Universe Share Discussion Threads

[sammy_smith] 26/9/2012 15:22

Interesting interview with Stephen McLeod, Chief Executive Officer of Universe Group.

Click the link to listen;

[epicmush] 20/9/2012 18:31

OK, so they've effectively given away £300k of annual profits (based on estimated £800k FY profit) to the 'new' shareholders and saved £85k (and some of this saving will be shared with the 'new' shareholders). Erm........

[loganair] 20/9/2012 18:05

Paying off or as Universe put it, retiring nearly £1mln of debt will save them in the region of £85k in interest payments. The savings of which will be able to go straight to the bottom line as profit.

[toback] 20/9/2012 15:06

Epic it seems I have deceived myself. Thanks for exposing me. I had thought they had used the new vol of shares. I am a bit more bullish than you on the fy profit hoping for £1m. Would equate to .55 so putting it on c6x. Otherwise not too much between. I think we r in line.

[davidosh] 20/9/2012 11:19

Here is a review of the Mello Central presentation ....

[epicmush] 20/9/2012 09:40

Yes the eps was 0.35 for a 400k profit. But since then they sold lots of extra shares for £1.5m. Hence the EPS has been diluted and it is now 0.22p. So the share placing strengthened the balance sheet a little but reduced the EPS by 40%. Therefore they have ABSOLUTELY NO chance of reaching 1p this year.

Assuming expected earnings for the full year of £800k and taking the share price of around 2.7p at the time of the placement, the share placing effectively increased the forward PER from 3.9 to 6.1.

Taking the current buy price of around 3.2p the forward PER is now 7.3. This is reasonably low but is more than double what you (incorrectly) think it is!!!

[addict] 20/9/2012 09:39

Strengthened balance sheet gives greater scope for business expansion.The new team are doing a good job turning this round and things look a lot rosier than they did.I can see potential for a bid down the road.DYOR

[toback] 20/9/2012 07:15

I thought eps was 0.35 for a 400k profit. Take out the finance costs of 122k and assume they have a better income in the half and they could soon hit the 1p. As for the cash raise certainly the debt was looming over the business but. Ash generation has been good and so I don't think they are desperate. More about gvi g head room to go faster. That's my take. Hope they do it too.

[epicmush] 20/9/2012 00:25

ToBack - EPS of 1p this FY??? Am I missing something? Taking into account the new share placing the EPS for the half year to June 2012 was 0.22p. Not sure how the full year EPS will be 1p???

It seems to me that UNG must have been desperate for the money to be able to justify diluting the EPS by 40% for the sake of £1.5m (equivalent to approx 2 years earnings!!).

[thorne3] 14/9/2012 13:37

Did anybody learn anything interesting at the presentation last evening?

[toback] 14/9/2012 11:20

This is better than I had thought. And 1p eps looks doable this fy. This will have much further to run at less than 4x my expectations.Would like to hear more on the growth plans and any announcement of any small successes.

[strollingmolby] 13/9/2012 12:52

Upbeat statement today and numbers, albeit against exceptional-constrained comparatives last year. Will be interesting to hear them present at Mello Central tonight.

Robert Goddard, Chairman of Universe, commented:
"We are pleased that the restructuring and realignment of the Company, completed in 2011, is beginning to bear fruit, as evidenced by the revenue growth and improved profitability that we are reporting today. Pre-exceptional operating profit in the period increased by 88% and profit before tax on the same basis almost tripled.
Following the recent successful placing, we now have in place a strong platform for growth in both our traditional markets and new related markets. The Company has launched a number of initiatives designed to drive profitable growth and we are confident that we can deliver further improvements in performance."

[thorne3] 13/9/2012 11:48

This is a very exciting prospect particularly as the company is now looking at alternative retail sectors.The reduction in debt and improvements in the manufacturing division all indicate that management can concentrate on growth in the mainstream business .

[addict] 13/9/2012 11:22

Quite a turnround taking place here.

[toback] 12/9/2012 15:50

Well I cannot go unfortunately.

Hopefully this will generate some buying interest as there is lots to go for.

[davidosh] 11/9/2012 16:41

Universe Group are presenting at the Mello Central event at FinnCap 60 New Broad st this Thursday at 5.30pm if any of you want to attend.

[davidosh] 02/8/2012 11:14

Private investors always seem to miss out on these placings and I am sure that there will be new institutions taking part here when long term investors will miss out. I am particularly staggered that a non exec director who was previously a driving force behind the company losing millions now manages to buy millions of shares at a discount whilst those shareholders he pummelled get nothing! ShareSoc will be looking at ways to level the playing field.

[toback] 27/7/2012 09:49

So having spent some time looking to this it I would lower my target for this year to .75p EPS with some savings from interest and some upside in terms of sales.

So not as much of a slam dunk as 1p target previously.

Obviously then it its a case of how they can drive the business forward in future years and would hope for 1p+ next year.

So would hope the price gets to 4p this year and 5-10p next year.

But it is a more secure business and less prone to Financing reqts.

[toback] 24/7/2012 09:47

From the market reaction and on a week like this think it must be being viewed favourably.

If this creates head room to grow revenues whilst allowing cash being generated to pay down debt we should see growth from here. Debt is equivalent to market cap at the moment.

More detail on the opportunities that this opens up would have been good.

Would have also been good to have an update on trading again.

[dealit] 24/7/2012 07:46

The fact that the share price moved North yesterday would point to that the Market likes the placing. Myself as a PI usually miss out some how when thess placings take place. The question is are UNG skint?

[wexboy] 22/7/2012 15:02

Universe Group, and its Jewel in the Crown:

[davidosh] 09/7/2012 02:34

The directors will be doing a presentation for investors on Tuesday at 5pm at the FinnCap HQ in London. Www.freesharedata.com/mello
Just email me if you would like to join us.

[toback] 06/7/2012 16:52

Thorne3

This sounds right to me. I reckon Finncap being very cautious especially for 2013. Especially following recent comments by the company, reducing debt charges and absence of exceptionals.

I also agree long term need to have a think about the strategy as this is a niche little company.

But can't argue with you price ranges.

Good to see decent volume here - and not yet overbought.

I think this was has turned.

[thorne3] 06/7/2012 13:08

I attended the AGM recently and was very surprised by the quality and buoyancy of the new management team The business has been reorganised,exceptionals by and large are out of the way and considerable sums are being invested in future growth.Financial gearing is modest and the company's brokers Finncap are going for£700'000 this year and£800'000 to Dec 2013.These forecasts are considered to be conservative.Finncap are on target for a price of 5p rising as the recovery gets underway and ,moreover ,becomes recognised.Quite how much long term growth there is in the business i am not quite sure however I believe£1.5m should be achievable in the medium term and a possible takeout at some stage as hinted at by Finncap.The company's clintele is top quality and includes Asda,Morrisons,Exonmobil and Texaco/Chevron.There must be many businesses out there that would love to to acquire a company with customers of this calibre.In summary I see these shares trading in the 10p-15p range in the medium term.I don't see many gems like this in the market place at the present time.

[tomboyb] 06/7/2012 11:41

Taken a small stake here - best of luck