Originally posted by caketin
Not much clever money will have moved yet. It will take a week or so to know how it's been received. There is a shift in style which, as I said, I'm a little uncomfortable with. Here's an example;
Investing into best-in-class sales management team
@caketin We have been here a long time so I thought I would respond in more depth for us oldtimers - lol
1. I see you are a bit uncomfortable with style change. I think you have hit the nail on the head. I needed sometime yesterday to reread the results a few times and I hate other confusing parts being added to the announcement as we had here.
So here goes:
1. There is a definite shift in emphasis from a conglomerate of individual businesses to a more corporate management team with "better quality" management... I worked for someone whose mantra was that business has to evolve and there are times for entrepreneurial and when it gets all a bit loose we need the corporate process to bring it all back under control after another cycle we will need another entrepreneur to get it going again and the cycle will continue. I think it's appropriate here - I have become more concerned about consolidation and letting the business settle and under MS I am not sure we would have got there. This is appropriate to create the corporate structure to manage this business which is 8 to 10 times larger than it was in 2012.
2. For the first time we got a cohesive strategy laid out for us. We understand the market opportunity and we understand our place. For how long have we been wondering if we are appropriately represented in QLD... I am not pulling down what MS achieved - I think he was exceptional and I will forever be conflicted by whether it was too early for him to change roles but I have also wondered how do you display a national footprint if you don't actually have QLD covered - other than by way of local agent.
3. On the earnings front I think the EPS is roughly what I expected and the pro forma is at the lower end of my expectations but the key takeouts are exactly what we needed. We had 1.7c eps first half and 5.4c at end so the imbalance continues. Thats ignoring the proforma results but actual results. We had an operating negative cash flow at the half year something that has always bothered a section of the investors and once again that was turned around in the second half.
4. The plan and the steps to get there and even the targeted Revenue and EBITDA has been put out there. It looks to organic growth in turnover of around 10%. That has been a huge worry for me. I want to see that there is growth in what you are putting together. I hate this level of change because you cannot unpack it but they have given us enough detail to measure their success.
5. I think that as their SAP IT platform keeps growing they will end up with a competitive advantage over many other players. That is one thing that we have to thank MS for - too many companies try to install leadership systems after they have grown. We have had SAP Hana for a long time and I believe it really works for the teams.
6. EBITDA in actual terms increased and on a pro forma level is transformational.
7. Very often a new CEO wants to take every provision under the sun and here we haven't seen that having an impact on the results. I am sure that AJ would have made sure that his first aspirational year did not carry any baggage so I am pleased that we haven't had any shocks.
8. These results are in spite of a lower completion of hospital projects in 2018. That's a great sign for me.
Not increasing the dividend by much was also good for me - I would like a little less gearing given the investments we are making. I am happy to wait for higher dividends.
Still a strong hold for me.
(20min delay)