# SSM - Service Stream



## pointr (5 May 2008)

Apologies if there is already a thread on this, I did a search.We got our foothold in this company via a takeover of TCI. It does things in the telecommunication industry and is developing a presence in utilities. We have increased our holdings"averaging down". It owes us $1.45. Its ASX releases only look positive to me, yet its price only drifts lower and lower. It's numbers look OK on Commsec's site. Does anyone out there have any views on this one. Is its graph about to make a double bottom or continue its down trend


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## ROE (6 May 2008)

I have TCI (90 cents) way back and merge with SSM and still holding ... I'm thinking of topping up more SSM at this price but the trend doesnt look too good. I wait till it settle then I am in.


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## pointr (6 May 2008)

Hi ROE,
         it still looks good to me, but I've got enough dollars in it at present.perhaps the confession season leading up to the year end may shed some light on the performance of their new businesses and contracts. You would think that telecommunications and utilities would be a growth story.


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## diliff (6 May 2008)

pointr said:


> Hi ROE,
> it still looks good to me, but I've got enough dollars in it at present.perhaps the confession season leading up to the year end may shed some light on the performance of their new businesses and contracts. You would think that telecommunications and utilities would be a growth story.




Yeah, I'm pretty puzzled by the significant drop in SP recently too, as all news seems quite positive. Service Stream seems to be growing considerably at the moment and buying its way into that growth, yet still maintaining a profit. Given the P/E ratio is 14 with this sort of growth, it isn't exactly overpriced I wouldn't think... I've got significant holdings in SSM (at a loss at the moment, obviously!), but I'm looking to top up soon, just waiting to see where the bottom is. Surely it can't be much lower..?


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## diliff (11 May 2008)

diliff said:


> Yeah, I'm pretty puzzled by the significant drop in SP recently too, as all news seems quite positive. Service Stream seems to be growing considerably at the moment and buying its way into that growth, yet still maintaining a profit. Given the P/E ratio is 14 with this sort of growth, it isn't exactly overpriced I wouldn't think... I've got significant holdings in SSM (at a loss at the moment, obviously!), but I'm looking to top up soon, just waiting to see where the bottom is. Surely it can't be much lower..?




Well, this thread sure is hot! 

Anyway, I think we've seen the bottom hit at 1.14 - congrats to anyone who managed to get in there. There was a nice spike of volume (185,000) as it plummeted from 1.18 to 1.14 but it has been otherwise pretty quiet. I jumped in at 1.21 and hopefully we'll see it back around 1.40ish soon... Just my two cents anyway.


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## pointr (11 May 2008)

Well diliff at least we dont need private messaging. When I saw the optus announcement recently of a major mobile upgrade I wondered if any of this work may filter down to SSM. They say fortune favours the brave, maybe fortune may favour the patient as well


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## pointr (15 May 2008)

The last several announcements for SSM show that the directors are buying, I will take this as good news. I haven't read the federal budget in depth but there was talk of further broadband roll out/ infrastructure, so there would have to be more opportunities for SSM to perhaps throw there hat in the ring for some of this work. My


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## ROE (21 May 2008)

Look like the trend has settle and true to my word I load up another 10,000 shares today at $1.28


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## pointr (21 May 2008)

Good on you ROE, I think we all will make a dollar unless there is some bad news not revealed as yet. The dividend dollars are nice but a juicy gain in the price would be sweeter


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## ROE (21 May 2008)

Unless SSM management really stuff up I don't know how they cant make money.

there are only 3 major Telco providers to Telstra, SSM and the others which own by Leighton (VisionStream and Silcar)

SSM also a provider for Optus so there isn't too many player servicing this sectors so profit should be nice and steady between the three of them


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## diliff (16 June 2008)

One word.. ouch. Anyone know why this stock has dived the way it has?

 Looks like a severe lack of interest/volume at the moment. I haven't got any spare cash to play with, but it looks quite undervalued at the moment.


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## pointr (17 June 2008)

Hi Dilif,  I'm a bit underwhelmed myself. I sent an email to the company a week or 2 ago and got a reply from the CFO that he felt it was just general market downturn and that they were well placed to capture business from infrastructure spending. He also said he would pass on my message of concern re the shareprice to the board. I wanted to increase some holdings in small energy companies(most of which we've had for years), so I sold 30% of our SSM holdings to fund these purchases. Time will tell if that was a smart or dumb move


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## pointr (17 June 2008)

Hi again diliff,  a director has bought some more shares, perhaps that should give us some comfort Looking back over last years announcements there was a June update so perhaps the company could be so kind as to do the same again for its investors and the wider market


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## diliff (19 June 2008)

Would have loved to have bought in when I last posted. Isn't it funny how extreme lack of interest is punctuated by extreme buying when you least expect it. Won't be happy til it heads above 1.60 though - the price I originally paid for it. ;-)


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## ROE (22 June 2008)

diliff said:


> Would have loved to have bought in when I last posted. Isn't it funny how extreme lack of interest is punctuated by extreme buying when you least expect it. Won't be happy til it heads above 1.60 though - the price I originally paid for it. ;-)




I bought them at 90 cents, again at 1.50, again at 1.28 and again 1.06 (last week)

keep buying them if it dipped again .

Not many company I was confident about and my buying pattern prove it

and again  when the opportunity arise
20,000 shares and counting


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## diliff (26 June 2008)

ROE said:


> I bought them at 90 cents, again at 1.50, again at 1.28 and again 1.06 (last week)
> 
> keep buying them if it dipped again .
> 
> ...




Well, we've just had another dip... This stock seems to move according to its own set of obscure rules that I'm yet to understand. No correlation to the market at all, as far as I can see!

I noticed on the time and sales that there was a single 3 million share transaction for 1.10 at 11:36am today. Ouch. Wonder who/what that was? It was the single highest day volume in the last 6 months, and about 12 times greater than average. I also wonder how it didn't distort the price more than it did, and why it was below the bid price (bid was 1.105 and ask was 1.16)...


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## diliff (3 July 2008)

Again: Ouch... Why is SSM dropping like it is? 47% drop in 3 months, whereas the All Ordinaries has dropped only 10% in 3 months. I would have thought it would be weathering the downturn better than this.


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## pointr (4 July 2008)

Hi diliff and anyone else out there in SSM land. At last an announcement from the directors confirming previously stated guidance and a positive outlook
And now; is the market and particularly the 'buyers' convinced. I'm tempted to put a few dollars back, oh well off to Comsec


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## pointr (1 August 2008)

Oh well fellow faithful holders back up through $1.00 on a day when the market went south. Hopefully this is the start of some renewed interest in this company leading to some capital gains to go with the nice dividends.


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## diliff (4 August 2008)

pointr said:


> Oh well fellow faithful holders back up through $1.00 on a day when the market went south. Hopefully this is the start of some renewed interest in this company leading to some capital gains to go with the nice dividends.




Certainly hope so. I've been waiting far too long for SSM to head upwards! I did sell about 30% of my stock a week or two ago to cover something else... Bit of a shame, but we'll see if the rise continues, as you said. Results are to be announced in a couple of weeks, and as long as they aren't awful (could they be? I would have thought that it would be business as usual, despite the economic downturn), I'm hoping we see a big increase in share price... 

But then, anyone who knows anything about SSM should already they're relatively insulated from the downturn, surely? If so, why have they dropped so much - significantly MORE than the Aus market has, for that matter?


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## pointr (8 August 2008)

Oh well back below a dollar last time I looked. Last financial year we finished well in the black, easily outperforming the market, but boy have we been hammered in the past 3 weeks, heres to better times ahead including SSM. Of all the recent falls there hasn't been one company with any significant negative announcement,and its all been on fairly low volume. Such is investing! and anyway Friday is usually a bad day


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## diliff (8 August 2008)

pointr said:


> Oh well back below a dollar last time I looked. Last financial year we finished well in the black, easily outperforming the market, but boy have we been hammered in the past 3 weeks, heres to better times ahead including SSM. Of all the recent falls there hasn't been one company with any significant negative announcement,and its all been on fairly low volume. Such is investing! and anyway Friday is usually a bad day




Yeah, there hasn't been a single gain that hasn't been wiped out within a couple of days or a couple of weeks.. SSM is incredibly illiquid at the moment, too, which doesn't help at all.

Just want to see what others think but as I said, surely as long as the SSM results at the end of the month are not negative, this will stir investors up and raise the stock price. It looks very undervalued at the moment to me, considering it is a bigger and hopefully a higher turnover company than a year ago, yet valued at less than half the price it was this time last year! 

I know we're in a downturn, but 50% down while the market is only about 25% down? And SSM is probably less affected by it than most companies given they have pretty steady contracts, too!


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## diliff (27 August 2008)

Well, my sources reveal that the results will be announced tomorrow... With any luck it will jolt the share price up a bit.


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## diliff (28 August 2008)

Well at first glance, the results look reasonably good under the circumstances. Revenue up 82%, net profit up 61%, but earnings per share and dividend pretty much unchanged? I don't understand why that is the case. 

So far, not much in the way of a change in the share price either. What do you think is holding investors back? The share price is almost half of what it was a year ago so even though the dividend does remain unchanged, it represents better value than a year ago.


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## oldblue (28 August 2008)

diliff said:


> Well at first glance, the results look reasonably good under the circumstances. Revenue up 82%, net profit up 61%, but earnings per share and dividend pretty much unchanged? I don't understand why that is the case.
> 
> So far, not much in the way of a change in the share price either. What do you think is holding investors back? The share price is almost half of what it was a year ago so even though the dividend does remain unchanged, it represents better value than a year ago.




EPS similar to last year owing to the $40m equity raised last September. Issued capital is up about 40% on last year. Increased NP largely due to acquisitions, which also accounts for the increased capital of course.
The general tone of the market is probably the main reason for the sluggish SP but I don't see this result as any reason to change that.

Disc: Not holding.


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## oldblue (29 August 2008)

For what it's worth Citi rate SSM as a " Buy- high risk".

Disc: Still not holding but interested.


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## ROE (31 August 2008)

diliff said:


> Yeah, there hasn't been a single gain that hasn't been wiped out within a couple of days or a couple of weeks.. SSM is incredibly illiquid at the moment, too, which doesn't help at all.
> 
> Just want to see what others think but as I said, surely as long as the SSM results at the end of the month are not negative, this will stir investors up and raise the stock price. It looks very undervalued at the moment to me, considering it is a bigger and hopefully a higher turnover company than a year ago, yet valued at less than half the price it was this time last year!
> 
> I know we're in a downturn, but 50% down while the market is only about 25% down? And SSM is probably less affected by it than most companies given they have pretty steady contracts, too!




