Member Info for MattTheBrave

...and apply critical thinking. We know from the statement that second half earnings will be about 24p, and hence full year eps will be 47p. So the stock is on a PE of 7.5x - even more significantly, it's on a price-to-sales of about 0.5x. That's a hell of a lot of bad news in the price, right there. Can things get worse - yes, of course, but as I say, lot of that in the price already. What happens if things stabilize? For, me the stock rises sharply. Will. it happen? I think it might: New CEO at the helm to provide some direction, plus losing some of the contracts should actually help them resource and service others better. I think part of their service issue a re having grown too quickly a few years back and got too stretched - redeploying staff should help. Is outsourcing dead? I don't think so, in fact I believe it will continue to grow modestly, providing a tail wind if the management can turn the Firm around. Conclusion - still material risks, but a price that reflects that to a large extent. Not for the faint-hearted, but IMV, an excellent time to start building a position - I have been buying today as a result GLA

...of a stock this is!! Daily moves of 10% a day now the norm it would seem!

Sorry Tom - You can't add a dividend back to the eps because, as I said below, the eps is before dividend was paid. You can further conclude that HSBC actually dipped into reserve's to pay the dividend last year, with it being bigger than the EPS. However, that's not the whole picture, as the reason why the eps was so low last year was $12bn of non-cash write-offs. EPS for the current financial year (release in March) will be closer to 50p, so a more normalized PE then. Apologies to all for the HSBC chat on IG Board - just clarifying my response.

Tom - Of course you don't include the dividend! When looking at net earnings, you are considering profits after everyone else has been paid - dividends are not paid to someone else, they are paid to you as a shareholder, so are rightly left in. Based on your logic companies that pay a high dividend yield would be penalized, but as the shareholder who actually receives this dividend, that would be absurd.

GumT - quote "Generally , PE above 14 is considered expensive". I think you'll find that whether a PE is 'expensive' or no will depend on the health and growth of the underlying business. For a high tech company growing at 30% per annum, 14x would be a steal. For a cyclical manufacturing business with little or no growth, it would indeed be expensive. IG h1 eps was 29.3p up 30%. If they grow the same in H2 (versus the previous year), the PE would be about 13x. 30% growth on 13x isn't expensive in anyone's book (but of course there is regulatory risk here, so some discount justified).

...nice to see!

....it's on a PE of 12x. Quite hard to call that 'expensive' unless you don't really know what you're doing, I'd say.....;-)

....coming our way? Looks like getting in below �50 a distinct possibility again! Not HCM - specific, but I think Sterling in being extremely sanguine about BREXIT which I suspect will be more painful than currently expected. That should provide a fillip, as well the strong underlying fundamentals!

I find it laughable that you refer to 'childish bickering' but litter your post with name-calling and insults. Hypocritical perhaps? I thought you might be away, and hence I waited still you started posting on other stocks again before my last post. You did so on 16 Jan, hence it has taken you a whole 9 days since then to concoct your story below. As shown, you didn't buy anywhere near the bottom, and frankly, I don't believe you bought in April either � no post from you saying how you�d got it all wrong, and were now buying in was forthcoming around that time � If I was to guess I would say that all you have done is simply choose the lowest stock price after January, when you said you didn't hold any, and pretend you bought there. Caught out in one lie, it appears that you have now compounded the issue with another. Also, all your talk of stalking is simply to cover your embarrassment at being called out, and being wrong on the stock � It is you Sir who needs to cease the childish bickering. Also, I love your characterisation that if the market doesn�t react to the figures immediately, they must be bad. That seems to imply the market is always right, and if that were the case, there would be no sense in any of us trying to pick stocks. Anyway, excluding an overall market collapse, I�d like to bet that this goes to �9 before it starts with a �6! One thing we do agree on CMC � I�m also invested there, buying in at 96p (which was the bottom, and I have posts to prove it!!)

Thanks stt1. The significant part of the article is this: "The price payable by a homeowner for the freehold of their house, or to extend their lease, is already governed by legislation which sets out a statutory formula that determines the price payable � for example, the price payable to buy the freehold of a house is regulated by the 1967 Leasehold Reform Act," Charlton said. "If a homeowner considers that the price being demanded is excessive, it can challenge the cost in the FTT." The wording of the government's response implied that it would amend the current legislation, which has been criticised as being "complicated, costly and time consuming", Charlton said. "If this is the case, it will need to consider the impact of such changes carefully," she said. "For example, ground rent portfolios have been an attractive long-term secure investment for pension funds, other institutional investors and the public sector alike." "Changes to the current statutory formulae and/or processes will almost certainly impact on the value of existing residential ground rent portfolios, even if they are ring-fenced and are not affected by the changes to the law. This is because this asset class may no longer be seen as an attractive and secure investment," she said." However, as the GRIO price is already down 20%, I think that this is already very much in the price. Index-linked gilts currently yield minus 2% (real). This Fund yields plus 4% real. Pretty attractive IMHO.

TBH, I'm pretty surprised the stock isn't above �8 on those results. I'd buy more if we went back below �7.50 I think.

Ox, yes that's how bid-offer spreads work I'm afraid. It would be lovely if MMs would sell us stock at the bid, but not very likely.....;-)

...and now down 14%. Spread so wide, you could get AVN's debt mountain through it...;-))

What figures are those Orangetree? Can't see them in the report.

Revenue up, costs down, EPS up 30%, and revenues in 2nd half of the year running 25% ahead of last year (so accelerating from H1) Looks to me like full year EPS could easily by 65p, putting the stock on 12x earnings. 15x looks fairer to me, so I expect to see the stock pushing �10 by the summer . GLA

Well, this jam tomorrow stock living up to form unfortunately. Decent revenue growth, but still failing to turn this into profits or positive cash flow, and debt up as a result. Still, product pipeline still looks strong, and valuation at 2.5x sales not too stretched, so I'll probably hang in here for now. Ultimately, always a chance that someone out there believes (with some justification) that they could manage this portfolio of assets better than the current management leading to a bid.

Wild swings are the norm rather than an exception. Company will either survive (you'll make a few bob) or more likely go bust/get diluted to hell by the banks, in which case(s) SHs will get nada. Red or black chaps?

....80p, how nice to see you! Haven't seen you since about June - hope you're well and enjoying life....:-))

So, I've given you the best part of 2 weeks to respond and it's disappointing, (though not surprising), that you have not seen fit to do so. I think we can all reach our own conclusions as to the truth around these issues based on your non-response. Can I respectfully request that you cease posting misleading or factually incorrect posts on these Boards. If however, you believe that this is a simple misunderstanding on my part, then please explain. I really am all ears.....

Agreed Bertie, it definitely sounds like BS to me as well....;-))