Morning all!
Driver ( Driver (LON:DRV) ) – 67.5p – £36.4m – PER 10.1
Trading Update – FY Underlying PBT to be slightly below last year, circa £3.5m.
With expectations of 15%+ growth in PBT this year this is somewhat disappointing, I hold and am fecking annoyed to say the least that insiders were clearly dumping stock on Friday here.
As always, all comment most welcome!
My morning smallcap tweet: ME & Asia screws Driver
Charter Court Financial Services (LON:CCFS), Northern Bear (LON:NTBR), Quarto Inc (LON:QRT), IDE Group (LON:IDE), Driver (LON:DRV)
Charter Court Financial Services (CCFS) in advanced merger discussions with OneSavings Bank with 0.8253 new OSB shares for each Charter Court share. Charter Court shareholders would hold ~45% of the combined group.
Northern Bear (NTBR) first 10 months of FY ahead of mgmt expectations. Guides op profit broadly flat YoY. No forecasts. Says previous year was 'outstanding'. I hoped very mild winter would have boosted H2 YoY but no. I hold.
Quarto (QRT) mixed language in FY results. Rev down 2%, adj EPS 23.0c (17.8c). Has cut no of imprints and cut overheads, expects the ongoing soft market conditions to continue. CEO is "very passionate about returning the Group to full health". But is he 110% passionate?
IDE Group (IDE) H2 trading performance improved after previously announced cost cuts. Has settled outsourced service dispute, saving c.£3m over 3 years. Group now expects significantly reduced adj EBITDA loss compared to H1.
Driver Group (DRV) Guides U/L FY pretax ~£3.5m which is below previous year. Blames weak Middle East and south-east Asian markets.
Yes - definite inside trading on Driver (LON:DRV) late last week. Nothing will be done of course.
steady as she goes at Orchard Funding (LON:ORCH)
https://www.investegate.co.uk/orchard-funding-grp--orch-/rns/half-year-results---six-months-ended-31-1-19/201903110700073802S/
looks like they took just six weeks to get the H1s out. Essentially, the company is a smallcap lender. Mcap £17.5m, P/E 16.4, yield 3.9%. Quite a large spread, as you might imagine. Management speak is confident but no signs of trouble or go-go growth coming down the pike.
Asagi (no position)
