LK Hyman
04 Aug 2015
Re: Smiths businesses Games,"Here are the competitors"Never 'eard of any of 'em except Chemring, and I thought they made chaff which you chuck out the back of a chopper to confuse the 'adoo.LKH etc
LK Hyman
04 Aug 2015
Re: : Games Ivorjay,"he has been replaced by an engineering light weight"A little harsh perhaps, m8? He seems to have had a good reputation at GKN (31,000 employees in his bit of it, compared to 23,000 in the whole Smiths Group) and has a pretty impressive and wide ranging CV, including being a NED at Morgan Advanced Materials (yes, I know, that only means he turns up four times a year for a slap up meal and to collect his fee). My concern, if I had any, would be that there may be some bruised egos among the top bonobos at Smiths who object to having an outsider parachuted in over their heads. But perhaps they're all useless I dunno.Totally agree with you about Bowman. The man has been a grave disappointment after the promise he showed while at Scottish Power and Allied Domecq. Let him leave right now and shut the door behind him on his way out. LKH on the flybridge
trader jack
04 Aug 2015
Re: Smiths businesses I have often wondered what made me invest in SMIN and nothing I have heard or seen since has made me any the wiser, made me somewhat poorer but -hey.If there is a corporate raider about and he manages to light a fire under the board I am all for it. It may help me recover all of my investment in SMINMaybe I could then invest in Premium Bonds which could be tax free income if I saw any return on that investment given Osborne's new tax on dividends over £5,000PA.
gamesinvestor
04 Aug 2015
Re: Smiths businesses "I wonder why that is?"Yes it is strange, but competition and the negotiating strength of the government (laugh) and major airport authorities might have a hand here.Here are the competitors --- there are lots, it's a crowded market :-Principal competitors include: Morpho (air transportation), Rapiscan (air transportation, ports and borders, critical infrastructure), L-3 Security & Detection Systems (air transportation), Nuctech (ports and borders, critical infrastructure), Astrophysics (critical infrastructure), AS&E (ports and borders), Leidos (air transportation, ports and borders), Chemring (military), Bruker (military, emergency responders), and Thermo Fisher (military, emergency responders).The numbers are there though :-Revenue in 2010 = £574M ----> Revenue in 2014 = £512MNot sure about the divisional profit change, I haven't looked that deep.On that basis they look to be losing market share, or their prices have collapsed, one of the two or both.Games
gamesinvestor
04 Aug 2015
Re: Smiths businesses "I correct your correction, m8 ... it should be Smiths' businesses or, arguably just Smiths businesses as you had it originally."Correct!I stand corrected, whilst erroneously correcting.Games ---- Duuurrrrr!!!
Ivorjay
04 Aug 2015
Re: : Games Lets face it Smiths has been treading water ever since PB got involved.Everybody thought he was brought in to break up the conglomerate, but unfortunately it turns out he was just winding down to retirement - complete & utter failure.And now he has been replaced by an engineering light weight, so some corporate action is urgently needed to prevent further shareholder value wilt.As for detection, they would like to get rid as poor management decisions continue unabated, - with more garden leave on the cards !Full year Smiths results will be uninspiring due to poor last quarter performance, but cash generation remains excellent.
LK Hyman
04 Aug 2015
Re: Smiths businesses Games,"Correction --- Smith's businesses"I correct your correction, m8 ... it should be Smiths' businesses or, arguably just Smiths businesses as you had it originally.Although Smiths grew out of S.Smith & Son, a clockmaker, the company now calls itself Smiths Group, without any apostrophe. One can question the grammatical accuracy of that spelling but it is what it is. Perhaps some head office bumf shuffler back in the day thought that it looked better or more modern or some such tosh without the apostrophe. Who knows? Few care but among those who do care isLKH on the flybridge pedant extraordinaire
LK Hyman
04 Aug 2015
Re: Smiths businesses Games,"Detection - smaller business with tiny margins of 4.8%"I wonder why that is? Every time I pass through an airport Smiths' detection kit appears to be the, erm, detection kit of choice. I suppose people like Siemens are in that biznay too but it still seems surprising that it's not more profitable.LKH on the flybridge
gamesinvestor
04 Aug 2015
Re: Smiths businesses Correction --- Smith's businesses
gamesinvestor
04 Aug 2015
Re: ValueAct "The bleating of the kid excites the tiger?"possibly so -- I'd guess it's really just these sharks looking in on a mismanaged company (RR and SMIN) and deciding there is fat on the table.This just worked in my favour with Ebay and Carl Icahn who pretty much forced out the old CEO after he went against Icahn's proposal to split out PayPal. He lost and he's gone.In that case it was a good decision as it's set PayPal free to grow faster than it's currently doing (20% a year).Back to Smiths, I guess you would agree it's probably not that well managed and there are some real gems hidden in the product portfolio like the medical scanners etc. I'm no expert on Smiths and not a shareholder, so can't properly judge it.Games
LK Hyman
04 Aug 2015
Re: ValueAct Games,Interestin' that both Smiths and RR are in the midst of a recent change of Chief Executive. I wonder if that was one factor that attracted these ghastly Americans? And Shell pounced on BG just after a new CEO arrived.The bleating of the kid excites the tiger?LKH on the flybridge ride that tiger!
gamesinvestor
03 Aug 2015
ValueAct [link] stake in Smiths Group, having recently disclosed a > 5% investment in Rolls Royce.Games
Ivorjay
07 Jul 2015
Andy to his friends !? Obviously not the City then................Well this 'light weight' was well received...........................At least the travel budget will fall now, surely.....................The release of provisions at the Year End should provide PB with a sound finish to the year's results even with the faltering top line !That combined with increased dividend makes SMITHS a Buy ! short term.
trader jack
07 Jul 2015
New Chief "Smiths Group plc is pleased to announce the appointment of Andrew Reynolds Smith as its new Chief Executive. He will join on 25 September 2015 . Andrew, 49, is currently Chief Executive of GKN Automotive,..."Given that the share price has fallen by almost 5percent today against a FTSE drop of just over 1.5percent can we take it that those that know about such matters are singularly unimpressed with his appointment?Oh dear, oh dear!
Ivorjay
07 Jul 2015
Wasted 8 Years Difficult trading conditions !?Surely PB was employed to deal with situations just like that & failedHe was paid well, and achieved very littleA pathetic end to a previous glittering career, no doubt even he is disappointed.Good luck to the new guy, perhaps he can get Smiths back on track
