Tclarke Share Discussion Threads

[calahan] 26/8/2011 09:32

(accidental re-post rather than edit. Due to stupid ADVFN treating the 'less' symbol in forum posts as a 'line break')

[hyper10] 26/8/2011 09:31

I haven't had T Clarke shares for years but saw they announced. After doing business with them on and off for many years, the one thing I'd say is that culturally they are blind optimisms from the bottom to the top. If the statement is as reserved as everyone feels, I can tell you they're telling it the T Clarke way and to be fair they will see what they want to see. After dealing with Main Builders too, they really are cutting it up rough both pre contract and at the end, we are seeing the levels of retention going up massively and what happens in general is that the losses are effectively being rolled over, on Contract A the retention is forgotten so as to secure contract B, ultimately a big shortfall must occur. To be clear I'm talking in general terms but no one including Clarke's are immune from this problem. DYOR

[goliard] 26/8/2011 09:29

It would be very poor if they paid an interim, but cancelled full year. It might be sensible if things deteriorate further, but the board will get hammered for it. I guess it all depends on how the second half goes, but it would need to be pretty dire to cancel the full year dividend.

The problem is that things look bleak and everyone's crystal balls are very cloudy at the moment!

[huttonr] 26/8/2011 09:21

Re the dividend - a 1p div costs them about £400k - with the cash now down to £3.5M and the expectation of a similar result (ie. low profits and more exceptional costs) for the current half year, the it seems to me that we are unlikely to see any final dividend.
What do other people think?

[goliard] 26/8/2011 09:11

Another company joins the 'club'. I think the divi reduction is sensible, but they will lose some income investors, so the share price takes a hammering. Would anyone care to comment on the net cash position? It looks like it has dropped substantially despite the co still being profitable and that is worrying. Might indicate bad debts, but I'm not sure. I think I will stay on the sidelines a bit longer and see where it settles. If we see sub 50p then it has to be tempting.

[pugugly] 26/8/2011 09:11

I do not like the forward loking trading climate - I strongly suspect we could see more than 2 years of minimal profit just to keep the workforce employed - Very much a bet on UK plc - in other words very long odds. Could well (imo) have significantly further to fall.

(fyi Used to hold but out now but on watch list along with SIG and SFR but all buy targets further reducec)

[wjccghcc] 26/8/2011 08:29

If they cut the FY to double the interim, then just over 4%.

[solarno lopez] 26/8/2011 08:25

Dividend yield is now?

[mrphil] 26/8/2011 08:15

Not a great set of results but could have been worse I guess. Market not too keen on the divi drop but a prudent step imho, all things considered.

[goliard] 25/8/2011 16:05

pifedayo should realise that I was referring to Topps Tiles as one of a number of companies who have recently released trading updates showing that sales have fallen due to the poor state of the economy and that this has happened even though recent announcements showed no sign of this deterioration.

[pifedayo] 25/8/2011 12:30

I have held CTO for almost a year and will continue to hold. In agreement with jonwig, 820, and goliard should realise that there is nothing in common with Topps Tiles.

[goliard] 25/8/2011 10:02

That should be the case, but look at Topps Tiles today. Sales have fallen massively since a recent update. Share price suggests people may be 'in the know' and update will be positive, but I think the economy is so bad that we might get a nasty surprise.

[jonwig] 24/8/2011 07:39

goliard - you're unlikely to get any surprises! They updated the market on 13 May, and the UK economy outlook hasn't improved since then.

It will be gritted teeth, long slog, cautious outlook, sound finances, ... the likely divi has already been discussed.

[goliard] 24/8/2011 07:31

Update due on Friday. This may sound blindingly obvious, but we could get great news, terrible news, or something in the middle. I would prefer one of the extremes as either a clear sign to invest here or stay out, but I rather suspect things will be 'ok' and that doesn't help at all with a long terms outlook.

[rossco] 23/8/2011 22:49

The appointment of new auditors was explained at the AGM. This is the extract from the AGM notice.

Appointment of auditors
The directors have decided to recommend the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as auditors of the Company in place of Moore Stephens LLP who after many years service to the Company are not offering themselves for re-election. This decision forms part of the strategic changes to the T.Clarke Group structure which will involve the Company's auditors becoming auditors to each of the Group's companies with all the consequent benefits resulting from a uniform approach throughout the Group to the ever important audit function. The directors express their thanks to Moore Stephens LLP for their many years of loyal service to the Group.

[goliard] 21/8/2011 14:53

This can be significant and normally there is an rns about new auditors. Interims soon and a lot will depend on what they say. If there was any problem identified with the accounts then they would have had to issue an rns, so hopefully that's not the case.

[hvs] 21/8/2011 11:56

They could be missing a few bean counters.

[htimsjnalla] 20/8/2011 13:54

Anyone else notice the Resignation of Auditors at the end of June. Noticed it on Companies House Webcheck. Don't know if that is important? Anyone know why the Auditor would resign?

[willsy50] 20/8/2011 12:39

A few large M&E contractors including T Clarke and my employer are looking to move away from the JIB wage structure, with the threat of wildcat strikes.



I'm not sure what competitive advantage the change will give, as everybody will go down the same route. There will be a a slight saving due to the payment of wages being weekly, versus payment terms from the client of up to 90 days. The only ones to benefit will be clients.

[jonwig] 20/8/2011 07:44

These are the recent divis:

18 Mar 2011 Final GBP 4.25
27 Aug 2010 Interim GBP 4.25
19 Mar 2010 Final GBP 8.75
21 Aug 2009 Interim GBP 4.25
19 Mar 2009 Final GBP 8.75
29 Aug 2008 Interim GBP 3.90

Notice the roughly 1:2 historic interim:final ratio.
The last final was reduced from the expected level.
If they chose to maintain the final, and the payout ratio, that suggests a total of 6.375p for the coming full year which is, actually, what brokers are forecasting.

However, I think that's unrealistic, as UK growth forecasts have been regularly downgraded since they last commented at May's AGM. They said:

We entered 2011 with our balance sheet in good shape and the Group has no long term debt. Cash management and a focus on debtor collection remain a key priority.

I think JoA's 4p for the whole year is about right - maybe 1.5p interim and a cautious statement about FY prospects.

Notice that the Board aren't significant holders so maybe won't be all that committed. Takeover, anyone?

[p bear] 19/8/2011 21:15

What are you expecting div wise then?

[jonwig] 19/8/2011 11:30

O - you aren't expecting a divi of 8.5p for the full year are you? That would be unwise.

[orchestralis] 19/8/2011 11:13

Me watching to. Yield +11% now