gretel
31 May 2017
Breaking upwards today New recent highs now - hopefully the start of a run up to 80p or more.
gretel
09 May 2017
RNS : Chelverton Trust buying more Good news today - Chelverton Small Companies Trust have bought 150,000 shares since their last disclosure and now hold 5.5%, or 800,000 shares:[link]
gretel
20 Apr 2017
Re: Excellent AGM trading update today I attended the AGM. Most importantly, I was reasonably encouraged by what was reported in terms of trading: - the Chairman was very firm in describing current trading as "satisfactory". IMO the Chairman is of what might be termed the "old school", where there's no need for hyperbole, or for 10 words where one will do. As proven by the trading update! In other words, if he's happy to describe overall trading as "satisfactory" I would translate that as "good" - the AGM itself was unilluminating re trading info. However, there was mention in terms of growth catalysts for Ganymede's smart metering business, and for ATA growing as a beacon of quality against other similar-type businesses. And post-meeting I had a discussion regarding smart metering which gave me much more encouragement as to potential future workloads in this area - the Chairman described RTC as unaffected by extraneous factors in the general economy, presumably because Ganymede and GSS in particular have strong recurring revenues - the DCC is now basically completed and 100% available for revenue/profit-generation - GSS is more likely to strengthen rather than weaken in future as regards Afghanistan given the situation there - I proposed that RTC should proactively get out and present to private investors via presentations at Equity Development, Proactive, Blackthorn Focus, Mello etc. This is what will get some liquidity and interest in the shares, as apart from Oryx and a few others RTC are indeed too small for most institutional investors.This proposal was welcomed and seemed to be particularly taken on board by the FD.I would say that actually RTC's business is overall of HIGHER quality than most of its sector rivals. This is due to Ganymede's and GSS's high recurring/contractual income with Network Rail etc. The smart metering opportunity in particular offers a transformational opportunity to the group. If this results in a long-term installation contract or two similar to Ganymede's Network Rail contract, you won't see the share price for dust given the small free float.
gretel
19 Apr 2017
Excellent AGM trading update today [link] am pleased to report that the Group has traded well since the publication of the 2016 results in February and we continue to experience a strong demand from both new and existing customers.The Board is confident of the trading prospects of the Company in the current financial year."Lots of upside to Whitman Howard's 85p target price from the current 58p. A reminder of their forecasts:this year : 7.4p EPS, 3.3p divinext year : 8.7p EPS, 3.6p divi
gretel
18 Apr 2017
Still rising prior to tomorrow's AGM Nice 30,000 share buy at 57p before tomorrow's AGM just reported.
gretel
12 Apr 2017
Rising nicely now The last few trades here have all been Buys, and the price is moving up steadily now.The very positive comments yesterday from RWA about the UK recruitment sector may help RTC to rise quite a bit further, especially given the positive outlook in the recent prelims.Mantrova, apologies for the typo - it is Whitman Howard 
))
mantrova
08 Mar 2017
Re: Whotman Howard initiate - 73% upside Thanks a lot for that mention, Gretel - it's a very pleasing note.Incidentally, I'm thinking it might be Whitman Howard and see they have been regularly involved with some company names which many of us are likely to be aware of.Must confess, this is this first time I have come across their name, so having re-bought RTC, after a brief exit, I'm very happy to read of their numbers.Is the full note published anywhere?Thanks again,m
gretel
08 Mar 2017
Whotman Howard initiate - 73% upside This should set the cat amongst the pigeons nicely ))Their 85p target price would be a nice start, with 73% upside from the current 49p - and still only be a P/E of 11.They forecast: this year : 7.4p EPS, 3.3p divi next year : 8.7p EPS, 3.6p diviAt 49p that's a P/E of just 6.6 and a 6.7% divi yield....Here's the summary:"There are numerous reasons to buy RTC. Improved visibility due to its exposure to recurring, higher margin, contracts in the robust UK engineering sector now account for c46% of revenues – up from 25% in 2014. Following a strong start to 2017 we forecast adjusted PBT growth of 16%, a ROCE of 19% and a sustainable dividend and FCF yield of 7% and 11% respectively. With a PE rating of just 7x we initiate with a BUY recommendation and a price target of 85p, representing 73% upside."
