Daily Stock Market Report (Fri 17 Jan 2025) - IGR, EVOK, MCB, CCT, EMAN

17th Jan by Graham Neary

51 comments 5974 reads

Good morning! We have a busier set of updates than usual this Friday.

1pm: all done! Have a great weekend everyone.

Spreadsheet accompanying this report (updated to 10/1/2025)

Companies Reporting

Name (Mkt Cap)	RNS	Summary	Our view (Author)
Petershill Partners (LON:PHLL) (£2.9bn)	Q4 AUM Update	AuM raised in 2024: $32bn, ahead of guidance of $20-25bn. 2025 outlook: AuM raise of $20-25bn.
Big Yellow (LON:BYG) (£1.7bn)	TU	LfL store revenue +2% for Q3, +3% year-to-date. Confident in further modest EPS growth.
Spirent Communications (LON:SPT) (£1bn)	TU	Ongoing challenging market conditions. Full year adj. op profit to be similar to 2024.	PINK (Takeover planned at 201.5p.)
Ninety One (LON:N91) (£910m)	Q3 AUM Update	AUM £130.2bn (Sep 2024: £127.4bn).
Johnson Service (LON:JSG) (£540m)	TU	Organic rev +3.8%. Op profit in line with expectations. 2025: well placed to mitigate higher costs.
DFS Furniture (LON:DFS) (£314m)	TU	Order intake up 10% in H1. Results for FY25 now expected to be first half weighted.
Evoke (LON:EVOK) (£309m)	TU	H2 sales growth (+8%) and adj EBITDA at the top end of communicated guidance. Ahead of market expectations.	AMBER/RED (Graham holds) High-risk situation, high-reward if they successfully deleverage.
M&C Saatchi (LON:SAA) (£218m)	2024 Full Year TU	Revenue growth of 3.5%. PBT in line with expectations.
McBride (LON:MCB) (£176m)	TU	Trading in line. Annual dividends re-instated.	AMBER/GREEN (Graham) Trading at a PER of 5x, seems reasonable to target something moderately higher than this.
IG Design (LON:IGR) (£140m)	TU	Profit warning. Adj PBT now only expected at breakeven (from current expectations of $32m).	BLACK/AMBER (Graham) Net cash and high NAV so I prefer not to take a RED stance.
Character (LON:CCT) (£48m)	TU	FY25 in line with exp, despite difficult trading conditions.	GREEN (Graham) Not trading at bargain levels and conditions remain challenging but I like the company's track record and financial strength.
Everyman Media (LON:EMAN) (£46m)	TU	Profit warning. Box office performance in Q4 not as strong as anticipated. BoD now more cautious around 2025/26.	BLACK/RED (Graham) Losses are pencilled in for at least the next few years and I don't have faith that meaningful profits will follow after that.
Oxford Biodynamics (LON:OBD) (£2m)	Result of fundraising	Only £350k of the proposed £500k raised.

Graham's Section

IG Design (LON:IGR) - down 61% to 56p (£55m/$67m) - Trading Update -…

Unlock with Email

Unlock with Google

Already have an account?
Login here

yiannos1

17th Jan

The reason this thread will eventually wear off is clearly visible.

Today we have some commentators, after the IG Design (LON:IGR) horrible update, that they seem they knew it!!

I first shared IG Design (LON:IGR) as an investment opportunity at 115p ( based on the numbers I had in front of me and the guidance from the management ) and that was the price I bought the shares. The price has doubled in a very short period of time and have exited (something that I have also posted here).

Recently after a profit warning I have bought back at 111p and used my profits from the original position (again something I have shared here).

Today we had another profit warning and this time is even worse. Management obviously LIED to us and I have sold everything. My overall gain is still 52%!!!

So to the commentators that seem to know everything AFTER the results and the trading updates , I will recommend that YOU STICK YOUR NECK OUT and deep dive on ideas and share them here BUT PLEASE do it BEFORE not AFTER.

So if anyone has anything to suggest that will make over 50% in 9 months please share this here-I might give you a good tip if you are right!

All the best

Graham Neary

The Phoenix, apologies I didn't get around to N91.

intuitive6191

In fairness Yiannos people here will mostly make a private decision not to buy if they think something is a poor investment.

I think you and I have agreed on a few companies which we think are very poor and destined for future failure - but it is generally not well received on this board to be a Cassandra, particularly if it is a bulletin board favourite.

I didn't have a view on IG design before or after the profit warning so I wont pile in now.

jeff narin

Stable door, horse…

Read again my post!

After the events comments that they knew everything is meaningless and pointless!

"After the events comments that they knew everything is meaningless and pointless!"

Not if it helps investors make a better investment decision going forward. IG Design didn't cease trading today. Its not as if it has gone bust and everyone knew this beforehand.

