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Basically we are in a classic turn around here. David Wright has built a company of complimentary businesses over the past five years where turnover has risen from zero to the current £35m pa which is no mean feat. Despite this, delays in securing PPS and Publicasity 'at the right price' delayed progress by 15 months and start-up costs ate into any profits. As a result, some existing and legacy institutional holders have decided that the wait is too long and have downsized their holdings - fair enough given the impatience of their managers. To rejuvenate the business, which is fundamentally sound and growing revenue, Steffan Williams was appointed to drive it forward. I suggest you read Steffan's achievements and networking breadth for a guide to his capabilities. Four senior hires have either come on board or defected to Porta on his approaches. All are seasoned and very competent players who again bring along excellent contact networks - vital to a communications business. The decision to provide a comprehensive and integrated communications, IR and PR offering from a single point of access was undoubtedly the factor that persuaded them. They are now building that cohesive platform by interlinking the various businesses and it appears to be working well looking at the 60% increase in Work in Progress highlighted in the interims. So we have basically a vote of confidence in a completely new set of competent players forming a new team under a rebranded offering as Newgate and PPS work closely together to lead it. It is cash generative at the EBITDA level and growing after a Brexit hiccough. It is now a multi-faceted player with a compelling and attractive offering. The crazy thing to me is that if Porta were a new IPO coming to market with the depth and quality of management that it now has, it would certainly be commanding the £50m ticket that DW aspired to on basics and outlook. Heyho. So we have the team, we have the vehicle....now lets see it motor as I am certain that it can.
fair comment .i have indeed sold and don`t wish to come across negatively all the time. i will continue to watch and i hope it turns around for you. gla
Mick as you are now out follow and watch. When they announce any refinance deal this could surge. I am waiting to see what other staff will defect to Porta. For a firm that is supposedly struggling they are doing a lot of high profile hires. If you think things are turning you can always get back in. Sure some historic funds are selling but they may just be looking at the share price and deciding 3 year wait is too long. Once this current fund is cleared share will recover.
genuinely want this company to thrive. my issue is that if everything is peachy ,why the continued drop on alleged buys and sells from funds/distressed sellers , and someone soaking them up. i understand that we are not privy to background motivations and information. are the pi being , ( myself included ) , encouraged to sell so others mop up frustrated holders` shares.
For all the reasons I've stated - yes, I've been cautiously adding. I just find it compelling that the quality of hires following Steffan must mean that they see where Porta is going. As I said, it's great when one comes on Board but the succession of seasoned entrepreneurial hires voluntarily joining is a clear indication of change. I really do think that this assembled team are focused and motivated. At this level, the downside is limited by having several constituent companies under one umbrella; the upside looks very promising imo given the interim outlook. Steffan is not given to overbullish promises and no delivery; his impact is starting to show and should gain speed this half.
I think this is because a smaller fund is selling out here. Emma Kane was responsible for last sell order. The signs have been here again. The 1.75m sells we saw after Emma Kane had cleared out. Also the fact the share has fallen in last 1-2 days even though the buys have outranked the sells hugely. The 1M buys on Friday looks to be to take out a sell order of some sort. The pattern of 250k and 500k trades was same they used for Emma Kane's 4m sell order. I expect this pattern to continue next week. It may well put some pressure on the Sp initially. Although I think 3p would be a big test level. For now better to get rid of investors wanting out. Then the turnaround has investors engaged with the firm. Have you been topping up Adastra??
Is that N+1 Singer were eager to take on Porta, having previously been with Porta before Sanlam. They know the company, it's seasoned Board, and its ambitions. The fact that this year has seen so many senior professionals convinced by this evolving business is also very relevant. Porta has spent the last 18 months consolidating David Wright's build strategy. The next phase is Steffan Williams driving it strongly forward having formed a cohesive team of top quality leaders. The work in progress is up 60% on H1 2015 in the interims which indicates that Porta just might be getting into a sweet spot. There were a lot of good indicators that progress is being made in the half year accounts, Sentiment could change very quickly as the quality and reach of these guys starts to sink in.
