Databank 7,105.36 L:6,410.26 7,682.27 L:6,866.9 Irish Shares the Week in the Markets the Economy
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10 The Sunday Times June 24, 2018 BUSINESS BRIEFING DEBENHAMS MARKET WATCH IAN COWIE GETTY IMAGES One person’s industrial stock in RPC at £6.72. To put THE ISSUE THE ANALYST effluent is another person’s this in perspective, the same HIGH STREET BLUES WILL HEFFERNAN, CANTOR Sorry, Sir industrial affluence, or so the shares traded hands at £10.32 City cynics say. Rising last September, before green In its third profit warning of this year, The UK sector has had a tough time awareness of pollution — jitters made traders’ screens Debenhams announced that its lately, with many of Debenhams’s David: especially that caused by turn red. full-year profits would be £35m-£40m peers giving similar trading updates. plastic — could prove Packaging of all kinds is in (€40m-€45m). The department store Consumer sentiment and spending profitable for investors in rising demand as a result of chain blamed increased discounting in the UK is weak. The sector has been companies that have practical increased internet retailing. by competitors and “weakness in affected by a shift to more convenient as an solutions to this complex The rough and tumble of key markets”. online shopping, where consumers global problem. delivery often requires even Analysts had been expecting the can get better discounts. Even schoolchildren are more protective wrapping retailer to produce profits of £50m. Digital sales at Debenhams rose by investor, exercised about marine litter than we have grown used to The company’s previous profit 16% in the 15 weeks to June 16 and the these days, following Sir on the high street. Fears about plastic bags, cutlery and straws affecting warnings came in January and April retailer has hired a new head of digital David Attenborough’s After a conversation with marine life have soared, but RPC makes none of them and were driven by a decline in to drive growth initiatives. The plan to wonderful revelations about the veteran fund manager Christmas sales and exceptionally cut costs by £20m a year was on track, I think how this hurts whales and Nigel Thomas, who runs the straws, carrier bags, wet accounting standards poor weather respectively. the company said, and it was “driving other life beneath the waves. £3bn (€3.4bn) AXA wipes, drink stirrers, regulator knocked a further Debenhams said that same store out further cost opportunities”. The A BBC story competition for Framlington UK Select disposable cutlery and cotton 6% off the shares on Tuesday. sales fell 1.7% year-on-year in the 15 retailer expects to have net debt of plastic’s five to 13-year-olds recently Opportunities fund, I began buds, but RPC does not make Thomas claims fears are weeks to June 16, even though the £320m at the end of the financial year. saw the word “plastic” crop to look at packaging any of the above. That’s right: overblown and the presence same time frame last year had been a Debenhams currently trades on up no fewer than 3,359 times, companies last year. it has zero exposure to these of Standard Life, AXA and weak trading period. Management a 2018 estimated price-to-earnings and not in a nice way. Unfortunately, DIY products. BlackRock at the top of RPC’s guidance was for the current ratio of 5.55 times and a dividend fantastic That is why this contrarian investors often do a lot of This sort of boring fact can shareholder register adds conditions to persist in the short term. yield of 7.55%. investor was delighted to see research that does not get overlooked amid moral some reassurance. The retailer’s stock fell 20% on the day a sixth wiped off the share immediately translate into indignation and market Vervaat claimed that he the profit warning was issued. Debenhams price of RPC Group, Europe’s action. After careful hysteria. expects current investment in biggest plastics producer, on consideration, I concluded — Another consideration was greener plastics to increase 35p the same day it reported that rightly, as it turned out — that a chat with Pim Vervaat, RPC’s profits from the £317m THE BOSS it had doubled its profits and RPC looked expensive last RPC’s chief executive, about it achieved in the year to 30 increased revenues by a autumn. I feel the same today how it aims to make more of March by £50m a year by SERGIO BUCHER 25 third. The markdown seemed about its rivals DS Smith and its packaging reusable or 2021. It was also encouraging Sergio Bucher became chief executive particularly harsh, given that Smurfit Kappa, whose shares recyclable. He told me: to learn Claire Pike, the wife of Debenhams in October 2016 and 20 this company also announced trade at prices that are “There could be a really good of RPC chairman Jamie Pike, has been attempting to turn around an increase