Member Info for The.Crowman

No idea but I will be a buyer as I was from mid afternoon Friday.

Having sold out 100% at 8.00am (not brilliant - better prices were available later duhh) as I felt pretty sure it was going lower as each press piece was released.

I traded 100k after for a 3p bounce and then bought in pitiful 5k lumps so that I now hold the same 100k but with £16,000 cash difference.

I will average down into the teens if required and may yet go 500k deep but I will be exiting at 50p if we see it.

Have a plan and stick to it.

No offence Laura but you have been ramper in chief on this BB since the review was announced.

Why do I not beleive your I bought at 30p tale? Sorry your posting do not add up for me.

Any potential buyer would be attracted by a skilled workforce, an order book worth $6.2 billion and long-term relationships with a suite of blue-chip customers around the world.

There are question marks about the outcome of the independent review as the process is continuing, although Gilmartin provided some comfort as there is now not expected to be “a material impact” on the company’s cash position.

Suitors would also have to consider Wood’s net debt, which was $690 million at the close of 2024 and is forecast to average $1.1 billion across this year.

Sidara’s six-month cooling-off period under the takeover code has passed, meaning it could again make an approach for Wood.

Whether it or any other bidder emerges it appears unlikely the price will come close to the levels seen last year or in 2023.

If the share price remains depressed in the weeks ahead an opportunistic buyer may believe it can put pressure on Wood’s board and bag a relative bargain.

Analysts at Panmure Liberum said: “Investors will be hoping that the review is completed soon so that the pain can be recognised and the company can move forward. While the order book remains healthy, the recovery plan is taking longer than previously expected and investors will have to wait until 2026 for the shoots of recovery to appear.”

In one bright spot, Wood said its order book had increased to $6.2 billion at the end of December, up from $5.4 billion at the end of September.

Takeover bidders may be back for a bargain

The drumbeat around John Wood Group again becoming a takeover target is likely to get a little louder in the coming weeks (Greig Cameron writes).

The mutterings around the City and further afield have never entirely gone away even as two approaches have failed to get over the line in recent years.

It is a little over six months since Sidara, a fellow engineering consultancy, walked away from a near-£1.6 billion deal worth 230p per share, citing market conditions and geopolitical uncertainty.

Wind back to the spring of 2023 and Apollo, the private equity giant, had put forward a 240p-per-share proposal but also decided against making a formal offer after running the rule over Wood’s books.

Wood’s shares then hit a two-decade low in November last year as it announced an independent review into multimillion-dollar writedowns.

Now the stock has fallen even further following a downbeat trading statement which even the normally upbeat chief executive Ken Gilmartin described as disappointing.

The shares dropped to 29p, the lowest since its initial public offering in 2002, with the market cap falling to £205.8 million.

• After two failed buyouts, what’s going on under the hood at Wood?

One reason for the sharp fall is Gilmartin’s plan to deliver positive free cashflow in 2025 — bringing with it the prospect of reintroducing returns to shareholders — has been delayed until 2026.

In a call with analysts, Mark Wilson, from Jefferies, asked Gilmartin how investors could have confidence in the new guidance, given it appeared there was no one major thing which has pushed the company off track. Gilmartin, appointed in the summer of 2022, replied that he has “a lot of faith” in the pathway to 2026.

Ken Gilmartin, CEO of Wood Group.

Ken Gilmartin, Wood Group’s chief executive, described the latest trading statement as disappointing

LUCY YOUNG FOR THE TIMES

So far Gilmartin has steadfastly stuck to his turnaround intentions even after the unveiling of his strategy in November 2022 was met with a drop in the share price.

He wants to rebuild Wood into a more financially sustainable and higher-margin business across growing sectors including renewables, minerals, chemicals and life sciences, while maintaining a presence in the oil and gas sector it is best known for.

Any potential buyer would be attracted by a skilled workforce, an order book worth $6.2 billion and long-term relationships with a suite o

I was largely criticised when I dare suggest that the delay in releasing Deloitts report was due to the extent of their findings - read bad.