Seriously considering it Pan. One of my friends thinks if this starts turning around the share price could increase sharply from this low price level. 10-13p short term? Like all shares there is an element of gamble as you can't predict 100% what will happen. Things do seem to be turning here. If all directors buy in heavily that will shift share quickly and hint at how well Porta may be doing. BM could buy in millions here assuming he wants to increase his position? I believe the funds/investor coming in here will establish 5%+ stakes. Between them so far they must have bought 16-20m shares this year at least. At present they are buying up all sold shares on a daily basis. You have to ask yourself why would they buy shares in a company supposedly doing so badly? They have seen something here. I was slightly downbeat after the result but I think things are now coming together company wise. I think as they gradually start increasing stakes in the Asia businesses this company will turn to a profit. With 2017 about growing in size very quickly. Maybe 1-2 big deals which see the company double in size. As they said in their results. 2016 consolidation. Hinting that 2017 will begin a new phase of expansion. Yesterday on ISDX someone bought over 328k of stock here. Today i think 260k bought on ISDX. LSE today there appears to be 1m buys with only 253k or so sells. Why the price is being held back I don't know. Perhaps another sell order? I was confused why price fell yesterday after so many buys. Not suprised to see a few small PI sell out. They are shaking the tree here for shares to buy. Time to wait a few days to see what happens on the market but I expect the buy trades of 250k and 500k to keep coming till these funds announce their position. If you were expecting a great sell off after the results I am not sure that is happening.
and hawk still minting it with 12% and senior position in capital structure ..need to see fcf approaching £2m/year imv before this ev justified imv
Just coming up to my third anniversary of holding Porta shares and only £10k down. Anyone on this bulletin board buying in at the current low level?
If this is such a terrible share then why are so many funds/investor buying up all the sold stock in such large volumes? Opportunistic or delibrate stake building? I suspect the latter. See what next weeks brings. How many sellers are really left here?? A few days after the results the PI sales will die down. At this point funds may start swapping shares again? Once this is done then this 3p level will likely rise quickly. Another late trade buy at 16:06hrs at 3.39p for 250k shares. So another million share bought today?
In some respects I can see this being turned around. Lots of senior hires bringing clients in. Cost savings promoised last year still to be seen. Debt refinance hopefully being worked on. That could over half the debt costs if they can get 6%. Reduction in costs relating to D and A and closed operations. In the back ground you have have fund/investors moping up all sold share. If they keep buying in 250k -750k plus a day they will build up a decent share in Porta. The buys are getting much bigger. Thats 1m over last 2 days. 7-9 million over last 10 days. Could this be the start of a takeover? We also have a new director (Like others) is used to managing and growing firms. People say the board lack direction and are over paid but there is so much knowledge and skill there. Not just in the UK but also in Australia. Exchange rate which gives a 10-20% bonus to foreign operations. Reasonable new clients coming on board too from what the TU stated. As the results showed most of the loss came from D and A and the cost of old operations. Strip that out and the loss is only 200k. People are selling because: 1. The Sp is drifting. My view is management are letting this happen to clear out stale investors. Also so directors can buy in cheaply when the share starts to rocket. 2. Debt - No one believes they are even looking at this. I hope/think they are. 3. Weak balance sheet. Hopefully the refinance can solve this. If you believe they have these issue in hand why would you not buy here?? There are some big plus points here if this is turning around like we suspect.
When the accumulator(s) show their hands and we see who the quietly-quietly fund managers are who are picking up stock at this low level. As with everything, quality is the key ingredient for growth. Look at the hires coming on board this people focused networking sensitive business and you'll come to the same conclusion as the astute first-movers ...This is a classic turnaround from build to accelerating organic growth gowing forward. Expect a raft of good news in H2 based on the quality of new hires and the increasing size and quality of both client and projects. I can see revenue per client increasing markedly as the multiple offerings from the integrated platform are taken up. All IMO but I am heartened by many phrases in the interims. Porta were previously accused under DW of over-bullishness; not any more. They called it right with the cautious statement regarding Brexit and I believe they are now being cautiously optimistic that business is in the ascendancy. Time to board the boat??
Like you GT I am sure that we have one (or two) institutional growth fund investors dipping their toe in the water on the back of a stream of quality management hires. Frankly, for five senior appointments of this calibre to all come on board voluntarily and heralding the unique Porta offering it is not surprising. These guys don't move around for fun as they are all successful business builders. One is a great coup, two is exceptional, five is astonishing for a company like Porta. This can only be indicative of a great deal of internal confidence and THAT IMO is definitive of the turnaround now taking place. If you believe it, like I do, then you're not alone as the shrewd fund managers mopping up sales are obviously seeing it too.