gretel
28 Feb 2017
Good 2016 results given the Q3 slowdown and following the strong Q4 recovery.I calculate 7p adjusted EPS, well ahead of 6p forecasts, adding back the £173k of amortisation.The 3p dividend is spot on forecasts - a 5.6% yield.The outlook is strong too, with a positive start to 2017 in all divisions.Ganymede should continue to thrive with the Network Rail contract, the smart meter opportunity etc. ATA should also benefit from the government focus on infrastructure spending, and GSS is stable with further opportunities. Plus the Derby Conference Centre is now complete in terms of investment, is re-let and better utilised (not sure Derby will get promoted this year though!).
gretel
27 Jan 2017
Morson CEO buys 8% of RTC Today's second RNS discloses that the CEO of Morson has bought over 8% of RTC:[link] his bio:[link] why has he picked up 8% of RTC on his own account? Presumably that means as an industry insider he simply sees it as a good bet at the least, and potentially is this putting RTC in play?
gretel
27 Jan 2017
Excellent trading update today Confirming historic EPS is in line at 6.2p EPS, and also a positive outlook for this year with 7.7p EPS forecast:[link] 3p dividend forecast for each year is not insignificant too against a 56p share price ))The share price should climb back to 70p-80p now, and potentially a fair amount more imo if ATA is back to form as the results suggest, given Ganymede's long-term and secure Network Rail contract.They must have had an excellent H2 - I had my doubts about whether they'd make the numbers following the last numbers. Why they didn't RNS the ATA contract I posted earlier is beyond me.
gretel
19 Dec 2016
New contract win Excellent news:[link] Awarded Recruitment Contract for the £1.5bn A14 Improvement Scheme November 11, 2016 at 4:43 pm.ATA Recruitment are proud to be one of four agencies selected to source freelance and permanent staff on the £1.5bn A14 Improvement scheme between Huntingdon and Cambridge.Tom Peach, ATA’s Senior Highways Consultant commented, “The awarding of the A14 contract is a true testament to all of the hard work that the ATA team has done over the years to deliver a best-in-class service to our clients across the UK’s Highways and Infrastructure Markets”.The Highways England project, delivered by a joint venture between Costain, Skanska, Balfour Beatty and Carillion, aims to enhance the safety of drivers, combat congestion, connect people, unlock economic growth and improve the environment. The scheme, stretching over 21 miles, is one of the largest road projects in the UK and is due to take around 3 years to complete, opening to traffic in mid-2020. Rachel Skelton, ATA’s A14 Account Manager said, “ATA are excited to be working closely with the A14 team to help deliver this flagship project and help to achieve Highways England objectives of a safer and more efficient road system that is going to drive economic growth to the region”.The scheme will generate a huge number of freelance and permanent opportunities over the life of the project and ATA Recruitment will be seeking skilled individuals such as:•Site Engineers•Site Supervisors•Site Managers•Site Agents•General Foreman•Project Managers•Planners•Quantity Surveyors and more etc"
gretel
17 Oct 2016
RTC's DCC doing well News that the Derby Conference Centre is doing well post-revamp:[link] Conference Centre staff numbers set to top 300 after £1m revamp Derby Telegraph | Posted: October 15, 2016The number of people working at Derby Conference Centre is doubling after a £1 million revamp prompted a string of businesses to move in.Mike Ebbitt, managing director of the conference centre, part of the RTC Group, said a recent refurbishment meant staff numbers would soon hit 300 – up from 150 during 2015.Businesses that have moved to the centre in recent months include logistics firm Wincanton, railway training company ARC Academy, broker portal SortRefer and children's coaching company Premier Sport.Mr Ebbitt also revealed RTC Group considered moving from the centre, on the corner of London Road and Ascot Drive, when its lease expired last year. However, he said the unique nature of the site and the growth of Derby's business scene had prompted it to sign a new 15-year lease, thus safeguarding jobs in the city.Mr Ebbitt said: "We've saved jobs in Derby and we've brought jobs to Derby – and it's cost us £1 million."SortRefer are based towards Stoke but recently moved into our Burdsall Building and are going to have around 100 employees here."Wincanton wanted a central UK base and are renting our Chapman building. That's about 30 additional staff here."ARC Academy have six trainers here and have got around 40 trainees coming here already."And Premier Sport, who provide PE coaches for schools, have six to 10 people here."Derby Conference Centre, which is housed in the former London Midlands and Scottish College of Rail, first opened in the 1930s grade-two listed art deco building in 2007. It was refurbished to allow it to host conferences, meetings, social functions and weddings.Earlier this year, the venue launched its new business lounge, which provides a quiet space for business people to work. Its facilities include private meeting pods, complimentary parking, superfast broadband and refreshments.The centre also revamped its Wyvern Bar, Stephenson Restaurant, reception and toilets, which were upgraded in keeping with the art deco style.The venue's lecture theatre is also to be refurbished to provide additional and more flexible facilities for conference organisers. A planning application to increase the number of parking spaces from 180 to 300 has been submitted.Dale Kelly, resource and sales manager at ARC Academy, said moving to the conference centre made sense.He said: "The site is a brilliant as we are able to do the majority of training on-site. Derby is a great location and has great transport links. The building and the grounds are picturesque and very presentable, which reflects the reputation of Arc Academy and it is a great environment for our clients."As managing director of Derby Conference Centre, Mr Ebbitt sits on the board of its parent company RTC, which specialises in recruitment, providing temporary, permanent and contingent staff to a broad range of industries and clients in both domestic and international markets.The Derby Conference Centre, which houses its headquarters, generates additional revenue from letting spare capacity to external businesses in the form of office incubation and conferencing space hire."
