Acal Live Discussion

sharegardener 28 Nov 2017

Re: Terrific H1 results today Brief interview with Nick Jefferies CEO on below link[link] suppose Discoverie has a bit of a French ring to it!SG

sharegardener 28 Nov 2017

Name change announced also Also ACAL are changing their name - lets hope ii can link the old ACAL pages to the new Co. otherwise all the discussion, charting and fundamentals data might disappear forever!''It is announced today that the Company is changing its name to discoverIE Group plc. This change reflects the transformation of the Group over recent years into a higher margin business focused on design and manufacturing, and more importantly, the future ambitions of the Board in this direction. DiscoverIE, or ‘discover innovative electronics’, emphasises the Group’s focus on being a business that is highly differentiated, customised, and that enables customer solutions.''The Company's ticker symbol will change to "DCSV" from "ACL", and trading of the Company's shares under the new name and new DSCV ticker will commence tomorrow, 29 November 2017, at 8.00 am.

gretel 28 Nov 2017

Finncap raise target price to 405p today Finncap have today increased their target price to 405p (from 339p) and say Buy:[link]

gretel 28 Nov 2017

Terrific H1 results today [link] the name tomorrow to reflect the transformed nature of the group to own design and manufacturing in high growth sectors.Very, very confident outlook:"Nick Jefferies, Group Chief Executive, commented: "This is a strong set of results. Sales increased by 21%, of which 9% was widespread organic growth across the Group, and underlying earnings per share increased by 24%. The second half has started well and we are on track to deliver full year performance in line with our expectations, supported by a record order book of £111m. Together with an increase in new project design wins of over 30%, with an estimated lifetime sales value of over £90m, we are well positioned for continued growth. Since 2011, we have been building a Design and Manufacturing business that would transform the Group into a higher margin business. D&M now accounts for 78% of Group underlying profit contribution........We have many growth opportunities ahead of us as we drive towards our stated targets, and our ambition remains to repeat the performance of the last five years by doubling revenue and underlying earnings per share through a combination of organic growth and value-enhancing acquisitions."The highlights section says it all:"Highlights · Strong growth in sales, orders, profitability and earnings o Sales up 21% (+15% CER(2)) on orders up 22% (+15% CER)o Underlying operating profit up 34% (+23% CER)o Underlying earnings per share up 24%o Interim dividend increased by 8% · Wide spread organic growth across both divisions o Group organic sales(3) up 9%; orders up 10% in both divisionso D&M(4) organic sales up 11% - now 57% of Group sales (H1 2016/17: 52%)o Custom Supply (previously known as Custom Distribution)(4) organic sales up 7% · Good progress on key strategic and performance targetso Underlying operating margin increased to 6.2% (H1 2016/17: 5.6 %)o Cross selling of £4.2m, more than doubled from last year (H1 2016/17: £1.9m) o ROCE(5) of 14.5%, up 2.8ppts on last year (H1 2016/17: 11.7%)o Operating cash flow(6) at 95% of underlying operating profit in the last 12 months · Recent acquisition, Variohm, performing well with strong sales and order growth · Group well positioned for further growtho Highest ever period end order book of £111m (+16% CER)o New project design wins increased by 30% to over £90m(7) o Acquisition opportunities developing · FTSE sector reclassification from Support Services to Electronics and Electrical Equipment effective 18 September 2017 reflecting the scale of our D&M business "

