soi
04 May 2018
Re: Sandwich spread Hi marktimeIn here because I think the sp drop may have been overdone.I do usually stick to ultra large caps with good liquidity for trading, you are right.It is indeed hard to trade when there is a wide spread.Just fancied a little play here.ATBsoi
marktime1231
04 May 2018
Sandwich spread is horrible, not a fan of marmite either.Soi what are you doing here if there is such a wide spread it must make it twice as hard to turn a profit from trading small movements. Stick to liquid stocks with sp volatility in the pences. LLOY, and ...Mind you it looks like you have made a good deal here. I went the other way, put out a big order if the sp dropped 5% before ex-div. Then you went and callied it long. I blame you.
soi
04 May 2018
Re: at 56p expect DX. to be stalking 54.7 share buy 2nd tranche.Spread is horrible....................................57.2 limit order sold.Leaves the original entry in, allows more flexibility to add if it drops again and also grabs some profit.ATBsoi
TX2
02 May 2018
Re: at 56p expect DX. to be stalking LOL!I think Connect has enough problems without adding DX to them!Lets face it Menzies looked at DX last year with a view to off loading their Newspaper distribution business to them in exchange for cash which did n't exist and could not be raised & walked away when they saw the DX financial horror show.Although I see an investment house having lost 90% of their clients money in DX since float has decided to throw another £20m+ of other peoples money at the outfit. Menzies along with Smiths News control newspaper distribution.It's a duopoly they do not compete Smiths has a monopoly in about 60% of the UK,Menzies in about 40%.However with paper & mag sales falling at 5%+ per annum how long it remains profitable remains to be seen.Related distribution like brochures to travel agents is also falling even more rapidly.
soi
02 May 2018
Re: at 56p expect DX. to be stalking 54.7 share buy 2nd tranche.Spread is horrible.ATBsoi
Guitarsolo
02 May 2018
Tuffnells This brought a tear to my eye. Guess how much CNCT paid for Tuffnells in Nov. 2014.....£113.4 million!!!! Plus potentially another £15m depending on performance - presumably that has not been paid![link] According to the article it says that in 2014 Tuffnells had revenue of £138m and (net?) profits of £16m. How CNCT could do with that now. So by 2016, under CNCT's management, it had fallen to £4m and then a small loss in 2017. That it some pretty shambolic management - both in terms of an expensive acquisition and then poor operation. Are anyone's toes being held to the fire here?Guitarsolo - will no longer give a polite shareholder wave to those light green and black trucks ......perhaps another part of one's hand is more appropriate.
freddie99
02 May 2018
Peel Hunt "Hold" Posted without comment:Christopher Bamberry, of Peel Hunt, retains "hold" recommendation on the shares following H1 figures, and has a target price of 67p.
freddie99
02 May 2018
Smiths News Presented without comment
ress Gazette, 17th April, 2018: News Media Association criticises distributors Smiths News for "massive" hikes of more than 50 per cent to weekly independent publisher fees. David Dinsmore said: "Smiths News is often the monopoly wholesale distributor in their areas so they have nowhere else to turn."
soi
02 May 2018
Re: at 56p expect DX. to be stalking HiI bought some at 58.6 yesterday, not a good entry, closed down on that.Just taking a chance on a recovery going forward.ATBsoi
thirty fifty twenty
01 May 2018
at 56p expect DX. to be stalking i was surprised by the market reaction.yes there are lots of negatives and mgt just dont seem up to the job but that is in context of an already hammered share price. 56p looks to be chart support from a few years back.as i see it the dividend legacy is not business sense but mgt will want to keep the dividend for self interest reasons. I very much think that DX. will be looking over the business. the debt would be much less of an issue without the commitment to even think of paying a dividend and certainly DX. mgt have a much better reputation.Amazingly CNCT is still making 40m + profits despite mgt best efforts to create losses and poor staff morale. MV is only 140m so there is a lot to play with if the business would be well run.All IMHO, DYOR + BoLCNCT is in my portfolio
marktime1231
01 May 2018
Have we hit a low if the full year projection is still realistic then yes, things have to come good in H2. I think the news business has done really well over the Summer in previous World Cup years, something to do with albums and stickers, and they are looking for more of the same.Debt reduction was pleasing.Sustained divi was pleasing.Too right it is long overdue savings and efficiencies were being achieved.Sitting on a 50% loss, may I join the "not pleased" club?Still here because of the divi and the idea that this is a free cash flow business which could/should do better, while ever there is a prospect of another divi I am not minded to crystallise any of my loss. Having said that, H2 is Cashmore's last chance.
