Venture Life Share Discussion Threads

[apad] 09/12/2017 08:19

For those interested in Castings. Beddard reports the potential threat of a major customer loss.

apad

[apad] 09/12/2017 08:18

Legal Entity Identifier.

These are no required by a company.

For those interested I have one from Bloomberg for $75. Quite a bit cheaper than the LSE.

apad

[apad] 09/12/2017 06:53

I see CPC is slipping back. On my watchlist. Can't imagine PIs getting excited until news in the offing.
apad

[apad] 09/12/2017 06:49

They are, red. But up 100% in 5 years. 200% in 10 years. Bit of a roller coaster over the last two years (up 10%).
I guess they know their business?
apad

[toptrump1] 08/12/2017 22:54

BOO margins to fall, shares are expensive Avoid

FEVR move into US could prove to be a mistake, shares also overvalued
Plateaued
SELL

[redartbmud] 08/12/2017 21:36

Bunzl

Aren't they the perpetual acquirers?
Accounts a moving target and impossible to decipher.

red

[apad] 08/12/2017 20:46

IC
Shares in Bunzl (BNZL) took a tumble in
early November after a note from Morgan
Stanley suggested the outsourcing group stood
to lose out from the emergence of Amazon’s
(US:AMZN) distribution division. Following the
release of the damning note, Bunzl’s shares
went from trading at around 2,300p to 2,100p
in a day, prompting chief executive Frank Van
Zanten to buy in near the low at 2,135p.
Amazon has been targeting areas of the distribution
market including food service, office
supplies and pharmaceuticals. Food service
is Bunzl’s largest product area, accounting
for close to 30 per cent of revenue in 2016,
according to SharePad. Morgan Stanley argued
that Bunzl’s preference for bulk, single-use
consumables made it more vulnerable.
Mr Van Zanten clearly disagrees, ploughing
£192,150 into the business, upping his stake
to 31,542 shares. However, he still owns only a
fraction of the shares held by finance director
Brian May and director Pat Larmon, who own
105,000 and 131,000, respectively.
Buying so soon after a price drop is either
a signal of Mr Van Zanten’s confidence in the
group’s prospects, or a desire to allay fears
among investors. In this case, investors should
keep an eye on Amazon Business’s progress

[apad] 08/12/2017 17:02

IC
Apax sells
chunk of Sophos
HARRIET CLARFELT
Cyber-security expert Sophos (SOPH) has
garnered huge popularity as a stock over
the past year or so, its relevance proven in
the eyes of investors by major cyber attacks
such as WannaCry. The group has achieved
encouraging revenue growth and customer
wins. And bosses recently raised their outlook
for the year to March 2018. However, at 610p,
the stellar price growth is feeding concern
that Sophos may be overvalued.
The market was thrown this week by the
news that major investor Apax, a private equity
firm, and Pentagon Lock would sell 51.2m
shares at 616p each, raising £315m in gross
proceeds. The announcement, released after
market close on 27 November, said the sale
would be conducted
via a placing. The next
day, Sophos’s shares
were down 6 per cent.
Apax took a majority
interest in Sophos
in 2010, prior to its
2015 Aim flotation and
when the company
was much smaller.
This week’s sale was not the first time Apax
has cut its stake since the IPO. The latest
transaction reduces the sellers’ combined
shareholding by nearly a half, leaving them
with an 11.2 per cent position. Their remaining
shares are subject to a minimum 90-day
lock-up period, following the pricing date of
28 November.
Apax’s sale follows a series of director deals
in recent weeks. As we noted in our last update
on Sophos, chief executive Kris Hagerman sold
185,500 shares worth £1.1m, while non-executive
director Steve Munford and the Munford
Family Foundation also sold shares equivalent
to £4.4m. Meanwhile, chief financial officer
Nick Bray offloaded a total of 450,000 shares
worth £2.6m. Mr Bray still has shares in the
group which vest quarterly, suggesting that a
strong performance-related incentive remains.
• It still inspires confidence that other
major investment houses, including
BlackRock and Schroders, maintain stakes
in Sophos. Even so, based on JP Morgan’s
forecast EPS of 9.9¢ (7.4p) for the year to
March 2018, the shares are trading on an
eye-watering forward multiple of 82 times.
The selling activity makes us cautious on
further momentum. Downgrade to hold.

[lomax99] 08/12/2017 16:20

The scale of the fall in CVSG was ridiculous, I topped up regularly on the way down. I had been intending to significantly increase my holding if it went sub £8, unfortunately it didn't quite get there.

