gretel
18 Apr 2016
Encouraging trading statement Good news today. The year end trading statement confirms trading in line with expectations of around 11.3p EPS - and a 4.2p dividend.With around consensus 12.1p EPS forecast for this year, CRE are on a P/E of just 8.7, with a 4% divi yield.Most importantly, the statement notes that clients' prospects have stabilised and improved.
The Money Shot
14 Apr 2016
Back in! I sold out a couple of months ago to take some profits. I bought back in this morning as I believe that a bid is a very realistic prospect. Even if we don't get a bid, the very healthy 4% + divided yield is better than any other low risk investment available at the moment...IMHO and as always DYORGLA
gretel
13 Apr 2016
RNS - DBay now above 28% DBay continue to buy and are up above 28% with 16.45m shares:[link] Artemis now at almost 15% the two of them own 43% between them. I suspect some form of corporate action - including potentially a sale of the company - will follow at some point.
ex-calibre
03 Mar 2016
ROCK I believe Rock Nominees is a subsidiary of Charles Stanley and did not have any significant holding at the last year end.
ex-calibre
03 Mar 2016
BID POSSIBILITIES ? I see Rock and Credit Suisse nominees have now increased to over 26% ! Surely an unusually high holding unless someone was contemplating corporate action ?
gretel
04 Feb 2016
News of new partnership With DBay and Artemis now owning 40% between them I suspect CRE may become a bid target before too long given their fantastic - and longstanding - blue chip client base.Forecasts have now settled at consensus of:year ending soon (31/3): 11.1p EPS, 4.3p dividendnext year : 11.95p EPS, 4.55p dividendNews of a new partnership:[link] February 2016 - 10:41am | posted by Stephen LepitakCreston agrees partnership with Ariadna Group helping it grow into LatAmCreston Unlimited and Latin America-based Ariadna Holding Group have agreed a partnership to allow both to grow their international standing. The agreement between the two marketing communications groups will enable them to make the most of each other's local expertise for existing clients across the UK, US and Latin America, with joint pitches being enabled across global opportunities. Creston Unlimited, which owns agencies such as Nelson Bostock and TMW, shares major clients such as Diageo, Nissan, Toyota and Unilever with The Ariadna Group already. The pair also hold relationships with German network Serviceplan as well. Barrie Brien, chief executive of Creston’s Group, reiterated the partnership lets the company grow into the Latin American region and said that it was "thrilled". Juan David Pinzon, Ariadna Holding Group’s president and chief executive , added: “After a successful European partnership with Serviceplan, we’re extending our service offering across the UK and US with Creston Unlimited. As a specialist in Latin American marketing, this enables us to take our most successful campaign ideas global. With a similar dedication to unlocking the power of technology to meet client challenges, Creston Unlimited is the natural partner for Ariadna.”The Ariadna Group, which offers a range of marketing services such as creative, media, tech and strategy, was founded in 1999 and has 350 staff across 10 countries. Last week, Creston announced a number of new client wins within the group, including contracts with Vodafone, British Airways and Weetabix. "
II Editor
29 Jan 2016
NEW ARTICLE: Stockwatch: Time for dividend health check "Is the stockmarket drop starting to look rational and anticipating a profits downturn? In these macro pieces I've made the chief risks plain: market values inflated by loose monetary policy, versus spreading deflation and record global debt.The ..."[link]
gretel
28 Jan 2016
Single-figure P/E, 4%+ dividend Disappointing trading update. Nevertheless, the two latest forecasts post-update average at what will soon be a historic 11.1p EPS, with 11.95p EPS to March'17.The dividend yield of more than 4% should also nicely support the share price: 2016 2017 Date Rec Pre-tax (£
EPS (p) DPS (p) Pre-tax (£ EPS (p) DPS (p) N+1 Singer 27-01-16 HOLD 9.50 10.90 4.40 10.17 11.50 4.70 Edison 27-01-16 None 9.50 11.30 4.20 10.50 12.40 4.40Liberum have a new 150p target price (down from 170p):[link]
gretel
12 Jan 2016
RNS : institutional buying FIL are buying more and have increased to above 5%:[link] bought almost another 300,000 shares and now have more than 3m.It was also good to see in another RNS that CRE had taken advantage of the current low price to buy back another 30,000 shares.
