watch list
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watch list
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Watch List.This page contains the companies I am following for possible inclusion into the Acorn and Pension portfolios.Now that this list is growing, to save scrolling down the page you can jump to each company by using one of the links below:The Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC
Skyepharma PLC
Company Website: Skyepharma.comThe Management.Executive Chairman: Mr. Ian Gowrie-Smith. Joined 1995. 12 years experience, previously built up Medeva PLC. CEO: Mr. Michael Ashton. Joined 1998. 30 years experience, previously at Merck, Pfizer, Purepac and Faulding. CFO: Mr. Donald Nicholson. Joined 1997. 10 years experience, previously Deloitte Haskins & Sells, Wellcome PLC and Corange Group. COB: Dr. Jacques Gonella. Joined 1996. 33 years experience, previously he founded Jago Group in 1993 after working with other pharmaceutical companies. The Business.This company specializes in drug delivery systems. It was formed by Australian entrepreneur Ian Gowrie-Smith, who built up the now merged Medeva pharmaceutical business. He bought out a UK listed shell company and performed a reverse takeover of Jago, a Swiss drug delivery company, to create a new vehicle renamed Skyepharma with Ian Gowrie-Smith as Executive Chairman. The company has had a colourful history since then. SKP won a contract with Smithkline Beecham to develop a new delivery system for their top selling drug Paxil but delays followed the launch which amongst other things cast doubt over the business plan based solely around one technology platform. This dragged the share price down and apart from a few brief flurries has remained depressed. Skyepharma is now a different beast. Last year saw some major changes which should carry them forward into profitability. SKP purchased the Californian based Depot Tech who specialize in an injectable fatty liquid which controls the release of painkillers, cancer drugs and DNA. This business they picked up for a song. Smithkline Beecham also chose SKP to reformulate their Parkinson disease drug Requip and took a £8m equity stake at the same time. Novartis chose SKP to supply its dry powder inhaler to deliver their asthma drug Foradil and also took a £6m equity stake. Medac, a German bio-tech developer, sold its nanotechnology to SKP. This process improves the solubility of drugs. SKP clinched a deal to purchase the Canadian drug company, Hyal, for the rights to their topical cream intellectual property. All these deals have transformed SKP from a business based around one technology, Geomatrix, to a growing company with a broad range of drug delivery platforms. The tie-ups with Smithkline and Novartis confirm that SKP's technology has come of age. The merger between Smithkline and Glaxo could also produce new business. SKP has enough cash to see it through until revenues start coming through without the need for further fund raising. Sherwood International PLC
Company Website: Sherwood.co.ukThe Management.CEO: Mr. G. E. Matthews. Joined 1981. 19 years experience. CFO: Mr. Stephen G. Bellamy. Joined 1994. 14 years experience, previously at Brierley Investments. COB: Mr. Ken Andrew. Joined 1997. 30 years experience. Previously at Chase Manhattan, N & P Building Society, Assuresoft, DBS Management PLC, Aetna International Investment and National Westminster Bank PLC. The Business.Sherwood provides software solutions to the Global Insurance industry. Its main product is the Amarta system which has been the main driver of profits over the last few years. Although Amarta has been very successful the company has developed other systems; Sceptre; Senator; Acos and aeos. Sales and profits are increasing as more companies adopt Amarta both in the UK and globally with growth in the US looking particularly good. The Senator system has achieved some notable sales in the US where the companies turnover has grown by nearly 40% this year. Another significant move has been the aeos system and its new e2-one division, this will reduce the reliance on the Insurance industry as the main source of business for Sherwood and open up new avenues in the Banking and Stock broking industries. Sherwood is in a competitive business and has yet to make serious in-roads into the valuable US market which is by far the biggest. Turnover is still UK driven but now only makes up 50% with the US and Europe growing fast. Profits have more than doubled in then last two years with turnover up only 50%. What attracts me is the repeat revenue that Sherwood receive as their systems are adopted. They are picking up more and more blue chip customers with Amarta and Senator which bodes well for future income streams. The e-commerce business is still in the early stages of development and will require further investment before the real rewards will be seen. The shares are down from their peek of 1750p and I will be monitoring their movement closely over the next few months with a view of adding them to one of the portfolios. The Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC
Company Website: rbs.co.ukThe ManagementExecutive Deputy Chairman: Sir George Mathewson. Joined 1987. 40 years experience. Previously CEO at the Scottish Development Agency. Currently director at Citizens Financial Group Inc, Direct Line Group, Ulster Bank and the Scottish Investment Trust PLC. Group CEO: Mr. Fred Goodwin. Joined 1998. 22 years experience. Previously CEO and Director at Clydesdale Bank PLC, Yorkshire Bank PLC and President of the Chartered Institute of Bankers in Scotland. Retail Banking CEO: Joined 2000. 31 years experience. Previously at LloydsTSB PLC and National Westminster Bank PLC. Corporate banking and Financial Markets Joined 1993. 35 years experience. Currently also director at British Empire Securities and General Trust PLC. The BusinessBG Group PLC
