The latest Investing Matters Podcast episode featuring Jeremy Skillington, CEO of Poolbeg Pharma has just been released. Listen here.
The strategy the BOD of just not saying anything regardless of the mayhem going on with this share is not acceptable.
They need a clear positive statement which, if the half year accounts are to be believed, shouldn’t be a problem.
However if there is some massive problem in the background they need to come clean on this too.
I agree with other posters that it’s time for JL to go (after all he says his job is completed so why hang on) & let Alphonso have a go at sorting out the mess which should include sacking most of the board & the chairman
Unfortunately the board seem blissfully unaware that the company is owned by shareholders who have invested because they are looking for a profit on their investment.
My only slight encouragement is that the IIs seem to be still sticking with this even though they are facing massive losses.
Takeover or anything to shake this out of it’s slow slide down. If this carries on we will be in single figures when only a few months ago we were looking at 30p & rising.
The Board as mentioned elsewhere need to get their act together & if not Alphonso needs to sack most of them.
@Trenners
Yes it’s going to be long slog.
Unless the full year results are better than expected I think it’s going to be half year 2024 when the one offs are out of the picture (as long as more one offs don’t emerge), all sales are completed ( hopefully this year) & Alphonso starts to make his mark.
It’s the constant one offs & unforeseen? capital costs which seem to keep arising has me worried. How come with losing a contract you have to pay compensation! I can only assume it was won on the basis that once finished employees will be transferred back into the existing pension with costs to be met by Capita. One wonders how many more there are.
& now we’re hoping that Alphonso is going to do the turnaround that JL has been doing for 5 years which he says is completed is spite of the fact CPI seems incapable of producing Free Cash Flow.
I’ve been an optimistic & patient long term holder but I must admit I’m beginning to despair.
There seems to be no will to talk up the share price by holding presentations etc.
I’m hoping that Adolpho has done some research before joining Capita & feels confident that he’s not joining a sinking ship but one that he can make a positive mark on.
I too am worried about these never ending one off costs.
I’m also concerned that they have borrowed £100m or so at a high interest rate when we were under the impression that sales would reduce debt to nil.
It seems that the proceeds of sales are wiped out by costs & one offs. What happens when there’s nothing to sell
As stated by various other posters the concern is the one off costs which seem to keep repeating themselves.
If I could be confident that a transformation is really complete I’d be happy but the market has doubts.
We need a complete year’s accounts showing £100/£150m actual profit without any one offs.
At the earliest this is Y/E 2024
If achieved & dividends reinstated the share will be 60/100p but if is the big question
Long wait I’m afraid before any meaningful uplift.
Dividends needed I I can’t see them before second half 2024.
End of year 2023 accounts should finish the one offs.
By half year 2024 we should have the benefit of no more one offs ( fingers tightly crossed)
No more pension provision
No more hack costs
Efficiency savings of around £40m
Increased margins
That should give projected profits for Y/E 2024 around £150m without any distortions.
Then I would expect to see a minimum of 50p & rising.
The worry is the one offs.
We’ve had pension provision £300m or so, hack £25m, abandoned computer upgrade £50m, etc. my worry is yet again something will appear.
Hopefully the new CEO will be here to give shareholders something to encourage them.
I am at least comforted by the fact that the IIs are still largely holding firm & they had bought in at up to 45p or so a couple of years back
Given the high volumes over the last few days & the apparent excess of buys over sells could it be that CPI are delivering a brilliant coup & starting to exercise the buy back at bargain basement levels.
On second thoughts that’s probably wishful thinking but it would be a good strategy
@Capitilizer
I seem to remember that in the annual report the target was to double profitability on contracts which was running at a little under 3% or so to nearer 6%. They described this as medium term which they went on to define as 3 years.
Trisor I’ve done the same.
My question to Helen Paris is
Does the board have any comments to make following the disastrous fall in the SP following the poor reception of the results?
What action does the board plan to support the SP
If I get any response I’ll post it
There is must be some seriously p****** off IIs
I would love to be a fly on the wall during CPIs IIs presentations.
I would imagine they will be saying in no uncertain terms that unless action is taken to support the SP there needs to be a clear out at board level
Let’s hope they stay on board because if the IIs start bailing out we’ll be down in single figures
For those who don’t have the patience of a saint I’ve read through the report & can summarise as follows.
We’ve done incredibly well & increased T/O + profitability & reduced costs & sold more businesses.
In spite of this we’ve lost loads of money due to exceptional costs which may or may not repeat themselves next year. We also seem to owe more money than before & have had to increase our lending facility by borrowing money at 9% or so.
However our employees are happy with us so that’s OK
I’m not surprised at the fall in the SP.
As said elsewhere we need a clear out at board level.
I would love to sit in at the IIs presentations next week
I
Why if we are producing FCF (after one offs which surely must have finished by now) & we have no pre IRFS debt are dividends still a ‘year or two away’.
Until we have dividends this share is not going to perform.
I agree that JL needs to go. To be fair he’s saved the company but now it needs someone & hopefully that’s Adolfo who’s going to start looking after shareholders. After all we do own the company & the reason we’re invested is to get a decent return on our money
Thank heavens I didn’t buy another 50,000 shares before results (as I was thinking of doing to make a quick 20% profit)
Getting very fed up here.
Dividends now 2 years off
Borrowing money at 9% when there shouldn’t be any debt
It appears that in spite of statements to the contrary Capita is still bleeding money & needs disposals to fund losses
Can’t understand why they are still losing money when profits are meant to be 5% + of T/O
There seem to be a never ending list of one off costs which decimate any profit
A week is a long time in politics & also it seems the stock market.
A week ago the general sentiment was bullish expecting a rise pre statement & a good leg up post statement.
Now it seems we’re hoping that at the best the results will prevent even further falls.
By next Friday all may have changed again but for better or worse who knows.
I do hope at least we get a clear statement drawing a line under the hack.
@Cashola it’s interesting the effect the expansion/contraction has had on the share price.
The previous management expanded rapidly acquired companies etc & the price went up until it became obvious that this wasn’t sustainable.
Under JL we now have a much fitter, leaner & focused company but this has been a disaster for the share price.
Perhaps Adolpho should go back to the previous strategy now he has a good base to work from & we have a nice ride up for a few years & then bail out before reality takes over again.
I know it sounds rather trite but I think it’s about time shareholder’s got a reward
It looks like good results will stop a further slide and anything slightly negative will result in a fall. As I’ve said previously only the resumption of dividends coupled with debt elimination and rising TFC being generated is going to move this & we must be close to that situation but it may have to wait (yet again) for Y/E results