gisajob
20 Apr 2018
Re: AGM Re: Voting at AGMs.If you attend an AGM in person and vote (including signing the ballot card and putting it into the ballot box), then your vote does get counted. The nominee account managers only cast proxy votes if directed to do so by the beneficial owners of the shares. So, if If you don't attend and don't tell your nominee manager how to vote your shares, then your shares are not voted. This is reflected in the percentages of votes cast, eg. in the recent Porvair AGM a total of only about 46% of the issued share capital was actually voted.You may have noticed sometimes that there is a statement in an AGM of the proxy voting totals? Then there is a delay between the end of the AGM and the announcement of the final total numbers of votes cast, and that is the time taken to add the votes cast at the meeting to the proxy votes already received.I like this system. It is open and transparent. In the bad old days some Articles of Association provided for voting by a show of hands at an AGM, with the proviso that a shareholder could call for a poll if they wanted an actual count of share votes cast. I don't doubt that the show of hands method produced false results on occasions.
The Dutchman
20 Apr 2018
Re: AGM Thanks for the info. Did they say whether next year's AGM will be in London or Kings Lynn?
Hardboy
20 Apr 2018
Re: AGM I don't know how Charles Stanley work, but with iii where I have most of my holdings once the AGM is announced and I decide I want to go, I drop a line to iii & say I want to attend. They send a letter of introduction verifying I am a shareholder and how many shares I own. It all seem to work quite well. What I have never quite worked out is how voting works with nominee accounts. I've never been sent a voting form, yet when you look at the figures of votes cast they must include the votes of shareholders in the nominee accounts, so do the brokers vote on our behalf? If that's the case I'm not sure if I am allowed to vote at an AGM. I usually do anyway, but I don't know if that causes problems somewhere down the line.
The Dutchman
19 Apr 2018
Re: AGM Guys, I would have been interested in attending the AGM, but despite this being my 2nd largest single company holding I never receive accounts or invites to AGM's. My holdings are in Charles Stanley (ISA), and Stocktrade (SIPP) both nominee accounts of course - what am I doing wrong/ what box do I need to tick?
Hardboy
19 Apr 2018
Re: AGM GAJ,Your thoughts reflect mine very much.We must get in touch in 11 months or so to introduce ourselves. I wouldn't be averse to a trip to Norfolk (I have some ancestoral connections I'd like to explore) but Norwich would be preferable.
gisajob
19 Apr 2018
Re: AGM HardboyThank you for your reply.I had expected a greater turnout for the later start time and more accessible venue. So, couldn't really complain now if they reverted to Kings Lynn next year.They appear to know their business and markets well and sell into growing demand areas. No dangers on the horizon, it seems. Organic revenue growth of perhaps 5%? Small acquisitions to add another, say, 5%? So it's likely to be a continuation of recent form, perhaps PBT to go up by 15%? (my own thoughts). They should start booking profits from the three large contracts that have reached (or are reaching) commissioning stage, which may give a further boost?The pension deficit is obviously a negative but the UK DB scheme is closed to new entrants and interest rates may rise (which would reduce the size of the liabilities). I'm hopeful that we've seen the worst of the pension deficit.I intend to carry on holding my Porvair shares. As Ben Stocks said, there's more mileage in current business model, so the plan is to continue along the same path. If that translates into eps growth of 10-15% pa, then I should be rewarded with a good capital gain.I'm very likely to be at next year's agm too.
Hardboy
19 Apr 2018
Re: AGM Gisajob,"It was my first Porvair agm but I've held for some years." Snap. I've held for about 10 years - got in at around 62p, so very happy with the returns so far, and in fact, although I have sold some shares on the way, it is still my largest single company holding. I live near Amersham, so hopping on the tube is easy enough for a London meeting (though 11
0 in the city is a bit tight if I catch a train after 9:30.) I've never been to the Kings Lynn meeting. It would be a long hike. Plus one can always find other things to do in London so it becomes a day out rather than just attending a meeting. I'm now semi retired so I have more time to go to meetings, which I never had before, and I am endeavouring to go to more - one can learn so much more from AGMs than just reading the reports: even if it's just getting a feeling for the people running the company (in this case it's positive.) Although I never went to the KL meetings I can answer your question about the number of attenders. As, when I was getting my coffee & chatting to Ben Stocks I asked if he expected a large turnout. He said they usually get about 6, which sounds low, so I suppose Tuesday's meeting was slightly above average. Was it 8?I quite agree about the lack of annual reports and the questioner's other point. Anyone who has done business in a different culture can offer useful insight about doing business there to a business recently launched there; so it was a relevant comment, though I'm sure Chinese culture has changed a lot in 50 years; and Porvair seem like the kind of company who research these things thoroughly. Hope to see you next year.