Care not about the mr Market, if the earning is there the price will catch up at some point in time. 
In bear market people fly to blue chip for safety and leave smaller company at bargain basement price .. you cant find a stock trade on a PE of 6-10 in a bull market but you find plenty of it in a bear market


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## michael_selway (31 August 2008)

ROE said:


> Care not about the mr Market, if the earning is there the price will catch up at some point in time.
> In bear market people fly to blue chip for safety and leave smaller company at bargain basement price .. you cant find a stock trade on a PE of 6-10 in a bull market but you find plenty of it in a bear market




Hi not bad



> Date: 29/8/2008
> Author: Michael Smith
> Source: The Australian Financial Review --- Page: 60
> During the 2008 financial year, the net profit of listed Australian telco,Service Stream, rose 61% to $A18.1 million. CEO, Patrick Flannigan, hasreiterated predictions for EBITDA of $A48 million in the current year. ServiceStream will pay a $A0.075-a-share full-year dividend. The group's sharesclosed at $A0.98 on 28 August 2008




*Earnings and Dividends Forecast (cents per share) 
2008 2009 2010 2011 
EPS 10.4 15.0 15.7 -- 
DPS 7.5 9.7 10.2 -- *

thx

MS


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## ROE (25 September 2008)

one of my most concentrated stock and someone like what they see and makes some queries.

wonder who's looking at SSM and definitely I don't want to sell below $1.50 a share because it upside is too good 

announcement today

"In response to enquiries from interested parties, Service Stream has appointed a corporate adviser to evaluate the interest and conduct a strategic review.
Further information will be provided as and when appropriate."


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## pointr (25 September 2008)

Last year (financial press,can't remember where??) the writer expressed the opinion that SSM would be a target this year for one of the big service / infrastructure companies. Perhaps they were right. From the days of 'shares' magazine I noted that the journo's where often right about 'what', but rarely knew when. Todays release may stop this being the only thread with an echo


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## diliff (26 September 2008)

pointr said:


> Todays release may stop this being the only thread with an echo




Hope so, but wouldn't bet on it.  There isn't much volume in the stock either at the moment. Just 80,000 traded today!


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## Garpal Gumnut (26 September 2008)

diliff said:


> Hope so, but wouldn't bet on it.  There isn't much volume in the stock either at the moment. Just 80,000 traded today!





This stock came up on one of my explorations last night. 

I followed it during the day but wasn't convinced it was going anywhere.

Its website is certainly upbeat.

I'll keep an eye on it.

gg


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## diliff (17 December 2008)

Well this thread has continued to look like a ghost town.. 

In the hope of getting this stirred up a bit: What do you guys think about the impact that Telstra's being denied involvement in the National Broadband program. From what I had read, SSM were riding on the back of Telstra quite heavily and given Telstra's share value drop as a result of the news, I'm surprised SSM didn't react the same way. But then again, I'm really surprised that they haven't weathered this downturn better. I guess everyone is worried about their debt, and the possibility of contracts being cut down the line? Thoughts?


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## bloomy88 (17 January 2009)

Been doing a bit of research on this stock lately.

I think their operations have scope for more growth.

With the SP this low and an attractive yeild i think that SSM could be a good buy.

Good luck to those holding

Cheers


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## diliff (22 January 2009)

bloomy88 said:


> Been doing a bit of research on this stock lately.
> 
> I think their operations have scope for more growth.
> 
> ...




The SP is surprisingly low given it shouldn't be affected by economic issues to the same extent that most other companies are... it has fairly stable contracts with utilities. I'm very surprised it has dropped faster than the All Ords.


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## psychic (19 February 2009)

Profit guidance announcement came out this morning and slammed the share price of SSM.  Appears to have bottomed at 23 cents and is now being bought up very quickly.  Some are spotting a bargain I guess


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## JTLP (19 February 2009)

ROE...you still believe in the potential and future of this company?

I remember you noting you wouldn't sell for less than $1.50 due to the upside...still hold these reservations?

JTLP


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## diliff (19 February 2009)

JTLP said:


> ROE...you still believe in the potential and future of this company?
> 
> I remember you noting you wouldn't sell for less than $1.50 due to the upside...still hold these reservations?
> 
> JTLP




I'm still bewildered by the drop in SP though. It seems like the fundamentals of this company are fairly unchanged and it is still profitable. Can you explain how this profit warning has resulted in the value of the company being effectively halved?

In fact, to me it looks like the fundamentals aren't significantly different to when the price was $2! It has expanded a bit and brought on more debt as a result, but apart from that, what is the issue?


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## Aka (19 February 2009)

Been really punished for surprising the market ( they had opportunity to enlight shareholders at the end of January in the response to the price Query) - market is jittery , people do not like surprises after 2 weeks!


I  think market overreacted today , overall EBITDA very much at the same level like last year ( SP price was about .75) 
Balance sheet looks just the same
Cashflow very likely will not suffer (Divi will still be around 6-7c which makes it attractive even at over 30cents  SP!)

EPS would be similar to last year 9c-11c per share , that is 2.5 times to current SP . 
Claim of 14.6 mln is more of one off thigs then a repeating and was alread brought to accounts! Well if company resolve it , that will be a bonus.

I am buying it


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## JTLP (19 February 2009)

diliff said:


> I'm still bewildered by the drop in SP though. It seems like the fundamentals of this company are fairly unchanged and it is still profitable. Can you explain how this profit warning has resulted in the value of the company being effectively halved?
> 
> In fact, to me it looks like the fundamentals aren't significantly different to when the price was $2! It has expanded a bit and brought on more debt as a result, but apart from that, what is the issue?




Look...I had a quick looksy and you can put it down to a few things:

1) Global Eco Slowdown resulting in slower business...

2) EBITDA only increasing by $800,000 on previous year (although take into account the one off impact of the McCourt Dando)...also remember that EBITDA is used to evaluate a company's profitability...not the FINAL PROFIT FIGURE...

3) SSM can not guarantee that the interim dividend will remain the same as last year...they are merely 'anticipating' that it will be...

4) Difficulties with infrastructure in QLD due to weather etc resulting in cost overruns and delays...

5) This McCourt Dando thing is also becoming a bit of an issue for SSM in terms of legal issues etc...drawing out time and money...

6) Negative Cash Flow of $15 mil (primarily from McCourt Dando)...EBITDA has no bearing on/does not determine or show cash flows...in debt times like NOW people like cash flow positive 

As you can see i've listed 6 reasons why SSM has fallen from its lofty highs...hope that helps

DO NOT HOLD


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## ROE (19 February 2009)

JTLP said:


> ROE...you still believe in the potential and future of this company?
> 
> I remember you noting you wouldn't sell for less than $1.50 due to the upside...still hold these reservations?
> 
> JTLP




Still holding, this announcement I wasn't expecting... a little disappointed and can understand why people hammer it.

oh well let see how thing go, better not have any more nasties  or have to reconsider my holding
How can one division do so much damage hmmm could be crabby management


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## aramis (20 February 2009)

JTLP:

True on all facts. 

However, those facts alone are not enough to bring that stock to the price that it is.  For example: If you poured in $100,000 at .25, you would get 400,000 shares.  

Assuming that they will pay out a dividend the same as prior year, that is equal to $14,000 in pure dividend money. 

Anyone who doesnt buy this stock at this level is plain stupid.  The stock has clearly bottomed and after 27 February 2009 (which is when they will announce dividend etc), it will probably be closer to at least 35 or 40 cents ps. 

By the time record date will come, closer to 60 cents per share. 

 

Pure speculation, yes.  But, the fact is that if they do go ahead with the dividend, people will be rushing for it.  AND, I suspect that the Board wanted to let the market know NOT to hammer the stock by letting them know that the dividend is anticipated to be the same... Otherwise, they certainly would not have stated that and most certainly not in BOLD.


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## prawn_86 (20 February 2009)

Aramis,

Your challenge is to find me one small cap stock that has maintained its dividend. Most are cutting them, even if their earnings are good, citing a need to 'preserve cash for future opportunities'.

I dont know SSM, but i would be very surprised if they didnt cut their div at least a little


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## aramis (20 February 2009)

Prawn, we'll see on 27 February 2009.                                                                                                                                                               

Cheers


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## JTLP (20 February 2009)

aramis said:


> JTLP:
> 
> True on all facts.
> 
> ...




Unfortunately Aramis...the facts speak for themselves...the price is where it is.

And I actually do believe that they are sufficient enough to result in SSM's fall. EBITDA increasing by only $800,000k? It equates to roughly an increase of 3.5%? And that (as mentioned earlier) is not the final profit figure...investors could get better returns on Term Deposits.

Cost overruns and delays on projects? It means less income and more expenditure...seems another valid reason to sell down...

Legal proceedings longer than anticipated...and very costly? Again...another reason to sell down...who want's a company blowing your hand earned cash on costly proceedings?

Anticipate Dividend...Just remember that CEO's etc are glorified sales people . If they came out and said "divvie will be lower" straight off the bat...coupled with that report...SSM would have rivalled the Titanic. "Anticipating" that the divvie will hold are some very choice words by management...they are not CONFIRMED so people DO NOT LIKE this. They sell...possibly due to the reduction on Divvie's not giving more than a SECURED BY GOVERNMENT BANK DEPOSIT

Global Eco Slowdown...welll duhh  

Sorry if I come across rude...just pointing out some justification...


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## Aka (20 February 2009)

Well, as somebody already mentioned we have a week to wait.

I bought at .26  per share because:

1. Even if they pay divi of .05 (that is close to 30% reduction from 2008) that is .05/0.26  about 20% return.
2. Look at this other way even if they pay half or do not pay this year at all it is still good.
3. Cashflow will be strong in the second half and been impacted only due to hopefully non recurrent event.
4. they have contracts with mostly with gov. enterprises and revenue itself is not effected but rather due to one off effect Operating Profit 
5. MOst of the cost is employee related/contractors - that is not really fixed and could be controlled with some managment skills
6. Critical element here is end of this month , here i really hope they will be very close to their announcment and would not repeat mistake (of surprising market) as they did withing 4weeks in January/Feb announcments.


