Member Info for alfista

From the very start of seeing SiS as part of a PLC it has been made clear that growth is the strategy hasnt it. So anyone holding has realised that investment was required. When I pointed out that SIS would be cash hungry for several years my view was derided. It remains my view that further stages of growth will require funding if SIS remains as a standalone company. Each increase in turnover of goods sold on credit, each new machine for manufacture or packing, each step up of promotion to reach larger consumer groups, each addition of working space, be that factory, warehouse or, as now, offices. All will soak up funds. Understand that and accept it as a part of growing a business from small to medium size, and future funding needs will come as no surprise.

Five year high passed now, excellent stuff. Shan, I used to, but I changed to Moneyweek recently. Both provide valuable aids to the thought process, but, as always with journos, shouldnt be relied on as infallible, they have successes and failures. If a company takes my attention these days, first instinct is to go back through a couple of years of RNS's on Investegate. Statements on there are fact rather than opinion. Looking at TMMG as an instance, you can see that they have progressed the business plan very well. Growth of agencies, acquisitions, debt falling, dividend initiated. Strongly encouraging factors IMHO

Highest for almost five years, and we have little to say about it! We must be the most laid back bunch on these boards. Knowing that this is still a long way from where it should be, but I doubt if 50,60 or even 70 would do more than raise an eyebrow. Update soon, hoping for further good progress.

Are these the thoughts of investors? Maybe they could ask Tim's mum to knock the stuff up in her kitchen again, and perhaps she could rent out her front room to put all the staff in. That would save money. Strewth!

A week of increased interest here created by the Investors Chronicle tip. Volumes still higher than before, so liquidity seems to have improved. Were the last two trades sells? If so why did the Bid rise? Tactical movement to confuse trades is standard stuff, but as we move in to next month our focus should be on the upcoming update. In line with managemnt expectations is good, but that part is history already, how is business currently performing for the various agencies? We hope for some good pointers that the clients are becoming more expansive in their promo activities.

Looks like the move has gone smoothly. Exchanged a couplke of emails with their webmaster today, on the subject of raising the profile of the Investor tab on the website. He was in agreement that it would be beneficial to try to attract more investors through the website as well as the prime objective of selling products. All helps. I can think of real positives in making the move. Much as us in the rest of the country rue the fact, being central has a lot of value.

Normal practice for VC's is to hold a couple of years max for a big return. They've clearly calculated that there would be a drift away post demerger of many Provexis holders, and at a time of year when news is scant they have bagged a bargain extra percent. Shares held and not traded short term is good though IMHO

I cant recall seeing so many trades in a day before, and a fair few of high value too. Very impressive, and, as you say Dean, likely to push the sp up again soon. As I understand it, the MM's can sell shares they dont have, but they need to fill the order and balance their books eventually, so one of their tactics can be to drop the price sharply to trigger sells in the short term. In other words, anything can happen short term, but after that buying pressure will rule overall.

It is probably the most widely available specialist mag for investors I guess, and their journos are very balanced in comparison to daily papers or some of the members only sites IMHO. Important thing though is to check whether you agree with their view. They are spot on that the sp only went down when debt became a dirty word during the dark days of the lending crisis. Since that time, by means of one modest placing but mainly in house cash generation, the BoD have done an excellent job of bringing borrowing down whilst still managing to grow the business. Now that the business climate, aided by strong UK growth, has turned much more benign, the services offered by the group should enjoy increased demand. Is all of that progress reflected in the current sp? IC dont think so, neither do I.

A high proportion of IC readers buy their copy off the shelf I assume, as there are always copies in supermarkets, motorway services etc. So many of them will only just have seen the BUY tip, or are yet to see it. They highlight what has been puzzling throughout, the fact that there are very few trades daily, or even weekly. On the one hand, we dont want the boooom boys around daytrading and distorting the real situation, but on the other hand we do want serious investors to see a seriously undervalued share, buy and hold for capital growth and increasing dividends. I suspect that a fairly modest number of new entrants here seeking to build a decent holding will do the sp a power of good. It will take quite a lot of movement to persuade me to take any of mine off the table, but I guess that will be what is needed to improve liquidity if demand for share increases. That would seem to be what is needed to make this an ideal "Screaming Buy" for IC analysts.

