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Good to see that kcom are growing in all directions this year. Just announced to Kcom bundle services customers a mobile deal bolt on to their package. Its a buddy up with O2 (theres a surprise, watch this space!) its a great offer with a contract offer with or without handset.
The Directors are given share options that mature on term or performance. They are usually held in name but owned by the Company for the period or term. When the option is exercisable then they transact as a buy (at agreed purchase price set at the time of the option being granted) and sell with the recipient taking the profit after costs are taken out (subject to tax legislation applicable to the scheme). By the fact the Company purchased a vast amount of shares recently to satisfy its Company obligations to all employee share schemes and the fact that if the last post is correct they are exactly the same values, then I would suggest there is no issue here. After all they may be Directors but I doubt they have over £300.000 under their beds or 2 million in the case of Mr Halbert!
No ideas why they would want to sell - but it is good to see some share price momentum following the sale . Sometimes BOD sales have a negative effect on the share price. Lets hope it continues north. Very good divi today as well.
Any idea why they would want to sell ?or do they need some holiday money ?
KCOM Group Sell 25-Jul-12 £322,854.33 Kevin Walsh 437,456 @ 73.80p KCOM Group Sell 25-Jul-12 £322,854.33 Paul Simpson 437,456 @ 73.80p
KCOM Group Sell 25-Jul-12 £1,995,817.57 Bill Halbert 2,704,261 @ 73.80p
Hull-based telecoms firm KCOM Group has continued to dial up the right numbers since the start of its new financial year on April 1st. The company is set to tell shareholders at its annual general meeting on Thursday that it is trading in line with expectations having made good progress against its longer term objectives, and expects its performance for the current financial year to reflect its focus on growth. As expected, the group's Employee Benefit Trust has completed the acquisition of 7.3m shares in the first quarter of the year for a cash consideration of £5.1 m. These will be used to satisfy the firm's obligations relating to certain share incentive plans that will vest on July 24th. The group reconfirmed its commitment to bumping up the divi by at least 10% for the current financial year.
anyone know how bought over 1 million quid worth of Kcom yesterday at 10.30 am.Thanks
Watch an interview with executive chairman, Bill Halbert, discussing KCOM Group's preliminary results on the 22nd May 2012. http://62.233.101.119/kcom/
PROFITS UP AT KCOM AFTER "STRONG" YEAR Pre-tax profits have climbed above the £50m mark at KCOM Group despite a drop in sales at the telecommunications business. The group also revealed that Bill Halbert will remain as executive chairman following consultation with its largest shareholders. In the year to 31 March 2012, KCOM reported pre-tax profit of £51.1m from continuing operations, up from £41.2m, on revenue of £387.3m, which had dropped from £395.4m in 2011. The Hull business said it was pleased with "another strong set of results" with the "small decline in revenue" anticipated and reiterated its commitment to a minimum of 10 per cent dividend growth. "The group continues to perform well, making good progress against its longer term objectives," said executive chairman Bill Halbert. "We remain focused on executing our growth strategy and we expect the performance of the group to continue to reflect this during the current financial year. "The strength in earnings and associated strong conversion into cash emphasises the quality of the service we provide and forms a stable foundation for increasing shareholder returns and the pursuit of growth. "Based on another strong set of results, we are pleased to be recommending a final dividend of 2.67p per share, giving a full year dividend of 4.00p per share. We reiterate also our commitment to a minimum 10 per cent dividend growth in the coming year, reflecting the board's confidence in future financial performance." Source: http://www.insidermedia.com/insider/yorkshire/70995-/ P.S. Here's a couple of links about SCLP, one of the hottest stocks at the moment: http://www.euroinvestor.com/community/discussionthread.aspx?threadid=252803 http://www.euroinvestor.com/community/discussionthread.aspx?threadid=253089