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## Aka (22 February 2009)

Questions:


1.Which other companies (small&large cap) would be paying didvi of 30%?
2. Which othr companies would have PE ratio of maxmimu of 2?
3. Which companies have both ( one and two above)?

Wich companies do you know?


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## aramis (23 February 2009)

The stock is up 10% at the moment.

I think generally speaking, that after a stock has plummeted so heavily, people are cautious to get back into because you cant ever really tell when a stock has bottomed.

That is possibly why this has not picked up dramatically as it should be (only 10%?). 

However, I think the market will be much more upbeat once the divvy is declared, in which case, you probably wont be buying at this price.


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## Aka (23 February 2009)

Small cap large cap - does it matter? sure by some, that is what  Warren Buffett thinks about it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwdoyw74_tA&feature=related

with SSM i like price very much and i like the fact that they are in the service industry plus i like (not fact yet but we will see in 4 days) they pay Dividents where yeld is close to 30% to current SP.

Well i bought today some at .25 . Honestly if it goes down i buy more ( imagine SP being 18c per share - well i buy more and get it back in dividents in 2 years +) as long as company is around and they will be around(they occupy niche market , with conrollable cost)!


There is some element of speculation but at the current price with Prifit  level similar to last year and with divies similar to last year it is a true bargain.

My guess they SP will be around .29-.33 after divi announced this week! 
With confidence returning it will move slowly up then...

Well at least i do not keep my $ in the bank at 4-5 % ! and i have some fun to hunt for good stock.

Happy hunting


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## ozambersand (23 February 2009)

Last night (Sunday 22nd) when I looked at Commsec trading seemed to be halted pending an "inquiry" however, I can't see any reference to that today.

Does anyone know what went on?

I don't think this referred to the ASX price query that was done a week or so ago.


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## JTLP (23 February 2009)

ozambersand said:


> Last night (Sunday 22nd) when I looked at Commsec trading seemed to be halted pending an "inquiry" however, I can't see any reference to that today.
> 
> Does anyone know what went on?
> 
> I don't think this referred to the ASX price query that was done a week or so ago.




Pretty sure all stocks are in "Inquiry" mode over the weekend cause no trades can be made...

Aka...here is some food for though 

I have not looked into SSM and the market they occupy...so I will take your word as good faith and believe they are in a Niche market with controllable costs. 

BUT

When somebody is in a Niche market, other sharks start to swim around the fish. Would you leave the burger Empire to McDonald's? No...you build Hungry Jack's...same principles across all facets of business...when there is Niche things are rosy...but if another player starts to move in...things become a bit hazy...

SSM may have prime mover advantage...but if another company steps foot into their territory...you can see history for yourself


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## ojm (24 February 2009)

Considering purchasing some. Looking tempting at 25c each. Dividend could be good. Bad idea, good idea?


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## Aka (24 February 2009)

good expample of Kinetic Investment (melbourne based) sold off about 2mil of shares . That what has effected price so much. 

They want to reallocate funds for the reason only they know.(investors asking $ back and so on)
I am holding and buying  more, being small investor who can catch opportunities like this will be well ahead.


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## aramis (24 February 2009)

I am honestly feeling glad that I seen this when I did... 

I actually think this stock will rise back to $1 plus within a year or two.  Their shareprice is clearly just a reaction to uncertainty generally in the market and general panic. 

FTR: I bought in at .28, .275 and .245

I will definitely be holding for at least a few months because as you pointed out Aka, this stock will likely go hard once divy declared and then slowly keep rising as more contracts etc are announced.


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## Aka (24 February 2009)

Does not move... , just intresting to watch the dinemics 
First due to some fund request(possibly) big shareholder sold off small cap stock , some panicked and sold as well. Other got generally scared by macro news.

Now is is stable even a few is bleeding.

Intresting to watch some big cap stock effect of "update of profit forecast"  profit forecasted 45-50% pee cent lower yet stock only decreased by 10-12%

but SSM it was opposite.


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## honey85 (24 February 2009)

Bought some today at 0.24. I am quite skeptical whether they will maintain their div or not. I couldnt imagine the SP if they announce to maintain the div. Was there any similar thing happened in the past before? Like maintaining a div of about 15-20% after a big fall?


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## nomore4s (24 February 2009)

honey85 said:


> Bought some today at 0.24. I am quite skeptical whether they will maintain their div or not. I couldnt imagine the SP if they announce to maintain the div. Was there any similar thing happened in the past before? Like maintaining a div of about 15-20% after a big fall?




honey85, the d/e has nothing to do with the share price only the companies earnings, the sp could fall by another 50% and not affect the d/e, but usually there is a reason why the sp drops so much and this is normally what affects the d/e.

Going off the last release earnings _should_ be good enough to maintain the current d/e  (for this reporting period), if they don't it will mean that the earnings are below the profit guidance released last week and the sp will be punished accordingly imo.


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## honey85 (24 February 2009)

nomore4s said:


> honey85, the d/e has nothing to do with the share price only the companies earnings, the sp could fall by another 50% and not affect the d/e, but usually there is a reason why the sp drops so much and this is normally what affects the d/e.
> 
> Going off the last release earnings _should_ be good enough to maintain the current d/e  (for this reporting period), if they don't it will mean that the earnings are below the profit guidance released last week and the sp will be punished accordingly imo.




Thanks for enlightening me a bit. If they were to maintain their div, everyone will be rushing for a stake!: we shall see...

honey85
newbie


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## aramis (25 February 2009)

Honey85: Thats right.  At the moment, people are a bit scared because the dividend has not been formally declared and therefore, there is a possibility that it may be reduced etc.

However, once it does get declared, the SP most certainly wont be opening at .25

Only a few days to go... 

It should be interesting to see what the SP does open at and head to after the dividend is declared.  My guess is still around .35-.4 simply because that is a great return.


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## nomore4s (25 February 2009)

aramis said:


> Honey85: Thats right.  At the moment, people are a bit scared because the dividend has not been formally declared and therefore, there is a possibility that it may be reduced etc.
> 
> However, once it does get declared, the SP most certainly wont be opening at .25
> 
> ...




While I have been buying at these levels (small parcels) and would obviously like to see the sp increase, I think the market sentiment is very low for small cap stocks that are having earnings drop off. The market is pricing in a lot more risk for stocks like this even though the current yields are quite high, I think the market believes that companies like this will not be able to maintain the d/e in the longer term.

You need to also remember there are going to be alot of people who are holding from higher prices trying to get out on any bounce from these prices.

I think we will see some sort of bounce higher if the interim d/e is maintained but then we could see prices drift lower (back to 25c) after the ex d/e date. I personally will be happy to hold this stock for the long term from these levels provided it can maintain at least a 15-20% yield.


----------



## aramis (25 February 2009)

I would be happy with that as well nomore4s (i.e. holding if the yield is 15-20%). 

Further, I think that the SP will bounce back perhaps after the dividend is declared and then slowly stabalise and start heading back up simply because this is not a stock that is under any serious threat.  

As was pointed out, they do operate in a niche market and further, it is likely that they will be making a profit (albeit, similar to previous years) going forward as opposed to companies that are going into the red.

I agree that there will be people who will want out once they get the dividend but having said that, for the points mentioned above, I think over the long term, this will trend back upwards.


----------



## nomore4s (25 February 2009)

aramis said:


> I agree that there will be people who will want out once they get the dividend but having said that, for the points mentioned above, I think over the long term, this will trend back upwards.




No argument there from me, long term I think it could be a good buy especially if the yield is around 15-20% but DYOR. The market will provide some good buys in an environment like this, just don't commit too much capital yet and manage your risks as the overall market trend is still firmly down.


----------



## honey85 (25 February 2009)

Yeah, SP seems stagnant at the moment. Will be keeping an eye on the volume tomorrow to see if there is any indication from the market ahead of Friday's announcement. I am so excited!:


----------



## aramis (25 February 2009)

It is getting exciting... I wonder how the SP will be tomorrow given that the announcement is on Friday. 

There appears to be some strong support at the .245 level now, which may indicate that the floor has been set. 

IMO, I think we'll be looking at .35 open on friday if it is a 3.5c divvy.


----------



## honey85 (25 February 2009)

Quite decent buying up at 0.245 at close today (20% of total volume). My jaw will drop if it opens above 0.3 on Friday Hopefully there is no more skeleton in the closet *PRAY*


----------



## Aka (25 February 2009)

Hi to all,

Looks like  some stock is wanted at .245. Revenue has not been effected from 2008 levels. 
I just wanted to confirm that ex.div date is 27th of Feb? 

That how i read it, is it right?


----------



## honey85 (25 February 2009)

Aka said:


> Hi to all,
> 
> Looks like  some stock is wanted at .245. Revenue has not been effected from 2008 levels.
> I just wanted to confirm that ex.div date is 27th of Feb?
> ...




I thought they are announcing their div on 27th but the ex div date is still unknown? Anyone has more info? 

One question that I am curious. What's the lowest amount of div that you all can accept and will continue to buy the stock (or at least not sell)?

honey85
newbie


----------



## aramis (25 February 2009)

The company is reporting its half year results on Friday and will declare a dividend then (unknown what it will be but anticipated to be 3.5c ps based on last announcement).

The annual report will declare a record date, and the stock will go ex-div 3 days before the record date (4th day before record date is the last day someone can purchase and get on the system by record date as owning the share).  -someone can correct me if any of that is incorrect.

Honey: I honestly am holding this stock until I make a decent profit simply because regardless of what they declare, the stock has clearly been oversold and it will either go up quickly or slowly, but IMO, it will go up. 

Having said that, there certainly will be people who are buying either purely to get the divvy, or who want to make a quick buck once the dividend is declared on friday.   IMO, the latter people will miss out on what could have and should have been because i think the stock price will continue to go up. 

Anyhow, do your own research obviously and as long as you are happy with your decision and you are making a profit, then good luck to you.


----------



## potm (25 February 2009)

prawn_86 said:


> Aramis,
> 
> Your challenge is to find me one small cap stock that has maintained its dividend. Most are cutting them, even if their earnings are good, citing a need to 'preserve cash for future opportunities'.
> 
> I dont know SSM, but i would be very surprised if they didnt cut their div at least a little




I seriously think what he said makes sense. I think Mr Aramis is slightly too optimistic with what was being said in the report. Looking at few reports lately, many small cap companies cut their div entirely. Of course I do hope SSM does maintain their div but I think its a slight chance


----------



## potm (26 February 2009)

Anyone following this stock today? Sudden surge in SP with decent volumes supporting it. Announcement of div is due tomorrow. What does that indicate? Opinion anyone?