gretel
05 Sep 2016
Decent results, time for a bounce The recent results were steady as she goes, and the subsequent fall was unjustified imho.Given the long-term Network Rail work, the continuing presence in Afghanistan and the likely improvement at Derby I'm happy to hold and perhaps pick up some more given the prospects.With forecast 8.6p EPS, the P/E is now down to only 6.7 for this year. The 3.3p dividend is another big incentive to hold.Finncap said post-interims:" good set of results RTC has generated £0.513m of PBTA in 2016 (H1-2015A;£0.464m PBTA), an 11% increase, and 2.7p FD EPS (+15%). Net debt of £3.9m has reduced significantly YoY from >£4.5m in a half year in which the company has invested significantly. The 1.1p dividend is in line with our expectations (+10% YoY).• Strong performance from Ganymede RTC’s Ganymede business, which supplies contingent / temporary staff mainly to the rail and energy sectors, had a very encouraging H1, with sales and operating profits up 41% and 68% respectively, with margins up from 5.8% to 6.9%. This is largely on the back of last year’s Network Rail win, now successfully brought on stream, and ongoing for a further five years.• Mix changes elsewhere Beyond Ganymede, temp is rising as a proportion of ATA’s business, focusing on grey/white collar recruitment in specific sectors. This is a long term strategic objective which has been quickened by the softening perm market. GSS, the overseas business, has held steady, a good result, and significant investment has been made into the Conference Centre and largely completed in H1.• Post-Brexit vote, forecasts retained We retain our forecasts, bearing in mind the steady, long-term characteristics of the Ganymede business in particular and the likely upside in the Conference Centre as the investment starts to take effect; and will revisit the detail at a later point in the year. The company highlights the “unsettled” conditions which are clear to all following 23rd June, but appears to be making a good fist of driving the business forward. Buy."Also, an article about the Network Rail win not posted here before FYI:[link] Extract: "Rail - It's a people business July 24th 2015 Labour supply agencies are working together - there’s something not quite right about that statement. But under Network Rail’s new structure for contingent labour, that’s exactly what’s happening. For the past couple of months, Network Rail has gone from 57 contingent labour suppliers to just four core companies and 16 specialist agencies - four in each region. The logic is that it will improve safety, create more opportunities for the workforce to develop and that by committing to just a handful of companies, the supply chain is given more financial security. They know where the next order is coming from." "RailStaff spoke with Paul Crompton, managing director of one of the core suppliers - Ganymede, about how he thinks the shake-up of contingent labour will benefit his business and the industry at large. Creating a workforce Ganymede, a subsidiary of RTC Group specialising in the supply of blue collar workers, won the contract for the Western and Wessex regions, Wales and the LNE North. This equates to, on average, around 300 to 400 people being deployed onto Network Rail infrastructure every day. To meet this demand Ganymede is having to expand - the recruiter is having to recruit for itself. The company has already opened new offices in Doncaster and Portsmouth. Says Paul, ‘Because we’re a core supplier in these regions, we can then know that all the work that the delivery units (DU) are doing in each of regions will be offered to us, so we are now aiming to work with the DUs to try and look, rather than one or two weeks, try and look 12 weeks in front, a year in front, and just see what work is coming.’Having guaranteed business allows the four core suppl
gretel
22 Jul 2016
Interim results out soon FYI the interims will be out on the 10th August per the company web site:[link] forecasts remain at: this year : 8.6p EPS, 3.3p divi next year : 9.5p EPS, 3.7p diviAnd good news for RTC as the Afghan support contract will be extended for at least another year to end of 2017. They are having to send additional troops rather than reducing numbers [link]
