theprior
26 Jul 2017
Re: agm Plummeting? Plummeting ?Bet you're a Daily Star reporter 
)Sound business weathering the ups and downs of human foibles.Mines half full, btwTP
tommytomata
26 Jul 2017
agm Come on Prior John McEnroe!! Increased Divi when the shares are plummeting ain't a reason to buy.
theprior
26 Jul 2017
Re: agm Apart from the 4.4% rise in March and the 6.1% drop in April sales they don't give much away in terms of figures. So it may be downbeat in respect of April May due to macroeconomic factors but the overall statement about the health of the business is robust. That, coupled with the share buy back makes this, overall, a positive statement.Increased divi too !
tommytomata
26 Jul 2017
agm Doesn't inspire
theprior
29 Jun 2017
RNS directors holdings Interesting TP
valeite
17 May 2017
Re: info excellent summary of VERTU forward ,but the potential problem with pcp.s ,as you indicate is looming larger in my mind .in the daily mail today a report says that a minimum wage earner can have a £13 k car/ a £40k earner can have a £60 k car under pcp's . I just hope the sales staff are doing everything by the book.....the last thing the industry needs is class action for missold credit .
forwardloop
11 May 2017
info Paul scottVertu Motors (LON:VTU)Share price: 48.25p (up 7.2% today)No. shares: 397.3mMarket cap: £191.7mFinal results - year ended 28 Feb 2017.This is a car dealership chain. Its website is here. It operates from over 120 sites nationwide, with multiple car brands.There's a useful results video (8 mins) from the company, courtesy of BRR Media, here.These numbers look good. The company had previously said that new car sales were down, but used car sales and aftersales (servicing, etc) up. A few key numbers;Revenues up 16.5% to £2,823m - most of this increase has come from acquiring new sites. Within that figure, organic growth was 4.4%. That looks a good result, considering new car sales were down 6.4% on a LFL basis.Used car sales were strong - up 7.1% on a LFL basis. It's interesting to how the link between new car sales and profitability, which the stock market usually assumes to be the case, actually isn't the case. Poor new car sales has been compensated for by increased used car, and aftersales, and margin improvements.Outlook & current trading look surprisingly good. There's a lot of detail in this, and sounds encouraging to me;In March and April 2017 ("the post year-end period" the Group has continued to trade strongly, with profits ahead of the prior year on a like-for-like and total basis. Margins strengthened and operating expenses on a like-for-like basis were reduced as the cost base was flexed for lower new vehicle sales volumes and cost efficiency programmes delivered.Used cars continued to see like-for-like volume growth and margin improvement. Service also witnessed growing revenues and stable margins on a like-for-like basis.The March plate change month saw a record number of new vehicle registrations in the UK according to the SMMT. The 4.4% growth in March new retail UK registrations was aided by an element of pull forward of demand due to increasing vehicle excise duty from 1 April 2017 and the timing of Easter. April, as anticipated, saw a decline in SMMT new retail registrations of 28.4%. In the post year-end period SMMT new retail registrations declined by 3.5%. The Group saw significant growth in new retail vehicle profit contribution in the post year-end period despite a 9.7% decline in like-for-like new retail volumes. Pricing disciplines and cost control delivered higher margins and profits year on year in new vehicle sales.The Board is also pleased to report an excellent contribution in the post year-end period from dealerships acquired in the previous financial year.While the Board is aware of the wider reporting of the UK entering a more cautious consumer environment, trading in the post year-end period has been strong. The Board remains confident about the Group's prospects for the current financial year and in delivering further progress in enlarging the scale of the Group.Balance sheet - looks alright to me. Although as with all car dealerships, there is a vast amount of working capital tied up - massive inventories, financed mainly with massive trade creditors - i.e. the money owed to the manufacturers & other suppliers.In this case, NAV is £246.4m, which reduces to NTAV of £150.4m. Therefore about 78% of the market cap is supported with tangible net assets - a fairly secure position, in my view.Potential problems - one of the reasons car dealers are cheap at the moment, is because of Brexit worries. Could this stifle the importation of cars from Europe? Personally I very much doubt it - why would the Germans allow the EU to cripple their export industries? (the UK apparently takes about 20% of the entire output of Germany's car companies). Although in reality, at this stage, nobody knows. So it's educated guesswork for investors to a certain extent.The other potential issue is that of possible mis-selling of personal contract hire vehicles. We've seen how the banks were clobbered with mis-selling
theprior
10 May 2017
Re: 42p still the floor? One word.."sentiment"If we become fashionable the sp will rise. If we don't, it will fall.Through the floor !!Luck all, TP
mildmouth
10 May 2017
42p still the floor? Well it looks as though I and PJ got it right, and 42p really was the floor! Only joking, of course, I followed PJ's purchase...I did say at the time that the NAV excluding intangibles (which can be written off at a stroke if profitability falls) was 38p (hence 42p the floor) and that I was only buying to catch favourable momentum and positive statements. However, following the latest "excellent" results the NAV excluding intangibles is still only 38p and that despite1) 56,000 shares issued for 62.5p, so increasing tangible NAV2) There are an increasing number of share options, 20 million of which over 5million are massively dilutive at a low or no exercise price, not taken into account and would reduce NAV3) only £614,000 of intangible assets were charged to p&l of the £96 million intangibles remaining on the balance sheet (so less than 1%) , that was all that was "deemed to be necessary this year"!What does all this mean? Nothing if the current environment keeps going, and optimistic acquisitions and statements will improve the share price and the management have a clear strategy BUT it cannot keep going (cycle, PCP ratchet effect etc) and dealerships are totally captive to manufacturer actions. I, therefore, will hold until the price gets quite a lot higher (still believing 42p was and remains the floor!) and hope to sell before what I expect to be a ghastly and huge shake out, when even my "floor" might be tested.
theprior
10 May 2017
Excellent results Looks like our company is in rude health.And the divi's up too. 
))Luck allTP
theprior
09 May 2017
Cambria results Higher profits on lower sales across the board.Be careful when buying a car...the margins are growing !That aside, this bodes well for VTU's results, tomorrow??TP
theprior
04 May 2017
Results due... on 10 May.Not long now.May be worth a top up before the announcement.TP
valeite
05 Apr 2017
astonishing motor sales figures SMMT say that new car sales are up 8.4% in march /6.2% for qtr 1 2017 .even allowing for the changes in tax this is v good . Vertu must be getting their fair share of this business ....yet the market is being ultra mean to the share price....what am i missing? what is it that i don't get? employment prospects look good /long term money looks like staying very low....
theprior
01 Mar 2017
Trading statement Underlying business is sound despite a softening in commercial and new car sales.Clearly the reduction in new car sales has caused an increase in used car business which is high margin stuff. Good news too, on the servicing an drew aftersales market.Interesting to note that, despite reduced acquisitions recently, the policy of growing the number of branches by acquisition has not changed. So maybe not as aggressive but still on the hunt for more dealerships.TP
theprior
15 Feb 2017
Re: sp Sorry, Tommy. I've been far too busy with FRR, AFC, and SOU, to look in here.I've been with VTU since the 30odd p days so I've seen the ups and downs. But, I like the acquisitive, aggressive growth model adopted by them, coupled with a good reputation for value and service.So, I see 50p as fairly achievable in the short term. I'm aiming to get into the 60s but wouldn't hazard a guess as to how long that will take !So, for me it's a solid defensive buy that's not going to double (or tank) overnight, unlike some of my portfolio ))Good luck, TP
