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CONT The Environmental division, which specialises in dealing with oil, chemical and marine pollution incidents, has been engaged in the salvage, processing and cleaning of the containers from the vessel "Rena" which ran aground off New Zealand in October 2011. The salvage work will continue well into 2012. The Braemar team is made up of personnel from the Environmental and Technical divisions who fulfilled a similar role in respect of the "MSC Napoli" off the coast of Devon in 2007. All of the Group's divisions have been busy over the past three months with the overall performance of the group showing an improvement compared with the earlier quarters of this financial year.
Interim Management Statement Braemar Shipping Services plc today issues its interim management statement in relation to the period since the announcement of the interim results on 25 October 2011. Over the past few months activity in the Shipbroking division has increased. The Group has seen good levels of spot chartering business particularly in deep sea tankers and in capesize bulk carriers. The specialised tanker chartering desks are also performing well, having secured long term contract business and good prospects of increasing their transaction volumes in the new financial year, beginning 1 March. Our second hand sale and purchase and demolition business has been more active than in the summer, stimulated by the fall in the value of middle-aged ships in most sectors. Overall Braemar's markets are entering a new phase where principals are adjusting their operations to fit market conditions, and this greater certainty should be positive. The Company is making good progress in bringing its technical businesses together as a single unit, trading as Braemar Technical Services. There are already clear signs of much closer interaction within the division and when full integration is achieved, the engineering and surveying teams will be deployed more efficiently. Braemar's marketing capability in the Far East, Europe and North America will thereby be enhanced. In recent months, the Company has won several important new engineering projects and the level of surveying appointments has also been encouraging. The Logistics division has been performing well. Ship agency is making substantial inroads in the highly-competitive UK market and continues to grow in Singapore. The freight and project forwarding arm is continuing to expand its customer base and is delivering improved results. The cruise ship agency and tours business had a reasonable summer in 2011 and bookings for 2012 have been strong on the back of the London Olympics.
http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201201120700134062V
Perhaps I spoke too soon
Just been a couple of days in this but it looks quietly promising, nothing extravagant but coupled with a nice dividend....
Arbuthnot Securities maintained its "neutral" recommendation for Braemar Shipping Services (BMS), but with a reduced target price of 320p, from 340p. The maritime services company is expected to issue an annual dividend of 26p, offering an attractive yield of 7.7%, but the broker notes concern over cyclical difficulties in the industry that are likely to impact the firm in the near term. As a result the broker forecasts a 31% year-on-year decline in pre-tax profits for the 2012 financial year. Braemar shares stayed flat at 339.5p.
http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201110250700177480Q
u4987 - Aprreciate your insight - thanks
Charles Stanley downgrades Braemar Shipping from add to hold, target price cut from 535p to 363p.
They have some excellent niche businesses where the competitive position looks good and the long term growth outlook is attractive, unfortunately the core chartering business exposed to day rates is still the main revenue and profit driver and that business is a) competitive and b) exposed to weak rates because of the excessive addition of new capacity (which has a long lead time and therefore takes a long time to fix). Still like this one for the dividend, which looks fairly safe, but the earnings outlook is mixed IMO.
Could have been worse I dare say
Trading Update Braemar Shipping Services Plc today issues a trading update following the end of its half year on 31 August 2011. In the shipbroking division, during the second quarter chartering transaction numbers were strong although as previously highlighted freight rates remained subdued. Our sale and purchase performance has been adversely affected by the related effect on ship values together with some slippage in newbuilding deliveries. As a result our shipbroking income is lower than anticipated. This has been partly offset by an improvement in our Technical and Logistics divisions which have performed well. We do expect some pick up in the second half and of late there has been an improvement in the dry bulk market. However, shipbroking income for this financial year is likely to be some 18% lower than the last financial year and offset by a 7% increase in income from our other marine services businesses, relative to the last financial year, plus the incremental contribution from new businesses.
http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201109120700220149O
what i mean is just look at the dividend thats what you call a good ramp xx
dead steady share had 3k in these afew a years ago @ 2.430 best thing i did keep getting a cheque twice a year on the door step if in the bank not a lot
A great little company. I'm not in this one at the moment, but have been in the past. Very well managed, strong cash flow, some nice bolt-on acquisitions. The elephant in the room though is shipping rates, and while these remain weak the core business will do ok rather than brilliantly. To fix this we either need a major acceleration in global growth, which seems unlikely at the moment, or a slow down in the pace of global shipping capacity additions, which also seems unlikely as Korean yard order books are chocka. At least you get paid to wait with that nice dividend, which looks very secure given the strong cash flow from this business.
