Hyperproject
23 Feb 2017
Re: Soames - truthful but making errors Dear algardish, last February , you said "would not touch them with a barge pole", since then Serco shot up from around 90 pence to 150, making me a dry large quick profit. What you have said in today's post is correct, but less than half the story. My advice is buy today at 117 and here we go again....kerching!
algardish
23 Feb 2017
Soames - truthful but making errors At least Soames seems to be telling the truth when things are not going well, unlike the previous lot. But that truth is: wafer thin margins (wild swings to loss if revenue drops), governments extending loss making contracts because they can, Serco taking all the risk in the contracts, the Government none or little. Prison contracts not a good future revenue stream (recent documentaries). Trump ending Obamacare where SRP thought they were onto a good future revenue stream. Contract rebidding in 2018 40% I think so more uncertainty. The decision to get out of all Non Government business when now it is the Government shafting Serco with risk not the other way round as was thought a few years ago. Sold Intelenet in India in 2015 to Blackstone - bad decision! Add to that Brexit uncertainty,(no immigrants to recruit) Living wage costs increasing......I cant see where the growth phase he talks about is coming from. Nor when he will mention dividend payments restarting.Valuation 33 times earnings- I dont think so!Its a sell and the market realises that.= future price drop
Hyperproject
23 Feb 2017
Re: Fill yer boots Relax, have a cigar...around a year ago I posted here that they would drop to below £1, they went down to 70p, that was time to buy bucket loads. Don't worry, Serco will get to £3+ in 18 months time, therefore today's price is a good buy.
PodLife
23 Feb 2017
Re: Fill yer boots I've had my fingers well and truly burnt by this, since I bought in at 149p. Results seem to have been pretty much in line with forecasts so it's not clear to me why the price crashed so badly?
whatshouldIknow
22 Feb 2017
Re: Fill yer boots Did think the 18% drop was harsh, surprised the market expected that much more from the results
megaloss
22 Feb 2017
Fill yer boots Share price drop overdone IMO - progress was never going to be linear, and with their prior history all bad news is sure to be sent straight to the bottom line, no fun and games like some of their sector competitors....
nk1999
18 Jan 2017
Telegraph- Questor "Serco shows renewed health as turnaround plan lifts profits and cuts debt: After a strong 2016 support services group Serco is slowly rehabilitating itself. Fresh progress toward Chief executive Rupert Soames’ revenue growth and profit margin targets could lead to further share price gains for patient investors. According to analysts’ forecasts sales may have bottomed last year at around £3billion and, although only minor improvements are expected in 2017 on the revenue front, profits are already on the rise. Return on sales reached 3.3% at the first-half results, on an underlying basis. December’s 10-year framework contract from the Barts Health NHS Trust suggests the company may finally be emerging from the Government’s doghouse after the criminal tagging overcharging fiasco. Further big deals would be a further assertion of Serco’s return to health. However, President Donald Trump’s plans to repeal and replace America’s Affordable Care Act, or ObamaCare, must be watched, as Serco does work for the scheme. Finally, net borrowing fell to just £120 million at the end of the first half compared with £682 million when Mr. Soames took over, owing to 2015’s rights issue and the self-help programme. Serco is not without its risks and the profit targets may only be met in two to three years’ time but Serco looks to be on the way back. Questor says ‘Buy’." (with Serco at 145.7p)
II Editor
09 Jan 2017
NEW ARTICLE: Chart of the week: This share is mid-rally "Serco rallies - against the punditsI started getting interested in LSE:SRP:Serco last summer when the company was on the receiving end of much bad press, which intensified the deeper the shares traversed its long-term bear trend.The list of ..."[link]
sage in the hills
14 Oct 2016
Holdings increased RNS News: CF Odey have increased their holdings to a significant levelSAGE
sage in the hills
17 Aug 2016
What does 'transferred in' mean ? 16/08/2016 - 15:15 StockMarketWireRupert Soames, Chief Executive Officer, has transferred in 29,628 shares in the company on the 15th August 2016 at a pric...SAGE
charlie51
05 Aug 2016
Soames Interesting article in last week's Evening Standard. I have tried cutting pasting, but iii finds some of the terms too offensive for its dear readers to permit publication....[link]
sage in the hills
04 Aug 2016
This is what it actually says; good prospects Serco swings to H1 pretax profit as revenue fallsStockMarketWire | Thu, 4th August 2016 - 09:51Serco has swung to an H1 pretax profit of £58.1m, from a year-earlier loss of £16.0m due mostly to exceptional finance costs of £32.8m. Revenue slipped to £1.5bn, from £1.6bn.CEO Rupert Soames said the H1 performance was better than we expected."Although much of the improvement came from items that will not recur, it reflects the result of a lot of hard work and successful resolution of a number of commercial issues,2 he said in a statement."Since our last update in May, our trading performance and cost savings are tracking slightly ahead of plan, and recent foreign exchange movements have increased the value in sterling of our overseas earnings."Accordingly, we are increasing our profit guidance for 2016, although it is important to note that our view of the outlook for 2017 is not materially changed, other than adjusting for foreign currency movements."Whilst we expect to see potholes on the way, we are making good progress on the implementation of our strategy, underlined by our growing pipeline of new bids."We have removed some £550m from our operating costs, and at the same time we have been investing in our infrastructure, processes and capability and have recently rolled out significant improvements in our HR, finance and purchasing systems."At 9:51am: (LON:SRP) Serco Group PLC share price was +15.3p at 134pSAGE
Hardboy
04 Aug 2016
Re: Turn around I agree I think Rupert Soames is doing a good job, and the turn round is heading in the right direction, but most of the improvement in figures are down to one offs which won't be repeated, so longer term there was not that much to get excited about. They did say the transition is slightly ahead of plan, which is good; but I didn't think that update merited such a large rise.
charlie51
04 Aug 2016
Turn around Looks to be well under way - Mr Soames is doing a remarkable job. I expect to see upgrades to at least 150p.
II Editor
13 Jun 2016
NEW ARTICLE: Chart of the week: A share to double "There has rarely been a more reviled company in UK corporate history than LSE:SRP:Serco, the massive outsourcing operation. Its tentacles stretch into operating prisons, air-traffic centres, train lines and government defence contracts, asylum ..."[link]
