Gordon Stein, CFO of CleanTech Lithium, explains why CTL acquired the 23 Laguna Verde licenses. Watch the video here.
One or two commentators previously identified potential downside risk arising from Travis shareholders simply wanting to sell ( also providing an opportunity ) and kitchens and bathrooms not taking off as they reopen showrooms. The last seems dealt with, with orders flowing through into next period. There are still the sellers. Can't last for ever though.
WICKES GROUP PLC: Trading Update
Tue, 1st Jun 2021 07:01
WICKES GROUP PLC (WIX) WICKES GROUP PLC: Trading Update 01-Jun-2021 / 07:00 GMT/BST Dissemination of a Regulatory Announcement that contains inside information according to REGULATION (EU) No 596/2014 (MAR), transmitted by EQS Group. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
1st June 2021
Wickes Group plc - trading update
Strong sales volumes drive trading ahead of expectations
Wickes Group plc today provides an update on year to date trading performance and profit guidance.
Group Sales have continued to perform strongly, with total like for like growth in the 21 weeks to 22nd May 45.7% ahead year on year, 23.1% on a two year basis against the equivalent period in 2019.
Within Core, YTD like-for-like sales were ahead by 53.1% year on year, 46.2% on a two year basis. Trading was notably strong through April, driven by sales volumes in both local trade and DIY and continued to be underpinned by our digital capability. Trading in May has settled back in line with expectations.
Following the re-opening of our Do It For Me ("DIFM") Showrooms on the 12th April, we are encouraged by our kitchen and bathroom leads and order pipeline, which is expected to deliver strong like-for-like sales growth in the second half of the year.
Whilst there remains uncertainty in the balance of full year outlook, following stronger than expected YTD core sales growth, we anticipate half year adjusted PBT* of around ÂŁ45m and full year adjusted PBT within the top half of the range of analyst expectations (current range ÂŁ55m - ÂŁ74m).
David Wood, CEO of Wickes, said: "At Wickes, we are here to help the nation feel house proud, and I am delighted with how the entire business has responded to the continued strong demand for our products and services. Availability constraints and inflationary pressures across some raw materials have been well-flagged, but we have strong supplier relationships and are working closely with them to ensure we continue to provide customers with the products they need at the best possible value."
Yes, largely subjective. I considered myself long term in Bae for 12 months, thinking that might be one of the ways to go. Steady, dividends and all that guff. And might make a few per cent. Waste of time, comparatively speaking. Didn't lose anything though. And stuck it in here.
I think the second half is likely to benefit from servicing back-orders, as manufacturers and suppliers play catch up. And in view of their experience, an element of stockpiling by tradespeople, should that prove possible.
From builders merchants trade body 28th. May.
"Q1 growth of 15.1% against Q1 2020 and 6.0% against Q1 2019. Timber & Joinery drives growth against 2020 with an increase of 30.5%, with Heavy Building Materials and Landscaping up by 10.3% and 41.4% respectively. Ironmongery, Services, Tools and Plumbing, Heating & Electrical were the other areas to see growth.
As mentioned, the industry might now become more affected by the indirect repercussions of the pandemic. Stock shortages are front and centre with pent up demand leading to a buying frenzy. RMI is expected to be the main driver during the first half of the year and it could very well remain that way throughout 2021. Q2 figures should see massive growth due to last yearâs first lockdown, with the remainder of the year very difficult to predict at this stage."
Longer term holders ( probably not most on here) who held throughout the drop and took up their allocations, IKO and others, will be feeling a little better this weekend. A way to go before some are in profit again. In the absence of anything else, we wait on a trading update and confirmation of having achieved an underlying operating profit in the current period. With the increased call on materials, Sig is likely on that plateau now. Assuming no actual cutback to them ( manufacturers actually trying to up output to satisfy increased demand across construction industry ) and passing any increased material cost onto customer, which I read is what is happening.
I do not know, but it seems to me that the increased demand is now the main factor at the bottom of shortages. It does not necessarily mean that the likes of Wickes will be receiving less product than they did before, with manufacturers working to up their output to satisfy demand. I appreciate there are other factors, Brexit, Covid and so on, which have contributed to things over the past months.
"More suppliers clamp down on sales of cement as demand rockets
By Tom Lowe28 May 2021
Bagged cement shutterstock
Building understands Cemex and Breedon rationing supplies of products as post-lockdown boom shows no sign of slowing down
Cemex has become the latest major cement supplier to clamp down on sales because of spiralling demand, amid warnings that shortages could soon have a âbig impactâ on firmsâ ability to complete contracts.
Building understands the materials giant is not expected to take on any new customers for âat leastâ the next four months, with all available supplies being restricted to existing customers under an allocation system."
Wickes don't sell 'em. But Dan is likening it - toilet roll sales actually went up by a fifth, during and contributing to the shortage. And everyone tries to stockpile.
27 MAY, 2021 BY DAN GRIMSHAW
It feels a bit like the great toilet roll grab of 2020 at the moment with dwindling supplies and our buildersâ merchant limiting us to one pallet of cement a day.
Sig don't sell 'em. But Dan is likening it - toilet roll sales actually went up by a fifth, during and contributing to the shortage. And everyone tries to stockpile.
27 MAY, 2021 BY DAN GRIMSHAW
It feels a bit like the great toilet roll grab of 2020 at the moment with dwindling supplies and our buildersâ merchant limiting us to one pallet of cement a day.
You can see what's generally building here - and demand for products cannot be bad for suppliers.
From Sigs trading update. " We are seeing signs of shortages of materials in certain areas, as reported previously, and input price inflation remains significant in some categories. We have navigated these uncertainties successfully to date, despite some longer delivery times. "
From manufacturers Kingspan, just by way of example. "By market during the first quarter, Mainland Europe was strongly ahead overall with Germany, France and the Benelux notably positive. The Americas has had an encouraging start to the year particularly in Latin America and order intake in North America significantly outpaced sales in the period. The UK business has also been strong year to date with buoyant sales and order intake activity.
The Group's trading outlook for the second quarter is positive with ongoing strong momentum across most key markets. Furthermore, raw material inflation, and indeed availability of same, is increasingly a challenge and we are doing our utmost to limit any impact on our own end markets. We have a strong backlog on hand which augurs well for the period ahead although in the current environment we are cautious about looking too far forward. "
And from the trade body
 https://constructionmanagermagazine.com/clc-warns-construction-firms-not-to-over-order-amid-product-shortages/
Seems to confirm construction is booming, with regular large customers likely to receive preference and everyone paying the inflation input cost mostly finishing up with the end user. Orders in the book, longer lead times, and backlog smoothing things out over future periods.
Repair, maintenance and improvement is expected to be the main driver during the first half of the year, and quite possibly beyond, which bodes well for the industry if supply can keep up with demand.
https://rcimag.co.uk/news/building-materials-sales-continue-upward-growth-trend
Belay that. He's gone. Sudden exit. Perhaps MXCP no longer as close as they seemed to be historically.
Insufficient knowledge to comment, other than I think Kestrel's man Seb White is still on the board anyway? And I think they're like peas in a pod with Ăde.
On the subject of shortages, it is just my thoughts that it'll be the bigger projects that may suffer, you know, where you need oodles of one thing before you can get on with oodles of the rest.Albeit that as far as suppliers are concerned it should amount to orders in the book.
With jobbing builders of Wickes' type, 6 of this 6 of that, and DIYers, they'll probably be able to juggle stuff around if need be. And I think that'll also be lots of smaller orders in the book.