Company Website: BG-Group.comThe managementCEO: Mr. Frank Chapman. Joined 1996. 26 years experience. Previously 18 years at Shell. CFO: Mr. Andrew Bonfield. Joined 2000. 18 years experience. Previously at SmithKline Beecham PLC and is a chartered accountant. The BusinessBG Group, formerly British Gas, is now a business that develops, manages and supplies natural gas around the Globe. Over the last few years they have demerged the Centrica and Lattice divisions to concentrate on becoming a pure integrated gas company. BG Group has proved itself to be one of the world's leading natural gas exploration and production companies. This has lead to participation in projects that have discovered gas in Trinidad & Tobago, Bolivia, the Nile Delta and Indonesia. The Group also has interests in Tunisia, Italy, Israel, Palestine, Kazakhstan, India, Thailand, Philippines, Iran, Ireland, Malaysia, Pakistan and Singapore. The transformation of BG has enabled the Group to pursue other activities as well as the traditional gas business. PizzaExpress PLC
Company Website: PizzaExpress.co.ukThe Management:Chairman: Mr. David Page. Joined 1976. 30 years experience, previously he was MD and a major shareholder in the largest PizzaExpress franchise group prior to their merger with the company owned restaurants. CEO: Mr. Ian Eldridge. Joined 1984. 20 years experience, previously at Grand Metropolitan, Trusthouse Forte and First Leisure. CFO: Mr. Glen Tomlinson. Joined 1989. 19 years experience, previously at Touché Ross Management Consultants, Sorbus (UK) Ltd and Star Computer Group. COB: Mr. David Page The Business:The company owns and franchises a chain of Pizza Express, Pasta di Milano and Cafe Pasta restaurants across the UK and Ireland. As a great fan of pizza I have visited quite a number pizza restaurants over the years and must admit to preferring the Pizza Express offerings against that of their competitors. It would also appear that I am not alone, as the company has grown to employ over 5000 people with a turnover of £150m. The company is extremely well run and has an excellent record in attracting the best staff and retaining them when others see huge staff turnover. The quality of the products and service mean that repeat business is far higher than the industry standard. The company is using this formula in expanding the pasta restaurant business which is also proving to be a success but not without the costs of closing loss making venues and refurbishing existing sites. Overall the company is reporting healthy growth when others in the industry are achieving standstill performances. The company scores on many points such as continually attacking costs, careful use of cash resources, well managed expansion, attention to customer satisfaction, motivation of personnel and good exploitation of the Brand. The company has begun to make moves into overseas markets with some success. Poland and the USA have had the notable positive reactions but the Japanese outlet looks like it will be slower to gain local recognition. The company has also moved into supplying their own branded extra virgin olive oil and mixed leaf salad with dressing to UK supermarkets. The accounts and balance sheet make very pleasant reading with an increase, over last year, in shareholders funds to £89.2m (£67m). The company reported a net cash inflow of £2.1m (£11.2m) even though the tax bill doubled to £8.4m (£4.1m). The dividend was increased by 24% to 5.1p (4.1p). The share price has recovered from the drop of last year but the company still stands on a reasonable rating and I will be looking to purchase anywhere below 760p. Scottish Radio Holdings PLC
Company Website: SRH.org.ukThe ManagementNon-Exec Chairman: Lord Gordon of Strathblane. Founder of Radio Clyde. 48 years experience. Previously CEO at SRH and is currently a Director at Johnston Press PLC and the AIM Trust PLC. CEO: Mr. Richard Finlay. Joined 1991. 35 years experience. Currently he is Chairman of Lothian Health Board, Latros Ltd and non-executive director of the legal firm McGrigor Donald. CFO: Mr. John Bowman. Joined 1985. 16 years experience, previously at Radio Clyde and Glasgow Film Theatre. The BusinessScottish Radio Holdings has three divisions; Local Radio, Local Newspapers and Outdoor poster advertising. The Local Radio operations account for half of the groups business and Radio Clyde is very much the jewel in the crown. This station accounts for 36% of the listeners in its region and enjoys a loyalty rate that others would die for. The division has expanded its base from just Scotland to encompass parts of Northern England and Ireland, both North and South. The careful use of constant audience research helps keep them ahead of the competition, the company has proved that it can use the information retrieved from these sources to far greater effect. New teams of SRH trained management are beginning to take the reigns and should prove to be as adept as their mentors in growing the business. The next steps are to expand further into Mainland UK and Ireland, the latter already underway with 22% holding in the Irish Republics only independent national radio station. The use of the internet to broadcast digitally and cover major Scottish football