Got me wondering http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clogheen,_County_Tipperary :-))

Well, in this sector, such things are not unheard of. Rumours such as that can appear in the press and create very lively trading, but for the moment we have very favourable comment on the strength and prospects of the group from a highly respected journal. That will do me for the present, but never say never.

the answer to that is very clear, valuation is a fraction of what it could be in a better business climate. That better climate appears to be here now, so the question is, what can the value reasonably rise to? An sp in the 70's region would be achievable IMHO, but is there something much more interesting becoming a distinct possibility?

Has anyone got a view what a realistic rerate could take us to? How many multiples of earnings is achievable in this sector? I have to admit that this is the only share in advert/media/PR in my pf, so I dont have comparisons with other. I have followed it a long long time since the 2010 turnaround plan commenced, and have been satisfied with performance in growing the business whilst getting borrowing very firmly down. With growth in the economy confirmed, will the "lollopalooza" year hinted at by the chairman be on the horizon?

Press attention, and not before time. The few of us who have banged on about this bargain sp can allow ourselves a knowing nod or two. I like the rerate word, bring it on !

Usually happens at times of poor liquidity, so MM's set auto limits very small. Worst case scenario is that they are raising more cash so MM's know there will be more shares hitting the market IMHO but my view is that they could do with updating the market to stir up more volume of trades. On a practical level, what the company is doing and what it is planning to do I see no problem whatsoever.

Quirky old system the Bulls, but I guess it detects the momentum, which has been building for a long period now. Most shares are tightly held I suspect, and the investors here know what the company has been doing over the last years. Acquiring, growing market share, paying down debt consistently, and initiating dividends which will hopefully increase over time. Doesnt need a computer programme to point this lot out as a Buy IMHO

All of your comments are suspicious, vindictive and paranoid. What an attitude to take in to share dealing, bound to fail I would have thought. The question I was asking was answered by the CFO by email soon afterwards, but no, the ex CEO wouldnt have been able to answer it and no one in thier right mind would expect him to. Of the good news that a full container of SiS product is en route to the Southern hemisphere I note that you make no comment at all, even though this is a major expansion. A sad reflection.

Try to refrain from posting here too often, the usual boobhead posts annoy me but all part of chat board culture I guess. On the serious stuff, I am reliably informed that a full container of product was recently loaded, destination New Zealand. In fact, I called Windsor to speak to the Provexis CFO, who wasnt in, so they took my number and said someone would call. SM called back, couldnt talk about PXS but was happy to chat about SIS. Apart from the good news on the bulk order, he said that this time of year the stockists get busy in anticipation of the main season, so the factory was quite busy. I asked if the growth in business would be stretching production capacity, and whether there may be outsourcing to produce for foreign markets. He said no, they still had ample capacity at Nelson, it was low cost to produce there, with further increases in demand making the economics ever more favourable. A useful matter of fact chat, just thought I would pass it on. I'm personally happy to hold for three to five years so long as I see advances being made in expanding markets and market reach. As for discounting, I assume those expressing doubt have no experience of modern retailing. Suffice to say that any retailer will tell you that promotions have to be offer led to be effective, and that ample margin is built in to allow offers without destroying bottom line. Absolutely normal retail practice.

Thanks for that, I understood that it was a paper excercise, but I think that dressing up the loss in that way creates a level of uncertainty. A tough phase ahead as the spending on expansion to reach production efficiency will pull on cash, but there is no choice, this is no longer a lab project it must create the sales now. By their own words it is clear that they are behind where they thought they would be, time to deliver, in every sense of the word. I also believe that the unresolved legal issue has acted as a drag on things, but you know that so I wont labour the point.