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the auditor should be required at the very least to issue a comprehensive statement for every reason for delay
when you get this sort of stuff with audit of a quoted company, there really should be neutral/impartial oversight
audit is reporting to the directors
the small shareholders should have line of sight of EVERYTHING esp if something odd happens
have to agree jolly - EBITDA was c£2m last year so was hoping for parity this year.
New contracts are a big positive though and it does appear the recent acquisition is starting to add value
still no mojo
& £1.5m ebitda is pretty poor given first half (c£.87m) imv
tp 60p
Decent year end numbers today, with a minimum £1.5m EBITDA against the £10m m/ cap - plus the substantial cash pile.
But these are large and significant contract wins, particularly the £5m per annum property contract. The total £6.1m per annum of new contracts should help bump up this year’s numbers nicely.
Is this coverage freely available?
Any idea what the guidance is for the YE just completed?
Last year we had a trading update on 28/6, however, i think this was required as profit was above expectations.
I'm assuming profits are as previously guided this year, however, not 100% sure what this guidance is.
Thanks in advance
Another locksmiths acquisition today from CSSG's £3.5m cash pile - £840,000 consideration is buying £108,000 of PBT plus almost £1m of assets.
Presumably that historic PBT will rise nicely given it was achieved during the pandemic to March'22:
Https://uk.advfn.com/stock-market/london/croma-security-solutions-CSSG/share-news/Croma-Security-Solutions-Group-PLC-Acquisition/88526892
as we approach YE hopefully Croma has exceeded last year's EBITDA of c£2m and also the 2p dividend. Does anyone know the broker projections? WH Ireland make you pay for content!!
Even at £2m with a modest PE of 10 that equates to a market value of £20m and we are currently at £11m with over £3m cash.
A small surge of excitement a couple of days ago with an RNS - encouraging that an non-exec transferred 28,000 shares from his personal holding into his SIPP.
This would indicate that he's fairly confident that the share price will be going up, otherwise why bother trying to protect from tax and now being unable to utilise losses for CGT purposes....
Https://www.investegate.co.uk/croma-sec.-sol.-grp--cssg-/rns/director-pdmr-shareholding/202203291450104383G/
Now today we have news that a second director has transferred his shares from his personal holding into his SIPP:
Https://www.investegate.co.uk/croma-sec.-sol.-grp--cssg-/rns/director-pdmr-shareholding/202203311708558417G/
One such occurrence is interesting. Two is likely more than a coincidence :o))
a steady H1 update, if a little underwhelming.
Cash looks ok and no doubt includes expenditure on the couple of strategic partnerships that were made in the period and H2 seems to have started well. With the recent acquisition bedding in, things are looking positive.
Still massively under the radar.
WH Ireland's update states the H1 results are "very commendable" given the pandemic headwinds in the period. No forecasts going forward yet, but they summarise very positively:
"WHI view:
Our expectation of continued recovery within the Security Systems and Locksmiths business has been borne out, and the division is both larger, with 11 security centres (having added the Manchester centre and made other centre investments), and more broadly based geographically than before. The company flags a good start to the second half, and we view this as October ’21 (important new technology) and January (building on the existing footprint in biometrics).
Looking further forward, we continue to see future openings on the back of the growing focus on security in general and CSSG’s skill-sets in particular. CSSG’s growth plans are well-supported in our view by its cash position. We continue to withhold forecasts for CSSG, but note that the Board remains positive on the outlook for the current year."
given the pandemic disruption during the period, and a very bullish outlook statement.
CSSG have 28% of their m/cap in the £3.5m cash pile. With almost 3p EPS in H1, which one can very conservatively assume should be doubled in the year, that leaves CSSG on an ex-cash P/E of 10.
But with a pandemic-free period of trading in H2, plus the benefit of a full period of the acquisition midway through H1, CSSG should be much more profitable than in H1 to be on an ex-cash P/E of anywhere from only 6 to 8 or so.
Particularly as the cash pile should increase back to say £5m given the large increase in receivables at the end of H1 in common with the prior year, which also translated into increased cash at the last year end.
The outlook is very confident:
"Second half trading has started well and therefore the Board believes the business is well placed to deliver a good a trading performance for the year.
Sebastian Morley, Chairman of CSSG, said: "We are pleased to have delivered a good performance amidst a challenging market. Demand from our client base was steady which given the disruption caused by the pandemic was a solid performance. We completed the acquisition of a new security store in Manchester, and we believe we have a good pipeline of further opportunities. Similarly, we see opportunity in technology led areas such as the tie up with Biometric expert Fingo and iLOQ the specialist locks business.
Overall, the business is well placed, our balance sheet is strong, our core businesses are profitable and cash generative and we are adding to them with bolt on acquisitions and through partnerships with technology leaders"
OT: thanks for the reply shandypants2! I think the CEO's salary is fine for this size of company, and agree that CSSG should be more proactive in terms of trading updates etc. But I do believe this is a company which can become a consolidator in its market and should continue to thrive largely irrespective of general market conditions.
i feel i need to reply Rivaldo as else you are the only one on this board!!
It is a shame Croma don't seem to do a H1 trading update and only update when the accounts are completed.
Looking at H1 last year the numbers were steady, but not great, so hopefully YoY there will be a decent uplift.
As you say there is little not to like here - a conservative valuation yet a strong balance sheet, decent profits and a dividend.
Only slight negative is the high BOD wages - £260k for the CEO seems very high IMHO
The interims are due in only just over a month in early March, and the outlook was excellent as per the prelims:
"Recorded positive trading period since year end, positioning the business for a good first half performance in the Group's next financial year."