Interim Management Statement Braemar Shipping Services Plc today issues its Interim Management Statement covering the first quarter of the financial year beginning 1 March 2011. At the Braemar Shipping Services plc Annual General Meeting held today, Alan Marsh, the Group Chief Executive, provided the following update on the Group's trading after the first quarter of the new financial year. While both tanker chartering and dry bulk freight rates are likely to remain subdued as a result of the new tonnage being delivered from the shipyards, we have recently seen signs of increased volumes in the crude sector, particularly from the Middle East, which should improve freight rates for the large tankers. The Baltic Cape Index which stood at 1,310 on 28 Feb 2011 has now risen to just under 1,900. After a slow period at the end of the financial year, our second hand sale and purchase and demolition business has picked up considerably, taking an increased share of the market and we are sensing a greater level of buying interest in many sectors. Our growing presence in Singapore in both sale and purchase and chartering has already allowed us access to business which would not have been available to us without our enlarged activity there. The weaker US dollar, if it persists, is likely to have some effect on earnings. Last week I spent time with my colleagues in Australia visiting some of the mining companies there and am encouraged by the expected increase in their iron ore production which should enhance our activities in this sector. The Technical division has started strongly with increased activity in most business lines. The new hull and machinery surveying business Braemar Technical Services (incorporating The Salvage Association) which the Group acquired in May, is also trading well and its integration is proceeding according to plan. The Logistics and Environmental divisions have started slowly but we remain optimistic. Overall the Board remains confident of a satisfactory outcome for the year as a whole.
http://investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201106221200019050I
In light of the large downgrade to its earnings estimates and the uncertain outlook, Arbuthnot downgraded its recommendation on Braemar Shipping Services (BMS) from "buy" to "neutral" with a reduced target price of 510p, down from 560p. Despite remaining positive on the group's long-term prospects, Arbuthnot said it expects the performance of the shares to be muted until there is better visibility in shipbroking and clear evidence that the technical division is recovering. Braemar shares lost 22p to 468p.
Braemar Shipping cut to neutral from buy at Arbuthnot, target price 510p down from 560p.
Braemar CEO, Alan Marsh, said "This is a very exciting development for the technical division of Braemar Shipping Services Plc Group, enabling us to deliver a truly global service to our clients".
PURCHASE OF THE BUSINESS AND CERTAIN ASSETS OF BMT MARINE AND OFFSHORE SURVEYS LIMITED Braemar is pleased to announce the purchase of the business and certain assets of BMT Marine and Offshore Surveys Limited ("BMTMOS") on 6th May 2011 from the Administrator, Deloitte. BMTMOS provides Hull and Machinery, P&I and Marine Warranty survey services around the globe; clients operate primarily in the insurance, shipping and offshore industries. BMTMOS has 94 employees, most of whom are marine surveyors, who operate from 21 offices around the world. Going forward the business will join with the established marine survey operations of the group's technical division and will trade under the Braemar name. The cash consideration for the transaction was £2.4 million, paid on completion. In its financial year to 30 September 2010 BMTMOS reported a normalised EBITDA of £0.9 million, and at that date the book value of assets acquired was £3.5 million.
Braemar Shipping Services (BMS) matches cargoes with ships around the world and it has been doing so successfully for 160 years. There is still potential for long-term growth on the back of booming trade in commodities. But of particular interest to investors is the yield of 5.6% on the shares - a yield that looks secure, as the company has an exemplary record of dividend increases every year for the past seven years. Volatility in shipping freight rates is the main bugbear and earlier this year Braemar had to warn shareholders of recent weakness in these rates. So profits for 2010/11 are not expected to recover quite so rapidly as previously hoped, but should still rise from £13.5 million to £14.5 million. Analysts predict £15 million-plus this year.
This is a quality share with good upside potential in the near term.