Water Intelligence Share Discussion Threads

[someuwin] 11/2/2019 10:48

Time to add - imo.

[effortless cool] 07/2/2019 20:28

Have read the Investors Champion article now and, to be fair, they do mention the uplift from including franchisee revenue in their text.

Nothing new there, however, and, in fact, it largely misses the governance issues that should ring bearish alarm bells.

[effortless cool] 07/2/2019 14:40

Seems you don't know the difference between £ and $, either.



investorschampion 7 Feb '19 - 14:11 - 302 of 302

The ‘excessive pay’ red flag also waves here....as it does with many of the over-hyped! Mr DeSouza is handsomely rewarded for overseeing this small operation, receiving remuneration of £450,000 in 2017 to add to....

[effortless cool] 07/2/2019 10:26

I haven't read the link above but the logic set out in the one-liner does not suggest its contents will be high quality.

First of all, $17m was the 2017 revenue; 2018 will be >$24m.

Second, revenue is low because of the franchise structure of much of the business. Only the franchise royalty (~8% of franchisee turnover) is recorded as revenue by WATR. Including the underlying full revenue of franchisees shows that there is approximately another $78m of revenue earned by businesses within the WATR structure that does not feature in the WATR top line. This 'hidden' revenue is only incremental to the top line in cases where WATR buys back franchisees.

[masurenguy] 05/2/2019 16:54

Paul Scott's opinion: The share price already factors in a lot of good news - the PER is very high, at 33.6 times 2019 forecast earnings. That leaves no room for disappointment. Investors clearly like, and believe, the growth story. A PE rating in the 30s is getting into territory where investors are pricing in above expectations earnings growth. It would be good to find out more about the new sewer product. If that has potential to become a major, highly profitable product, then the current PER looking high doesn't matter.

Going back to my point in the intro, here's a chart which dropped in the broad market sell-off, but should not have done so. Well done to holders who ignored the market's background noise! How about this for a rebound;

5c594d26a2ecfWATR_chart.PNG

This is a great example of how, in small, illquid shares, the chart can at times become completely detached from fundamental reality. Only traders dealing in the tiniest quantities, would have been able to sell, and buy back at the right times - and only then if they were lucky with regard to timing. Plus 2 lots of the wide bid:offer spread would make it hardly worthwhile. This is why, if I'm absolutely certain about a company being a long-term winner, then I tend to just ignore the market price gyrations, and suffer the pain of any drawdowns.

[someuwin] 05/2/2019 14:50

Can see this moving up further before the next update in a few weeks...

A broader discussion will be set out in the next few weeks with a 2018 Trading Update that reinforces our previous strong guidance.

...

Such expansion coincides with demand from our national insurance partners for ALD to both pinpoint leaks and make the repairs - our "One Stop Shop" value proposition as we have always underscored. The Company will discuss such expansion of its offerings in its upcoming 2018 trading update.

...

I look forward to updating the market on our 2018 results.

[someuwin] 05/2/2019 10:53

Almost impossible to buy any stock online.

[silverfern] 05/2/2019 09:11

INdeed it is. Some Momentum buyers might bale out (a pun in there somewhere), but that's ok. WATR is looking more and more like a company that actually delivers on a strategy. EC's updates are invariably smart when it comes to evaluation- I hope one follows the Q4 TUpdate. Another cash raise could take place this year but they are using the last funds very intelligently.

[someuwin] 05/2/2019 08:18

Excellent update!

"...Water Intelligence is scaling operationally with multiple business lines and can execute such complementary transactions again and again going forward to reinforce sustainable growth - an objective that I have previously stated. It is important to remember that given the size of the global water and infrastructure market that we are just at the beginning of creating significant shareholder value with a great company and brand."

[kazoom] 31/1/2019 22:53

But only if it has sufficient momentum!

[someuwin] 28/1/2019 11:45

I guess it just goes to show - water can flow uphill!

[silverfern] 26/1/2019 11:09

The February edition of Momentum Investor has a very strong write up for WATR. I was sent the edition as flyer to get me to subscribe, a few days no doubt after paying subscribers. So hello to all new holders- you've pushed the share price up and bought into a great company!

[silverfern] 25/1/2019 17:15

Q4 trading update was 14 Feb last year.