Frankers70
01 May 2018
Re: H1 Results Tuesday 1st May Guitar solo, I too sit on a loss circa 55%. More of a duet in that respect 
A 3.1p dividend on its own at the current share price is 5% but the market won't like any dividend cut at full year I suspect. Agree with h2 that all add on businesses are not performing well and reliance on ever reducing profit on core activities is too great still.If they can turn it around then the share price could rebound quickly. Although we are initially down, I think the shares will edge higher and 70p isn't out of the question in the near term. There, I've stuck my neck out. GLA that are holding, as always!
Vosene
01 May 2018
Re: H1 Results Tuesday 1st May I think it marks a company low point. They are in a rare position where they can improve profitability simply by cancelling a part of the business (Pass My Parcel) rather than investing to grow profits. Hopefully they will junk PMP and look again at their opportunities - if they cannot find any, they're still making good money from the core business even though it's on a slow decline.
Hydrogen Economy
01 May 2018
Re: H1 Results Tuesday 1st May This looks to be at the grim and of expectations, the only area working is News, all the diversification initiatives are in trouble, Freight, PMP and the recently departed books division.The reorganization has had to be slowed because of issues experienced (caused by changing too far too fast?). Click and collect to be re-engineered, almost sounds like it may be abandoned or significantly scaled back.There is still a decent, albeit much reduced profit flow from Smiths, interim div held, although FY in doubt. Cash flow was OK but changes to WC and the book sale contributed."Expectations for the full year are unchanged from the trading statement issued on 22 January 2018, with Full Year Adjusted Profit Before Tax in the range of £42m-£45m."Well I guess that depends how big the adjustments will be, CFO stepped down to take up another opportunity (presumably one that does not require that circle to be squared. Can't see this going down well, but SP already dire so who knows, open looks flat.H2
Guitarsolo
01 May 2018
Re: H1 Results Tuesday 1st May It's not pretty, but it would be harsh to hammer the share price any more than it already has. Looking forward to analysis from the rest of you but here's a few thoughts of my own:1) Looks like the final dividend is being tee-ed up for a cut:"The interim dividend has been held at 3.1p. Looking ahead, in the light of the disposal of Books and Education & Care divisions, the Board will carefully consider the optimum allocation of the Group's excess free cash, balancing the capital requirements of the business and shareholder returns with an ambition to reduce net debt over time."2) Net debt at £83.4m which I believe/hope is before allocation of the funds from the book division sale. Getting that debt down/gone is crucial to the long term ability to make dividend payments otherwise too much of the reducing net profit will be sucked up by interest on debt. 3) Pass My Parcel is in the Last Chance Saloon:"In the light of the expected future losses, we have concluded that the proposition cannot continue in its current form, and consequentially we have written down the £2.0m of associated assets on the balance sheet to £nil."It's being "re-engineered"! Still, stopping losses of £3.5m a year will help the debt and dividend stories. Still, PMP has been a pretty expensive foray by management so far. 4) Tuffnells. OK, so they are having problems and the marketplace is tough. But a small profit last year (£4.3m) and an operating loss this year (£0.2m) is very poor. How much did CNCT pay for Tuffnells? Should b doing better. I can't see these results doing much other than to justify the halving of the share price in the last 6 months (and much before that as well). I'm sitting on a loss of about 55% (excl. divis) so am not happy at all. But selling out now in a (still) profitable business only crystallises the loss. I'm not hoping for much long term, but if the divi goes there isn't much reason to remain invested sadly. Guitarsolo - let's see what the market thinks.....it's 8.00am!
