gallant02
13 Nov 2015
Re: Chart How's it looking now after that solid set of results, as usual....Questor certainly like it:[link]
the real stan
30 Jul 2015
Re: Energy Assets Group fundmentals report what a crappy piece of analysis by SimplyW
mcescher
30 Jul 2015
Energy Assets Group fundmentals report I really like the presentation in this report. The future growth seems really exciting to me [link]
Willow67
24 Jul 2015
Re: Excellent trading statement The numbers look good against Q1 last year but they are actually a tiny bit worse than Q4, the most recent quarter. They installed 17k meters (20k), booked £6.2m from meters (£6.5m), £3.8m from Siteworks (£3.8m) and total revenue was £10m (£10.3m). Need to keep an eye on this to see if growth levelling off.
gretel
22 Jul 2015
Excellent trading statement A VERY strong Q1 trading statement just issued - which sets EAS up for a rather good H1 considering the confidence in the outlook:[link] on today's announcement, Energy Assets Chief Executive Phil Bellamy-Lee said: "On behalf of the Board, I am delighted to report that we start the financial year with another period of strong activity. Demand for the installation of advanced utility meters and related services remains high and continues to be driven by regulatory requirements. The Energy Assets business continues to grow across our asset portfolio and Siteworks business. Additionally, the Group has continued its strong track record of successfully integrating new businesses and Bglobal Metering, Origin and SA Gas are all performing in line with management expectations. Performance in the first quarter indicates that the Group is on track to deliver another year of solid growth."
Willow67
08 Jul 2015
Taking stock I am feeling somewhat prophetic from my 5th June "sell" post: "History suggests this is a tactical sell now. It has gone up in a straight line from 450 to 575 and is now just about touching the top of its 2 year trading channel. The challenge of course is the results being out on Tuesday next week. I am NOT selling, at least not now, as I am a long term holder (and its my second biggest holding) but I fully expect the shares to trade down towards 525-530 area, perhaps after the results, on profit-taking"I have already added on this re-trenchment (at 536) and am considering doing so again. On balance i will wait and do so if we get a period of volatility, perhaps driven by a macro event like the grexit, and the shares dip closer to 500
Willow67
26 Jun 2015
Re: Topped up Appreciated, although lets face it what would have been genuinely smart is selling everything at 620 and buying everything back at 530. The good thing about the stock is that it is reasonably good value but also quite volatile so it allows you to buy on dips and with reasonable confidence.
The Earl of Acol
26 Jun 2015
Re: Topped up Your timing was very good -well done. I agree with your thoughts and should have followed your lead. Unfortunately I sold far too soon having been up some 33% in January this year and did not buy back on the expected dip that occurred. Eventually realised my error and just about bought back the original holding at the price I had sold for!! Trading was never my strong point-timing being everything.
Willow67
25 Jun 2015
Topped up I topped up today by adding 1000 at 536. The profit-taking after the sharp run up post the results was fully predictable and I think is a good opportunity to add. I am not expecting the shares to return to the highs anytime soon but i think they may over the next 6-12m as long as the story continues to develop as it has been
Willow67
19 Jun 2015
Bought back! Managed to buy back the 2000 shares I sold at 624 for 580....picked up 143 shares for free! Nice little exercise
Willow67
12 Jun 2015
Sold half Sold half my holding at 624 this afternoon. Am going to look for a pullback to 550 area. 50% rise in a straight line leaves the shares a little over-cooked for me.
