SCPA - Scapa Group

If you'd bought Scapa Group shares in around 2010/2011 you'd be sitting on very sizeable gains indeed. Scapa has been a multi-bagger in that time with the share price rising around 12 to 13 times. Scapa is listed on Aim and is a further illustration that stock picking and astute timing can bring rich rewards whichever market the company is listed on. Personally, I enjoy investing in Aim listed companies because you can unearth some real gems which are often far below the radar of most investors.

Scapa released their interim results this morning which look pretty decent with revenue growth of 4.0% to £119.3m (2014: £114.7m); trading profit up 17.6% to £10.0m (2014: £8.5m), adjusted profit before tax increasing 18.3% to £9.7m (2014: £8.2m) and adjusted earnings per share improving 25.0% to 5.0p (2014: 4.0p). Net debt was higher at £6.8m (31 March 2015: £3.4m net debt).


The outlook statement sounds encouraging:-

"The Group continues to make progress in executing its strategy and has delivered another good result for the half year.

 

While we are mindful of wider macro-economic factors the Board remains confident about the Group's outlook and expects continued progress for the remainder of the year and beyond."

 

The company is cash generative and pays a small dividend with a progressive dividend policy in place. I haven't looked at the balance sheet in any great detail, but at a glance it looks pretty sound.

 

Scapa doesn't interest me at the moment since I tend to concentrate on micro-caps (although not exclusively) and my attention is directed at other opportunities presently. Others might wish to do more research.

AVESCO

Just a quick mention re: Avesco. I am anticipating a trading update in mid-December and I'm hopeful that it won't disappoint. In the half-yearly results they stated that they expect full-year results to beat expectations. Judging by the projects that have appeared on Facebook and Twitter, I am optimistic that momentum has been maintained. Theoretically 2016 should also be a good year for Avesco given that more major events take place in the even years, although they do appear to be smoothing out the odd/even year disparity to good effect.

A division of Avesco which is seldom mentioned is Presteigne. Essentially Presteigne is a leading broadcast hire and rental specialist which has tended to fare better in even years. It looks like they might be doing pretty well this year though if this project is indicative of their workload:-

"Presteigne provides studio and production facilities for TFI Friday"

http://presteigne.tv/news/item/presteigne-provides-studio-and-production-facilities-for-tfi-Friday