[apad] 08/12/2017 16:16

IC

CVS pays the price for
high expectations
The veterinary group has experienced a major share price sell-off
MEGAN BOXALL
T
he annual general meeting of veterinary
group CVS (CVSG) is usually an opportunity
for management to proudly reveal that
recent acquisitions have sent profits way ahead
of expectations. Normally, what proceeds is a
flurry of broker upgrades andastampede to
buy the shares. Not so this time around. News
that like-for-like revenue growth has slowed to
4.3 per cent wiped 30 per cent off the group’s
share price in three days. The price has been
paid for high expectations.
To a certain extent, the drop in organic revenue
growth can be explained by the extraordinarily
strong performance last year: in the four
months to September 2016, revenues grew
6.3 per cent on a like-for-like basis. But management
has also pointed to a slowdown in the
UK veterinary marketplace, which they think
may have been caused by economic instability,
and a drop in the number of clinicians.
Moreover, exclude the Animed Direct online
veterinary retail division – which reported a
60 per cent increase in sales–and the underlying
business only grew 1.5 per cent in the first
four months of the financial year, compared
with 6.3 per cent in the year to June 2017.
And yet overall revenue growth remains
just as spectacular as ever at 20.6 per cent. The
group spent £20m on 21 new surgeries in the
period, taking the total number of sites up to
444 (from 378 in the comparable period last
year). Those acquisitions span the UK–from
north Scotland to south Wales – and cover
domestic animals, farm animals and horses.
Four new sites have been added in Northern
Ireland and three in the Netherlands, including
the first Dutch equine business.
But the price of veterinary practices has
climbed to roughly 10 times adjusted cash
profits, according to brokers at Peel Hunt,
compared with the historic range of six to eight
times. CVS has spent £6.5m more in the first
four months of the current financial year than
last, for just three more surgeries. But there are
positives. More expensive surgeries mean more
willing sellers and CVS maintains the financial
firepower to keep growing via acquisition: net
debt is forecast to fall to just 1.7 times adjusted
cash profits by the end of June 2018 thanks to
the group’s ability to generate cash.
• The recent turn of events will have been
disappointing for followers of our buy tip.
However, we also think the sell-off is a
major over-reaction to moderately disappointing
news. With the shares now trading
on 17 times forward earnings, we think
this is an ideal opportunity for investors to
top up their holdings. Buy at 915p.

[hydrus] 08/12/2017 16:08

Over 20% up now on CVSG - might see if Santa rally kicks off as there could be more to go for.

[hydrus] 08/12/2017 11:58

The way I see it - the 9p period was an aberration and was a result of some historical issues.Because it's increased significantly from then investors look and think that's gone up a lot it's perhaps gone too far. However I think that should be completely ignored. If it floated now would it be valued at £30m? I think it would be a fair bit higher.

[hydrus] 08/12/2017 11:55

Daclan no idea re price - however £30m Mcap for a company growing organically at >60% (with already circa £20-25m revenues this year) seems good value to me! The profits will come soon enough and be large if growth continues in that manner. Every sign that it will with both subtitling and now dubbing growing well due to demand for new subscription services for video. Very exciting future.

[homebrewruss] 08/12/2017 11:46

The naked trader used to say that the santa rally started around the 13th December. I think this morning's news and any further positive Brexit news next week might kick start it.

[hydrus] 08/12/2017 11:34

Red plenty of time yet for a Santa rally. I do think Brexit has hung over the markets recently so may well start to see some buying as people realise the world is not going to end.

[apad] 08/12/2017 10:52

ZOO looking weak again - might be tempted to average down!
apad

[apad] 08/12/2017 09:42

Possibly, red. Smin back to where they were about a year ago. I don't think centrally managed conglomerates are attractive to me any more, however.

I was wrong about PRV. Market seems to like the news.

Thanks dacian, I missed NTQ too.

The BOO negative argument is the same as it was - margin concerns. I still take the view that BOO is on a land grab. Massive advertising costs and automated warehouse building, so fretting about margins by tintins rather misses the point. Also the ragtrader's experience gives confidence.

apad

[redartbmud] 08/12/2017 09:32

Rws unable to hold onto it's gains :-(

Rpc - good results yesterday. Market doesn't like them :-( :-(

Snowing in Sedgley.

red

[redartbmud] 08/12/2017 09:22

Well, you go to bed in a world of turmoil, and wake up to a brave new dawn.
The grey suits have agreed on a few bits and pieces that have allowed the UK exit talks, from Europe, to ramble on.
I don't see the resultant euphoria lasting, but maybe we will get the Santa rally after all.
The bank shares have gone doolally over the Basel banking agreement. Transparency, yes, but some of the European banks will continue to 'massage' the figures and carry on as normal. It will take time to phase in, but will the domestic focused banks aka Lloyds have a long term benefit? They have a big UK mortgage exposure. Hmmm...

APAD
I am thinking that Smin may have worked through their restructure, and worth a sniff at the fundamentals.


red

[apad] 08/12/2017 07:08

I liked Terry Smith's "Accounting for Growth" good to look back. No problem with books and what folks get out of them, Hydrus. It's the adulation of the hero investor I dislike.

Boredom, Lauders :-) Needed some cash to back my judgement on BOO - Gulp!
FT: "Boohoo.com hit an eight-month low, down 6.2 per cent to 167.3p. Short-seller research has been circulating among traders in recent days that questions whether Boohoo’s margins can be sustained once the retailer has moved procurement from associated-party suppliers to third parties."
AHL Partners LLP is the shorter. It dropped its percentage up to Sept. and has increased it recently.
Looks like its talking its book.

PRV metals filtration still under the cosh. Should be all in the price, but with this market it'll probably be marked down.

apad