Willow67
10 Jun 2015
EAS vs SMS Since I have been recently comparing the valuation of EAS (where I am a holder) and SMS (where I am not), I thought I would spend a bit of time on comparing their business models and accounts. I did this for myself but thought I would post it on both iii boards for general interest.MetersEAS's gas and electricity meters are all in the I&C market. They now have 365k meters across gas and electricity, 191k they own and rent out (£14.1m revenue) and 174k they just collect data on (£9.2m). Owning and renting is understandably more profitable. SMS have primarily been in the domestic meter market but they are growing their I&C portfolio now. Across gas and electricity, they now have 619k meters, of which 542k are domestic gas and 77k are I&C gas and electricity (not sure of the owned & rented vs data collection split). I&C meters are a lot more valuable than domestic, which is why the companies generated about the same in revenue terms from their meter portfolios (EAS £23.3m vs SMS £26.2m) when SMS have twice as many (EAS 365k, SMS 619k). SMS spent £35m in the last year on growing their meter portfolio, EAS £22m. SMS added 145k, of which 100k were domestic and 45k I&C. EAS added 47k I&C (ignoring those they bought with BGM in April 2014). EAS are clearly focusing on the I&C market Other ServicesAway from meters, EAS generated £12.9m from its Siteworks services/advisory business, SMS £16.2m, although there is very little mention of this business in SMS's recent results even though profits were up 68%. Financials1) Comparing their recent accounts, EAS had a 36% net operating margin, SMS 31% as a result of SMS having much higher admin expenses (I think from the cost of using sub-contractors to install the domestic meters)2) SMS had financing costs of £2m vs £3.8m for EAS. At the y/e EAS had borrowings of £65m, SMS had £54m. I don’t see why the financing costs won't converge given the similarity of the businesses3) EAS paid the expected ~20% tax charge but SMS's was cut to almost zero by a one-off £2.3m credit related to share options4) In cash terms (more important than accounting p&l), SMS generated £25m from operations (60% of sales), EAS £19.5m (54%). The main difference was the extra £1.8m EAS paid in financing and the extra £1.5m EAS charged in depreciation (on a similar asset base)5) If you add back the one off tax credit SMS received this year and also charge SMS the same depreciation that EAS did, both companies generated about £7-7.5m in PAT but EAS generated it at a margin of 21%, SMA at 17%SummaryThe businesses are clearly pretty similar, but I think EAS is a better operation and a better investment proposition1) Its focus on the more lucrative I&C market means it has a higher true net operating margin (21% vs 17%)2) It has a greater ability to reduce its financing costs going forwards3) SMS spent £13m more on meters last year than SMS, entirely due to its rollout in the domestic market. Although EAS currently has £11m more in long-term debt, and therefore trades on a worse net debt/EBITDA multiple, I think this will change over time if SMS continues to grow its domestic meter business as it is4) Despite the recent strong out-performance of EAS's share price, it still trades at a much more attractive valuation than SMS. EAS trades on x17.8 current earnings vs 27.5 for SMS
jonnydurex
10 Jun 2015
Re: Results Questor says Buy for further growth. Am not a holder but gla. jd
Willow67
09 Jun 2015
Re: Results More info now coming out. Highlights for me at this point:1. No dividend (correct decision for me). ROCE a healthy 13.2%, up from 12.7%.2. Siteworks representing an increasing portion of the business (36% now vs historic 30%). That business is clearly flying and I think is the real growth engine of the business.3. Stripping out the electricity meters actually acquired with BGM on 17/4/14, there was growth in each of the 4 main categories of meters: gas data collection 12.5k and owned & managed 22k (ie the old pre-BGM business) and then electricity data collection 4.5k and owned & managed 8k (ie the BGM business). The 'old' business grew by 34.5k meters vs 30k the previous year which is solid but shows how they do need to expand the range of services offered if they are going to keep up their profit growth rate.4. In cash terms, the most important measurement of the business in my view, £20m was generated from operations, £21m spent on meters & acquisitions, £10m came in from new borrowings less finance costs. Net debt rose £14m but net debt/ EBITDA was constant at x3.4. It's interesting to contrast these numbers to last year where £14m was generated from operations, £22m was invested and £7m came in from new borrowings. As these numbers show, the meter investment cost is going to stay relatively constant now(there is a natural limit on how many they can install in 12 months) but the business is becoming more cash generative on a net basis and they have now reached the point where they can pay for their annual meter investments out of cash, ie they are at cash breakeven. Going forwards I am sure they will make further acquisitions so debt will continue to rise, but if they don’t I would expect to see net debt/EBITDA now start to fall. Not sure where the shares are going to go on this news. A break up above 580 area suggests to me a continued and significant rise; I think more likely a consolidation move back to low 500's before more progress.
Willow67
09 Jun 2015
Results Can see the results out on bloomberg, though they haven't been posted to iii yet. No detailed numbers to look through at the moment, but overall they look good with a small beat on recent posted expectations. EPS came in at 25.77p, slightly ahead of the 25p widely forecast.
