Bowing out

Forge Group (ASX:FGE) founding directors exercised their $5.60 put options yesterday - delivering Clough (ASX:CLO) 3.25m additional shares. I had mentioned this upcoming decision previously. The move effectively reduces the founders' personal holdings to very little and paves the way for their planned exit from the company. Not being privy to internal conversations, it's difficult to work out why the options were exercised more than a month before expiry. My speculative take is Clough has...

A few for the watchlist

After a busy interim reporting season, I've decided to put down a few companies that have caught my attention during this period. A few of these companies have had comprehensive articles written, so I'm not going to be writing about things that have already been well covered. Below is a quick summary, with more comprehensive followups likely in the future. Delta SBD (ASX:DSB) Mining services company that specialises in underground coal mines in NSW and...

Tomorrow's forecast, clouds clearing

Just some quick comments on Structural Systems' (ASX:STS) half yearly results released Wednesday 29th February. The result was solid with the company posting a NPAT of $4.87m (7.62cps), coming at the top of the guidance provided during the AGM in November Revenues strong, increasing by 35% over the previous corresponding period (pcp), interim dividend up 33% to 2.0 cps. Mining services division ROCK Australia appears to be doing well. Although profits declined 22% pcp, its...

MACA Limited (ASX:MLD) keeps on trucking

I don't have a lot to say about this one. Half yearly is out and earnings are up 9% against previous corresponding period - on track to grow revenue by 20% for the year. Order book is up to a record $1.4b with an average contract length of 3 years. Much of the revenue for the next few years are already contracted, so any additional wins in the near term will see further revenue growth....

Lacklustre half yearly, but the future is bright

A lacklustre half yearly result from Forge Group (ASX:FGE) on Thursday: Revenue up 12% on the previous corresponding period to $227.8m NPAT remain unchanged at $21.2m (25.4 cps) Dividend up 50% to 6cps Some may say the result is even disappointing. But I feel that they are clearly gearing up for growth over the next few years. A major driver of the growth will come from the recent acquisition of CTEC. Here's a summary of...

While we wait for the results...

For those interested, I made a comprehensive post in relation to Structural Systems (ASX:STS) on The Boat Fund site. The company reports the half yearly in less than two weeks and will make for an interesting read. As stated in the post, my current pessimistic full year FY12 NPAT forecast is $10m or 15.7cps. STS last traded at $0.84

Credit Corp Group continues to gun it with 1H FY12 results

Credit Corp Group (ASX:CCP) reported on Thursday. The following are the highlights compared to the previous comparable half: Collections up 12% to $115.6m Revenues up 12% to $63.8m NPAT up 23% to $13.0m EPS up 21% to 28 cents Interim Dividend (fully franked) up 30% to 13 cents/share Three months ago when I wrote about the last profit upgrade I mentioned that another upgrade was likely: If the improvement in EPS for the first four...

An extra six month of thinking time

Since we last spoke on Forge Group (ASX:FGE), both the employment contracts for two of the founding directors and the final date to exercise the $5.60 put options have been pushed out to 31st July and 30th June respectively. This gives Clough (ASX:CLO) effectively six more months to decide on what appears to be an imminent takeover. Again it's important to keep an eye out on what the directors do with the put options. Should...

Forge upside capped at $5.60 in a Clough takeover situation?

The Australian Financial Review published an article yesterday about the likelihood of Clough Limited (ASX:CLO) bidding for the rest of Forge Group (ASX:FGE). I guess the market is excited about the possibility and the share price has been sharply up over the last couple of days. There's a few dates that may be worth keeping an eye on for shareholders: 31 Dec 2011: Contracts expire for two founding directors. Will they continue on or part...

Structural Systems (ASX:STS) provides update during AGM

A few pieces of news have come up during the AGM held on Thursday 24th November. The main noteworthy item is the NPAT forecast of $4.5m - $4.9m (EPS 7.0 - 7.7cps) for the first half of FY12. Although the company is in line to double last year's bottom line earnings, it's tracking behind my full year's guesstimate of a $13.2m or 20.7c EPS. Of course it's very difficult to judge at this stage. It's...