[nobilis] 25/1/2019 14:24

WATR was a nice nap from SCSW, up 40pc in a couple of weeks. ESG is another taking off today

and ASC on fire

[masurenguy] 25/1/2019 11:00

This share price is very volatile - todays 8.5% rise is on a miniscule volume of circa 21,000 shares !

[silverfern] 25/1/2019 10:19

well now, something brewing or is it just a share squeeze?

[someuwin] 25/1/2019 08:34

Someone's very keen to buy these.

[jaf111] 22/1/2019 09:47

same today...can't even buy 1,000 online!

[silverfern] 21/1/2019 14:02

Auldmart, read the previous posts: no stock around.

[auldmart] 21/1/2019 13:44

Bit of a weird gap-up on low volume today. I am not complaining - just curious.

[maywillow] 21/1/2019 11:05

the_house
Gareth Thomas: The water industry is failing – it’s time to put the public in charge
Written by:

Gareth Thomas MP

The House Magazine

Posted On:
21st January 2019

Bringing water into public ownership on a mutual model would ensure a well-resourced and accountable industry – and save the taxpayer money, writes Gareth Thomas
Thames Water Thames Water improvement works. Gareth Thomas calls for the company to be converted into a mutual Credit:
PA

Margaret Thatcher’s decision 30 years ago to privatize our water industry has created a system which is expensive, unaccountable and unfair. No other country has completely privatized their system of water and sewage services. There is little competition and regulation has been deeply flawed. The consumer voice has carried little weight when up against the interests of distant investors and not surprisingly water bills have rocketed as a result.

Bringing the water industry back into public ownership by mutualizing the industry has long been the ambition of the Co-op party. Indeed, only a change in ownership so that the public are in charge will deliver the shift in priorities to make the water industry fit for the environmental, investment and financial challenges it faces.

The owners of Thames Water have particularly exploited their monopoly position. In the ten years to 2016 Thames Water’s shareholders paid themselves £1.6bn in dividends, ran up a pension deficit of £260m, loaded Thames Water with £10bn of debt and regularly paid zero corporation tax. In 2017 Thames Water was ranked 23rd out of 23 water companies for customer satisfaction according to, the Water Watchdog, The Consumer Council for Water. According to their own performance report for 2017/18 Thames are failing to meet basic targets in 17 out of 41 key areas.

Research by the Open University suggests that the owners took more in dividends from Thames Water than it actually earned from its income from its consumers over the last decade. Dividends, debt and the pension deficit weren’t the only things to increase in this period – customer bills and the number of complaints went up too.

Thames Water should be converted into a mutual, operating in the private sector but owned by its consumers and its employees. Thames Water would be jointly owned by a consumer trust and an Employee trust to share ownership of the new mutual company which would be limited by guarantee, similar to Glas Cymru who provide water in Wales.

Public ownership can take many forms but a mutual model, building on the success of what has worked in Wales and some of the lessons of the industry before privatisation would ensure Thames Water is well-resourced, accountable and effective.

Mutualising the water industry would also not require taxpayer money to be diverted from funding public services into buying out the current owners of water companies.

One of the key arguments used to bring in privatisation was that companies would deliver new investment. The government of the day cancelled all the former nationalised industries debts to help and huge sums have over the last 30 years have been borrowed, but it is questionable whether that has led to more investment than there would otherwise have been.

All of the investment in tackling leaks and improving water supply could have been covered using the resources garnered by customer bills suggesting that the debt on water companies’ books is at least in part delivering tax and dividend benefits for shareholders rather than new investment to help tackle leaks and improve services.

Mutuals would still be able to borrow for investment taking away one of the arguments opponents of reform would inevitably use to argue against public ownership and for reprivatisation.

Increasing the powers of Ofwat to reduce dividends, increase investment and put the consumers first would transform the ownership of the water industry delivering public ownership at no cost to the taxpayer and making re-privatisation much less likely.

The water industry needs reform. But if the reform is to be meaningful a change in ownership to put consumers and employees in the driving seat is essential.

Gareth Thomas is Labour MP for Harrow West. The Westminster Hall debate on the future of the water industry is on Tuesday 22nd January

[effortless cool] 18/1/2019 16:29

Well, they ain't getting them.