Hardboy
14 Mar 2018
Re: Winnifrith Thanks for the vote of confidence Ripley. I suspect TW has a better record of calling trades than I do; and I'm not 100% sure I was advising buying at768. I may have said it looked good value, but I was always waiting till we got some real feedback on how the new pricing structure was fairing. Suitably reassured I did buy more this morning; but I believe they said (need to read the release in far more detail) although things had shown a marked increase with the new pricing; it wasn't quite as good as they were hoping. Also debt levels have always worried me about Dignity; so I would be happier to see that coming down a bit further. Good to see them putting some emphasis on the Crematoria side, as this is far less susceptible to new entrants. NOW let's see some director buys!
Ripley94
14 Mar 2018
Re: Winnifrith Looks like Hardboy called it right that this looked good value @ 768p only one month ago.RNS today up 14% to 970p.Maybe take more notice of him then Winnifrith.
Hardboy
14 Mar 2018
Re: RNS OWT,A lot of sense in your post, but it is amazing how personal behaviour varies from region to region, so such trials are not always fool proof. Some years ago we ran a campaign for a Travel Agent based in the north East. We tried the Thames Valley & it went very well - people there were generally comfortable using a travel agent by phone or via the net; we then repeated the same campaign in South Wales; and it was a complete failure. There people only wanted to use local travel agents. I was surprised how local purchasing trends can vary.
onewayticket
14 Mar 2018
RNS Happy to also repeat what I said previously.All this could have been done by several trials and without such a big knock to the share price. Done regionally in pockets initially to see the scale and effect for it then rolled out nationally. In that way consultants similarly would not have required RNS ing, just engage them. You ignore social media these days at your peril as significant retailing of any product is done online.What alrms me most is that I am surprised that analysing cost / effect and elasticity of demand and customer experience was not actually being done as an internal HQ function and as part of any business information systems.Own due diligence
onewayticket
14 Mar 2018
Most things I stated have turned up,Double whammy effectWebsite optimisationPay per click Dividend paid.etc etc.You should always go with your instinct and your nose sometimes.Own due diligence
onewayticket
07 Mar 2018
Buying Interest Seems to have appeared the last few days and ahead of the scheduled update.ONS data on deaths seemed to be showing maintained positive trends and amidst all that you have Dignity with highly competitive Basic funeral prices and also more competitive top end funeral prices.That double whammy may well occur of a rise in demad that in part offsets any worst case scenario.Then in consequence the falls from £26.00 to £8.00 and £9.00 will have been grossly overdone.Own due diligence.
old_punter
27 Feb 2018
Re: NEW ARTICLE: Stockwatch: A 'buy' sig... Games,Interesting comparison with DTY, I agree growth by acquisition is often a dodgy business model. CVS is valued at about three times turnover whereas DTY only about one third more despite its much better margins. If I was a hedge fund I would short the former and go long the latter.
TX2
21 Feb 2018
Re: Preparing for a slow death.... The other main requirement is that Dignity has to retire 3% of the gross amount of the bond debt per annum until it expires in 2049,when it would be fully repaid.
gamesinvestor
21 Feb 2018
Re: NEW ARTICLE: Stockwatch: A 'buy' signal,... My biggest concern with CVS is it adopts a similar model to Dignity in that it races to buy up practices, at I assume rates that are very favourable for the independent owners. They do this also by spending more than twice the rate of the companies annual income.This probably will force them to keep diluting the stock to raise more cash for the purchases -- seems a high risk venture, despite the supposed staid nature of the VET businesses.Also the margins at 5% seem pretty risky for such a leveraged outfit.Time will tell I suppose, but the share price could suffer big shocks in the same way that DTY has.Games
gamesinvestor
21 Feb 2018
Re: Preparing for a slow death.... """The company keeps saying the "primary" financial covenant is 1.5 EBITDA debt service cover but this implies there might be other financial covenants.""""Has anyone done the analysis of the company's real exposure?I've never known a company avoid paying the interest on it's loans, dodge the tax man and get away with it, and fail to replace depreciating assets, for which there are probably quite a few at DTY!!EBITDA is the number applied to the covenant terms no doubt, but it would be far better to face reality and do the calculation of what a company's real income is, surely?Games
old_punter
20 Feb 2018
Re: Preparing for a slow death.... Hardboy,Agree a utility type stock unlikely to be nationalised, and crematoria the growth area and expensive to put up and always NIMBY opposition.Bots smacked again today this time with a 2,500 sale at 808p, will add again lower down if the bots oblige.
Hardboy
20 Feb 2018
Re: Preparing for a slow death.... " Funerals should be a great business to be in. "I think crematoria are even better - more capital intensive & full of legislative rules making it a difficult field for competition to enter. And, I believe (not checked figures to prove it) growing at a faster rate than burials.
the real stan
20 Feb 2018
Re: Preparing for a slow death.... I agree with this. Funerals should be a great business to be in. Very steady and predictable without much capital required nor disruptive competition. Generally speaking demand is relatively price inelastic - most people buy the service at an emotional time based on local reputation rather than price. Indeed some years ago I arranged my fathers funeral this way; there was a local company the family knew to use. Only later did I realise it was part of Dignity. But management got too greedy, jacked up prices, loaded up with huge amounts of debt to strip out cash, make acquisitions to provide the illusion of growth and pump up the share price to enrich themselves. Ideally Dignity should be a private company owned with quiet dignity for the longer term and treating customers with more respect.Anyway I'll leave everyone to it now. See you on the other side....
II Editor
20 Feb 2018
NEW ARTICLE: Stockwatch: A 'buy' signal, or screaming 'sell' "Does a drop in the AIM-listed shares of £700 million veterinary services group LSE:CVSG:CVS Group merit buying into? Or is a softer trading statement, followed by a placing to prop up the show, more likely a 'sell' signal?There's also a wider ..."[link]
Hardboy
19 Feb 2018
Re: Preparing for a slow death.... OP:"this will become a utility stock"Without the threat of nationalisation!