----------



## nomore4s (26 February 2009)

potm said:


> Anyone following this stock today? Sudden surge in SP with decent volumes supporting it. Announcement of div is due tomorrow. What does that indicate? Opinion anyone?




It indicates that people are willing to take a gamble that tomorrows release is going to be positive. Can't read too much into it imo. If the d/e does remain uncut tomorrow I think we could see a premium put on the price by the sellers but then again.......


----------



## honey85 (26 February 2009)

An announcement just been made. What does change in director's interest mean? Is this the reason why the volume has picked up substantially?


----------



## BMTT88 (26 February 2009)

Maybe if you opened the announcement and read it you would've found out that 2 directors bought shares on market yesterday.  Dubious timing though given that half year results due out tommorow.  I guess they laugh in the face of ASIC.


----------



## aramis (26 February 2009)

Honey85: It means directors are purchasing this stock.  Why would directors by the stock if they are not confident about the company and its SP? 



Watch this stock tomorrow morning once announcement is made... I think we will be around at least .35 to .4 opening...


----------



## Aka (26 February 2009)

well good to see SP rising and smile on some shareholder's  face.

I sold 50% of my holding today with a good gain, just because i think some of "tomorrow's news " came  already today with todays announcment of directors purchase.

Intrested to see what will happen tmrw. Still believe will be around .29 to .33

Happy hunting


----------



## ndpjai (28 February 2009)

Aka said:


> well good to see SP rising and smile on some shareholder's  face.
> 
> I sold 50% of my holding today with a good gain, just because i think some of "tomorrow's news " came  already today with todays announcment of directors purchase.
> 
> ...




Fantastic ann and very good divi of around 26% (3.5c now interim + 4c final) full year.

Which bank gives that yield? Also they are doing lot of maintenance works for Sydney water, utilities, telecom industry. The price will rise towards the dividend date for sure.

I hold.  Pls DYOR.

Cheers


----------



## ROE (28 February 2009)

off load some of my NVT and DMP which has done well in the last 18 months and load up on this baby again..could be a bad move but I figure this guys has more upside in the next couple years at this price 

good to see director loading it up too at this low price


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## ndpjai (17 March 2009)

Guys had a chance to read this info in SMH now.

http://business.smh.com.au/business/shareholders-hang-up-on-telstra-20090317-90m8.html

SSM has a very good working relationship with yes-optus, so imo i think the preferred bidder for the broadband project would be Optus, because Telstra didn't bid.

If optus is the preferred bidder, then who does the broadband fiber optic cabling, all the associated services, yes it should be Service stream.

This is several billion dollars project for optus, means SSM should atleast make several millions easily. So keep this beauty till the announcement comes, u know buy in rumours and sell in facts. Pls dyor.

Cheers


----------



## pointr (17 March 2009)

Good to see there is still some faith in SSM. you would have to think they are inline for some broadband roll-out work whoever is the preferred tender. Another company who should also benefit is AJL who have the Australian rights to a trenchless cable installation technology very applicable to broadband infrastrucure.


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## nomore4s (1 April 2009)

Good couple of days for SSM, especially today. Bit of a sell off after going ex D/E which was to be expected but nice rebound in the last few days.

Might be a triangle forming now, no matter it's a base. Have a look at the volume since hitting the low.
I would like to see a bit more of a base before hopefully seeing a break through 40c but with the amount of volume already traded in this range there already might be enough work done - alot of shares have already traded hands, it appears someone sees value here.

I hold.


----------



## pointr (1 April 2009)

Thanks for your TA view 'nomore4s'. Next week if the communications minister is to be believed (When Kevin707 comes home) an announcement will be made on the broadband network. So hopefully there will be some fundamentals to support your technical view.


----------



## nomore4s (6 April 2009)

Well, it broke through 40c quicker then I thought it would. Up over 10% atm, hope it can hold on to most of the gains and close above 40c. 

Would like to see some consolidation above 40c now before moving higher.


----------



## nomore4s (7 April 2009)

lol well so much for so consolidation above 40c before moving higher.

The internet was down in the NT for most of the morning and I got a bit of a shock when I finally logged and saw SSM @ 60c - has come off a bit now but hopefully it can hold above 50c now.

Jump might be due to an annoucement on McCourt Dando.

EDIT: Sellers moving in now back down to 53c


----------



## craigj (8 July 2009)

what a disgrace!

no announcements for ages - 3 months ago with positive contract wins

then today 
contracts being pushed back
profit reduction 
ceo going
no dividend

how can a company be quiet like this for 3 months and then reveal all this in one hit ?


----------



## ajalee (10 July 2009)

Have been watching this for awhile.. It seems we have been kept in the dark a little 
Still, seems like there is very good upside especially at 30c entry point.. There P/e of 3.6 seems to be one of the lowest around at the moment for a quality company


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## urgalzmine (10 July 2009)

ajalee said:


> Have been watching this for awhile.. It seems we have been kept in the dark a little
> Still, seems like there is very good upside especially at 30c entry point.. There P/e of 3.6 seems to be one of the lowest around at the moment for a quality company




Umm, you may want to look how much cash they have compared to debt 

Mr Market has punished stock with large debt that may not be able to be serviced


----------



## prawn_86 (28 August 2009)

I picked these guys up a while ago when the CEO resigned and the price dropped. I got them for 31c.

Their results came out last night. Revenue up, NPAT down (due to McCourt Dando). Still had EPS of 6c per share, which puts PE at 6.5. 

If you look at it from a project perspective, buying a share now would have a paypack period of 6 years based on no growth assumption of current cash flows. Or if they can get EPS back to where it was last yr its a 4 year payback period. Not bad...


----------



## prawn_86 (31 August 2009)

Up about 15% today. market seemed to miss their results, but now liked their presentation.

Good to see they have some big name companies as clients. All seems to be on track. Hoping for a div again next yr


----------



## Jay-684 (1 September 2009)

prawn_86 said:


> Up about 15% today. market seemed to miss their results, but now liked their presentation.
> 
> Good to see they have some big name companies as clients. All seems to be on track. Hoping for a div again next yr




Part of the rise could also be due to David Hazelhurst aka The Speculator listing it as a buy in his column in Money (which I received in the mail yesterday).

Alot of the stocks he selects (HGO, ASL, BCI etc) all jump 5%+ the day the magazine comes out


----------



## prawn_86 (1 September 2009)

Jay-684 said:


> Part of the rise could also be due to David Hazelhurst aka The Speculator listing it as a buy in his column in Money (which I received in the mail yesterday).




Ahh ok i wasn't aware of that. Is the article available online? Or if not can you provide a little summary?

Thanks

Prawn


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## prawn_86 (1 September 2009)

Up nicely again today.

From a technical perspective, 50c represents long term resistance. If it can break and hold above that convincingly then there is litte resistance up to around 70c.

Im at 'work' so cant post a chart


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## Jay-684 (1 September 2009)

prawn_86 said:


> Ahh ok i wasn't aware of that. Is the article available online? Or if not can you provide a little summary?
> 
> Thanks
> 
> Prawn




Not available online, but I have the mag in my car. Very promising article - I'll put a short summary up tomorrow.

I dont own currently but am thinking of possibly entering if it dips back down to 45-47c over the coming days (also have a small buy order in at 49c just incase it rallys from here!)


----------



## prawn_86 (2 September 2009)

Any luck on the summary Jay?

Today is looking very promising on an overall down day. If it can hold above 50c it will be a good sign imo.


----------



## Jay-684 (2 September 2009)

Sorry Prawn, its still sitting in my car! Will try and remember to bring it in to work tomorrow.

Picked up a parcel yesterday at 0.49 and this morning at 0.47. Only a small holding currently but will likely buy more on any weakness if it dips below 50c again. Always good to make a gain of 10%+ on day one though!

Would be interested to see some technical analysis on this stock, from my newb perspective resistance seemed to have been around the 50c mark, next resistance at 70c...

DYOR


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## Jay-684 (3 September 2009)

No announcement, but again up 6%+ today thus far on reasonable volume (early days yet - 10:33am)

Buyers greatly outweighing sellers (5.3m vs 700k).

Would still be very interested to hear thoughts on next resistance from a T/A point of view - I'm still thinking 70c

Prawn - mate I forgot the mag again....  if you pass a newsagent in the meantime, its about 10 pages from the back of the latest money magazine!


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## nomore4s (3 September 2009)

Jay-684 said:


> No announcement, but again up 6%+ today thus far on reasonable volume (early days yet - 10:33am)
> 
> Buyers greatly outweighing sellers (5.3m vs 700k).
> 
> ...




There is actually some resistance @ 60c and then probably the next major resistance is around 80c.

I would like to see some consolidation around 60c - either above or below before moving any higher but we will have to wait and see how it pans out. Unfortunatly I can't post a chart atm.


----------



## prawn_86 (3 September 2009)

nomore4s said:


> I would like to see some consolidation around 60c - either above or below before moving any higher but we will have to wait and see how it pans out. Unfortunatly I can't post a chart atm.




Preferabbly above for me, then i can take my original capital off with 100% profit and free carry the rest 

In 'theory' if they can lift their EPS even just to 8c next year 80c would put them on a PE of 10, which is around the mark if you ask me. So on current earning 60c would be PE of 10.


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## pointr (14 September 2009)

So today SSM announced a renounceable rights issue on a 11 for every 25 you hold basis, priced at $0.38 a theoretical 25% discount to the companies price taking the dilution created by this issue into account. The timetable was pretty brisk and the proceeds were going to be used to retire debt, there was also a mention of 'new opportunities', but nothing specific. Any views on this offer out there in ASF land.


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## prawn_86 (14 September 2009)

Still undecided myself on the offer. Have been trying to get my head around it today. It is quite a large dilution, but paying down debt is seen as a good thing these days.

Not sure if i will take up my offer or just sell my rights...


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## oldblue (14 September 2009)

We seem to be seeing a spate of issues for unspecified "new opportunities" and to reduce borrowings meanwhile.

It's pretty clear that most of these are companies taking the opportunity to raise funds while market conditions are favourable, striking while the iron is hot, so to speak!


