Member Info for Grapeboy

I can’t see a dividend being announced tomorrow as at the full year results they said the timing and level of dividend resumption would be taken at year end. They still have work to do on their strategy and will want to invest in any area of weakness left.
Overall I think tomorrow should be another good step forward

What’s the right price for this share? . Referencing my last post here, in 2016 they only had $51bn in AUM far less than now in sterling terms but the shares started that year at 2,40 and ended it over 4 pounds. In that time they have paid out 6 years at over 16p per year In dividends pretty much a pound. Who knows when the tide will turn but emerging markets will come back into favour sooner or later.

There is no doubt about the plethora of uncertainties surrounding Wood Group but I have the feeling the last couple of weeks the price might be coming down partly due to the widespread selling down of stakes in renewable companies. Given the future for Wood is very much in this sphere if these funds aren’t going to be able to raise capital as easy as before due to returns no longer being seen as attractive for the risk involved and if the cost of capital is that much higher, then expansion could be a lot slower, hence the hit to service companies.

Agree Nimrod, good to see net debt down and more private / self pay activity and positive new business areas to develop. Another year of debt reduction, sales expansion, should then show better net profits. Remains a takeover target and has been very stable recently SP wise. One I am less worried than others but slow progress expected.

Exciting company now, still sitting on lots of cash after major acquisitions this year, final div/special of c14p after already paying 6.5p interim. That’s due to their divi policy of paying out a fixed percentage of earnings so will go up and down with commodity prices but looking to be one to lock away for the long term.

I thought the report by the new CEO installed a lot of confidence about the future prospects of Wood Group and yet the early morning share price fall was hardly a surprise as capitulation will be triggered in shares like this one if there is no obvious good news. Looks like the drop has almost been cancelled out already. Would be great and very positive to finish up today in what looks like another poor market day.

Hopefully nobody takes these Porche statistics seriously. All UK indexes are above where they were 22 years ago. Granted the ftse 100 as an index has been a poor relative investment but it’s full of cyclical and asset heavy companies but is still 500 pts above its long standing high in 1999/2000 just under 7000. The ftse all share is 35pc higher and the ftse 250 which more accurately measures the UK economy (as an index) than the bigger indexes is up 200pc since 2000. Granted again not as good as US indexes. As for Abrdn, the drop in AUM is largely either market related or the last tranche of the LBG asset switch which was from memory £+_ 100bn over a period of years and all known about in previous company reports.
Sooner or later an asset manager with a low suffering share price may get taken over which would reset valuations for all. The latest interim report was very focussed on shareholder returns so I will let time play its role here rather than worry about the share price.

Having very recently de-merged from Old Mutual and spent the time since re focussing the group into a very UK focussed wealth management specialist and having bought back 14pc of the shares even more recently for an average of 142p, there is no way this company would be let go cheaply. If someone wants it I would imagine it would go for more than 150p. I bought more shares at around 150 thinking they looked good value then based on growth being achieved and costs being cut. It’s beyond me as to why they dropped as low as they have, but clearly there are few buyers around at present for any shares like this one in asset management. But that’s surely /hopefully temporary. The last thing the management will be looking for after all their last 4 years work is to hand it to NWG cheaply.

This company has until the pandemic been on a significant growth track and made Eps of about 70p which justified the previous much higher share price history to some extent. I agree they are highly valued but for good reason. Strong unique brands , scope for overseas growth, good historic margins, 50m of cash, large family shareholding etc. frustrating they are stuck in range for some time and the spread is huge too which puts people off buying but they pay a fair dividend and will be around for decades to come I think.

39 p paid 5 aug 21 and 18.7p paid 10 Jan 2022
Total 57.7p

Canchat, there must be a set process for updating the dividends and the figure on the website here is 57.7p which is the interim dividend for the year ended 31 mar 22 together with the final dividend for year ended 31 mar 21. I guess as soon as the payment for the last FY is paid, the data will change to a total of 76p. Given the AGM was just the other day, the final dividend can’t be seen as a given until it’s approved there.
As for the first quarter update I took it positively but given the share price hasn’t been doing well just recently whilst the AUM are still growing, there must be a fear that the investments may not continue to deliver the results and earnings they have been making in recent years due to all the fears about the economy. I am in this for the long term anyway as if they can deliver their own strategy for growing AUM the share price must take care of itself.

Given the current market it could well go lower but look back to feb 2016, share price dropped from the 260’s to 210’s in anticipation of a big drop in AUM released feb 2016 half year results. Drop in assets reported down 18pc from 58.9bn USD to 48bn. Eps dropped but dividend held at same as current dividend. Within 6 months share price was above £3.60 and on upward trend. With the Brexit vote later that summer there was a lot of uncertainty and drop in pound helped sterling earnings but compared to now when we have 64bn AUM down from 78bn, and the likelihood the latest share price looks a bargain for long term investors convinced of the merits of emerging markets.

Elgrebe, in the financial year end report it refers to the triennial pension valuation due in the first half of 2022 being the key to dividends. You would think that news on that couldn’t be better given the upward trend in interest rates and falling bond prices. My hopeful guess is a small resumption at the half year. Even if it was 1p I think management are really keen to resume. Lots of other utilities pay generous dividends. Whatever centrica pay will hardly be newsworthy. So I remain hopeful of steady improvement in SP

I know it was a terrible day on the markets today but surely the market feels that Shaftesbury shareholders got a bad deal here or are better off on their own. An 8pc fall in the shares and yet the management clearly believe they have done a good deal. Maybe the combined group becomes a more attractive takeover target in years to come.

Must be due to the offer made to Mediclinic which was rebuffed today. I guess it shows that the real value of Spire if a bid came would be well above current price and some bids for companies like Mediclinic and Biffa have been made this week. Just a positive sign in my view that this company must still be a target.

Some nice continuous price improvement recently and especially on down days for the market like today. Their website says annual results due June/ July. 2 years ago they came out on 11June but probably expect some delays given what happened earlier in the year. If we could see a rise above £4.00 it would for me at least be real progress delivered from the management team.

Canchat, my only thought on why the market takes the current view is that during the financial crisis in 2008-9 the share price really did fall heavily and even at the start of covid. Despite its ability to quickly re rate and these low price periods not lasting long and the business model seemingly a lot more sustainable these days I still think there could be an underlying jitteryness about the company potentially suddenly having a wobble in performance yet the facts show a consistently growing AUM, NAV growth and amazingly confident forecast of 40bn USD of AUM growth a year earlier than previously forecast by 2024. Maybe needs to recover again to previous levels to once and for all move away from current rating and share price range. I hope so as I have my biggest holding here.

This is a bit like Centrica, sales of various large parts sound like alot of cash coming in but it to cancel debts that exist.
The type, size and growth prospects of the business that’s left is surely what will determine Woods value. But with no debts just like Centrica it should make the valuation easier and eventually lead to dividends. It’s very disappointing as it was with Centrica when these big deals are completed not to see immediate benefits but Centrica has gradually edged up as I hope Wood will too.

Fantastic set of results. 186p of earnings per share. Dividends of 76p. Significant growth outlook almost looks certain to be delivered. I bought more at £16.00 recently thinking I had caught the bottom but this market is hard to fathom.

Even though the shares were down today like a number of companies where inflation could do some damage to their financials I also see the results being in line with their Christmas statement progress and they have held up well recently. Net Debt without counting lease liabilities is not £3bn it fell by over£ 200m in the first half to less than £1bn and if the full year profit does come in might be less than £700bn. Their food business will go from strength to strength.