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The London based company said it is focused on broadening its communication division's international reach. "Naturally we remain cautious in these challenging macro-economic conditions, however we are confident in our strategy, which includes focusing on digital and other high-growth areas of marketing services as well as expanding our offer to meet the international opportunities from our blue-chip client base," said chief executive Don Elgie.
Shares of marketing services firm Creston shot ahead after it said full year profit rose more than a quarter and as it looks ahead to international growth opportunities. Pre-tax profit climbed to £10.8m for the year ended March 31, up 29% from the same time a year earlier. Headline pre-tax profit was flat at £10.3m from £10.4m before. Revenue increased to £74.9m from £67.8m before. International revenue jumped 37% and represented 30% of total revenue, up from 25% a year earlier.
Turning to my own trading efforts, I was particularly interested in last week’s interim management update from Creston (CRE), the public relations and research group. In January, it surprised investors with news that revenues had slipped below expectations in the final quarter of its financial year. Investors fled in droves. To my eye, though, the news was not totally bleak. Creston said that the reasons for the shortfall were temporary and that profits would be back on track in the new financial year, which started last month. One problem was within its market research division. Creston claims to have reduced operating costs here to bring them in line with revenues. As always in the world of investing, it pays to treat such corporate optimism as a hope, not a guarantee. For this reason, I sat back and waited for proof that the company was back on track for further growth. Last week’s trading update suggested that the company was true to its word. Creston confirmed that full-year profits for the year ending March 2012 will be broadly flat against the prior year. It reported no further deterioration in performance since its January report. I also noticed that several brokers are forecasting profit growth for the current year of about 20 per cent. Even if I ignore their forecasts, Creston currently appears to be undervalued when compared with other small marketing and media agencies. It has no debt and recently boosted its dividend. This suggests little downside risk in the immediate future. I have just opened a small position and am watching the price graph like a hawk. Creston’s share price is approaching the 100-day moving average which appears to be a significant technical indicator. An advance that decisively penetrates this line has the potential to be followed by very healthy continuation rally. Fingers crossed. Stock market historian David Schwartz is an active short-term trader writing about his own trades
High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email ftsales.support@ft.com to buy additional rights. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4bce107e-92be-11e1-b6e2-00144feab49a.html#ixzz1uHnJxnXh Only bears sell in May By David Schwartz Is the adage advising us to “sell in May” worth heeding? If so, we should all consider withdrawing from the stock market until St Leger’s Day in mid-September. Happily, the record book suggests we take this advice with a healthy pinch of salt. Midyear investing is not a one-sided tale of doom and gloom. In fact, the odds on making a profit can be quite good at times. More Trader's Diary Bankers have their heads buried in the sand US inflation provides a profitable clue Trends, not triggers, cause rally reversals Hold your breath for US earnings news First, though, the bad news. Midyear profit trends are even weaker if the end point for this period is extended by a few weeks. Statistically speaking, late September is a poor time to invest. UK shares fell from September 20-25 in 12 of the past 13 years. This steady pattern of late-September weakness led me to lengthen the May to St Leger’s Day period by a few weeks to the end of September. However, even after adding three weeks to this midyear danger zone, the record is not as poor as many investors imagine. Shares rose in 29 of the past 50 years from May to September, a 58 per cent success rate. What seems to be the determining factor is the presence of a bear market. If one is running in May, the odds of a price decline by the end of September are a whopping 92 per cent. On the other hand, if a bull market is running in May, prices rise three-quarters of the time over the period. All of which leads to today’s £64m question: have we now entered a new bear market? Obviously, no one knows the answer with 100 per cent certainty. But a useful perspective can be gained merely by ignoring opinions and conjecture and just concentrating on the objective facts. The economic and political news was horrid in recent weeks. The Dutch government fell and economic problems in Spain worsened. A new French leader with worrying economic policies might be elected. Fresh Euroland banking concerns are returning. Several countries can not meet their austerity pledges. Closer to home, we just slipped into another recession. Fresh developments of this magnitude can create serious stock market problems. But the FTSE 100 fell just 5 points in April – hardly a sign that investors are hunkering down for a bear market. There were several large single day drops during this period similar to the one just triggered by Friday’s poor US jobs report. Each proved to be a temporary setback. Turning to my own trading efforts, I was particularly interested in last wee
Creston said its most recent acquisition, The Corkery Group, is performing well.
Operating cash flow remains good and after funding the initial cash consideration of £3.8m for The Corkery Group acquisition and the cash charges for the restructuring, start-ups and acquisition related costs, the group expects to be broadly debt free at the year-end and in a net cash position as at 27 April 2012, both ahead of expectations.
Creston, which posted a profit warning in January, said it has now completed the necessary actions to reduce its operating costs.
Communications group Creston confirmed that headline pre-tax profit for the full year is expected to be in line with company expectations. In an update on trading for the year ended 31 March 2012 it said full year revenue is expected to reach £75m, up 11% from the previous year. Like-for-like revenue is marginally ahead of the same period last year.
Trading Statement Creston plc ('Creston' or the 'Group') (LSE: CRE), the Insight and Communications Group, provides an update on trading for the year ended 31 March 2012 ahead of its preliminary results for the period. Further to the Group's Interim Management Statement announced on 27 January 2012, the Board confirms that Headline[1] PBIT[2] for the full year is expected to be in line with the guidance provided at that time. The Group expects to report full year revenue of £75 million, an increase of 11 per cent compared to the prior year, with like-for-like[3]revenue marginally ahead over the same period. The Group's most recent acquisition, The Corkery Group, is performing well. Following the lower sales levels previously reported, the Group has now completed the necessary actions to reduce its operating costs. Operating cash flow remains good and after funding the initial cash consideration of US$6.0 million (£3.8 million) for The Corkery Group acquisition and the cash charges for the restructuring, start-ups and acquisition related costs, the Group expects to be broadly debt free at the year-end and in a net cash position as at 27 April 2012, both ahead of expectations. Creston will announce its preliminary results for the year ended 31 March 2012 on Wednesday 13 June 2012.
http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201204300700172910C
Thanks for that mad.
either one person bailing or a bit manipulation to shake out some stop losses and weak holders. Ps just noted BB did not buy shares, he transferred into sipp, pre end tax year. Clever move taking advantage price drop to loss some of his gains.
Why the big drop? Didn't expect that.
that got under my radar as I think an incorrect rns logged first time around. It is a positive move, BB has not been a huge buyer previously. Also lot of buying by ruffer and hermes.......sound names putting their vote that this is great value
Barrie Brian, Chief Operating and Financial Officer bought 167,956 shares at 61.10p costing £102,621 on 17th March - a fortnight before the year end of 31st March. A sizeable vote of confidence! So I would hope for a good Year end Trading Statement on Monday, 30th April
Next stop 65p me thinks
Hermes Equity Ownership Services Ltd have increased their holding by 230,000 to 5,565,552. A holding of over 9%. Took place on 9th Feb
Shorters closing ??
Only way is up from now on. GLA
Going up.Slowly but doing better than some in the current nervousness. :)
Buys 11 ,sells 4,Heading North..3 'experts' recommending medium to strong buys in my trading acc. Doing ok for a dull Thursday :)
Sorry maybe not if it's from the 27th....
Wow that's a big buy
Cre had a pile of debt and far less cashflow, plus DLKW on the books. I think this sp drop is way over done, and there sector has not dropped off the cliff....so no I dont think we will see 25p.....but then again, I did not expect this situation so who knows
Where is the bottom - in 2008 CRE dropped to 25 - surely we are not looking at that again - I personally wouldnt think so but in this climate who knows.