gretel 24 Nov 2017

Good new investment overview spelling out the transition to own customised, higher margin products....Http ://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/companies/news/185617/acal-building-momentum-with-its-higher-margin-strategy-185617.html?utm_source=Sign-Up.to&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=7163-371381-Proactivity+-+23%2F11%2F2017"Acal building momentum with its higher margin strategy11:39 23 Nov 2017 The customised electronics firm said it has generated “good levels of organic growth” in the opening six months of its year, driven by new project wins and “favourable” market conditionsBroker Peel Hunt is a buyer of the stockPeel Hunt reiterated its ‘buy’ recommendation after the October trading statement, saying the momentum that started to build back in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2017 has continued through the first half of fiscal 2018.Organic revenue growth for the first half was 9%, which was thanks to a better trading backdrop, but Peel Hunt noted the group is also seeing an improvement in the quality of the order book.Shares in Acal PLC (LON:ACL) rose sharply at the opening bell on Monday after the customised electronics specialist revealed it expects full-year earnings to be ahead of expectations after a strong first half performance.The Guildford-headquartered group said it has generated “good levels of organic growth” in the opening six months of its year, driven by new project wins and “favourable” market conditions, particularly in continental Europe.“As a result, full year earnings are now anticipated to be slightly ahead of our expectations,” read this morning’s statement.The solid start is a continuation of the momentum Acal has been building in previous quarters.First-half total revenue jumped by 21% to £190mln for the six months ended 30 September compared with the same period last year (H1 16/17: £157mln).Organic sales in the Design & Manufacturing business – which accounted for 57% of the total revenue during the period – grew by 11%, while the Custom Distribution division saw sales rise by 7%.Group orders increased by 15% in the half, taking Acal’s forward order book to another record period end high.The group margin stabilised and was in line with the final quarter of last year, the company added.“The board is confident of making good progress through the rest of the year, continuing its established strategy of seeking high-quality revenue opportunities in our target markets, along with value-enhancing acquisitions.”Earlier this year, Acal agreed to buy out UK-based components manufacturers Variohm Holdings Limited in a deal which could be worth up to £13.85mln.Acal paid £12mln upfront, with a further £1.85mln payable should the new addition achieve certain growth targets and conditions.It is all part of a strategy to grow its design and manufacturing division with differentiated niche and customised electronic components. It is clear that Acal expects acquisitions (M&A) will continue to augment organic growth as it recently created a new role of M&A director in March, to which it appointed Jeremy Morcom.“Given the positive underlying momentum in the business, we anticipate further positive news flow as the year progresses and still see upside risk to forecasts,” Peel Hunt said.With net debt around 1.2 times underlying annual earnings (EBITDA), there is plenty of headroom for further bolt-on acquisitions.“Management’s long-term strategy of transitioning to a higher growth, higher margin business both organically and through acquisition remains firmly on track, and we see plenty more to go for,” Peel Hunt said, as it stuck with its 360p target price."

gretel 08 Nov 2017

Edison state ACL is at 35% discount Edison produced a new report last month whilst I was on hols - it hasn't been posted here before, so FYI....The suggested 35% discount to peers implies that ACL should be trading at almost 500p, compared to the current 320p:[link] Trading updateSustained uptick in orders drives upgradesAcal’s H118 trading update confirms that strong demand continued into Q218. Both divisions saw a positive trading environment in H1 resulting in group organic revenue growth of 9% y-o-y and group reported revenue growth of 21%. We have raised our revenue forecasts for FY18 and FY19 to reflect stronger trading, which results in upgrades to our normalised EPS forecasts of 3.8% in FY18 and 3.7% in FY19. In our view, the sustained improvement in demand is not reflected in the share price.""Valuation: Discount to peers has widenedOn an FY18e P/E of 15.4x and FY18e EV/EBITDA of 9.3x, the stock is trading at ac 35% discount to the peer group average for both multiples, compared to a 25%discount when we last wrote in July. The share was recently reclassified fromIndustrial Support Services to the Electronic & Electrical Equipment sector, and istrading at a c 30% discount to the new sector P/E. The strong order book, combined with good progress in the strategy to grow the Design & Manufacturing side of the business, provides confidence in both the near-term and longer-term outlook for the company. Continued growth in the proportion of revenue generated from design and manufacturing should support operating margin expansion, and should help to reduce the valuation discount. The stock is also supported by a dividend yield close to 3%.""ValuationAfter this upgrade, Acal is trading at a 35% discount to its peer group on current fiscal year EV/EBITDA and P/E multiples. This has widened from the 25% discount when we last wrote in July."

sharegardener 07 Nov 2017

Re: Finncap : "Attractive valuation" They are making steady progress and good cross-selling between the previously acquired companies. There hasnt been any sign yet of new acquisitions recently but presumably the new director must have been doing something in the last 7 months:''Jeremy Morcom appointed Group M&A Director. Jeremy will join Acal on 13 March 2017 in this newly created role to accelerate the Group's M&A activity in line with its well established strategy of growing its Design & Manufacturing division by acquiring high quality, complementary businesses. ''They may announce something with the H1 results on the 28th -these have already been flagged as 'ahead of expectations'. I always find it annoying when any share placing for M&A is restricted to institutional holders.SG

gretel 07 Nov 2017

Finncap : "Attractive valuation" Here's a couple of snippets from Finncap's note of 16th October.Note that at 319p, on their 25.2p EPS forecasts for the coming year starting 1/4/18, ACL are on a P/E of only 12.7:"In a positive H1 update, Acal has highlighted that trading has remained strong in Q2 and full-year earnings are now anticipated to be slightly ahead of management expectations. Our FY 2018E EPS forecast is 6% ahead of consensus and we leave our forecast of 19% EPS growth this year unchanged. Acal is set to report H1 organic sales growth of 9% supplemented by a further 6% from acquisitions and 6% from currency.With the short term P/E of 13.7x and dividend yield of 2.9% still attractive against the significant long-term market potential we remain positive on the shares.""Attractive valuation against long-term potential. We remain focused on the long-term potential for growth in a £20bn market, but the short-term metrics also remain attractive with a 13.7x P/E and 2.9% dividend yield. There is scope for us to increase our target price alongside our review of the results on 28 November."

