bosses/managers, but I guess that that was in response to the regulatory problems so there wasn't much choice

now unwinding that a little by the look of it

----

UK pension section seems to be doing ok now...& better than it was

but yes, not yet firing on all 8 cylinders....while surely the share price would be much higher if they were

it does look cheap

[lundun42] 13/8/2021 13:06

So a pretty mediocre update from STM yesterday. It seems the experiment with a board level COO hasn't lasted long but at least an acknowledgement that they need to focus on driving up levels of new business.

[camerongd53] 01/7/2021 15:51

STM was included in the Investors Chronicle'cheap small cap growth Plays' portfolio which has shown regular outperformance over many years.
Despite this the share price dropped yesterday. Share price unloved until there is good news

[smithie6] 29/6/2021 21:45

"the payment of a final dividend of 0.85p per share"

is due on 30th June

:-)

[smithie6] 29/5/2021 18:12

ah
if a buyer of STM (if that were to happen) were to use STMs software then that would give them an extra annual cost saving, instead of paying to licence external software

& the value of the development of the s.w. would probably be recouped in the sale price.

[smithie6] 27/5/2021 16:29

interesting

although I think that STM will make acquisition(s) in 2021, as the MD stated in the recent presentation.

& imo the sale of 2 companies was to produce cash to help fund acquisition(s)

Release of regulatory cash if STM is bought. Not 100% true. All depends on the acquisition price, & it would be the acquisition cash that shareholders would receive, not the regulatory cash; but yes any acquisition price would, of course, very much take in to account the cash obtained.
The acquirer would probably want some of that regulatory cash, to at least cover the regulations on the acquisition day, but one assumes that the amount of reqd regulatory cash would then reduce over time as the acquirer reduced the total staff & operating costs.

(for some assets the amount of regulatory cash reqd. is related to the value of the assets held, so no cash would be released for that part of an acquisition of STM, imo)

-----

whatever happens I think that all the dirs & ex-dirs & related parties (who own a fair % of STM) would want the share price of STM to be higher if it were to be acquired by someone.
The MD has just seen 3 IT projects go live, so I'm sure he will want those to produce some results/savings rather than throw in the towel one week later. & with better IT & with auto enrollment the co. has much better capabilities now to grow, 'if' it can generate the new client applications or via acquisitions.

[camerongd53] 27/5/2021 11:56

There has been much talk of STM being a consolidator in the fragmented SIPP market. If STM pursue this, I am happy if it is for the benefit of the share price as STM has been strategically restructured to achieve this
With the streamlining of the group and disposal of non-core activities. I ask is STM being set up to be consolidated rather than as a consolidator.
The FD Therese Neish is leaving and has a shareholding of approx. 500k. Selling out for up to 100p per share would be very convenient for her finances!! I am sure the other shareholders would accept such an offer. Such an offer would release the statutory capital balances to current shareholders. The cash balances cannot be distributed as dividends for operational reasons.

Just wondering
I think the conolidation process which ever way it goes is unfortunately on hold until the historical Carey issue is finally resolved.

[smithie6] 24/5/2021 17:25

ok, so a buy trade of 50k shares at 37.5p went thru as a delayed reported trade

[smithie6] 24/5/2021 15:28

interesting share price movement

looks like the trades are virtually all sell trades but the price to sell is up 2p !, inferring imo that there is a buy trade(s) being filled that we don't know about yet, or some buy trades have gone thru on another market which are not shown on the advfn info for trades

:-)

[smithie6] 24/5/2021 11:36

baner
did you work for Volvo in the past ?!

[smithie6] 24/5/2021 11:32

yes.

(for advice on reducing regulatory capital you would think that the ppl to approach would be....STM !
& they have been calculating it for years for every subsidiary & hence have to know the reg. cap. regulations in each country of operation in minute detail !)

[lundun42] 24/5/2021 11:16

I was also surprised to learn that external consultants are being used to advise on reducing the regulatory capital, particularly if they're referring to their insurance subsidiaries. If you look at the boards of the two life companies, amongst the very experienced NEDs there are at least 3 actuaries and a chartered accountant whose primary experience seems to be as a financial services restructuring expert, so surely amongst that lot they could figure out how to do it, plus you have the executives experience to draw on. It is more understandable to use external advice for something like specialist tax advice.

[baner] 24/5/2021 11:10

many thanks Smithie - this is a really interesting situation offering a very sound risk/reward!

[smithie6] 24/5/2021 11:08

yes, as an acquisition it would be very cheap

since after integration in a bigger co. a good part of the regulatory capital could be released (= returned). (if a buyer paid X million, they might be able take out/back X/2 once it is integrated in the bigger company. so the nett cost to the buyer might be X/2, making the yield-return double qrt the initial price of X million)

[baner] 24/5/2021 10:30

if you look at the multiple to sales they have received for the sold entities - in addition to the NAV - these shares should be worth not less than 70p on a break up/bid-basis. i guess there should already be some sharks circling this little but tempting fish.............

[smithie6] 23/5/2021 10:58

btw

Finncap analyst (11th May '21) has pencilled in 4.7p adj. EPS for 2022.
a notable jump from 2021. (3.5p)

(if achieved 4.7p it would make the current 34-35p share price quite/too cheap)

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imo this analysis can not include the expected acquisitions in 2021, since it is not 100% g'teed & of course there are no financial numbers which could be used.
so, I would expect this EPS estimate to increase if a beneficial acquisition is made, but phps in 2021 there would be little EPS benefit due to the time needed to do integration & reduce costs

'if' adj. eps does hit 4.7p in 2022 (announced in ~May 2023) what is a likely share price ?
47p, p/e of 10 ? (increased p/e due to growth in eps) could it achieve it in May 2022, since shares move in advance.
35p to 47p would be a rise of 12p, ~1/3rd over 1 year.
(if there is an acquisition in 2021 then I assume that the 4.7p gets increased & also the likely share price)

[smithie6] 21/5/2021 14:56

oooh, the graph for this thread shows a price rise of 2p !!

:-))

[smithie6] 20/5/2021 17:07

elsa

yes Alan comes over well.
as I expected,
he was the Tech/IT director before
& you need to fairly capable to get that role imo.
& I liked him being picked as the MD ;-)

I've been waiting a few yrs to see these IT projects get made & then introduced, as you'll see in my posts from yrs ago

I'm a tech. person, so he had my vote since he got the MD job X years ago (5-7yrs ??) (& increasing IT to reduce costs/labour is popular with all investors !) (& the MD said there is also a notable annual saving due to avoiding licensing costs for external software)

how much it will add to the EPS we have to wait to see, (but the underlying hidden increase in the value of the co. , with more use of IT, & a more modern efficient company has already happened :-) )

[jimtech] 20/5/2021 16:57

I bought more after listening to the Directors Talk presentation: