The next focusIR Investor Webinar takes places on 14th May with guest speakers from Blue Whale Growth Fund, Taseko Mines, Kavango Resources and CQS Natural Resources fund. Please register here.
MCG has 3.5x Marston’s revenue, over 10x their PBT, significantly less debt and will be far less impacted by consumer discretionary spending. Other than to highlight how underpriced MCG is, your comparison is laughable.
Lots of potential here but it’s underpriced for a reason. If you follow the company there’s been plenty of opportunity to buy with all current knowledge priced in (minus interest rate rises) at a 30%+ discount. I wouldn’t buy in now unless you’re betting on a takeover or institutional investor increasing their stake. I think this is unlikely before the next trading update.
Today seemed a good day to buy. Hope I’ve timed it right as not planning to buy any more unless it takes a significant plunge. To me, the SSE index looks well overdue an upward spike 🤞
For once I hope you’re right, Terry. I sold at £1 thinking it likely to retrace to high-80’s or low 90’s and would’ve made another £20k if I’d held. Be great to get back in for less but I think a possible crash after the next trading update in July will be the best time to buy.
I’m going with the Directors. Not keen on the name “Mobico” but with recent fuel price drops and a dividend that looks sustainable (imo) this is great value. Bought another 4000 today to add to my 8000. New average 105p.
Chriso4, I agree. My plan for now is leave it to the experts at JP Morgan to pick the best Chinese stocks, sit back and enjoy the dividends.
I bought a measly 1005 of these the other day, can’t remember why. Talk about low liquidity! I guess it’s one to forget about and check again in a year or two.
I’m cautiously buying. Will be surprised if the SP doesn’t creep up closer to NAV like it usually does before the dividend declaration at the end of this month.
Good luck to you Jeffery1979. I think the saying “buy when others are fearful” applies as much to buying shares after a significant rise as it does to buying when the price has been plummeting. My target for 2023 is 110p. As it’s nearly there I’ve sold out (for now). Can easily see it rising much further over the next day or two but for now I’m very happy my portfolio is at an 18 month high and I want to keep it that way for as long as possible.
The simplistic view is “big debt + (possible) interest rate hike = SP must go down” but it’s worth taking 5 minutes to look at the trading results before jumping to this assumption. TerryMC1 was part of the cheerleading squad expecting the Asos SP to rebound following their dire results, before a rights issue was announced. Tells me all I need to know about his understanding of balance sheets. Asc had an Ebit margin of -3.8%, interest expenses of £30m on a shamefully unnecessary £500m debt and will be lucky to hit their forecast of £40-60m Ebit in H2. I don’t think their £70m shareholder’s raise will go very far. 888 have the cash generating ability to handle their debt and are in a far healthier state. The Asos directors only bought shares as part of the equity raise, unlike 888 for which this was not necessary. Sorry for the odd comparison of companies but with the SP of both at ridiculous lows, I think it’s worth drawing distinctions between a cheap share (Asos) and an undervalued share (888).
Outlook from most recent trading update: “With strong progress in the realisation of synergies and effective implementation of the new market focus plan post acquisition of William Hill, the Board remains confident in its 2025 targets of at least £2 billion of revenue, an Adjusted EBITDA margin of at least 23% and more than 35p of Adjusted EPS, with adjusted net debt to EBITDA of below 3.5x”
Published 9 months ago but still relevant: https://www.fitchratings.com/research/corporate-finance/fitch-assigns-888-final-bb-idr-outlook-negative-25-08-2022
Demand is relatively stable, especially with a physical retail presence, and we now know that the much dreaded Gambling White Paper will not significantly threaten demand. How much do you think interest rates would have to increase to make payments of the 30% unfixed debt unaffordable?
Agreed. Sounds like they got a good price for it. I like Mendelsohn’s comment: "We continually review our asset base to ensure that we are only holding assets that both contribute to our long-term strategy and will maximise value for our shareholders...”