II Editor
27 Nov 2015
NEW ARTICLE: Stockwatch: The big worry for markets now "So is the economic cycle turning? Listening to an ebullient George Osborne relish the Office for Budget Responsibility's prediction - for UK growth to ease only about 0.1% to 2.4% towards 2020 - the future sounds secure.There are also City ..."[link]
nk1999
24 Nov 2015
Liberum From Citywire:"Mitie interims down due to healthcare Outsourcing and energy services company Mitie (MTO) reported weaker-than-expected interim results yesterday that sent its shares sliding 9% to 302p. Liberum analyst Joe Brent retained his ‘hold’ recommendation and target price of 286p on the shares, commenting: ‘Interim results a little weaker than we had expected due to healthcare (down 20% due to branch closures), but no exceptionals,’ he said. ‘Estimates left unchanged, despite H1 loss in healthcare. Order book and pipeline down slightly, with less ad hoc work, but 97% of work secure.’Margins were also down in facilities management but Brent said there was no plan to change forecasts.‘Mitie currently trades at a current year 2016 price/earnings ratio of 12.8x and a EV/EBIT of 10.1x which represents a discount to the sector – excluding Serco – of 13% and 19% respectively. We believe that it is encouraging that Mitie is focused on its core facilities management business, where it has a strong market position,’ he said. "nk
II Editor
04 Nov 2015
NEW ARTICLE: Best dividends for safety and growth revealed "Since major central banks began cutting interest rates in 2008, investors have been desperately searching for decent income from their investments. It's not been easy. And nowhere is that hunt for yield more evident than in the UK. Rates were at ..."[link]
algardish
17 Oct 2015
Financials Over last 5 years intangibles up from £397m to £541mBorrowings up by £100m+ over 5 yearsNet Profit Margin £55m on £2273m revenue= 2.4%A stoke of the pen or spreadsheet on a desk can create £55m profits from that level of intangibles. This business is not making any money, cash or profits. Checkout links to Serco in the management team.Living wage impact?The crash will come , they will be found out, I predict.
MrMeerkat
24 Aug 2015
Why on earth ... ... should the likes of MTO and IRV be marked down so savagely today (3.7% and 4.4% respectively)? Both are examples of robust UK businesses that have little or nothing to do with China AFAIK.My namesake Mr Market has lost his marbles ... but is perhaps now offering buying opportunities of the year. If only the end of his madness were in sight MM - not a believer in the Efficient Market hypothesis
mcescher
28 Jul 2015
Great visual report on MITIE Group I really like the presentation in this report. The future growth seems really exciting to me [link]
RichardLY
15 May 2015
Mitie - Evil Knievil's biggest short and why he's excited ahead of Monday Mitie - Evil Knievil's biggest short and why he's excited ahead of MondayShare Prophets
nk1999
01 Apr 2015
Telegraph- Questor "The Questor Column:Mitie issues profit warning: Outsourcing group Mitie [LON:MTO] issued a profit warning as increased competition for local authority housing maintenance contracts and a tough homecare market meant profits are now lower than expected, sending shares more than 8% lower at one point. The FTSE 250-listed company also said in its pre-close update that the cost of closing its mechanical and electrical engineering business could reach a maximum of £16 million during the year to the end of March Broker Peel Hunt expects overall pretax profits of £95.2 million on revenue of £2.3 billion, giving 20p in earnings per share for the year to the end of March. Market consensus in November last year was for £118 million in pretax profits. The company still has a stable and cash-generative business in long-term maintenance contracts with blue chip clients such as Lloyds Banking Group and hospital trusts. These contracts generate about 85% of group revenue. However, growth could be slow as the half year results showed the order book was down to £8.5 billion from £8.7 billion. Mitie should be able to ride out this tough trading over the long term, but the shares, on 13 times forecast earnings and paying a prospective dividend yield of 4%, hold few attractions. We said avoid the shares back in August 12, at 305.8p, since when they have fallen by 9%. The update showed few signs of a turnaround, so the recommendation remains — avoid. Mitie at 276p-16.4p. Questor Says “Avoid”.