in its dividend for respectively 21 and 20 times opportunity here because invested £100,000 of her own the ailing business. He is at the halfway 15 the 25th year in a row. their corporate earnings and corporate clients are not money at £6.86 a share. RPC point of a three-year cost-cutting and J F M A M J Expectation that the EU offer dividend yields of 2.8% talking about price any more; traded at £6.61 last week. efficiency programme. Source: Yahoo and British government will and 2.5%. they are talking about I am as keen as the next Before his role at the department ban a wide range of single-use By contrast, RPC is priced sustainability.” sailor on keeping the oceans store chain, Bucher was vice-president Market cap: £211.55m; Share price: plastic products has at just under 11 times earnings True, investing in greener clean. But it seems to me that of Amazon’s fashion business in 17.23p; DPS: £0.013; EPS: £0.031; Top prompted stock market fears and its dividend yield exceeds ways to get food, drink and RPC has been wrongly tarred Europe. He has also held senior roles shareholders: Sports Direct to hit fever pitch and, in my 4.3%. But cheap is not always personal care products into with the polluter’s brush. at Puma, Nike, Inditex, Grupo Cortefiel International, 29.7%; Brandes humble opinion, caused a the same thing as good value. homes has dented RPC’s This company, based in and DuPont. Investment Partners, 12.33%; classic overreaction in Could this €2.7bn company cashflow. Worse still, there Rushden, Northamptonshire, Bucher studied engineering at Landmark Group, 7.55%; Schroders, share prices. be regulated out of existence? are worries about the way might do well by doing good. Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de 6.55%; Odey Asset Management While I can’t always be One reason to believe that this is presented, and Here and now, the first Lausanne in Switzerland. -6.36% (short position) right, I can always be will not happen is that the EU confirmation that RPC is step towards making a profit different; so I bagged some has proposed banning plastic corresponding with the is to buy low. ISEQ FTSE 100 23.07 48.36 0.32% 0.63% H:7,257.41 H:7,903.5 DATABANK 7,105.36 L:6,410.26 7,682.27 L:6,866.9 IRISH SHARES THE WEEK IN THE MARKETS THE ECONOMY ISEQ RISERS DOLLAR Consumer price index current rate annual change Permanent TSB Group: €1.89, U 8.4% EUR > USD 31 Abbey 15.9 +3.92 16 13.6 1.26 9.04 340.9 35 Kenmare Resources (£) 2.25 –1.75 3.52 2.05 0 5.01 246.6 Dalata Hotel Group: €6.89, U 6.5% U0.6% Z0.4% 7,200 Origin Enterprises: €6.30, U 6.2% 4 AIB Group 4.87 +0.49 5.9 4.4 3.61 13.82 13229.9 3 Kerry Group 89.45 –2.45 94.92 73.69 0.81 24.72 15768.5 Residential property price index current rate annual change 7,000 $1.16 41 Aminex 0.03 +0 0.06 0.03 – – 102 6 Kingspan Group 42.38 +4.08 42.6 27.71 1.04 22.03 7621.7 0.00 FALLERS W U0.7% U13% 12-month high: $1.25 44 Amryt Pharma (£) 0.16 +1.55 0.26 0.16 0 – 45 40 Mainstay Medical International 15.2 +0 16.5 12.7 – – 133.3 6,800 Datalex: €2.65, V 7% low: $1.11 Vehicles licensed for the first time May 2018 annual change UDG Healthcare: £8.34, V 5.1% 28 Applegreen 6.42 +2.02 6.68 5.11 0.25 22.26 588.1 32 Malin Corporation 7.15 –2.05 12.71 6.6 – – 325.5 6,600 CRH: €31.14, V 3.7% POUND 13,015 U1.4% 17 Aryzta 14.2 +6.13 33.48 12.23 0.81 16.6 1276.1 33 Mincon Group 1.37 +0.74 1.37 1 1.51 20.32 288.4 EUR > GBP 6,400 Average earnings a week prev. quarter qoq change 7 Bank of Ireland 6.96 +4.43 8.25 6.18 3.2 11 7503.2 25 Origin Enterprises 6.3 +6.24 7.1 4.93 3.33 12.44 791.2 €726 €723 U0.4% 22 C&C Group 3.2 –2.44 3.37 2.58 4.94 10.67 988.3 2017 2018 £0.87 46 Ormonde Mining 0.05 +2.22 0.05 0.02 – – 21.7 Source: Yahoo W 0.00 Unemployment on last month annual change 14 Cairn Homes (£) 1.76 +0 2 0.02 0.99 23.5 1343.6 48 Ovoca Gold 0.1 +0 0.16 0.08 – – 8.2 12-month high: £0.92 low: £0.86 37 CPL Resources 5.78 –2.03 6.75 5.66 2.41 9.74 157.1 139,000/5.8% Z4,100 Z39,200 8 Paddy Power Betfair (£) 83.4 +0.6 91.85 60.27 2.5 20.12 6997.9 DOW JONES CAC 40 1 CRH 31.14 –3.74 33.09 26.53 2.33 15 26104.1 24,580.89 5,387.38 YEN Manufacturing output current rate annual change 23 Permanent TSB Group 1.89 +8.39 2.96 1.64 0 11.7 857.6 114.50 H:5,657.4 YEN > USD 18 Dalata Hotel Group 6.89 +6.49 6.92 4.65 1.54 16.17 1269.7 509.59 H:26,616.7 Z7.3% 9.9% 47 Petroneft Resources (£) 0.01 –1.92 0.02 0.01 0 – 9 2.03% L:21,197.1 2.08% L:4,995.1 Z 36 Datalex 2.65 –7.02 4.1 2.51 1.98 32.71 204.7 Retail sales current rate annual change 42 Providence Resources 0.14 +0.75 0.22 0.05 – – 80.7 ¥109.94 9 DCC (£) 68.6 –0.65 78.08 64.45 2.01 18.26 6127.5 NASDAQ DAX V 0.72 U1.5% U4.8% 2 Ryanair Holdings 16.58 +3.21 19.79 14.21 0 14.25 19173.1 7,692.82 12,579.72 12-month high: ¥114.72 45 Donegal Investment Group 9.05 –1.63 9.3 5.5 1.93 20.22 37.9 low: ¥104.55 Irish trade latest month prev.