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BGF Investment Management have been buying - they now have 9.57% (up from 8.03%), or 9.96m shares:
Https://uk.advfn.com/stock-market/london/sdi-SDI/share-news/SDI-Group-PLC-Holdings-in-Company/93264096
Agree with everything that you are saying Rivaldo. On ADVFN the usual members are saying that Mike did a terrible job and only did what any other CEO in his position did using cheap finance for the last 10 years and that performance wasn't extraordinary. I would say that is complete nonsense as each company had access to this said "cheap" finance and did not come close to matching SDI's performance both on financial metrics and SP. He did a really good job, but like you say he may not be the man to properly structure the business and get them cross selling and working well together.
I've been away from the BB for a week, so just catching up comments-wise - the RNS was a surprise to say the least!
Ken Ford is a highly successful and experienced guy, so there are likely to be good reasons for Mike's departure. My gut feeling is that Mike has done a terrific job in getting SDI to where it is today, but that he's not necessarily the man who can extract maximum organic growth from the melange of businesses which have been acquired as he's perhaps always looking for the "next thing" and not necessarily running the existing business in the best manner.
Nevertheless, it shouldn't be forgotten that Mike has grown what was a tiny microcap to a now £67m m/cap company and taken the share price from 10p or less (where I invested here) to the current 60p+ and at one time 200p. And it's good to see Mike thanked in the RNS and Mike being similarly complementary in his comments.
With 5.8p EPS forecast for the year ending soon, and 7.4p EPS for the year starting on 1st May, it's possible that this is now a fantastic buying opportunity on an incredibly low P/E - if those figures are merely met then the share price could double or more.
On the other hand, if you believe Mike's departure presages a further warning then there may still be further pain to come. Certainly the macro background isn't promising. You pays your money....
And down she goes.
Thanks private punter. I’ll keep a close eye on this one as it was one of my favourites but would need sp to drop a fair bit more for re-entry to make up for the risk imo. They have had unexpected write downs on the last 2 updates having said on both occasions that trading is in line with expectations so I’d take whatever they say with a punch of salt. I do want them to succeed, but the comms have been misleading over the last year or so which saw me reluctantly exit. Mike was the critical cog for me but I look forward to your write ups to see how it pans out here and if you are still comfortable holding. Appreciate your website btw, always a good read.
Spoke with the company earlier, expectations remain the same.
Very surprised it has only dropped 5% so far. Needs a trading statement alongside this RNS otherwise it seems that they are hiding something. CEO's don't just quit with no notice, he's been pushed and shareholders really need to know why unless it is just for the general underperformance over the last year or so, even then I'd expect him to work a handover period.
Glad I got out of here when I did. Immediate departure of the ceo with no notice is never a good sign particularly one as critical as Mike. Let’s see if they kitchen sink the next trading update which I suspect is highly likely. Maybe some problems afoot.
A belated warning about investing in AIM stocks this am in the Telegraph/Questor …who published a very favourable article regarding SDI earlier this year / the chief analyst of Sandford de Land with a probable upside of 100% . Better DYOR and keep an eye on the directors who sold a large quantity of the free options they awarded themselves whilst making token purchases .
Hi Polinvest, think you misunderstood, I said why didn't they buy AFTER these results? If they had a grasp of the financials they would have known that the market wouldn't be happy with another profit warning so could have got them cheaper. My worry is that it's because they didn't see it coming given they gave an on target update just 2 months ago, so they no longer have a good grasp of the financials. After 5 years of holding I reluctantly sold yesterday due to the misleading updates they have put out twice in a row now. A solid return overall, but sat on my hands too long and trusted the management to deliver long term. It's still at a premium to a lot of other decent stocks, so may have further to fall yet.
JMUK26 director can't buy at least 90 days before financial results publication. This is one of AIM rules.
Oversold. Added for 6k today. I predict at least 10% bounce tomorrow otherwise more director buys to come.
So the directors were pleased to update the market on disappointing investors and viewing attractive opportunities. In an era of high inflation and interest rates they should be selective in pursuing their buy and build strategy. Economic environment has now changed .
Don't know why they didn't wait until after results to purchase, because they were definitely to reassure the market. Worryingly it suggests they thought they were on target or exceeding market expectations and didn't have a full grasp on the actual financials.
Don’t know what message directors token buys were intending to convey to shareholders…..must have known that results would not meet some shareholder's expectations!!
After a good few years of holding SDI, I'm now becoming a little frustrated with management. Every business can have rough patches or growing pains, but as long as that is communicated effectively and transparently each shareholder has the opportunity to assess and evaluate and do what they wish with their shares. At the moment, the management are saying one thing and the business is reporting something else, so potentially some blind optimism is going on. It was only in September that they updated that market to expect results in line with market expectations. Only 2 months later we are being downgraded 20-25% if the revised target is to be believed. How did management not foresee this just 2 months ago? We had the same on results day with Monmouth seeing a huge write-down after SDI had again previously confirmed that they would meet market expectations. I think management need to be more realistic with targets, and be transparent about any issues within the business. Repeated surprises like this really do not help with market sentiment towards their ability. The mark down this morning is probably fair, but I will continue to hold for now as I think it will recover somewhat.
H1 results are pretty mediocre and the outlook sees destocking, hopefully temporary, causing a downgrade for this year.
Cavendish now see 5.7p EPS this year, rising to 7.5p EPS next year. They've reduced their target price to 175p (from 200p).
Cash generated by operations increased nicely to £3.3m and net debt is stable, so there's still plenty of headroom for acquisitions, with one already added post H1 and more "under review" so perhaps coming to fruition soon.
Marked down heavily by the MMs this morning, but looking at 7.5p EPS going forward, with further earnings-enhancing acquisitions likely, at 89p SDI looks very good value imo.
I guess the interims don't quite meet FY24 expectations based on initial trading this morning
Interims will be out on Dec 7th per today's RNS, with an Investor Meet the next day.
Good to see no caveats, so we should be able to expect results at least in line with expectations as previously confirmed in the AGM update on 29th September.
When do you think they will do another buy?
Good to see the CEO buying almost £50,000 of shares at 116p:
Https://uk.advfn.com/stock-market/london/sdi-SDI/share-news/SDI-Group-PLC-Director-PDMR-Shareholding-and-Total-Voting-Rights/92477058
Nice earnings-enhancing company acquisition announced this morning. £2.4m buys £367k of PBT, so pretty good value.
Importantly, the CEO is staying on post-acquisition, and the acquisition is
"in line with the Group's strategy of acquiring businesses with complementary scientific and technology products, with capable management teams in place and with opportunities to grow further under the SDI Group structure. Peak will join SDI's Sensors and Controls division. The SDI Board considers that there are long term growth drivers for Peak's products and services internationally".
Https://uk.advfn.com/stock-market/london/sdi-SDI/share-news/SDI-Group-PLC-Acquisition-of-Peak-Sensors/92463549
Based on 2022 timings, we should also see Notice Of Results soon, for the 6 months ended 31st Oct and the results themselves, in the first half of December. That will hopefully underpin the “in-line” statement from the Company and as a consequence, fuel more upwards momentum into 2024.
Continuing to rise. Just now there was buying at 112p when the published full offer price was 110p, so quite keen buying too.
Good to see - now up 35% in the past month since the 80p lows.
SDI have already confirmed at the end of September specifically that they expect trading for the current year to April'24 to be in line with expectations, so presumably this has given the market/institutional buyers the confidence to invest.