I'm talking about KCOM (LSE: KCOM.L - news) , which I've had my eye on for a while. Last year, I was impressed by the performance turned in by the erstwhile Kingston Communications, which still runs those unique cream coloured telephone boxes in Kingston-upon-Hull. What I liked was the company's refocus away from low-margin simple services towards higher-margin business offerings, targeting profits rather than raw turnover. Another strong set of results And now, a year on, we've seen more of the same, in the form of KCOM's latest set of full-year results. From profit that declined by 2%, KCOM extracted a pre-tax profit of £51m, which is 55% higher than last year. That was partly due to EBITDA coming in 2.5% higher than last year, but the higher exceptional costs of a year ago inflated that figure as well, so we need to take that into account. But it did feed through to a bottom line adjusted earnings per share figure of 7.4p against 5.6p last year, for a rise of 32%. Strong cash flow helped to keep net debt tumbling, too, and it ended the year at £75m -- down from £82m a year ago. For a company valued at £350m, that's really nothing to worry about, but further progress in reducing it would be welcome over the next year or two. What about the divi? The big expectations have surrounded the dividend, and we heard that shareholders are getting 4p per share, which is an 11% rise on last year's 3.6p and bang in line with the company's stated aim of raising its payout by 10% per year. That represents a 5.8% yield based on today's 69p share price, and will rise to 6.4% next year if the 10% target is met again. The company sounds pretty bullish about that, saying: "The Board reiterates its commitment to delivering a minimum of ten per cent per annum dividend growth over the current financial year, reflecting its confidence in the Group's future cash generation and performance." A nice performance The share price hasn't really moved on the day of the news, but then there are no surprises and everything has gone exactly as expected. But it's up 8% over the past 12 months, which is a very nice earner, especially when the dividend is added to it. KCOM does have a small shortfall in its pension fund, but it's net liabilities amount to just £13.9m -- eat your heart out, BT. On the same day, KCOM announced that, after consultation with its largest shareholders, it will retain Bill Halbert as executive chairman. Mr Halbert has been in the chair during one of the company's strongest spells, and his retention should boost confidence. I remain convinced that KCOM is a solid and well-managed company, and has plenty more investment potential. Source: http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/dividend-beat-bt-104206924.html#next
Barclays Capital initiates overweight on KCOM Group, target price 100p. Source: http://www.stockmarketwire.com/article/4379321/Brokers-round-up-buy-Aviva-and-Balfour-Beatty.html
Espirito Santo initiates buy on KCOM Group, target price 100p. Source: http://www.stockmarketwire.com/article/4370477/Brokers-round-up-buy-Barclays-and-Compass-Group.html
KCOM Group Buy 22-May-12 £13,782.00 Martin Towers 20,000 @ 68.91p KCOM Group Buy 22-May-12 £13,780.00 Martin Towers 20,000 @ 68.90p KCOM Group Buy 23-May-12 £10,165.50 Martin Towers 15,000 @ 67.77p
I live close to Hull, and have no choice but to use KCOM for my broadband. While not as cheap as it could be, I actually think their service is good, I got a consistent 18 Meg connection (the max is 24 over copper at the moment), they are starting to roll out fibre now too, so that should jump up to 100 Meg when that finally roll it out to my area.
Good advice don't move to Hull or Beverley as Kcom do the phone and internet i used to live in Beverley the internet was that slow you would have been better off using a bow and arrow to get info , got 20 meg now and it cost less, they have a captive audience there as you cant get anything else .Happy Hunting All
KCOM is proving to be a nice little oasis in my portfolio, surrounded by a sea of red. The JPMC upgrade has yet to take its most active affect although I'm sure they are not just building castles in the sand. It will soon be results update time and the next divi will help maintain momentum. Europe worries spooking the wider market - get the German and French elections out the way and the implosion can get underway (IMO!) The PIGS will trot off and get their snouts in a different trough- the outcome will have an initial bloodbath, but will quickly settle down to give European financial stability, and the PIGS will be able to trade with their devalued currency - to their major benefit. By this time next year they will be saying - why didn't we do this months ago! Oh I forgot - they would have missed out on £360 billion euros!!!! Good luck to us small investors. (its a little difficult to get good advice on this board - people who have first hand info do not seem willing to share it - or at least I can't find it!!) Any help?
