Watkin Jones Share Discussion Threads

[redalert] 28/5/2021 08:00

melody, I agree. V similar sale 8th Nov 2019, drop recovered within a month

[melody9999] 28/5/2021 07:49

could be a buying opportunity this morning. reasons for sale not related to future prospects for business

[peter27] 28/5/2021 07:22

That's a very hefty discount even though it's 10% of the company.

[dcfn] 28/5/2021 01:13

Shouldn't come as too much of a surprise. Glyn Watkin Jones is 76 now, and stepped down as chairman of the company in 2018 (that had been apparently planned for 3 years). It had always been a family run business however his son Mark Watkin Jones (CEO) left shortly after, ending the 200 year family history - with little to tie them to company after that (apart from their shareholding) as neither took positions the board. Likely focus on estate planning and retirement. This may have happened sooner had Covid not knocked the share price so badly last year. Richard Simpson has been chief exec since Jan 2019.

[alter ego] 27/5/2021 22:25

Pay attention eca04bpm1. That’s old news.

[eca04bpm1] 27/5/2021 20:48

Tipped by Simon Thompson in the IC

[cyfalafwr] 27/5/2021 17:40

That's a lot of dosh not far off £60,000,000. Price drop in the morning probably .

[daveme] 27/5/2021 17:05

Original owners selling a boat load - lets see how that goes down!

[alter ego] 27/5/2021 08:09

thx, can now read the full article.

[alter ego] 27/5/2021 07:49

can you post the link please kadvfn1

[kadvfn1] 27/5/2021 07:48

Of far more relevance to me is that institutional demand for BTR hit a record £1.23bn in the first quarter of 2021, highlighting a strong recovery in confidence following last year’s Covid-19 induced market softness. Watkin Jones is developing 5,008 apartments which have a GDV of £950m, including a site in Edinburgh (524 flats) that was secured after the 31 March half-year end. It’s easy to see why the asset class is proving attractive to investors.

Across the UK, occupancy levels are above 90 per cent, rent collection rates have exceeded 95 per cent since the start of the pandemic, and with household sizes forecast to reduce by 2.4 per cent by 2041, there will be a need for an extra 240,000 homes in the next 20 years. Also, BTR residential property provides a hedge against inflation and a widening yield gap over 10-year government bond yields, thus offering decent prospects for both capital and income growth in a zero-interest rate policy environment. The directors note that their Leicester scheme (185 flats) has been brought forward to the current year and the marketed pipeline of forward sales is proceeding well.

They also flag up that institutional investment in PBSA, around £715m in the first quarter of 2021, is well above pre-Covid-19 levels. The group is developing 8,500 beds with a GDV of £625m, of which all 3,192 beds for delivery in the current year have been forward sold as well as 60 per cent of next year’s output, too.

The profits earned from developing properties for institutional investors – BTR has a targeted profit margin of 15 per cent and PBSA 20 per cent – combined with an asset light business model – the investor funds the development, thus de-risking the investment case – means that the board can continue to recycle excess cash flow back to shareholders. Indeed, analysts at Progressive Equity expect a near 10 per cent hike in the 2022 dividend to 8.5p a share, covered two times by forecast EPS of 17.4p. On this basis, the shares are still only rated on a forward cash-adjusted PE ratio of 11.6, and offer a prospective dividend yield of 3.6 per cent. I raise my target price to 275p. Buy

[kadvfn1] 27/5/2021 07:47

From investor chronicle
Shares in Watkin Jones (WJG:236p), a developer specialising in purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) and build-to-rent (BTR) housing, have continued to recover strongly this year and earlier this month achieved the top end of my 240p to 250p target range (‘Watkin Jones recovering strongly’, 19 January 2021). First half results to 31 March 2021 were in line with analyst expectations which point to high-single digit growth in annual pre-tax profit, earnings per share (EPS) and dividend to £50m, 15.8p and 7.8p, respectively.

[alter ego] 27/5/2021 07:45

thx but I am a subscriber (not to Alpha) and even a search on WJG doesn't throw up anything since January.

[18bt] 27/5/2021 07:41

alter - I think that's because they require a subscription until published in the magazine.

[alter ego] 26/5/2021 22:43

Can you please post the link to the ST article? Ever since the IC “improved̶1; its web site I’ve struggled to locate ST articles including this one.

[skinny] 26/5/2021 17:15

Thanks for the update.

[clausentum] 26/5/2021 17:11

ST says:
"The profits earned from developing properties for institutional investors – BTR has a targeted profit margin of 15 per cent and PBSA 20 per cent – combined with an asset light business model – the investor funds the development, thus de-risking the investment case – means that the board can continue to recycle excess cash flow back to shareholders. Indeed, analysts at Progressive Equity expect a near 10 per cent hike in the 2022 dividend to 8.5p a share, covered two times by forecast EPS of 17.4p. On this basis, the shares are still only rated on a forward cash-adjusted PE ratio of 11.6, and offer a prospective dividend yield of 3.6 per cent. I raise my target price to 275p. Buy."

[farnesbarnes] 26/5/2021 16:43

ST says decision time for WJG holders

[ugandalad] 18/5/2021 15:19

Taking hits on cladding issue showing strong moral position which should stand them in good stead going forward.

[investor0109] 18/5/2021 10:46

Robust half year results for WJG and future looking bright. COVID turmoil well-navigated by board, with WJG low-risk model coming into its own past 12 mos. 'Increasing investor confidence' in sector and healthy future pipeline puts stock in WJG around 260-280p fair current value in my view, with 280-320p within coming 12 mos. all being well.

[rik shaw] 18/5/2021 08:15

Solid results today.

[alter ego] 27/4/2021 22:44

Thanks for mentioning

[mnuttall69] 27/4/2021 22:37

It was £15 to join for the hour. ST spoke about the clear focus of the business, string management, positive land bank, healthy dividend and market prospects. I have been in since Feb when recommended and v happy with it!