So_Cynical
The Contrarian Averager
- Joined
- 31 August 2007
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I think there will be some skepticism because SND hasn't done this before, however its not rocket science and Civilbuild are a small specialized outfit much like Saunders so should be a good fit, short term i think we could see some share price weakness.
(Oct 22, 2009) Shares on issue: 78,700,000
i will participate.
Saunders International Limited (ASX code: SND) is a multi-disciplined engineering and construction
company providing design, fabrication, construction and maintenance services to leading organisations
across Australia, and the Pacific Region. The Saunders Group provides solutions to the bulk liquid storage,
industrial, energy and resources sectors through the Saunders International business. Intelligent
engineering and construction solutions to the road and rail infrastructure sectors are delivered by the
Saunders Civilbuild business. The Saunders Group is driven by a commitment to safety, innovation,
excellence and growth while delivering high quality engineered solutions ...
Just thinking about SND, and I have held for years, is that one of the advantages of buying businesses that have no debt and nice clean financials is that they can stumble along for a long time looking for ways to turn things around. SND is starting to show some signs that they might have finally turned the corner, and if they can return to profitability and even slow growth the lack of debt and simple business model means they should re rate.
For those reasons I havent minded having it in my bottom drawer all this time.
SND released profit guidance for its FY19 results, and provided an update on the order book and profitability moving forward. For the year just ended, SND announced EBITDA inclusive of all restructuring costs of -$0.75 - $1.25 million and revenue of ~$50 million. With regard to the outlook, management stated that the business had won $21 million of new work in the past three months and that work in hand was $60.5 million. A more general comment was made that management believe the business is set up to be profitable in FY20.....
and again in Oct 2019 Monthly review....In our view the FY19 result is not ideal, although not unexpected. A significant amount of change has been made to the SND business with the relocation to one main facility, together with a significant overhaul of management. Pleasingly, the work in hand figure of $60.5 million is the largest figure at the start of any financial year going as far back as FY13. Notably, this work in hand figure does not include any large contract wins in the core tank construction business. We continue to believe that SND can organically grow its revenue base significantly, and with a much-improved business structure should be able to deliver an increase in margins over time (July 2019)
and at Nov 2019 AGMSND was the first NCC investment to hold their Annual General Meeting (AGM), and pleasingly the tone of the presentation was more upbeat than previous years. Over the past two years SND has been a significant detractor to the performance of the NCC investment portfolio but we firmly believe that it has the potential to be one of the top performers over the medium term, and in our view the AGM commentary goes some way to confirming this view. The guidance provided was positive, with the business focused on returning to profitability in FY20. Pleasingly the order book is the highest it has been, despite the storage tank construction business not having a significant order. Over the past two years the business has expanded into new sectors such as plant maintenance and shutdown work for the industrial sector as well as significant expansion into the defence sector. It is also worthwhile pointing out that SND’s largest global competitor, McDermott’s (NYSE: MDR), has recently run into business issues that we believe will make it hard for them to tender on new work due to their financial liabilities, which in theory should provide a much more benign industry structure and lead to more normalised margins.
Continue to build on existing holdings
• Saunders International Limited (ASX: SND): One of their major competitors is under significant financial pressure and we believe the tendering pipeline in storage tanks and industrial plant shutdown work is increasing.
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