People will still be able to trade stock and some of the comments might help future decisions.

Yes - the thread is slowing dying. This is obvious. I think we will have to agree to differ as to why this occurring.

The Phoenix

No worries Graham you do great work and who wants to be working past midday on a Friday enjoy your weekend.

sevenccc

Card Factory (LON:CARD) comments from Edison have signs of the teenage scribbler. Average multiple of 13.6x FY15-20 was in period of steadily growing estate size. If it gets back to a 10x rating that would be a fair mark for a discount retailer with little growth to come, imo. USA expansion is the great unknown and in light of IG Design (LON:IGR) update today comes with fair warning that it could be difficult. Glad I didn't join the trade on IG Design (LON:IGR) pre-Christmas. Commiserations to those that did.

Jeff Nairn raises a fair point that the Sept update flagged concerns over retail customer risk. Dare we say we should all have taken more notice, especially those commentating?

I am not sure you understand my point here.

Perhaps my limited knowledge of the English language and my poor writing skills do not help.

This thread was once a place where, the likes of Davidjhill, PlanetX, BenHazz, myself and many more , used to explain the investment case for different stocks, based on the numbers we had in front of us along with the management guidance of these companies. Most of the times we were correct and some others history proved that we were wrong!

This thread was once a place where I used to stick my neck out to explain to fellow commentators that many of PS picks will be a disaster BUT before events NOT after.

Now is a place for some to pass their free time basically saying and after the events are widely known : ‘I f…..g knew it!’.

NO ONE MENTIONED BY THE WAY the new all time highs for the FTSE100!

raggedtp

I would just like to say that I appreciate this thread very much, even though I hardly ever comment, because I am not seeing it till later. Keep it up., please!

Funnymoney

IG Design (LON:IGR) I made money on it in both the internet boom post 94 and the 2003- bull market. I'd been out for some time except for a £1 a point just to keep it on the radar (showing a £90 loss! This was a residue of a much bigger position I had which I sold when it rolled over below the 50 day MA. I do think that this is of a size (T/O £700m) and history where it will come back, I think those sorts of businesses which aren't particularly cutting edge often have a collective knowledge through their employees which will help them through times like these. I'm not buying until there is evidence they have a handle on their issues though!

Viz

Totally correct mate, but as you say, your style isn't for everyone.

I like it - but if you don't, you don't - and you know that I suspect, which makes it harder for people to understand (first impressions and all that).

Does Yiannos have a 'light' version :lol:

Back to facts, rather that style, your picks on stocks are far better than a lot I have seen, (personally, I'd like to know more and have a beer when you're next in the NW).

Rather than pander to the brigade, Stockopedia need these alternative views. Give Yiannos a section, rather than tell Paul Hill he can't post anymore et al.

thanks for the support. Its easy to get carried away with the waves of enthusiasm for a popular stock and fall victim to confirmation bias, if you own it, or anchoring bias, if you have made money with it before - “broker/commentator X says its a temporary setback”, “Stockopedia is still showing a high score”, “ debt is down and the revised multiple is now less than it was last year.”

But often it helps to step back and ask yourself “whats a good reason not to own it?”

In the case of IG Design (LON:IGR), the answer was in that Sept update. PS made light of it in his review, probably because he’s more of a risk taker or had made money with it before ( I dont know). But the warning about customer risk was a dealbreaker for me.

I do this whenever eyeing up a potential investment. It doesnt require clairvoyance, just an ability to look behind the numbers, do a bit of research on the company and its markets, and not let yourself be swayed too much by “commentators” who can make a great case and pull out the numbers to back it up.

Back to the dayjob!

QARPY

Bowl investing :-)

yadi

everything (almost everything) is rising today but JUP is dropping. JUP is expected to rocket in a day like today.t . To me it is an ominous sign of worse to come.

rmillaree

Ok thats a tricky one - how about this binary investment that can return something approaching 60%

Nottingham Forrest to beat Southampton this weekend and Real Madrid to beat Las Palmas

oh dear like investing in shares there is no sure thing with betting on football.

Gambling is a fools game.

jamesalastair

That made me laugh .... the wisdom after the event.

Not always - it is for many though :)

Yep I bought it for a bounce couple of days back as it hit support but as you say it should be up today looks like volume is double the norm today so maybe one of the bigger holders dumping and looking for an exit.

I don't see any black swans with this one other than the death by thousand cuts scenario if something doesn't happen to make their active funds attractive to investors again.

Daily Stock Market Report (Fri 17 Jan 2025) - IGR, EVOK, MCB, CCT, EMAN

Companies Reporting

Graham's Section

Unlock the rest of this article with a 14 day trial

About the Author

Graham Neary

51 comments

Unlock the metrics for all these stocks and more...

Unlock the metrics for all these stocks and more...