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Hi Silver,
Totally agree with with your comment below, which is what I alluded to in my post.
The market makers had set the price long before the markets opened based on the buy-back.
Can the price be clawed back, of course but this was un-necessary and may spook private investors who perhaps don't get into the detail as they probably should.
Great year in 2021 - and good progress to create growth offsetting decline in covid testing. 2024 mentioned a few times - coincides with new fermentation operations at south bend fully operational and a planned increase in non covid diagnostic testing including ADL which should add decent revenue moving forward. Lots of cash, lots of cash generation, few decent investments which will grow in time. Buyback intent was great - but to declare a sum of money - £4m, and a total number of shares which can be purchased - 9m - and its little wonder we start the day at 45p given that's the implied price the business places on its shares. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot. SB
I am also accumulating today.
Clearly the buy back kicked in this morning and my only comment is that its very coincidental that the drop in price today coincided with share buy back.
Singer issued a note to day with a 12 month target of 62 with a +_ 0f 21.6% . I think the margin tells us they haven't got a clue :)
I am looking fwd to the Investor meet call later,
Good time to buy shares back....
loads has been priced in, the core of the business is still going well. EKF trading at a deep discount to peer group: fwd P/S 2.5x vs 5.8x; fwd P/E 14.7x vs 39x ; EV/EBITDA 8.5 vs 15x STRONG BUY
Is it not unusual to have two price Monitoring extentions after trading hrs , on only a 6.25% fall.. ? Can anyone help explain. Thanks in advance.
Dipped toe in water today. Looking for good set of results to turn trend round.
Yes December.
It would have been strange for the company not to receive some positive momentum in the run up to its results next week - its been massacred of late linked to a number of issues highlighted recently - despite the run of positive news events from the company. IMO our current value no longer reflects the growth opportunity the company has laid out so I'm hoping for a very positive update next week. Just out of interest Scooby - what was the starting point of your bowl - Dec 2021 - quite a retracement all the way down to c.45p? SB
Its been a bit strange hoe EKf price has dropped as we know the results are v good.
Someone is still selling, even today, which is puzzling. Perhaps they are still considered to be reliant on Covid, which is far from the truth.
I have been accumulating in the past weeks, so will be listening closely to the results podcast next week.
Nice bowl - bottomed out.
Strange how it got here given most recent TU which already incorporated upgrades was "trading ahead".
Did something just go off? Ekf finally rousing from its deep slumber.
This is the largest element of a c.$10m investment in our contract manufacturing business to support existing client base and develop new relationships. This investment is due to come online in 2023; and in full operation by 2024 is scheduled to deliver $6m revenue pa alone - with the overall fermentation business exceeding $10m revenue pa from its current $1m position. SB
EKF Diagnostics Holdings plc (AIM: EKF), the?AIM-listed global diagnostics business, announces that EKF Life Sciences, a division of EKF which manufactures diagnostics enzymes and contracted custom products for use in medical diagnostics, pharmaceutical and industry, has signed a partnership agreement (the "Agreement") with ABEC, Inc ("ABEC"), a leading global provider of engineered solutions and services for biotech manufacturing.
The Agreement provides EKF Life Sciences' South Bend, Indiana facility with customised, large-scale bioprocess equipment and will include a 14,500 litre total volume stainless steel fermenter and an 8,000 litre media preparation system. This will significantly enhance EKF's production capacity of enzymes used in a variety of diagnostic and Life Science applications, and is a positive progression of the Group's strategy of investment to drive organic growth through the expansion of EKF Life Science's fermentation capabilities.
ABEC has over 45 years of experience in large-scale fermenter design and complete in-house engineering and manufacturing capabilities. ABEC will provide engineering services for EKF's new fermentation facility to ensure optimal process performance and seamless facility integration. The 14,500 litre fermenter will feature ABEC's patented internal cooling panels, which will enable efficient sanitation, optimal heat removal and the highest possible fermenter productivity.
Don't disagree chique - sometimes its better to wait for a clear signal that the down trend is over before committing more funds. I think the business has used the cash uplift from its contract manufacturing business wisely - strategic capital investment in capacity to drive organic growth and market acquisitions funded using company paper. I would be surprised if there are no further strategic moves this year - our new CFO has a track record of delivering growth and this was likely a key attribute in his appointment. SB
Strangely silverblade - this is my reason for holding off buying , not because it's correct but because I think others may bail for this reason
I would agree on the buying opportunity point chelsea - and increased my holding here a couple of weeks ago. Turns out that wasn't the greatest piece of timing......! We do seem to be overly punished for our link to covid testing and the expectation that that revenues from this sector are in decline - with no support despite ongoing growth in our core business and acceleration into new testing markets. Can't imagine the ADL shareholders will be overly impressed with current performance - their $10m consideration was 100% chares in ekf - which were trading at 80p at the time of purchase - so that's a large dent in the purchase price on paper. Will be interesting to see how they have performed so far - there are some hefty earnout clauses. SB
SB. Agree. Of course you never know but I’d be most surprised if there was something unexpectedly negative in the March results and lead up to them. Buying opportunity at these levels imo.
possibly the sub 50p trades yesterday finally created a bottom point - there seems to be some support albeit small volumes - and it would be reasonable to expect a move upwards towards the results which should come out end of March '22. What a year to date. SB
what happened to this share - keeps dropping - no end insight. A rollercoaster down the hill. When will it reach the bottom?
'*preceding 12 months'. Getting ahead of myself.....
We have now crashed through 80p, 70p, 60p. 50p......wiping £160m+ from our market value. Our single largest investor alone - Harwood Capital - have taken a near £50m hit - all in the last six months. Our executive directors were all paid significant bonus payments last year (£500K) directly related to the appreciation in share price over the proceeding 12 months. All that and more has now been lost. Ironically the base line price for further bonus payments triggers at 33p so further awards could be made in March 2022 despite the huge loss in shareholder value - accepting this is not all down to the company but at what point does it offer some support - we have £20m in cash - imo now is the time to consider sharebuybacks given the share price hammering of late. SB
Think this is spot on and I would add that small cap liquidity is light at the best of times and holders should expect or anticpate swings like this as part of investing in this market segment. It's not stock specific, there's a market-wide liquidty drawdown in play with risk premiums increasing as part of rising bond yields. In the meantime, the company continues to recover, grow and invest in future growth, plenty of cash in the bank, no debt and paying a dividend, what's not to like?
Since Sept '21 the company has lost 1/3 of its market value. We have been hit with a likely background seller, director sales (c.80p - good call...), anticipated slowdown in covid testing business, general re-rate of bio tech sector and the looming crisis in the former USSR states. Against that - I have seen nothing from either of our brokers (Investec or Singer) to offer some price support - we should be reporting 4p eps in the next month or so for 2021 and our current PE for a growing company with a clear strategy and investment plan is way too low imo. Our brokers should be doing more to promote the business and provide some forward guidance. SB
Its not just ekf - the whole bio tech market has taken a battering over the last quarter - started late 2021 and has accelerated into 2022. Completely indiscriminate - start ups through to heavyweight pharma - no one is safe. EKF is investing in its business through both internal investment and acquisitions, is cash generate despite its investment programme, has plenty cash in bank, has double digit growth and growing EBITDA and PBT - and still gets hammered. As I said - its a sector wide downgrade - not that it makes it any easier to bear.....at some point it will be oversold - lets hope that happens PDQ. SB