nk1999
01 Apr 2015
Peel Hunt From Citywire:"Margins under pressure at MitieMargins at outsourcing and energy services company Mitie (MTO) are under pressure as operating profits come in below expectations.Peel Hunt analyst Christopher Bamberry retained his ‘sell’ recommendation and target price of 253p on the shares, which slumped 6% to 275p yesterday.‘Following the full-year 2015 pre-close trading update we are reducing our full-year 2015 estimated headline profit before tax by 6% and our full-year 2016 estimated profit before tax by 7% due to further margin pressure in homecare and social housing,’ he said.‘The exit from mechanical and electrical construction is now complete. However, we remain cautious as in our opinion the risk to margins remains firmly on the downside.’ "nk
nk1999
20 Jan 2015
Times "Mitie's shares have fallen but not as fast as those of outsourcing rivals such as Serco and Balfour Beatty, Danny Fortson pointed out in the Sunday Times. Matthew Earl, a former City analyst who writes a blog, criticised Mitie for buying companies to compensate for its own slow progress and for the way it recognises revenue. Mitie rejects Earl's analysis but he has highlighted concern about the way the sector accounts for "adjusted" operating profit. The City is increasingly willing to listen to lone critics but most investors believe Mitie is a well-run company, the Inside the City columnist concluded."
algardish
18 Jan 2015
sell short Seems like they will go the same way as Serco and Balfour BeattieExpensive acquisitions with poor profits and no cash[link]
nk1999
19 Nov 2014
Liberum From Citywire:"Mitie: concerns over profits and free cashflowLiberum is exercising caution over outsourcing and energy services supplier Mitie (MTO) after ‘exceptional exceptionals’.Liberum analyst William Shirley retained his ‘sell’ recommendation and cut the target price from 280p to 260p. The shares were trading down 0.5% at 275.3p yesterday.‘We cut out earnings per share estimates by 3% across the forecasting horizon due to weakness in healthcare. The bulls will argue the business has been de-risked, the exceptionals are kitchen sinking the issues and that there is progress in the underlying business,’ he said. ‘We are more cautious. There is a record gap between underlying profit before tax and our “restated profit before tax”. Free cashflow is lower than at any point since 2007. Risks to margins remain to the downside. We cut our price target from 280p to 260p to reflect the increased debt and retain our “sell”.’
Blanketstacker
19 Nov 2014
Re: Telegraph- Questor A family member works for this crowd as a maintenance engineer. His verdict: they are clueless!
nk1999
19 Nov 2014
Telegraph- Questor "Outsourcing woes laid bare at Mitie: Outsourcing group laid bare the challenges facing the U.K. outsourcing sector as it slumped to a first-half loss, sending shares 4% lower. Mitie has expanded into construction projects in addition to building maintenance for clients such as Lloyds Banking Group and local councils. The company said it was now exiting loss-making parts of the business to focus on the core building maintenance operation. There are two parts of Mitie’s business that are proving to be very painful at the moment. Firstly, it is exiting from its loss-making mechanical and electrical engineering construction business; secondly, it is drastically cutting back its asset management arm, where it built energy-from-waste plants. The company said that as a result of “significant deterioration” in the financial performance on these contracts it would book £45.7 million of charges during the first half. Questor thinks this largely comes down to chasing revenue growth by bidding too cheaply to win the work in the first place. In terms of the balance sheet, debt levels are rising. Net debt increased to £223.8 million at September 30, from £221.8 million at the same stage last year, against a net asset value of £373.2 million, or 110p per share. Market consensus is for revenues to edge up to £2.25 billion in the current year, giving adjusted pretax profits of £118 million, and earnings per share of 24.9p. That leaves the shares trading on 11.7 times forecast earnings and offering a prospective dividend yield of 4%. However Questor is uncomfortable with the gap between adjusted and reported pretax profits and would rather wait to reassess the situation once the troublesome businesses have been fully exited. We said avoid the shares back in August 12, at 305.8p, since when they have fallen by 9%, the recommendation remains, avoid. Mitie at 276.7p-14½p Questor Says “Avoid”."
tejo
18 Nov 2014
Directors knew and sold Director sells last month should have told that losses were on the way. I am sure that it is legal but having held for a long time, it is time to leave the overpaid Board to their own devices. I am out.