I assume the 250 and 500k buys are the mystery buyer. Lot of sells on isdx. This seller looks new.
Turnaround par-excellence in operation at MCap <£10m. Steffan Williams Group MD appointed last October to steer the ship created by david Wright and make senior hires - done. Four exceptional senior hires in place from end H1 all now bringing in profit from day one. Increasing list of clients buying into the integrated services offering. Outlook positive on turnover £35m pa. These guys are now proving themselves as the seasoned initiator David Williams allows the business to scale. Get the term debt sorted and this one could rerate smartly. Look at the current strategy, management and capability, NOT the building process and its hiccoughs.
The current sub £10m MCap is discounting ANY positive progress highlighted in the interims. With £1.3m in cash, having bought the additional 15% in Redleaf, and uplift post-Brexit this is an excellent buy for a company generating £35m pa revenue.
The buy and build strategy took longer than expected I agree and an MCap at this level certainly brings into question the current salaries of senior management David Wright and Gene Golembiewski. They have been integral in assembling the framework which has taken 5 years. Steffan has been in the post one year in October and has certainly lived up to his brief in bringing in new business and senior management. Brexit was an undoubted set-back given the positive first five months of 2016, but confidence is returning and Porta is benefitting according to the outlook in the interims. The senior hires joining Porta are convinced that the company now has a unique offering with critical mass, it is early days for them to be making an impact, but the fact that they have been 'profit generating from day one' bodes well. I am looking at this as a classic turnaround situation as we run into H2 and 2017 given the quality of management and new ideas. With a good crew and a fair tailwind plus a handle on debt renegotiation, Porta could pleasantly surprise as these guys kick in.
In my opinion, the management have failed to deliver here, it also seems they have been living beyond their means, renting plush London office space that they obviously can't yet afford for example and paying themselves excessive salaries. Then there's the pledge Mr Wright made about creating a Company with a £50m market cap within 5 years, he was a young man when he said that! I also seem to remember him saying that banks were queing up to borrow money to Porta. And given where the share price is currently, it also looks like they've massively overpaid for their acquisitions
Agree, but I believe consolidation with senior hires coming on board is the best 'next step' as Steffan indicates in the interim statement. David Wright has built a formidable operation of eight companies with great potential. Steffan was brought in to provide senior hires and scale operational performance and cohesion. His vision of an one-stop integrated communications, PR, IR, reputation management and marketing business is rapidly evolving. I am encouraged by several factors that make me think the corner has been turned. 1] The eagerness of very good senior execs to join Porta and 2] The fact that companies like Somero are choosing multiple offerings from Porta rather than just single briefs. This vindicates the positive outlook on 'critical mass' and scalability. The list of end H1 running into H2 client wins across all the businesses looks good and heralds well with the cost-savings kicking in during H2. Whilst Emma Kane's decision to sell shares for whatever reason was ill-timed she is a dyed-in-the-wool Redleaf girl and it is her baby. Whilst there is no obligation for her to explain her actions it would be helpful if she did state it was for personal or tax reasons. Integrity and transparency is high on her list of attributes as can be seen by her impressive client list and rejection of those she would prefer not to handle. I am reassured that Porta is either past or rapidly approaching its tipping-point and that debt reduction or refinancing is a priority as its resolution will certainly speed change of sentiment. At a time when most agencies are swimming against the tide, Porta does indeed appear to be attracting top hires and, as a people business, that bodes well for the future. They must be seeing traction in the integrated product offering and the quality of these hires is now attracting bigger clients as they have been 'profit-making from day one'. I expect that we should now start to see an increasing level of news regarding contract and project work. The IPO market has a pent-up number of companies post-Brexit, wishing to float and the bounce-back in the economy bodes well for all operations. With a firm hand on the tiller and a stated aim of 're-presenting the company' to its client markets, Porta could well be on the ascendancy as H2 rolls out.
Acquisitions with the right terms could be great for Porta. Agree sp will hold this back. Most sp issues is market sentiment. Economies of scale could also help. I think management do have a plan here. The new hires have been key to some or most of the new business here. Small shifts in numbers here could easily make porta profitable. We know a lot of the 1m saving come in h2. We know bank balance is healthy. From AGM they said they were looking to refinance long term. Personally I think the business needs to find backers to replace Bob. Sp is held back as directors are probably working on something in background. They can't tell the market everything. I think the firm has had a tough time bedding in all these 8 or so firms. I think h2 could be financially much stronger.