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## prawn_86 (16 September 2009)

I have to say i prefer a rights issue over a placement, as it prevents people selling down and then taking up the entitlement with the money from what they have sold (if that makes sense). 

The other thing is that being fully underwritten with no take-up Austock would end up with 30% of the co. So is it possible Austock will be looking at purchasing a lot of rights on market then going for a take-over? Pure speculation on my part, but may be possible...

The rights start trading today and finish at close of market on the 6th of Oct.

Rights code is SSMR for those interested. Wonder what they will open at...


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## skc (16 September 2009)

prawn_86 said:


> I have to say i prefer a rights issue over a placement, as it prevents people selling down and then taking up the entitlement with the money from what they have sold (if that makes sense).
> 
> The other thing is that being fully underwritten with no take-up Austock would end up with 30% of the co. So is it possible Austock will be looking at purchasing a lot of rights on market then going for a take-over? Pure speculation on my part, but may be possible...
> 
> ...




Austock is a securities company so unlikely they will take over an engineering firm...

The depth for the rights are pretty thin at the moment. Bid $0.1, Ask $0.18, Volume trade = 0.


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## craigj (16 September 2009)

with the rights issue is there a formula that the price of the shares drops and a calculation for the price of the rights

does the charts for ssm all change by a certain percentage like they did for rio


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## skc (16 September 2009)

craigj said:


> with the rights issue is there a formula that the price of the shares drops and a calculation for the price of the rights
> 
> does the charts for ssm all change by a certain percentage like they did for rio




http://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/theoreticalexrightsprice.asp

Not sure how charts get adjusted if at all. I guess it depends on the specific chart / data provider.


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## diliff (26 September 2009)

Right, I thought I vaguely understood the mechanisms of the rights issue but now I'll come clean. The whole thing is confusing me. I understand that a rights issue essentially dilutes the value of existing shares by increasing the total number of shares issued and gives existing holders the right to buy into those additional shares (correct me if I'm wrong)... 

But what I don't understand is the new SSMR shares. Are they the actual additional shares? If so, why are they so cheap (currently at 8 cents) when SSM is still worth 50 cents, why have they dropped 46% in the last 5 days, and why does my porfolio say that I now own them, when I haven't agreed to participate in the rights issue nor have I traded them? Also, what happens if I don't choose to participate in the rights issue? Do I then just lose the value of the stock through dilution and that is that?

I think I need (if someone is prepared to help) a proper explanation of the rights issue in the context of SSM specifically, rather than a theoretical explanation of what one is (I read the investopedia article, but it hasn't actually aided my understanding of what is going on with SSM.


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## ROE (26 September 2009)

diliff said:


> Right, I thought I vaguely understood the mechanisms of the rights issue but now I'll come clean. The whole thing is confusing me. I understand that a rights issue essentially dilutes the value of existing shares by increasing the total number of shares issued and gives existing holders the right to buy into those additional shares (correct me if I'm wrong)...
> 
> But what I don't understand is the new SSMR shares. Are they the actual additional shares? If so, why are they so cheap (currently at 8 cents) when SSM is still worth 50 cents, why have they dropped 46% in the last 5 days, and why does my porfolio say that I now own them, when I haven't agreed to participate in the rights issue nor have I traded them? Also, what happens if I don't choose to participate in the rights issue? Do I then just lose the value of the stock through dilution and that is that?
> 
> I think I need (if someone is prepared to help) a proper explanation of the rights issue in the context of SSM specifically, rather than a theoretical explanation of what one is (I read the investopedia article, but it hasn't actually aided my understanding of what is going on with SSM.




You are only diluted if you are not participating in the right issues.

SSMR give you the option to sell your rights, so if you dont want to participate or dont have the cash, you sell those rights to someone else to purchase additional shares at 38 cents.
it's not the actual shares it the right to buy more shares at 38 cents

if you intend not to participate SELL it you get money for nothing.

Look at your CHESS holding, you should have a symbol called SSMR and it tell you how many shares you entitle to right issues...you can sell all that at whatever the market price and cash in
if you short of cash...you still retain full share ownership in ssm

SSM doing a good job with this right issue, not like some other company
where they dont care about minor share holders...

hope that help.


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## Jay-684 (14 October 2009)

SSM have seen a bit of a fall in recent weeks since the rights issue was announced. As at 11 September SSM stated that based on the closing price that day (56.5c) the theoretical ex-rights price was ~51c. 

Given the SP is currently sitting at 47c, I'm thinking the price come October 22nd will be around 44c, still a healthy premium to the 38cps paid.

Anyone care to comment on wether they took up the rights offer? I personally took up the full amount.


----------



## melbournedee (14 October 2009)

Jay,

I took up my full entitlement as well. The current market price should already include the dilution impact of the rights issue, so shouldn't drop by a further 10%. Having said that, there will me some profit takers willing to sell their shares bought at 38 cents when these are finally issued so price could slump for a while.


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## copashark (3 June 2010)

Service stream had been neglected here and on the asx, hitting new lows recently. My view is that this is the impact of a lack of progress on the national broadband network which SSM would have been well positioned for. Recent announcements of renewed and expanded contracts with telstra are positive. Has anyone done some analysis of this stock recently. Are there any holders on this forum?


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## copashark (20 June 2010)

i'm expecting the NBN deal the govt has struck with TLS will now give SSM the significant boost that ive been waiting a couple of weeks for. The SP is currently close to its recent lows, tomorrow will be very interesting.


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## copashark (21 June 2010)

Is anyone following this stock now? The sp increased by 14.3% today. The price recently spiked on two occasions on speculation of the NBN. Now it is game on, and SSM is in a prime position to expand its contracts with telstra. 
SSM is the main provider of field service to the telco sector from construction, installs and maintenence. Im expecting this stock to find a higher base than what it sits on to date, and in the medium term future contracts should provide some surges in sp.  dyor


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## prawn_86 (21 June 2010)

I hold and am waiting for them to start paying a dividend again. Am still slightly down on my investment but happy with it overall, although should have implemented a trailling stop when i first bought


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## prawn_86 (13 September 2010)

prawn_86 said:


> I hold and am waiting for them to start paying a dividend again. Am still slightly down on my investment but happy with it overall, although should have implemented a trailling stop when i first bought




For the last 3 months they have been trading between 25 - 30c, and now in the last 2 trading days have increased to 39c. Anyone have any ideas as to what is going on?


----------



## ROE (13 September 2010)

prawn_86 said:


> For the last 3 months they have been trading between 25 - 30c, and now in the last 2 trading days have increased to 39c. Anyone have any ideas as to what is going on?




Labor wins .. NBN imminent  

SSM has an arm in Fibre and we expect it to grab a bit of work out of NBN

plus smart meters and stuff could be get a boost once NBN is in place.... and SSM has a fat hand in
smart meters


----------



## prawn_86 (13 September 2010)

ROE said:


> Labor wins .. NBN imminent
> 
> SSM has an arm in Fibre and we expect it to grab a bit of work out of NBN
> 
> ...




It just seem strange that a 30% rise can be put down to labour winning. And its not as though it rose straght away, it took a week for the market to realise.

It seems as though somehting else is going on imo


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## ROE (13 September 2010)

prawn_86 said:


> It just seem strange that a 30% rise can be put down to labour winning. And its not as though it rose straght away, it took a week for the market to realise.
> 
> It seems as though somehting else is going on imo




Take a bit of time for the market to digest what this business has 
some people wouldn't know about SSM at all

so a labor win and NBN deal with the independent probably make them go out and look for company that has this exposure and SSM probably some where on the shopping then they poke and look and they see

Thorney increase their stake recently and that got to be a a vote of confident.

Thorney doesnt invest until he talk to the management and want to know what in the pipe line 

and when he double up you know what's coming and I double up pretty much the day I see Thorney double up


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## copashark (13 September 2010)

It took the market some time but it has grabbed some attention now... i could not resist, and im out.


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## prawn_86 (14 September 2010)

Down 4% today on the back on a 'we know nothing' response to a speeding ticket.

Healthy little pullback imo. Will be interesting to see how things play out from here.


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## JiggyJigs (30 September 2010)

Broke through resistance today on good volume.  Trend looks good with next strong resistance at 50c IMO.

Fundamentally I have an intrinsic value of just over 50c so thats my current target, but that value doesn't really include any NBN upside.  I wrote a blog on this company a few weeks back and am happy to see the shareprice appreciating the way it is.  Still quite a way to go IMO.

Always DYOR and seek professional advice.


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## prawn_86 (2 November 2010)

Nothing on this for the last few days. Broke through Jiggys 50c resistance and also news out regarding installing more smart meters in VIC and renewed WA contracts.

New Chairman et al also put in place so looks to be moving forward again.


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## bryos (8 November 2010)

good volumes this morning breaking through the 52week high, SSM looks have a very upwards trend since sept


----------



## ROE (24 January 2011)

half yearly result out after market close .. look like another turn around dog on the move zoom zoom tomorrow


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## ROE (18 February 2011)

This is another turn around dog of the year 

They force to bring result out early by 2 days

I think someone seen something in the report and look at the buying spree and volume last few days so they have to release the report early else get ASX ticket

next week will be very interesting .....


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## Ves (3 January 2013)

ROE - are you still following this stock?  I notice a lot has gone on in the last 18 months (ie. loss of the Telstra fixed infrastructure contract) but they also seem to have picked up some NBN work as remediation.  Interesting to see how the timing of this all plays out and what effect on cash flow will be in the medium term.

Thoughts?


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## prawn_86 (22 March 2013)

wow these guys have been absolutely hammered this week due to NBN contract losses etc. From 38c down to 22c.

Anyone here looking at these values?


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## ROE (22 March 2013)

Ves said:


> ROE - are you still following this stock?  I notice a lot has gone on in the last 18 months (ie. loss of the Telstra fixed infrastructure contract) but they also seem to have picked up some NBN work as remediation.  Interesting to see how the timing of this all plays out and what effect on cash flow will be in the medium term.
> 
> Thoughts?




woops a bit late but no I haven't been following it for more than 2 years ...I used to made a few profitable trade out of it but I found this business is too risky to trade and decided no go zone...

it is a tough business as I dig deeper, they have many many independent contractors working for them 
and I reckon it is a night mare to control these lot because the margin is too low....and these contractors just
take the next best price ...so they come and go and if SSM doesn't offer decent work they wont take it up...

that combine with not many people has fibre skills it add to trouble so I decided to exit....
the delay of NBN roll out and NT pull our pretty much confirmed my research....so good I got out 

this is my last entry

buy 30/04/2010  at 30.05 
sold 8/03/2011   at 64.5

I do exit stock if I discovered information doesn't stack up against my initial criteria after I buy them...Phil Fisher style  when to sell...