gretel 02 Nov 2017

New highs soon? And news.... Looking set to push for new highs methinks.News - good to see ACL positioned for the Internet Of Things:[link] programmable IoT gateway that sets a new standard for IoT embedded platformsThe Sierra Wireless FX30 is the industry’s smallest, most rugged, programmable, cellular gatewayThe Sierra Wireless FX30 is the industry’s smallest, most rugged, programmable, cellular gateway. Providing a secure, integrated, embedded application environment, the FX30 enables swift, scalable, global deployments of IoT applications utilising the 3G/4G LTE network.The flexible expansion card slot enables the use of multiple local area technologies to connect machines and infrastructures to the Cloud.Acal BFi are uniquely positioned to embedded these technologies in the FX30 during the production process, providing you with a true plug-and-play solution.Acal BFi have teamed the new Sierra Wireless FX30 with the Acal BFi Environmental Sensor Platform to produce this demonstration video of this new cellular gateway. See how quick and easy it is to send data from a field based location to the Cloud using just the FX30 in our video below....."

gretel 26 Oct 2017

The IC says Buy A new IC Buy tip can be seen here, noting upside from the then 333p share price:[link]

gretel 26 Oct 2017

Looking good for more rises imo I'm surprised that ACL's share price has barely risen since the "ahead of expectations" update.Numis have a 370p target and Peel Hunt have a 360p target. Finncap go for 339p, but say there's scope to raise that target post-results on 28th November. They currently go for 22.9p EPS this year and 25.2p EPS next year.The steady re-rating here will hopefully gather pace soon.

nk1999 21 Oct 2017

Times- Tempus On 16/10:"This time last year Acal was emerging from a patch of difficult trading. It supplies customised electronic components to a range of industries. Orders are reliant on customers’ willingness to invest in new ranges, which itself has been dependent on factors such as pre-Brexit uncertainty in the UK, a new president in the US and concerns about the eurozone recovey. The lower pound was making products sourced in dollars more expensive, hitting margins.A year later it looks quite different. The first-half trading update to the end of September notes an improvement in end-markets, particularly on the Continent. Acal’s organic revenue grew by 9 per cent, stripping out currency movements, with earlier acquisitions chipping in another 6 per cent. The past year has added only one of these but the company has the balance sheet strength for more.Design and manufacturing, key to performance as it is a higher-margin division where Acal collaborates most directly with those customers, was ahead by 11 per cent. Group orders are ahead by 10 per cent. The shares, up 20¾p at 334½p, have come on by about a pound since the start of the year, but, on 16 times earnings, look good long-term value.My advice BuyWhy Acal is heading for a significant period of growth"

gretel 09 Oct 2017

News: new distribution partnership News - great to see ACL'sw subsidiary described as "European leader in advanced technology solutions in photonics and lasers". Anyone invested in IQE will know all about the hyper-growth being experienced in these areas:[link] Announces Distribution PartnershipPublished on 9 October 2017 Qioptiq, an Excelitas Technologies company, announced a new distribution partnership with Acal BFi, the European leader in advanced technology solutions in photonics and lasers. This partnership effectively increases application support and enables more sectors to benefit from Qioptiq’s leading laser technology across Europe.Recognized on a global scale for its high-quality, ultra-stable solutions, Qioptiq designs and manufactures precision lasers to serve a wide range of applications across medical technology, life science, scientific research and discovery, advanced manufacturing, semiconductor, defense and aerospace.Supporting customers with three decades of technical expertiseAcal BFi has supported customers in this market space with technical expertise for more than three decades, and is uniquely positioned in the market to advance customer designs with Qioptiq’s leading-edge laser technology. Together, Qioptiq and Acal BFi can develop and provide complex, custom laser solutions quickly and efficiently."

gretel 09 Oct 2017

Peel Hunt: Buy with 360p target Peel Hunt today reiterate their Buy and 360p target price:[link]

gretel 27 Sep 2017

Excellent upside on re-rating I've just seen a review of ratings in ACL's previous Support Services sector. The average current year EV/EBITDA is 12.5 - ACL's is only 8.8, and the lowest of all the 7 companies listed in the review. This falls to 8.2 next year.As for P/E, the average current year P/E is 20.2 - ACL's is 14.1, the second lowest. The average falls to 18.4 next year, with ACL's falling to 13.1, again the second lowest