matches is being extended and links with Scottish clubs on the new superscoreboard website could prove to be interesting. The arrival of digital radio gave the group the opportunity to apply for three digital multiplexes, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Northern Ireland, this has resulted in successful applications in Glasgow and Edinburgh which are now broadcasting. The Local Newspaper division goes under the name of Score Press. The portfolio of titles covers mainly Ireland (both North and South) with portions of Scotland and the midlands area in England. It has expanded its operations in Ireland with the recent purchase of the loss making Ireland on Sunday title which is scheduled to achieve profits by end 2001 early 2002. The division is also increasing investment in the internet which is showing good potential. The outdoor poster division goes under the name Score Outdoor. This is the smallest and newer of the three divisions as it is the result of the acquisition of six businesses in the last 18 months. They are now the fourth largest 48 sheet contractor in the UK covering the Midlands, South West and North West in England and Scotland. The division is growing well and margins are set to improve as more corporate contracts are completed. The Group had a placing and open offer for £75m in 2000 to clear debts and strengthen the balance sheet for further acquisitions. In December 2000 the management set about reviewing the whole business with the help of Goldman Sachs and in January 2001 they announced that they were in discussions with interested parties that may or may-not lead to a bid. The management have built SRH into a well run group of media businesses that has consistently delivered growing profits. The reported downturn in advertising rates has not affected SRH but trading appears to be flat in early 2001. The group remains cash generative and has a clean balance sheet. The price will have fall to under £12 before I will buy. National Grid Group PLC
Company Website: NGRID.comThe ManagementChairman: Mr. James Ross. Joined 1999. 39 years experience, is currently Chairman at Littlewoods PLC. Previously at Cable and Wireless PLC, British Petroleum, BP America, McGraw Hill, Datacard and Schneider Electric. CEO: Mr. David Jones. Joined 1994. 37 years experience, currently Non-Exec Director of Energis. Previously at South Wales Electricity, The BusinessNational Grid's main activities concentrate on power transmission, power generation and telecommunications. The business has expanded from just being the UK's sole transmitter of electricity to a growing international business spanning five continents. The management has consistently beaten the targets dictated by the regulators for price controls, it has increased efficiency year on year and has created the UK's third largest telecommunication network, Energis. The group is now using its know-how and cash generating ability to expand into North America, South America, Eastern Europe, Africa and Australia. To this end it has created National Grid USA following the purchase and combining of the New England Electric System and the Eastern Utilities Associates. The next move in the US is the purchase of the Niagara Mohawk Utility which will double the size of this part of the group. The deregulation of the US market means there will be further expansion into the World's largest electricity market with plenty of scope for savings to be made through synergies in the group's acquisitions. The move into Poland looks very interesting. The venture is a joint project with Energis and has received its first data licence. It is developing a broadband network connecting major cities across the country and interconnecting with Energis' network in Germany. The group has a majority stake in Transener who operate 95% of the transmission system in Argentina. This has given them a foothold there and they now own 50% of Silica Networks who are developing a telecoms network in Argentina then connecting it to Chile. The group owns a 30% stake in Manquehue net of Chile. It is a joint venture with Williams and MetroGas in Santiago. They provide local telecoms services to targeted customer groups like the business and internet markets. They also own 50% of Intelig, Brazil's second largest telecoms service provider. The stake in Energis has been reduced to 36.3% and have made it known that this holding will be disposed of completely within three years. Last year it sold £1bn worth just at the right time before the TMT boom went flat. Energis continues to grow apace and should provide a nice windfall when the group finally severs the link between the two companies. The groups main profit engine and cash generator continues to be the UK electricity transmission business but the other power divisions are beginning to make a healthy, growing contribution. The value of the Energis stake has fallen as prices for the "paper-flush" telecoms sector has dropped off since early 2000 but it still remains a healthy investment. The other telecom investments must be seen as long term plays and not the relatively quick return scenario that was Energis. The management have proven themselves to be able to strip out costs and improve efficiency in the UK and North American operations. They have taken the right steps to separate off and focus the divisions to extract the maximum returns whilst actually improving quality of service. They have made good choices in new markets for the telecoms division and created valuable partnerships. The price is not too demanding at below £6. |