gretel
07 Dec 2015
News - yet another new client win [link] "Marketing tech company Signal brings in Nelson Bostock Unlimited to reach UK marketers 4 December 2015 Signal, a software company that creates marketing technology, has brought in Nelson Bostock Unlimited as its UK PR agency following a competitive pitch process. Nelson Bostock Unlimited’s programme will focus on promoting Chicago-based Signal and its offering for the UK market, localising the company’s messages for UK marketers and establishing a "clear and credible thought leadership platform" for the EMEA team. Neil Joyce, EMEA MD, Signal said: “As a high-growth business in a competitive global marketplace, we look for PR partners who have their finger on the marketing industry’s pulse. "Nelson Bostock Unlimited has a strong pedigree in the marketing and advertising technology space, and the team impressed us in the pitch meeting with its smart, relevant ideas for helping us tell our story in the UK market. We’re looking forward to working with them to build a truly local voice for Signal and engage with UK marketers about the things that really matter to them.”Nick Clark, Nelson Bostock Unlimited MD, added: “Over the years we’ve a built a strong service offering for marketing, advertising and fast-growth technology companies and we’re very proud to sign Signal as our newest client in this space. "As this month’s Deloitte Tech Fast 500 list demonstrates, Signal is one of the fastest-growing and most innovative companies in the ad tech industry right now. We’re already helping the local team to tackle the challenge of moving the data marketing conversation on among the UK’s in-house and agency-side marketers."
sharegardener
26 Nov 2015
CFO bought yesterday Maybe she was anticipating a drop in price but in any event took advantage of the dip! Perhaps a sign of confidence for the 2nd half of the year.SG
sharegardener
25 Nov 2015
Re: Interim results out today I was surprised by the size of the drop but its often the way with these small companies. I will wait to see if 120 is around the bottom of the dip. 2nd half should be stronger.Investors chronicle ran a piece with a buy recommendation but only accessible to subscribers!sharecast report below.ShareCast News - Marketing group Creston has warned full year results will miss targets after the first half was hit by weakness in the euro, client budget restraints and a decline in healthcare advertising sales.Yet the core communications business performed well and all delayed contracts were indicated to now be on track, with slower growth in the first quarter followed by a stronger performance in the second quarter and start of the second half.Results for the six months to 30 September showed revenue of £40.3m, which was 8% higher than than same period last year despite the £0.4m euro effect, with like-for-like sales up only 1% to £37.7m.Headline profit before tax rose 7% to £4m, with reported PBT down 75% to £1.1m as a £2m impairment hit from the closure of a face-to-face market research unit.The half-year dividend increased 5% to 1.42p per share.Chief executive Barrie Brien was pleased with both revenue and headline growth, despite the slower start to the first half, and hailed the progress against five-year strategy of broadening the company's offer.As well as the Splendid acquisition, June saw the purchase of a 27% in advertising agency 18 Feet & Rising and entered into three new partnerships a second international partner in digital healthcare communications, a global consumer trends and insight consultancy, and a digital strategist.Due to the slower performance of the UK health advertising offer, predominantly due to the healthcare industry's growing need for "integrated channel neutral and more patient centric campaigns", Brien took the decision to combine the offers of the group's DJM and PAN agencies to launch DJM PAN Unlimited as a multi-channel.Broker N+1 Singer said while the main engine, communications, performed during the period the overall performance was impacted by a weak acquisition performance, euro weakness and a soft start for a healthcare unit.But communications growth was 4% and contract wins during the period paint a bright outlook for the second half, and expects the reorganised health offer to result in the performance improving."The Splendid acquisition however has suffered a delay in contract starts due to client system integrators delays. This has impacted H1 results, but everything that has been delayed is now indicated to be on track."
gretel
25 Nov 2015
"Buying opportunity" per Motley Fool Good to see others recognising the buying opportunity:[link] City expects Creston to chalk up earnings growth of 6% and 5% for the years to 2016 and 2017 respectively, leaving the business dealing on ultra-cheap P/E ratings of 10 times and 9.5 times. When you factor in chunky dividend yields of 3.2% and 3.4% for these years, I believe current share price weakness could represent a lucrative dip-buying opportunity for patient investors"
gretel
24 Nov 2015
P/E of 8.6, 3.7% divi yield To prove my prior post, Edison have just issued a new research report, presumably discussed with management.They have new forecasts of: this year : 13.4p EPS, 4.3p divi next year : 14p EPS, 4.5p diviThey've only reduced forecasts by 5% - "slightly" as indicated in the RNS, and they're expecting a net cash position by year end:[link] "Valuation: Substantial discount to peers Creston’s share price has drifted back over the last couple of months and the valuation now stands at 6.8x CY15 EV/EBITDA, a 23% discount to the marketing services sector, with a similar discount a year further out. We would expect this discount to start to close when the newsflow becomes more consistently positive as the new business momentum gets translated into a more robustly improving earnings stream."
gretel
24 Nov 2015
Interim results out today Typical - CRE have actually sorted themselves out strategy-wise, are winning clients and new business, but find themselves shot in the foot by reduced medical budgets and the weakened euro.The markdown seems a bit of an over-reaction in an illiquid stock.CRE are only to be "slightly" below expectations, which implies around 12.5p-13p EPS this year. Given almost 5p EPS in H1 this feels achievable as CRE report improved trading in Q2 and in H2 to date.The interim divi implies a 4.4p or so divi for the year - a handsome yield. At 116p the upside far outweighs the downside imho.
