MRBIG
02 Jul 2015
numbers in line
gretel
02 Jul 2015
Good trading update today [link] in line on a P/E of barely 10, with operating profits storming ahead 9% on a constant currency basis (plus an almost 4% dividend yield).
gretel
12 Jun 2015
Far below sector average P/E This is from Hardman's monthly review - given that HVN are on a P/E of around 10.8 the other small cap staffers must be on P/E's of around 16 on average.If HVN were on a similar P/E - and HVN probably have a better Balance Sheet - then they'd be trading at around 160p-170p.Which would nicely match Numis' 160p target price: "The three large, mid-cap UK quoted staffers (Hays, Page and SThree) are trading on forward PERs of 23.0x (CY14E, unweighted average). The small cap staffers (Harvey Nash, Hydrogen, Matchtech, Robert Walters and Staffline) are trading on 14.3x (FY14E, unweighted average)."
gretel
11 Jun 2015
Hragreave Hale buying again RNS late yesterday - good to see Giles Hargreave's Hargreave Hale rapidly building a large stake here. They now have 10.3m shares, or 14%, increased by 570,000 shares from their last disclosure on April 13th:[link]
gretel
10 Jun 2015
Trading update coming soon Note that the AGM and trading update is coming up soon on 2nd July.With the "encouraging start to the current financial year" it should be a good one.Panmure's latest current year forecast is 9.58p EPS, with a 3.6p dividend. Next year they go for 10.3p EPS. with a 3.67p dividend. Numis go for 3.85p and 4.2p dividends respectively, so Panmure's dividend forecasts are on the low side.So still extremely cheap on barely a double-digit P/E and against sector comparators - especially given the better Balance Sheet than most of those comparators.
gretel
27 May 2015
New recent highs now Hopefully back up to 120p soon. Meanwhile, HVN in Australia say demand has risen by 18% in the last couple of months:[link] "IT contract recruitment has increased almost 20 per cent in the past few months, with an overarching demand for “Agile” professionals, hiring experts say. High-volume demand for contracting in April and May was believed to be due to a number of new projects. Harvey Nash Australia managing director, Bridget Gray, said there had been an 18 per cent surge in demand from March to April for contract resources.“They just want people that are immediately or quickly available with the right skills that they know don’t need any ramp up so they can hit their milestones with their programs and transformations,’’ Ms Gray said. The rise in demand was happening across cloud technologies, business analysis, project/program management, UX and architecture with an overall demand for Agile practitioners across all IT functions.“Particularly on the contract side, we have had people going from about $820 a day to $1100 with the banks if they have got a bit of Agile,’’ she said. As a result of so many financial institutions dramatically scaling up their change initiatives simultaneously in 2015, rates and salary expectations are moving rapidly due to the skills shortage and peak in demand.“We have experienced IT business analysts and program management candidates with Agile experience achieving up to 20 per cent pay increases to move over the past two months,’’ she said."
MRBIG
26 May 2015
through 100 now next stop 115
idontwanttolose
22 May 2015
Will the HVN share price go through 100p The sector seems to be improving so I think that they will go past 100 p per share, ..but how far past??
MRBIG
11 May 2015
well bid today
biker1
05 May 2015
Re: 160p target price from Numis I wish I could share Numis and your optimism - I would be out of these shares double quick if I saw anywhere near those 160p figures, I would expect the only way those figures are attainable is if they were to be taken over.Sorry to be so pessimistic, held and seen too much history to be positive re HN.
gretel
05 May 2015
HVN tipped today in the IC HVN just tipped today in the IC - and the P/E is even less after stripping out the cash pile:[link] VIEW:Hitting the £10m pre-tax figure - which is forecast for the 2016-17 financial year - would put Harvey Nash's shares on an earnings multiple of eight. That's a big discount to the sector average, so the re-rating story looks credible. The generous dividend yield is another sign of value. Buy."
Lupo di mare
30 Apr 2015
Re: Results beat expectations Well they needed to improve the margins, otherwise the sp would have continued its downtrend. Techmarket says that the improvement was all down to better control of Cost of Sales and Admin. Expenses; trouble is that they do not specify just how those costs are made up, nor where the savings were made.I'm guessing, as I've said before, that they're achieving economies of scale as business grows, but that does not explain why margins were so much better in earlier years; so maybe I'm wrong.Their credibility is done no favours when the Chairman states that the divi is now 2.2p, by simply rounding it up - f fs!!Could be that they've really turned the corner, but until they explain just how those margins were improved and whether or not the improvement can be sustained and, hopefully, built on, investing here will remain guesswork.
gretel
30 Apr 2015
Increased 114p target price Panmure Gordon have increased their target price to 114p from 108p, reiterating their Buy - 35% upside:[link]
gretel
30 Apr 2015
Re: Results beat expectations Techmarketview are understandably very positive - they note that margins are improving. Imagine the potential once margin improvements really take hold from such a low base.....[link] "Thursday 30 April 2015 Better profit story at Harvey Nash Having warned in November that FY revenues would be flat (see Harvey Nash profit growth hits the buffers), the good news us that management at UK-headquartered, international recruitment firm, Harvey Nash has reversed what had seemed to me to be an inexorable decline in gross margins. Finishing the year to 31st Jan. ’15 with revenues stable at £697m, gross profits inched up by 1% to £89.5, lifting gross margins 10bps higher to 12.8%. Better control on SG&A set operating profits 18% higher at £8.4m, which added 20bps to the still rather undernourished operating margin, now 1.2%. Pre-tax profits increased by 19% to £7.66m. UK was the star performer in all financial aspects. Now let’s see if management can restart the growth engines!"
MRBIG
30 Apr 2015
valuation is low , but so is quality. lowest margins and growth in the sector