JP Morgan Cazenove upgrades KCOM Group from neutral to overweight, target price raised from 71p to 80p.
The broker's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation forecast has been lifted on the back of improved expected margin performance. "Growth across the sector is a challenge, but margin improvement is evident and KCOM rewards investment with visible dividend growth and the possibility of medium term outperformance," Darley said.
Following KCOM's trading update this morning, finnCap has raised its target price for the telecoms group from 100p to 110p and reiterated its buy rating. "FY trading update is in line with expectations, indicating sustained growth in broadband penetration in East Yorkshire, and continued development of recurring revenues in the national Kcom division, underpinned by the leadership position in the emerging Public Services Network market. New enterprise contact wins for a range of services across all brands provides further momentum," said analyst Andrew Darley
"Growth across the sector is a challenge, but margin improvement is evident and KCOM rewards investment with visible dividend growth and the possibility of medium term outperformance," Darley said. Peel Hunt has raised its target price for online gaming group 888 Holdings from 63p to 75p, saying that is 'impressed by the scale of the turnaround'. "The combination of a highly focused and able management team together with impressive technology, puts the group in a strong position to take advantage of opportunities in both relatively mature and emerging regulatory markets," said analyst Nick Batram. He said that last week's results impressed on many levels and shows that, after a difficult few years, the company looks "firmly back on track".
Following KCOM's trading update this morning, finnCap has raised its target price for the telecoms group from 100p to 110p and reiterated its buy rating. "FY trading update is in line with expectations, indicating sustained growth in broadband penetration in East Yorkshire, and continued development of recurring revenues in the national Kcom division, underpinned by the leadership position in the emerging Public Services Network market. New enterprise contact wins for a range of services across all brands provides further momentum," said analyst Andrew Darley.
Following KCOM's trading update this morning, finnCap has raised its target price for the telecoms group from 100p to 110p and reiterated its buy rating.
Accelerated Pension Payments The strength of the Group's financial position is such that we have taken the decision to make an accelerated payment of £10.0 million to the Group's defined benefit pension schemes. This comprises £6.9 million of advance payment to FY13's previously committed deficit contributions and an additional one-off contribution for FY12, of £3.1 million. As well as reflecting the wider financial strength of the Group, making these payments in the current financial year allows the Group to benefit from the higher corporation tax rates of 26% in FYE March 12, compared to 24% in FYE13. We expect the resulting net debt to be no greater than £80.0 million at 31 March 2012 (31 March 2011: £82.0 million). Outlook We expect the Group's full year results to be in line with market expectations. In addition, the Board reiterates its commitment to delivering a minimum of ten per cent per annum dividend growth in this, and the subsequent financial year, reflecting its confidence in the Group's future cash generation and performance. KCOM Group will announce its preliminary results on 22 May 2012.
KCOM Group PLC (KCOM.L) Pre-close Statement KCOM Group PLC (KCOM) issues the following statement for the period ending 31 March 2012, prior to entering the close period for its preliminary results. Current Trading Current trading remains consistent with trends reported at the interim results in November. Our KC brand continues to benefit from sustained growth in broadband penetration across the East Yorkshire network area, with customers attracted to bundled offerings in particular. In addition, and three years ahead of the Government's 2015 targets, we are able to provide broadband services with a minimum 2Mbps download speed to all households and businesses across our KC network. The Kcom brand continues to see progress on securing multi-year recurring revenues to support longer term sustainable growth. Our focus on opportunities within the emerging Public Services Network (PSN) market has been maintained, as confirmed by the recent signing of the contract for East Midlands PSN. Progress has also been seen within the enterprise market, where we have recently signed contracts with Molson Coors, United Utilities and iPSL for a range of communications and managed services. Our Smart421 and Eclipse brands continue to make good progress with their own growth momentum.