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## Ves (22 March 2013)

Thanks for the reply - from memory I came to a similar conclusion when I finished looking at it.


ROE said:


> I do exit stock if I discovered information doesn't stack up against my initial criteria after I buy them...Phil Fisher style  when to sell...




I agree - you definitely should sell if this happens, if not you are trading on hope, not for realisation of value.


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## Klogg (13 August 2014)

Not sure if anyone has looked at the most recent report, but it seems the woes of Syntheo JV are behind them.

The company was diluted a fair bit, with Waislitz/Thorney now owning ~29% of the company. That said, it is trading at 4* cash flow, with some macroeconomic tailwinds and a fairly strong balance sheet.

Need to scrutinize the last set of financials a little further before adding to my position, but at face value, this matches my base case.


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## KnowThePast (16 August 2014)

Klogg said:


> Not sure if anyone has looked at the most recent report, but it seems the woes of Syntheo JV are behind them.
> 
> The company was diluted a fair bit, with Waislitz/Thorney now owning ~29% of the company. That said, it is trading at 4* cash flow, with some macroeconomic tailwinds and a fairly strong balance sheet.
> 
> Need to scrutinize the last set of financials a little further before adding to my position, but at face value, this matches my base case.




Hi Klogg,

Yes, I am looking at them. Added them to my portfolio in May.

It is a low margin business, that relies on only a few customers to generate its revenue. That sounds bad, but in a way it is also a reason for one positive - little competition.

Most importantly, at current prices, I think these risks are priced in and then some.

Waislitz/Thorney coming on board is an interesting development and could serve as a catalyst for some changes.

It is currently in a similar situation to the likes of BOL, PMP, COF. When downsizing, due to depreciation and other non-cash items, low profit obscures a much healthier cash flow number. 

Again, not a great business; but at the current price very little needs to go right to make it a good investment.


----------



## McLovin (17 August 2014)

Klogg said:


> The company was diluted a fair bit, with Waislitz/Thorney now owning ~29% of the company. That said, it is trading at 4* cash flow, with some macroeconomic tailwinds and a fairly strong balance sheet.




How much of that cashflow is just a bit of economic liquidation taking place?


----------



## Klogg (24 August 2014)

McLovin said:


> How much of that cashflow is just a bit of economic liquidation taking place?




My apologies for not answering sooner - posting a random metric and running away when questioned doesn't look too good...

Back to your observation - this is true, a portion of this is from liquidating current assets that I can only assume are hangover from Syntheo or other marginal projects.

The obvious way for me to calculate true cash flow would be:
_EBITDA - (Interest + Tax) - Capex_. 
EBITDA for the last FY was 17m, with 3m on capex and 5.2m interest (minimal tax because of minimal profits.

For the next FY, interest will be lower as a result of lesser interest charges. Management have also flagged similar capex requirements, resulting in:
17m - 3m - 2m = 12m 

I should note:
- expenses have not been adjusted for no more 'liquidation'
- conversely, there's no tax component subtracted from this figure

For simplicity's sake, I'm cancelling the two out (which is incorrect, but I'd argue this is a conservative approach).

Following on from this, at 384m shares, 20cps = 76.8m MC
P/FCF = 76.8/12 = 6.4*

Obviously this has many assumptions built in, and I've only mentioned a few.


The EBITDA figure achieved above could also be 'cross-referenced' by matching _Site and Construction costs_ to a year with similar revenues. This is obviously open to a lot of interpretation and is potentially misleading due to the variables in expenses for a given year, so I won't burden the forums with my potentially meaningless calculations - I only mentioned it as an option to verify the above if one wished to do so.


Another figure worth mentioning - the LTI hurdles set by the board. Given my cash flow calcs above, I'm fairly sure the board have decided on figures that are easily achievable. This is not necessarily a bad thing, given the poor run SSM have had recently - you want these incentives to actually mean something.

For those that are interested, LTI earnings per share hurdle is 2.8cps (starting at 2.1cps, full incentive at 2.8cps).
A user on another forum correctly pointed out that an ROE/ROC hurdle is a far better metric for incentives, however it seems the board has not taken the opportunity.


----------



## Klogg (24 August 2014)

KnowThePast said:


> It is currently in a similar situation to the likes of BOL, PMP, COF. When downsizing, due to depreciation and other non-cash items, low profit obscures a much healthier cash flow number.




It is similar to these, however I think BOL is slightly different. They're dependent on asset sales for a large portion of cash flow, whereas SSM have strong recurring revenues and are not selling a large portion of assets.
Nevertheless, both have decent cash flows.

_(I have a position in both SSM and BOL)_


----------



## McLovin (1 September 2014)

Klogg said:


> My apologies for not answering sooner - posting a random metric and running away when questioned doesn't look too good...
> 
> Back to your observation - this is true, a portion of this is from liquidating current assets that I can only assume are hangover from Syntheo or other marginal projects.
> 
> ...




Hi Klogg

Thanks for the reply, sorry it's taken a while to get back to you.

One thing that sticks out at me with these guys is the large depreciation/amortisation charge on a pretty small asset base. It makes me think that EBITDA is probably not the best measure of performance because, from reading the accounts, it looks like they need to continually invest pretty heavily into the business. Is there going to be some material change in the asset intensity of the business? 

This company interests me, mainly because I don't think it's as big a dog as the market makes out, but I find it somewhat difficult to get a decent picture of what's going on.


----------



## Klogg (1 September 2014)

McLovin said:


> Hi Klogg
> 
> Thanks for the reply, sorry it's taken a while to get back to you.
> 
> ...




The toughest part of it all for me is the constant change in management. As Thorney came in, they obviously outed Sinclair 6 months into the job, and with changes of management come changes in capex, as do areas of focus.
From recent reports, there are minimal capex requirements (I'd have to find the announcement stating this).

I get the impression previous MDs were focussed on growing the top line only, investing heavily for new contracts but with no focus on efficiency. Given the small number of competitors of this size, SSM should have an economy of scale that others cannot really achieve... They're failing to use this to their advantage at the moment.
If they focus on efficiency and expenses, retaining similar revenue levels, the business should do very well.


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## McLovin (1 September 2014)

Klogg said:


> I get the impression previous MDs were focussed on growing the top line only, investing heavily for new contracts but with no focus on efficiency. Given the small number of competitors of this size, SSM should have an economy of scale that others cannot really achieve... They're failing to use this to their advantage at the moment.
> If they focus on efficiency and expenses, retaining similar revenue levels, the business should do very well.




This pretty much is the view I'm forming. There is very little discussion of anything other than their current contracts in the FY prezzo and financials.

Do you know the rough date of when they discussed their capex requirements? I wouldn't mind having a look at that.


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## Klogg (1 September 2014)

McLovin said:


> Do you know the rough date of when they discussed their capex requirements? I wouldn't mind having a look at that.




Since installing Mackender, there has been a reference to "tight restrictions on capital expenditure", although in the context of FY14 results

In the recent report:
"Net investing cash outflows decreased by $13.6 million to $2.1 million due to* tight restrictions on capital expenditure* during the year"

In the media release dated 13th August, 2014:
"In addition, net investing cash outflows decreased to $2.1 million (2013: $15.7 million) *due to tight restrictions on capital expenditure*"

(Obviously a bit of copy/paste on their behalf, so I might be reading into it too much)
There's been no explicit mention of on-going capex reductions, but the focus on cash flows and debt reduction does give this impression.


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## Klogg (18 May 2015)

After multiple contract wins and a solid 1H result (on low revenue), it seems this one has got some attention.

If Mackender has driven cost reduction hard enough, the 2H result should be better than the first.


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## Boggo (23 September 2016)

Trading halt, more good news I hope 

(click to expand)


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## peter2 (23 April 2017)

Since *Boggo*'s chart was posted the price has traded to 1.27, then had a shallow pull-back and found support at 0.90. I like the higher low since then and the formation of a bullish ascending triangle pattern. 

SSM is completing a corporate acquisition and it looks like the market likes what SSM is doing. 

As it's already in the weekly portfolio, a further BO might be an opportunity to buy more.


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## peter2 (9 May 2017)

@Rypieee @Triathlete  Do you think we're the only ones watching the SSM chart?


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## Triathlete (9 May 2017)

I believe there is quite a few people waiting for the break ...so I would expect price to really take off above that level....It has already been 6 months since it moved to that level so we must be getting close to a break out......


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## Rypieee (9 May 2017)

@peter2 @Triathlete 

The more people are watching the better! Maximum power on the B/O

Peter2, thoughts on pre-empting a breakout with SSM? I know you already hold it but if you weren't a holder just yet?

The higher lows are incredibly tempting. The ascending triangle is also filling up with candlesticks :O

P.S Actually tried to buy a position @ 4.01pm today at the price of $1.25 haha


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## peter2 (9 May 2017)

"Newbie Keen Beans" wants to pre-empt the BO. What a surprise. 

You should keep good records to learn if pre-empting a BO is good for you or not. Even though my records do record most PE's I've not done the stats on it. I've had both good and bad results from doing it. 

If I liked the company through a fundamental analysis then I'd be buying some asap and then on every dip until I've got the full size on.


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## DocK (9 June 2017)

Can anyone tell me the reason for the fall in price today?  I can't see an announcement, div or news?  I had a buy order sitting at $1.26 which got filled, and I'm unsure of whether to hold or sell before it drops further.


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## Boggo (9 June 2017)

DocK said:


> Can anyone tell me the reason for the fall in price today?  I can't see an announcement, div or news?  I had a buy order sitting at $1.26 which got filled, and I'm unsure of whether to hold or sell before it drops further.




Just had a quick look at the weekly chart, this seems to have done this spike down at least four times over the last year and not around the dividend time either.
It then seems to resume the steady uptrend again after each one !