Something is not right here I agree. It may simply be ineptitude on the part of senior management, who don't appear to have much of a handle on managing the group, let alone shareholders and their expectations. A key aspect of the strategy is to use options to bring teams on board. In December Steffan was granted 1.5m but at a strike of 10p. Not much of an incentive now. All this talk of acquisitions at the current share price looks completely bonkers. Are the management really that incompetent that they would currently grant options to people joining when the share price looks so out of step with the fundamentals, locking themselves out in the process? There is no real, credible message coming out here. This is a small business boasting a CEO, a Group MD and a Group CFO. The share price says that operationally it's out of control, and financially stretched. The management aren't managing the fundamentals. As Chairman Bob Morton needs to take the Group's failings on board and do something to address them. Neither should it be that difficult, but for some reason the key issues are being ducked?
Mick - I think the business excluding finances looks extremely promising. With exchange rate and increased revenue of 11% in Asia that can offer some pretty good numbers for the second half. 1.1m profit in Australia + 20-30%. That could add 200-300k onto bottom line. (50% towards Porta. 150k) Same for Singapore and Hong Kong. These profitable pods look great. It's making the 1.2m cost of the HQ and the cost of the debt cover these. The balance sheet needs strengthening. This is why refinancing and maybe paying off some of the debt would be useful here. It looks like they have adjusted the marketing side here to reduce costs. 2nd half of year should be better for Porta as last year this was reduced by 600k or so from closed European offices. They have certainly recovered some of this through Asia. If their overall strategy of more senior advice mixed with integrated approach is starting to work then this could take off quickly with many more high profile staff defecting to Porta. They have taken on 3-4 high profile hires including Gavin, Steffan, Charlie and Simon. Newgate hinted at more senior hires to follow. 'Further high profile hires will be announced as Newgate expands to meet growing client demand.' If they all bring clients and experience to Porta that could be great news. Glencore is already paying for Steffan by the looks of things. The new director coming in has 27 years on experience and is great on acquisitions. "We welcome John to the board. John brings a wealth of board experience having over 27 years of continuous involvement on various public company boards as either Chairman, CEO, CFO or Non-Executive Director." ' At the time of John's appointment, MacLellan was loss making, with a turnover of circa £5 million and 50 employees. When it was sold to Interserve, MacLellan had a turnover of circa £250 million and a profit before tax of circa £9 million, with 13,500 employees. MacLellan grew through a series of acquisitions and organic growth. John is a Chartered Accountant and barrister.' This suggests in 2017 they plan to expand. He will be perfect to guide that ship. For me refinance first hence 2016 as consolidation year. Assuming they do the logical!! For me the main downsides here are debt, weakness of balance sheet and lack of support for the SP. I am sure this will be fixed when directors are able to buy in. If things are going so great why would they not buy in?? Maybe the fund/ investors who keep buying batches of 250k of shares will inject money too? Their buys are getting bigger now as the Sp has fallen. 15m+ buys now at least since Feb. 3% is 8.7m or so shares. So this suggests lots of small buyers or 3-4 fund/investors nibbling. Assuming same buyers? For now I am happy to hold. Let's see what happens.
i am not surprised about the drop again , it has to make you rethink what`s happening here. i don`t want to seem too negative but sumats not right.....
http://www.*************.com/views/24096/porta-communications-top-pr-woman-emma-kane-some-really-dodgy-looking-share-dumping This article is less than positive about Porta today. Especially Emma Kane selling out a few days before the results. The continued losses each half and debt are a big worry. Headline ebidta is 2.8% lower than June 2015. Albeit partly explained by that 120k charge. Maybe also due to the new hires? The work in progress figure looks promising. The receivables and trades is almost 2m lower. There does appear to be a small gain from currency exchange. 120k. The share price is in steady decline. (Not helped by Emma.) We really need this buyer to start pushing up the SP. Porta need to announce a refinance plan soon or the sells may continue. I guess when the directors do start to buy in they will be buying millions each. At 3-4p the share still looks cheap assuming they are working on debt issues here.