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Archived articleThis is an archived article from 2015 - please note that any content within the article may be out of date.

Small Cap Value Report (24 Nov 2015) - pending

My apologies, but I won't be able to write today's report until this evening. I'm taking a day off to hang out with Mum in London. She's heading back home at about 8pm tonight, so I'll put together a report after that.

I want to report on AO. , Creston (LON:CRE) , in particular.

Regards, Paul.

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12 comments


Avatar for Novice Investor

OAndrea341 & JamesRH, thank you very much for taking the trouble to post. Much appreciated. KNOS have good margins and are quite dominant in their marketplace. I think the surge in the SP was because of the recommendation by Smallcap Sharewatch initially, and then positive updates by them. The SP is pretty much where it was when I read about them while on holiday in August.

NI

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Avatar for skyjacker

Hi Paul,

Interested to hear your comments on AO. I suspect the comments wont be positive due to diabolical results considering the state housing market is in.

From investors perspective it AO is very poor investment a bit like Amazon of white goods world, excellent website, very good customer service but no profit for shareholders. As a customer I bought couple of things from AO after moving house was very impressed by their speed of delivery and overall service price was good too. They are of course trying to sell extended warranties so thats the only negative I can think of as a customer.

Home retail (Argos) on another hand feels like it is stuck in the middle not the best price wise nor customer service. Website is also quite not very good but they have large foot print. I'm not particularly enjoying buying from there but considering getting a few shares before Xmas once.

A.

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Avatar for Novice Investor

No coverage of KNOS that I can see. I'd be interested to find out if there's a reason.

NI

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Avatar for andrea34

The Chronic Investor posted an online article, the opening paragraph of which is as follows:

The honeymoon period for Kainos (KNOS), which listed in July 2015, has proved shortlived: investors sent its shares down sharply after it published these half-year results. The good news is that the government, healthcare and enterprise software group inked about £35m in contracts, compared with £21m in the same period last year. This helped drive adjusted operating profits - stripping out IPO costs - up 16 per cent to £6.6m. The bad news is a government spending review that threatens to delay public sector investments.

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Avatar for James RH

I feel the problem Kainos (LON:KNOS) had was that since IPO, it shot up very quickly - I bought in shortly after launch and in a matter of four months or so, watched the value go up over 50%. I think the sell-off was because the market was expecting an interim stating they were far exceeding market expectations.

My opinion is that when it didn't materialise, some investors took profits and, because of the rapid rise, there may have been stops that were fairly tight - once they went, the price kept falling as more stops were triggered.

Personally I'll continue to hold and would welcome any confirming/opposing views as I'm still fairly new to investing (just a year under my belt).

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Avatar for Bouvier

James,
Sorry if I sound like I am teasing slightly because I understand exactly what you mean but it shows some of the lunacies of the market and how companies report that drove you to write:
"I think the sell-off was because the market was expecting an interim stating they were far exceeding market expectations."

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Avatar for James RH

Hi Bouvier,

No teasing taken!

As mentioned, I'm still trying to learn how to read markets and reports. Some of it goes over my head but that's why I've joined Stockopedia to hopefully grasp some knowledge to put to good use. Have been reading Paul's columns for a while now and have picked up some good ideas which have beared fruit.

Every day's a school day!

James

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Avatar for fifthcolumn

Hi James,

I am also on a learning curve in the same way as you. I have found Stocko incredibly informative and helpful. May I ask you what other avenues, books etc that you have looked at and found helpful?

Thank you in anticipation.

Nig

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Avatar for James RH

Nig,

Will message you.

James

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Avatar for andrea34

Hello mum!

Looks like WTM have put out a positive trading statement... although the initial price rise has been eroded to nothing, presumably due to market redness.

CAMB have issued results which look fab - EPS up 44-45%, revenue up 16.4%, now has net cash... but p/e still only about 11. Is p/e 11 still fair Paul?

Years ago I held CRE, when I knew even less about investing than I do now; seem to remember they had a (cyclical?) history of disappointment... and current results look pedestrian - once burned, twice shy!

All the travel shares are heading south...

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Avatar for iwright7

Paul,

Later on could you have a look at Solid State (LON:SOLI) H1 too. Thanks Ian

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Avatar for AlanJenkins2

Have a nice time !

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