Hardboy
19 Apr 2018
Re: AGM Tejo: all valid points; and if you've sold most of your holdings I can't blame you - it's never wrong to take profits (which I assume you made) and for most of recent years it has looked expensive on fundamentals.Like you, I have taken profits as the price rose: and now I've taken out more than I put in, so I'm just playing with profits but it's still my largest individual share holding. As for the dividend it is small; but in my case if I judge it on the price of my original investment rather than yield based on current share price, it is a very healthy return on investment. (That may not be a sensible thing to do, but id I'd stuck the money in a bank or bond, it's a valid comparison.) They are rising the dividend by a healthy amount year on year, so it depends on your length of outlook. Most high yielding shares seem to have dividends effectively frozen. The other thing worth thinking about, which is a possibility rather than a likelihood, is their net cash position. It is a cash generative business, and their net debt/cash position has been improving significantly over recent years despite significant investment and acquisitions. In 2010 they had net debt of over £13m. Now they have net cash on around £10m. I'm sure they seem more comfortable in that position and will have need for it with other investments, funding the pension deficit etc., but I would not rule out the possibility of a special dividend.
tejo
18 Apr 2018
AGM Thank you Hardboy for sending us your report, which was the next best thing to being there. I agree with you views but my big problem with this share is the minuscule dividend which will still be small even if they increase it by 10% pa. The P/E is also very high due, I expect, to the band of faithful followers. I sold most of my holding a lttle while ago and invested in GB Group, despite low yield etc. has had much faster growth. However, I had also invested in Porvair for some of my family, who ,being 30 years younger, will, hopefully, reap the rewards in due course. since it is, as you say, an excellent company.
gisajob
18 Apr 2018
Re: AGM HardboyThank you for your comments on the agm.I was there yesterday too. It was my first Porvair agm but I've held for some years.Credit to them, I'd grumbled about the difficulty of a start time of 9:30am combined with a venue of Kings Lynn, and so the change to 110am in London was pleasing. May I ask, did you ever go to Kings Lynn for 9:30am and, if so, what was the attendance like?As for the shortage of agm reports, there could have been several reasons, the least likely to me would be that a potential predator had acquired a significant number. The speaker's other meandering caused me to view all his comments with some caution. I think he raised some eyebrows but I would defend the right of every shareholder to attend, vote and speak at an agm.I'm glad I attended. It was good for me to finally see and hear Ben Stocks and Chris Tyler.
Hardboy
17 Apr 2018
AGM I attended the AGM today. It was very professional but still extremely friendly with a hint of informality about it. I arrived bang on start time, registered, and the lady asked if I'd had a coffee, and persuaded me there was time to get one, so I returned to the reception area where there was only one other person. I made some comment to him, and he encouraged me to have some pastries too as they were excellent. I said something like I didn't want to hold things up, but he said, they can't start till he gets there. That was Ben Stocks the CEO. I also had fairly long chats after the meeting with Charles Matthews, the retiring chairman, and Sally Martin, one of the 2 NEDs. All were impressive, yet humble, and obviously excited by the company's future. The company philosophy which I have always gleaned from the reports, was strengthened by the meeting. They know their business and businesses areas. They set high standards, and intend to stay as the perceived quality providers. Expansion is done cautiously and within their capabilities. When they do venture into new areas as with their Chinese expansion they keep risks to a minimum, and will not compromise their standards. On the China markets, they said the venture could probably have been more successful to date if they had lowered their standards and prices, but they believe longer term, Chinese standards will rise at which time they will reap the rewards. They still expect long term growth of 5-10% year on year for some time. They have net cash on their books, healthy order books, and are in growing markets. Everything looks cautiously optimistic and very positive. Interestingly a comment from the floor said that the Registrars had run out of the printed annual reports, and said this was a sign that a predator was about.
Hardboy
01 Mar 2018
Acquisition Nice to see them using some of the cash pile to buy a complementary business which hopefully opens the doors to new markets.
Hardboy
29 Jan 2018
Finals Turnover up 6%, Operating Profit up 16%, EPS up 14%. Net Cash healthy, bal;ance sheet healthy, dividend (still small but) up 11% for the full year, 12.5% for the final dividend. All good stuff.Brokers were forecasting EPS of 19.04, so they've come in ahead of that, so we might see a slight up tick today, but we're still on a PE of around 30, which is on the high side. Interesting to see them split the Microfiltration Division into 2. I'm sure that's a good thing as they have grown substantially whilst in the 2 division structure. Well done Porvair!
Hardboy
08 Dec 2017
Pre Close Trading Statement I don't remember Porvair ever coming out with an up date which did not surprise to the upside: They've done it again. "Earnings for the year are forecast to be ahead of management's expectations"With turnover up 6% (underlying up 11%) it won't be mind blowingly good, but it's still steady progress. Just checked on digital look and the forecast was for EPS of 18.71, so we can assume it will be higher than that; but I doubt it will help the share price too much, as there is quite a bit of growth already built into the price. Interested to see their structural changes. That's probably a sensible move which will result in more balanced divisions.
Hardboy
19 Sep 2017
Q3 Trading Statement for 1st 9 months of the year, suggest, despite the huge drop in value of the company that all is well with the business. Sales up 8%, Pre Tax Profit ahead of expectations (as it always seems to be) healthy order book & net cash position, underlying sales up 15%.Full marks to the management team.