Some stocks have a predictable personality, lets see if it repeats


----------



## DocK (9 June 2017)

Boggo said:


> Just had a quick look at the weekly chart, this seems to have done this spike down at least four times over the last year and not around the dividend time either.
> It then seems to resume the steady uptrend again after each one !
> 
> Some stocks have a predictable personality, lets see if it repeats



True, it's why I placed the buy order where I did.  Guess I shouldn't second-guess myself


----------



## greggles (15 February 2018)

After a few months of drifting sideways and slowly downwards, SSM has seen a reversal of fortune and its share price has shot up sharply.

The company released its financial results for the half-year ended 31 December 2017 yesterday after the close and the strong profit and cashflow performance, increase in interim dividend and on-market share buy-back reported by Service Stream came as a bit of a surprise to the market. 

*Group Summary*

EBITDA of $32.1 million (10.9% margin) on revenue of $294.1 million
EPS of 5.45cents on a NPAT of $19.9 million
Operating cashflow of $42.6 million with Net Cash of $63.6 million at half-year-end
Interim dividend (fully-franked) of 3.0 cents per share payable on 29 March 2018
On-market share buy-back of up to 27.4 million shares
SSM finished the day at $1.45, up 30c (26%) on yesterday's close. A nice surprise on the upside and a good result for holders.


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## peter2 (1 May 2018)

After the good news in Feb18, price made new highs. Since then price has fallen slightly while the market (XAO) has fallen further. Now that the market is rallying perhaps SSM can finally go higher.






_Disclosure: I've bought some recently._


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## Darc Knight (31 December 2018)

Service Stream Limited (ASX:SSM) stock has been moved at 32.089552% throughout last twelve months. The stock has performed 2.906977% around last thirty days, and changed -1.666667% over the last three months. It has five years performance of 785% and weekly performance of 0%.
Service Stream Limited stock has performed -1.12% and changed AUD$-0.02 while share value reached at AUD$1.77 in last trading transaction. At present, the stock 52 week high price sited at 1.885 and 52 week low situated at 1.115. 216464 shares traded on hands while it’s an average volume stands with 612105 shares. It paid dividend of AUD$0.063369 over a trailing one year period. The current analyst consensus rating clocked at 1 on company shares. Analysts estimated that stock to reach value at AUD$2.12 price in one-year period.
https://connectinginvestor.com/2018...ul-about-stock-service-stream-limited-asxssm/


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## galumay (31 December 2018)

For me SSM has always been problematic, my business sub contracts to SSM and I think its the old problem of "scuttlebutt" - I could never invest in a business so poorly managed, but most investors would have no idea of how incompetent SSM are. I remember this was also a problem with companies like RIO & BHP when I worked for them, I quickly realised that the profit margins must be extraordinary when structural incompetence at the level these businesses struggle with still allow them to be profitable. If you were half as incompetent running a small business you would be bankrupt in 6 months!


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## Ann (6 January 2019)

galumay said:


> For me SSM has always been problematic, my business sub contracts to SSM and I think its the old problem of "scuttlebutt" - I could never invest in a business so poorly managed, but most investors would have no idea of how incompetent SSM are. I remember this was also a problem with companies like RIO & BHP when I worked for them, I quickly realised that the profit margins must be extraordinary when structural incompetence at the level these businesses struggle with still allow them to be profitable. If you were half as incompetent running a small business you would be bankrupt in 6 months!




Interesting you say this galumay. I see on the 2/1/2019 titled 'Cleansing Notice' they issued without disclosure to investors an extra 40,189,126 fully paid ordinary shares into the market. 401.4m is now listed as quantity of shares of SSM on ASX. All quite legal of course. Nasty for investors though. Quite a major dilution of shareholder value I would have thought. This is really likely to be reflected negatively in their SP I guess.


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## Darc Knight (6 January 2019)

Am I in your sights @Ann ?

Don't worry, I've already conceded my picks are dogs. The only reason I picked them was to see what happened when they got into Index fund buying range. Most of them have dropped back now. But, try your hardest. I'm shorting all stocks you pick on


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## Ann (6 January 2019)

Darc Knight said:


> Am I in your sights @Ann ?
> 
> Don't worry, I've already conceded my picks are dogs. The only reason I picked them was to see what happened when they got into Index fund buying range. Most of them have dropped back now. But, try your hardest. I'm shorting all stocks you pick on




Oh darn sorry DK, I haven't been here most of this week. I haven't caught up on the picks yet. I have just scooped up a number of ASX notices which made me go YUCK!


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## rnr (10 January 2019)

Ann said:


> Interesting you say this galumay. I see on the 2/1/2019 titled 'Cleansing Notice' they issued without disclosure to investors an extra 40,189,126 fully paid ordinary shares into the market. 401.4m is now listed as quantity of shares of SSM on ASX. All quite legal of course. Nasty for investors though. Quite a major dilution of shareholder value I would have thought. This is really likely to be reflected negatively in their SP I guess.
> 
> View attachment 91179




Hi Ann,

The issue was made in partial satisfaction of the acquisition of Comdain Infrastructure Pty Ltd, a provider of engineering and asset management services to the gas and water utility sectors in the Australian eastern states, which (in theory) should not result in a dilution of the existing shareholder value.

See ASX & Media release made by SSM on December 3, 2018.

Cheers,
Rob


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## galumay (10 January 2019)

Rob, its definitely dilutive for existing shareholders, whether SSM can overcome the effect of the dilution for shareholders by sufficiently increasing earnings, yield and share price remains to be seen, but I would be very skeptical!


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## Ann (10 January 2019)

rnr said:


> Hi Ann,
> 
> The issue was made in partial satisfaction of the acquisition of Comdain Infrastructure Pty Ltd, a provider of engineering and asset management services to the gas and water utility sectors in the Australian eastern states, which (in theory) should not result in a dilution of the existing shareholder value.
> 
> ...




Potentially a good fit Rob, but looking at the chart it may take time to filter back through to the shareholders and EPS etc.  In the meantime the chart appears it might be travelling toward a dome shape, which potentially could see the price travel back below the $1 level if in fact it does evolve into a dome and  travels its full distance down. Interesting to watch.


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## tinhat (10 January 2019)

rnr said:


> Hi Ann,
> 
> The issue was made in partial satisfaction of the acquisition of *Comdain *Infrastructure Pty Ltd, ...




That is the most ridiculous business name. Please tell me if your brain did not read "Comedian Infrastructure".


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## Garpal Gumnut (10 January 2019)

Is this the same SSM. It seems successful to me. 

Over the last 10 years.


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## rnr (10 January 2019)

tinhat said:


> That is the most ridiculous business name. Please tell me if your brain did not read "Comedian Infrastructure".




No, my brain did not read "Comedian Infrastructure" - but I must add, that judging by your avatar, we are obviously wired differently!


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## Ferret (11 January 2019)

Speaking of names, last year when Same Sex Marriage got the nod I thought SSM was in a growth industry and might be worth a punt!


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## Ann (11 January 2019)

tinhat said:


> That is the most ridiculous business name. Please tell me if your brain did not read "Comedian Infrastructure".



Being dyslexic I have to read things slowly tinhat, so I hadn't noticed the similarity to Comedian. Hopefully Comdain won't turn out to be a bad joke for the investors.


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## Miner (25 January 2020)

It was last posted by Ann in almost more than one year back.
Bell Potter is heavily advocating this one - I do have a sense they could be involved in some form as a brokerage firm. Two research reports within a week's gap interesting for sure.
Current price slightly under $2.8 and they are recommending $3.15
 Some extracts are attached.
DNH


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## Trav. (25 January 2020)

@Miner I just had a quick look at the weekly chart and definitely one for the watchlist as I can see SSM trying to hold a break of $2.80 which it tested a couple of times recently and if this can happen then $3 (ATH $3.06) will be significant which is ~ +7% 

Below is a weekly chart showing a symmetrical triangle and could break either way hence the watchlist but momentum appears to be in favour on the weekly chart.


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## Miner (26 January 2020)

Trav. said:


> @Miner I just had a quick look at the weekly chart and definitely one for the watchlist as I can see SSM trying to hold a break of $2.80 which it tested a couple of times recently and if this can happen then $3 (ATH $3.06) will be significant which is ~ +7%
> 
> Below is a weekly chart showing a symmetrical triangle and could break either way hence the watchlist but momentum appears to be in favour on the weekly chart.
> 
> View attachment 99916



Thanks @Trav.


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## galumay (26 January 2020)

The question with SSM is really how you see the NBN contracts playing out in the mid to long term. I haven't really looked into it because its never been a business I wanted to own. (my company has contracts with SSM and the experience colours my perception of the business.)


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## Dona Ferentes (20 June 2020)

*Livewire Markets: *Next stop: Service Stream Management. Came out in May, reaffirmed that they'll generate record operating EBITDA and have committed to paying ongoing dividends. *Buy, hold, sell?*


> *Simon Conn (Investors Mutual):* I think it's a hold. It's an okay business, but I'm always a bit wary of contractors, particularly, with a concentrated customer base. Your margins are a product of what your customers can tell you. Look, they've made good money over the NBN rollout, but we're now migrating to a different phase of the NBN. So look, it's a good management team, balance sheet's okay, but for a contractor, 15 times is about as much as you want to pay. So it's at a hold to a sell.




*Livewire Markets:* Dean, SSM is on a 12 times PE ratio, circa 5 per cent fully franked to yield. Share price has come off a bit, screaming bargain or Pandora's box? *Buy, hold, sell?*


> *Dean Fremder (Perpetual):* It's a buy for us. It's a super-boring business, but we love that. Ultimately, it doesn't matter whether the economy is booming or in recession, if Sydney Water, one of their pipes leaks, they're going to get it fixed. So very resilient through what could be a tough economic environment ahead. To us, it's cheap. It's got a very good balance sheet – it's net cash of 5 per cent fully franked yield roughly. Sensible management team with a good track record, and they'll buy some things to bolt onto their business, which we think it would be really attractive. So buy for us.


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## galumay (21 June 2020)

Potentially big changes coming for Service Stream, they may lose their NBN contracts in September. I haven't looked at what % of their business NBN contracts are, but I imagine they are significant.


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## bohn (31 August 2020)

Service Stream secures multi‐year (4+2+2) Unified Field Operations (Networks) Agreement with NBN


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## galumay (31 August 2020)

Interesting, so they lost Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory. Thats a fair chunk of the NBN work gone. Looks like the contract is now split between Service Stream & Downers.


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## peter2 (7 October 2020)

OK lets have a look at the chart of SSM (after reading comments in the DOW thread). 

