I don’t think a buy back is likely. I’ve asked that question...

I don’t think a buy back is likely. I’ve asked that question twice to Alf at results presentations, and he’s been pretty clear that “we’re not going there”. They did do a small one a few years ago. I’m guessing they are concerned about trading liquidity, which is very light as it is, what with Alf holding a large proportion of the stock…a buyback will only exacerbate that.
I am always surprised that the stock doesn’t rally in a sustained way. There has been a pattern for some years of a small bounce upon every results announcement, because the metrics are confirmed by each one to be seemingly very favourable, followed by six months of almost no movement in the share price whatsoever. It seems to me to be about 30% undervalued! I’ve added gradually up to 20,000 shares, but have reached the point where I just feel I’ve got enough. Got a feeling I should be more greedy with this one!
As for a catalyst, the mooted Middle East spin off should crystallize the seemingly obvious value. But it shouldn’t be necessary…honestly, I’m not trying to “up ramp”, I’ve been genuinely puzzled for years about the valuation of this stock. I can only think that this “quality” service provider with a long history has gotten caught up
in the negative sentiment associated with the “Johnny come lately” types like We Work and Victory. There’s also been a lot of talk about “low barriers to entry” and “changing work practices” both of which I feel are off the mark in terms of impact on SRV, as it has been demonstrating in recent years.