Seems my guy at Lazzards was on the money afterall.

Anyhow - Friday was a reset and Monday will be the time to add - price unknown but I will take my holding up from buys on Friday and expect us to finish blue.

What happens after that is in the hands of WG management but I cannot see how a bid will not be forthcoming.

@Daltry - If so we are on the path to WW3. That I have no doubt.

In that conflict I will side with the Russians. Dear old blighty will have deserved whatever comes its way which will no doubt include a dozen well placed mushroom clouds.

@ Trenners - I agree, for whatever reason Capita has singularly failed to deliver for the MOD on its recruitment contract. I beleived they would be removed as soon as the existing contract allowed.

Was this because they were inept? I do not think so but in truth have no idea what scope they had to influence change at the MOD. My own belief is increasingly few young people want to fight for the UK government - a government that visibly discriminates against white males. The 'new' population sure as hell do not. Probably the very opposite.

Next for the chop - the TV license as it will be rolled into broadband costs I expect with a social tariff for those who do not want to pay - like they do not want to work etc.

Capita needs to show they can get some decent contracts or TO will be comfortably below 2bln and shrinking.

This contract loss was in the public domain on Tuesady this week - odd it really only surfaced on Friday.

Expect about 20p a share - no more - he isnt the generous kind.

And the hangman is waiting for AML. Sorry to upset the scene here but the next drop is inbound with further opportunities for folk to average down - sorry I meant make a profit lol's - just like you have all been doing since IPO.

@ Aucuba - Why are posters on here invariably obnoxious?

FYI my post yesterday was on the basis of MW closing their short - as reported on here LSE.

I hold 100,000 shares and they are all free. Whatever occurs there will be no loss but thank you for your concern.

Really - you are joking I trust.

My point is the delay is starting to be a concern, I have frankly no real knowledge of the likely timeline or the work involved. I was told the auditors would resource for a delivery target and that the current duration was already lengthy if all was in order. If WG had told Deloittes to aim for three months and resource accordingly I beleive for a PLC with a share price halved that was foolish.

Hence my suposition all is not in order and the delay is due to further time being needed. Thats a concern for anyone long - of which I am.

I am becoming concerned that the review when it arrives will be a problem. I was speaking to a qualified auditor over the weekend - Lazzards and he opined that a defined / specific review should not require the time all ready taken unless the process has uncovered problems that have taken them down many other routes.

WG have missed their trading update - fairly safe to say thats OK but what have they found that has meant that it is starting to look like eo March before they come clean.

That degree of delay should be flagged and I would say if price sensitive disclosed.

Indeed it would appear LSE are wrong with the short interest stats:

2025-01-24 Marshall Wace LLP WOOD GROUP (JOHN) PLC GB00B5N0P849 1.80

2025-01-21 Qube Research & Technologies Limited WOOD GROUP (JOHN) PLC GB00B5N0P849 0.10

2025-01-17 Systematica Investments Limited WOOD GROUP (JOHN) PLC GB00B5N0P849 1.78

2025-01-13 Marshall Wace LLP WOOD GROUP (JOHN) PLC GB00B5N0P849 1.77

2025-01-09 Systematica Investments Limited WOOD GROUP (JOHN) PLC GB00B5N0P849 1.80

2025-01-02 Marshall Wace LLP WOOD GROUP (JOHN) PLC GB00B5N0P849 1.8

Shorters always surprise me with their greed.

Surely at or around 50p they should have sensed the best was already in their shorting grasp. Lost the better part of 40% between.

Systemica looking exposed and I would say any fears the shorters were 'inside' has gone.

This will go to 80p I reckon in fairly short order - me the bus will stop at No120 pence.

@ Swiss - Your demeanor and I suspect personality as demonstrated on here will allow me to savour the moment AML serve you another dish of humble pie.

Not long to wait, see you then. Kleenex for one.

Your post read more than ..... ( XXXXX combined).