SSM is looking very bullish and likely to go higher. The huge volume up bar (23/9/20) was not accompanied with any news. Interesting. 
It's a tricky stock to trade short term because of the thin MD and many opening gaps. SSM looks a promising medium term trade. 

Regarding the UFO agreement with the NBN, SSM has regional Vic, NSW, Qld and ACT to keep them busy.


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## galumay (7 October 2020)

The NBN work is small though, its not what we call A&A (activations & assurances), its network maintenance and build out which is much smaller. 

As a long term investor, the question that would worry me is what will SSM be doing in 5 or 10 years time? 

Peter2, in your position as a trader, there may be plenty of opportunity in the mean time!


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## Boggo (16 December 2020)

peter2 said:


> OK lets have a look at the chart of SSM (after reading comments in the DOW thread).
> 
> SSM is looking very bullish and likely to go higher. The huge volume up bar (23/9/20) was not accompanied with any news. Interesting.
> It's a tricky stock to trade short term because of the thin MD and many opening gaps. SSM looks a promising medium term trade.
> ...




Nice pickup back then @peter2.
It took a while longer for my weekly to pick it up. Target area now around $2.80 or is it going to get flogged on the current news ?

(click to expand)


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## Boggo (17 December 2020)

Well, looks like getting flogged was the answer !


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## peter2 (17 December 2020)

Another good example of the "yikes" bar. The bane of short term traders. 

Perhaps when @galumay recovers he'll explain why the latest news is bad. Is it low margin work?


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## peter2 (17 December 2020)

@Boggo  Did we have the wrong interpretation on the SSM swings. Could they have been corrective, portended the current swing down ?
Could your 1,2 be a,b ?


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## Boggo (17 December 2020)

peter2 said:


> @Boggo  Did we have the wrong interpretation on the SSM swings. Could they have been corrective, portended the current swing down ?
> Could your 1,2 be a,b ?




Looks that way @peter2.
It fits both options but after that large downward correction I tend to look for an upward resumption hence the hopeful 1,2,3.
(RWC is a somewhat similiar example of this on the weekly atm)

Had this signal appeared on my Amibroker scan on Friday I would have been in on Monday. Running it during the week creates a few to keep an eye on towards the weekend.

(click to expand)


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## galumay (17 December 2020)

peter2 said:


> Perhaps when @galumay recovers he'll explain why the latest news is bad. Is it low margin work?




What am I recovering from?! This is the contract that continues work SSM already had with NBN, but was out of contract for some time. (the old OMMA contract). I dont know the terms, but I am guessing NBN has tried to screw the margins down like they did with the earlier Network contract that Downer's won. No doubt SSM will pass the screwing onto the sub-contractors like me!!

The announcement was positive for SSM as they had been operating with no certainty given that the OMMA contract had expired, also the Activations & Assurances contract is a lot more work than the Network contract. So not sure why the price would drop. 

Looks like pretty good buying in the current market, if it were a business you wanted to own.


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## Faramir (31 December 2020)

This is my fourth company I am picking for Tipping Comp 2021.
I actually know nothing about Service Stream. I wrote SSM on a scrap piece of paper on my desk and it has been sitting here for nearly 18 months. I have no idea why I wrote "SSM". Now I can make this piece of paper useful by using it for a tipping comp. Back in Aug 2019, Arden Jennings wrote an article:








						Service Stream: Move over NBN, Comdain has arrived
					

Service Stream (SSM) has developed into a core small-cap industrial poised to capitalise on servicing Australia’s essential networks including electricity, gas, telco and water.  SSM has delivered a solid FY19 result, maintaining its enviable track record of execution with the second half of...




					www.livewiremarkets.com
				




I don't think I read this article properly.

Is this the announcement that caused the shock this month:


			https://cdn-api.markitdigital.com/apiman-gateway/ASX/asx-research/1.0/file/2924-02322986-3A558175?access_token=83ff96335c2d45a094df02a206a39ff4
		


Here is a chart:





Great stock for tipping, would I ever put any funds into this stock? No. I don't ever know why I said No but that's a good enough reason to say no.


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## galumay (1 January 2021)

Faramir said:


> Is this the announcement that caused the shock this month:




It shouldn't have caused any shock, other than negative, its the new contract that replaces the expired OMMA contract for what we call A&A - activations & assurances, SSM lost several states they previously held under OMMA. I guess you could say it was positive because they didn't lose the complete contract (something they believed was a real possibility.)


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## Dona Ferentes (14 June 2021)

Lendlease’s *services arm* is a maintenance and asset management contractor that looks after airports, roads, wind farms and the like. The unit has been earmarked for sale for the past two years.

Likely buyers  are *UGL*, owned by CIMIC, and *Monadelphous*, both believed to be working through the data room documents with an eye to submitting offers, while fellow listed player *Service Stream* and France’s Egis are also in the mix. Downer Group and Ventia, also owned by CIMIC, have dropped out of the process. Private equity is not thought to be involved.


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## peter2 (14 July 2021)

Interesting market update today. Retail and insto investors have been a bit more vocal lately and want to know what's happening with *SSM*. 
A very noncommittal update that basically said wait for the annual report released Aug 28. Seems like there may be some minor disappointing news in that report. 

The price chart indicates that the bottom may be in. Worth a speculative buy.


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## galumay (15 July 2021)

I would be very wary of anyone with significant contracts with NBN, the terms of the new contracts are so much lower than the existing, already low margin contracts. It has 2 impacts, firstly obviously margin squeeze, but also sub-contractors are exiting as the new rates for them are not sustainable.


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## peter2 (21 July 2021)

@galumay  We've got some reading to do. 

Acquisition of Lendlease Services business announced.


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## divs4ever (21 July 2021)

galumay said:


> I would be very wary of anyone with significant contracts with NBN, the terms of the new contracts are so much lower than the existing, already low margin contracts. It has 2 impacts, firstly obviously margin squeeze, but also sub-contractors are exiting as the new rates for them are not sustainable.



  that was the opinion i settled on as well  the NBN was extremely erratic when first connected ( replaced the very adequate ADSL 2 )  after many emotional calls  and six technician visits  the NBN is useable at times and still drops out  regularly 

i would imagine the sub-contractors  soak up a fair bit of the disharmony  ,  of the shares i hold only SKI seems to be comfortable with their NBN relationship 

 PS  i also hold LLC


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## galumay (22 July 2021)

peter2 said:


> @galumay  We've got some reading to do.
> 
> Acquisition of Lendlease Services business announced.




It looks an expensive, risky acquisition to me. Not sure thats going to solve the problems!


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## Ferret (30 December 2021)

A pick for 2022.

Very beaten up during 2021.  Got a raising away in 2021 to fund purchase of Lend Lease service division.  Trading below the issue price, but MAY have found a floor.

Either its going to rebound well or die a death.


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## JohnDe (19 January 2022)

Ferret said:


> A pick for 2022.
> 
> Very beaten up during 2021.  Got a raising away in 2021 to fund purchase of Lend Lease service division.  Trading below the issue price, but MAY have found a floor.
> 
> Either its going to rebound well or die a death.




You may be onto something, SSM seem to be slowly building.









> Insiders who bought AU$2.3m worth of Service Stream Limited (ASX:SSM) stock in the last year have seen some of their losses recouped as the stock gained 10% last week.












						Favorable turn of events for Service Stream Limited (ASX:SSM) insiders who've lost AU$102k to date on a AU$2.3m purchase
					

Insiders who bought AU$2.3m worth of Service Stream Limited ( ASX:SSM ) stock in the last year have seen some of their...




					simplywall.st


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## JohnDe (24 February 2022)

Some good news today.

*Group Highlights *

Group Total Revenue of $566.2 million, up 38.1% vs. pcp
Group EBITDA from Operations of $39.3 million, underpinned by a solid operating result across 
the legacy business and positive contribution from LLS operations post Completion 
Rebased Group EBITDA from Operations margin 6.9%, in line with expectations
Adjusted NPAT of $16.4 million
Exceptional OCFBIT cash conversion of 234.9% and closing net debt of $47.1 million
Transformational Lendlease Services acquisition successfully completed 1 November:
All client contracts successfully transitioned
Integration program commenced and tracking to plan 
Delivery of synergy targets validated and run-rate brought forward of schedule 
1H22 interim dividend not declared to assist with funding the LLS acquisition
Work in hand of $5.6 billion with solid pipeline of growth opportunities across all segments


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## JohnDe (1 March 2022)

Only 5 trading days but it does look pretty


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## Ferret (1 March 2022)

JohnDe said:


> Only 5 trading days but it does look pretty
> 
> View attachment 138360



Yes, it might have turned a corner.


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## investtrader (20 March 2022)

I agree that SSM is starting to look technically good. Out performing the market now.


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## JohnDe (23 May 2022)

SSM played a key part in Labor's NBN infrastructure build, could there be more coming?



> *A better connected Australia*
> 
> 35. Labor believes that ensuring Australians can benefit from world-class broadband and mobile infrastructure is critical for our prosperity and resilience, especially in the post COVID-19 era.​​36. Labor will ensure all Australians get fast, reliable and affordable broadband, no matter where they live or do business. We will leverage and improve the National Broadband Network to advance economic and social outcomes, and create experiences that improve quality of life.​​37. Labor will develop policies to leverage next-generation mobile technologies to support the competitiveness of domestic industries.​​38. Labor will improve mobile coverage in regional and vulnerable communities, including transport corridor black spots and areas with high natural disaster risk, ensuring these enhancements are guided by local needs.​



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## greggles (23 August 2022)

Tough 2022 for SSM with a 19.4% dip in profit announced today. Management is confident in a bounce back in 2023 on the back of a full-year’s contribution from Lendlease Services.

A combination of today's news and the overall red day on the market saw the SSM share price decline 16.18% to 85.5c.


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## JohnDe (23 August 2022)

greggles said:


> Tough 2022 for SSM with a 19.4% dip in profit announced today. Management is confident in a bounce back in 2023 on the back of a full-year’s contribution from Lendlease Services.
> 
> A combination of today's news and the overall red day on the market saw the SSM share price decline 16.18% to 85.5c.




Took a punt today and purchased at their low.


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## Ferret (1 January 2023)

If I pick this often enough, will it finally come good?

Unlikely, but I'm a glutton for punishment so with it starting the year just about at a new low, I've picked it again for the 2023 comp.


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