Cambria AGM 15/01/2015 Share price 52-56p
I attended the AGM. c 15 attendees, but possibly only 1-2 other shareholders
Trading. I will not add to the very bullish statement. CAMB volumes are up 19.3% against the market 8.2 % ( new car sales) and we all know the background to 34 consecutive months of rising car sales. Q: How long can this continue ? A: if you look at the pattern of the last cycle, this could carry on another three years. A2: we are planning to outperform the market anyway, so even in a flattening market, we would still expect to move ahead. A3: I can see us as £1bn revenue in three years
Eps. Singers have immediately lifted forecasts by 6.3% to 5.3p. Forecasts have risen from 3.85p ( Panmures May 2014) to 4.8p after the Prelims, to 5.3p now......and the share price is lower than a year ago.
Mark Lavery is as confident in his own abilities as ever. It appears that he was recruited by the Burt family to build a business. He got a wodge of equity in return and they will pay to keep him. He says he is approached to move all the time; that his salary is not out of line; and that he will build the best car business in the UK. He believes all of that.
Financial controls To counter his bullishness, Mark L is constantly going on about costs, return on capital,etc. He certainly tries to give the impression he runs a very tight ship. As an example, total professional fees for the £10m Barnet acquisition were just £81,000. Any adviser involved would have cost four times as much.
Salary. I asked straight up front about his £1m salary, bonus and divis. He did not bat an eyelid ( to his credit, did not take offence at all). The Board backed him, the Burt Board representative and the Chairman completely supported the salary and suggested it was never raised as an issue. It was stated ( I have to check**) that CAMB Board costs less in total than Caffyns or Vertu).
The industry. Mark L refers to others who have built businesses, Allen Ford, Reg Vardy, Tony Bramall and believes he can do better. He did comment on overseas money increasingly coming into the sector…
Thanks for the report Simonty - useful insight. Brave of you to question his salary.