I think there was no surprise Aston sold more than Ferrari and Mclaren. Beating Bentley is kudos but as we all know Aston force down the throat of their dealers cars with no buyer so how many of these sales are dealer registered cars we will not know at this point.

Odds on cash raise is coming so perhaps when you read that I will offer you some help to understand what that means to you holding. Clue nothing good.

Not according to the SMMT - in fact you are not even half right.

Care to cite your source?

I have had this stroker on filter since foreever but sadly loads of you continue to feed this troll.

Between Savage and the peeps who engage with him this BB is quite simply pointless. I will revisit when we pass 25p when hopefully Savage will have disappeared up his own keyboard.

Moulding said: “I’m impressed by the group’s agility and resilience during a year of significant change for THG, ranging from the demerger of our Ingenuity business, to the sale or discontinuation of some non-core business units, and a major global rebrand of Myprotein.

“Our beauty business had a standout year, underpinned by strong performances in the UK and the US. The continued success of our customer loyalty and reward programme, and the opening of our first-ever Lookfantastic physical store, further cement our leadership position in the global beauty market.”

Emily Scott, retail analyst at GlobalData, said: “This was primarily due to high levels of promotional activity to clear old stock due to Myprotein’s rebrand. The foreign exchange pressures in Asia have also created a tough trading environment.

“Promotional activity was reduced in the second half of the year, though, so THG will hope that its global rebrand will start to pay off in 2025 — although high commodity costs continue to be a challenge.”

Business & Money

Technology

THG reports revenue decline after Ingenuity spin-off

A successful beauty division couldn’t offset struggling nutrition brands, as total revenues drop 2.5 per cent to £1.7 billion in the 12 months to December 31

Helen Cahill, M&A and Restructuring Correspondent

Friday January 24 2025, 12.01am GMT, The Times

Woman drinking from a white water bottle.

Nutritional brands and Myprotein shakes suffered a decline in sales

THG

Matthew Moulding’s beauty and nutrition business has reported a decline in revenues after spinning off its tech division Ingenuity.

THG, which secured investor approval for the divestment of Ingenuity last month, saw total revenues from the remaining divisions fall 2.5 per cent to £1.7 billion in the year to December 31.

The group’s figures fell short of City expectations as its beauty products performed well but its nutritional brands and Myprotein shakes were knocked by a decline in sales. The company has faced significant rises in the price of the whey that it uses to manufacture these products.

Revenues in THG’s beauty business were up 3.3 per cent to £1.1 billion but this was offset by revenues from the company’s nutrition products falling 11.9 per cent to £579.6 million. The company told investors that its full-year earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation would still fall within a forecast range of between £122 million and £133 million.

Moulding co-founded THG as The Hut Group in 2004 and listed the business on the London stock market for 500p a share, at a £5.4 billion valuation, in 2020. The company faced criticism for its corporate governance and then came under pressure from activist investors to address a sharp decline in its valuation. Shares lost another 7 per cent, or 2¾p, to close at 36¾p on Thursday.

Analysts at Jefferies said that THG’s remaining businesses represented a “global, cash-generative, health and wellness consumer brands group”.

Peel Hunt, a house broker, said a recent HMRC tribunal concerning a competitor led to carbohydrate protein powders being reclassified as a food product, and therefore zero-rated for VAT. It calculated that this could be worth about £10 million a year to THG, with a one-off back claim of £30 million.

The analysts downgraded their forecasts for earnings from THG’s nutrition division by £22 million but said whey prices would “normalise” in the year ahead.

They said: “Nutrition still challenging and the 50 per cent rise in whey prices adds an additional drag to performance. The UK saw improved momentum in the fourth quarter against the third quarter but the drag from Asia remains.”

THG e-commerce group raised funding of £95.4 million for its deal to offload Ingenuity and the business secured investment from Mike Ashley’s retail conglomerate Frasers Group.

Moulding said: “I’m impressed by the group’s agility and resilience during a year of significant change for THG, ranging from the demerger of our In