Ultimate Leisure Share Discussion Threads

[user] 19/5/2003 14:06

blimey - been holding this for ages, still a good buy me thinks. Thought everyone else had died it's been so quiet!

Al.

[rbryant] 19/5/2003 10:59

Good to know that someone is watching.

[welsheagle] 18/5/2003 16:33

Tipped again today:-
The Sunday Express says that the shares have further to go, and are a buy.

[welsheagle] 16/5/2003 20:40

Apparently tipped in Investor's Chronicle.
Can anyone post the article?

[rbryant] 15/5/2003 16:42

Thanks, something to look forward to, another set of good figues unless the geordies have gone off booze.

[ciderboy] 15/5/2003 14:33

Possible trading statement end of month {29/05 last year}

[rbryant] 15/5/2003 14:20

All a bit sudden here, are there any rumours or news I don't know about??

[rbryant] 24/4/2003 15:06

Hello, life at last ...

[leeshindig] 21/4/2003 21:47

hi rescuer......yep things are good........got baltic square on next bank holiday sunday, selling very well...looks like it should sell out before the day.....will look at TED (between spreading the FTSE!)........
hope the family is good....Lee.

[rescuer] 15/4/2003 09:11

Hi Lee >> i was unaware of that, i took a quick peep at their price yesterday and the mark cap looked very cheap, but if they are all leasehold then best stay clear.

How's shindig, are you busy, got anything going down in Baltic Square or Telewest arena, hows the record label, hope all's well.

You may be interested to know that TED should be informing the market of the FDA approval for the peanut testing kit within the next 10 days or so, maybe worth a punt. I do hold 90K of TED, (just to be above board an all so you don't take it as a blatant ramp)

[leeshindig] 14/4/2003 22:22

thing is rescuer ....... all po na nas bars/clubs are leased....they dont actually own or reap the benefits from the buildings!
hello by the way.............
Lee.

[rbryant] 14/4/2003 17:12

Well any negative from a shares magazine has to be a positive. I repeat what I said when I first looked at ULG that any company selling beer to geordies has to be fairly recession proof.

[spike_1] 14/4/2003 16:30

Shares mag (SCSW) removed it from it's portfolio, thus some SCSW'ers have done likewise. Problem is unloved sector not co'.

[rbryant] 14/4/2003 15:48

What's going on out there?

[user] 08/4/2003 09:14

we could do with a bit of positive news on this! At this rate the P/E will be ridiculous soon

Al.

[ishwar] 21/3/2003 21:05

looks like out of favour at the moment..but may be right time to get back in.

[welshanalyst] 08/3/2003 20:38

According to Citywire ULG has been tipped in Investor's Chronicle aswell.
Can anyone post the article.

[welshanalyst] 08/3/2003 20:37

According to Citywire ULG has been tipped in Investor's Chronicle aswell.
Can anyone post the article.

[welshanalyst] 08/3/2003 20:26

O.K. - ULG was tipped in Shares magazine again this week.
This weeks article went through alot that was previously known, but this week mentioned that ULG had captured the 'circuit' crowd in the North East, i.e. venues are on common routes for clubbers.

[welshanalyst] 08/3/2003 20:26

ULG was tipped in Shares magazine again this week.
This weeks article went through alot that was previously known, but this week mentioned that ULG had captured the 'circuit' crowd in the North East, i.e. venues are on common routes for clubbers.

[rescuer] 04/3/2003 22:26

Welsh >> come on give us something we don't know

[welshanalyst] 02/3/2003 09:25

From February's 'Essential Refs':-
a/ Prospective PE ratio of 6.61 (based on six broker forecasts, five of which recommend 'buy').
b/ Earnings per share growth forecast of 19.9%.
c/ Dividend yield of 2.79%.
d/ Cash flow of 28.7p per share.
e/ PEG ratio of 0.33.
f/ Three directors buying recently.

All compare favourably with rest of market.

[welshanalyst] 26/2/2003 22:08

Citywire article today:-

Shares in Ultimate Leisure have not performed well since our buy recommendation in October and yet the group continues to buck the trend by delivering strong results from a largely freehold-owned estate.


Ultimate operates 23 late night bars and nightclubs located primarily in the North of England. It trades under the brands Beach, Blubambu and the recently added Coyote Wild, with capacities ranging from 800 to 1,500 people.

Most sites are owned freehold and take prime positions on busy drinking circuits. This means greater control and flexibility in the business and at least some protection from growing competition and changes in economic conditions.

The advantages are clear in todays six month figures to December, which include a 23% increase in pretax profit to £3.3 million from turnover of £12.8 million and a 21% increase in earnings per share to 12.9p.

The interim dividend has been increased by 11% to 1.66p per share from 1.5p.

Ultimate has given little away on the like for like performance of established clubs but said: Our sites have continued to operate at capacity during the non discounted, main income taking hours over the weekend as well as continuing to trade well during the early part of the week.

In other words punters have been fairly loyal to date and are happy to pay-up for their booze, which in turn has protected the operating margin of 29%.

The opening programme is on track with three new late licence venues launched in the first half and a further two expected to start trading in the next three months. The return on sales remains strong at 25%, which is up there with the best in the sector, if not better.

The £34 million company had net debt of £17.3 million, up £1 million in the period because of the acquisition of a freehold and some re-development costs associated with a number of sites. Gearing is 71% but interest cover of six times means the financial position is sound.

There is plenty to be positive about at Ultimate but it would be foolish to ignore problems in the economy at large that have already taken their toll on peers such as SFI, Springwood, Luminar, Yates Group and JD Wetherspoon.

Ultimate has seen the increase in competition across the leisure sector but believes its strategy of holding freehold properties in high foot-fall locations will underpin growth.

For the year as a whole the group is expected to make a pretax profit of £6.7 million and earnings per share of 26.3p. The forecasts increase to £7.8 million and 30.6p respectively for 2004, which based on the current share price (ULG) of 196p, gives a price to earnings ratio of 7.4 times falling to 6.4 times.

It was tough to find an analyst with anything but a buy recommendation on the stock last year and we commented in October that clever investors might be tempted to sell into the strength. Shrewd value hunter Peter Webb, founder of Unicorn Asset Management, did exactly that in November and sold 650,000 shares, which knocked the share price quite heavily.

Days later however, chief executive Allan Rankin bought 25,000 shares at 235p.The group either needs to convince Webb that its time to buy back in or find another fund manager to support the story and thus clean up any loose stock in the market.

Todays figures are strong and we can find no reason to fault the company, but some of the less favourable stories in the sector, together with the bear market as a whole, have taken the shine off the shares. We remain positive.