At 88.5p CSSG are on a current year P/E of just 9.1 if the 9.69p adjusted EPS prediction in the thread header post is correct.
And there's a £5m or so cash pile (after the November acquisition) backing up almost 40% of the £13.2m m/cap. If you strip out the cash pile, CSSG are on an ex-cash P/E of just 5.8.
WH Ireland's update note today concludes as follows:
"WHI view:
We view the partnership with FinGo as reflecting the company’s strong commitment to new business development and to utilising its technology in the market to the fullest possible degree. This is an innovative deal which will expand the use cases of CSSG’s existing technology (currently most employed within the education and construction sectors) in an area where the company’s investment is already largely complete. We note a strong list of partners for FinGo, including Hitachi and also major card companies such as Mastercard, and anticipate that FinGo’s ongoing development will provide opportunities for CSSG (and vice versa). Beyond this, we see CSSG as progressing, following a positive set of results in October and success with the company’s regional expansion strategy as reflected in M&A in November."
Excellent new partnership announced today with FinGo, a biometric identity authentication and payments platform.
Interesting that CSSG choose to highlight the potential as regards COVID:
"Over the last 12 months, FinGo has adapted its solutions to integrate with COVID-support services, including secure contact tracing within hospitality settings and verification of employee COVID test results within the care industry. The company is also in talks with policy makers over the use of FinGo and vein ID for vaccine certification."
It's also worth noting the impressive company info for FinGo in the RNS:
"FinGo is the world's first biometric identity authentication solution, open to everyone and a mission to provide a more secure and inclusive way to navigate the world. FinGo uses unique vein patterns hidden inside a finger to instantly identify and authenticate individuals without the need for cards or devices to be present.
Originally payments focused, parent company Sthaler Ltd was founded from a desire to create a cashless experience for festivals and events, with FinGoPay introduced at Festival No 6. Recent awards include Fast Company: Top 10 Europe's Most Innovative Companies, 2020; UK Enterprise Awards: Identity Servicer Product Innovator of the Year, 2020; Syndicate Room: Top 100 Fastest Growing UK Companies 2019; Telegraph: Smart City Innovation Award Industry Innovation of the Year, 2019 and Restaurant TECH Live: Tech Product of the Year, 2018."
Https://uk.advfn.com/stock-market/london/croma-security-solutions-CSSG/share-news/Croma-Security-Solutions-Group-PLC-Strategic-Partn/87079033
yes, hopefully this will get back above £1 quite soon.
Surprised this didn't get mentioned in 2022 share tips as it is a great little company making money and paying a decent dividend. PE is very low, especially as YE figures will be above expectations as per recent RNS.
Happy New Year to all here - a good start to 2022 with the share price 2p up today after just a couple of small buys.
Good to see a £10k buy today cause a 2p uplift (in the spread anyway!) - hopefully indicative of not much stock around.
Merry Xmas to all here. The share price has done pretty well in 2020, up from 66p. I can't see why that shouldn't be repeated at the least in 2022 given the very low P/E multiple, the £5m cash pile, the likelihood of further acquisitions and a wider appreciation of the shift to longer-term contract wins.
CSSG have already said in the prelims outlook they recorded a "positive trading period since year end" and expect "a good first half performance in the Group's next financial year".
Jack Brumby at Stockopedia has picked CSSG as one of his Fast Grower stock tips for 2022 (from around 57 minutes in):
Https://www.**********.co.uk/articles/special-xmas-stock-picking-forum-306aa77/
Nice to get some attention, even if most of the discussion is about the shares being illiquid, a microcap etc! At least he does mention the £5m+ cash pile as well as the potential share price upside....
Contract win news....
Https://www.facebook.com/cromavigilant/photos/a.529019640584292/2067604886725752/
"Croma Vigilant are pleased to announce we have recently been selected as the preferred security contractor for The Museum of London.
This adds to our existing portfolio of museums and public realm attractions across the UK, as we continue to build upon our sector-based experience.
etc"
Good to see Hybridan Research highlighting the acquisition in its Small Cap round-up:
Https://hybridan.com/small-cap-breakfast-latest-issue/#
Hopefully CSSG's brokers WH Ireland will pull their fingers out and finally issue an updated research note. Perhaps even one with some figures in it, unlike many of their other updates.
Nothing after the recent results, and nothing yet after this earnings-enhancing acquisition. I would have expected one to be ready to go first thing in the morning after the news.Even Hybridan are doing more than WH Ireland are doing.
A bargain bolt-on acquisition today....
CSSG have paid a maximum £0.61m consideration for a complementary business making £100k EBITDA and bringing with it £100k cash and a £350k freehold property. You can't ask for much better value than that.
Based in the extremely affluent Cheshire area, so no wonder CSSG are confident they can increase its earnings further, and likely quite significantly:
Https://uk.advfn.com/stock-market/london/croma-security-solutions-CSSG/share-news/Croma-Security-Solutions-Group-PLC-Acquisition/86594477
Looks like Miton UK MicroCap Trust plc have been buying keenly as they weren't a major shareholder before. They now have 5.87%, or 875,000 shares:
Https://uk.advfn.com/stock-market/london/croma-security-solutions-CSSG/share-news/Croma-Security-Solutions-Group-PLC-Holdings-in-Com/86490343
New highs now - moved up again after just a £1,500 buy, indicating there's not much stock around.
Plenty of upside here imo, with acquisitions likely from the £5.4m cash pile (40% of the m/cap), in which case I could see the share price doubling from here over time.