Floated at 80p this one won't go down the skip (or "tip"), I promise.

Skip? Skip it!

They do! Straight up! Straight (STT:AIM) IS worth a little look. It's highly illiquid - well rubbish is! - my cans are always empty, lol!

What am I on?

Well STT provide waste recycling products (not just skips!) and raised 1.5 million at flotation (market cap 7 million), to enable the introduction of software that will optimise its recycling targets and sales. Everyone is seeking improvements in the amount recycled and it is infact VERY big business. It won a contract that is lucrative with Northampton County Council recently. The contract is worth over 1 million and the company confidently expects to win several additional such contracts this year. Beeson Gregory didn't take a 4% stake out of some misplaced sympathy!

The rollout potential is actually very strong and that's where a 7 million market cap looks oh so much on our side. At 112p the shares have been going up (You guessed, straight up!) having floated a few months ago. Friday's buying was not huge but quite a few I suspect very well informed people spent over 5k. New contracts look certain to follow. Local authorities will have money to spend at this time of year. (And i understand they are looking for business from big name water companies too).

Worth a little dabble imho.

Never come across this company until I took up an offer via East Riding Council re water butts and other items.
If their customer services are anything to go by they are the worse company I have ever dealt with. I ordered these items via the web site about 3 months ago.
The amount of 45.50p was debited 3 times instead of once. On phoning the company after a wait of over 40 mins I eventually got through to be told that 2 payments would be returned. About 4 weeks later this did appear on my credit card statement. Due to further delays I again attempted to ring. After holding for over 30 mins I decided to contact via e-mail to cancel the order. Several e-mails later I still had not received any reply.
I have canceled several times via e-mail, and yet I still receive letters telling me that the order will still be sent but it may take another couple of months.
I have still not received my money back and it is impossible to contact the company or receive any reply to my e-mails.
I would think that in the East Riding this companies name is mud.
I apologies at coming onto this thread with a customer moan, but I am trying every way I can to make someone in the companies authority to sit up and take notice.
If anyone has a contact number for any of the directors(or an e-mail contact) it would be appreciated.

Probably not the best of days to be investing in new stocks but I've just dipped my toe into STT. Are there any holders still out there as this thread appears to have been pretty quiet recently?

Directors buy....and the SP goes down. Don't you just love the market.

Supplier of recycling containers Straight PLC said chairman James Newman, chief executive Jonathan Straight, operations director Mark Halford and non-executive director Colin Glass bought 2,500, 5,000, 2,000 and 2,500 respectively, at an average price of 196 pence a share.

Up 10% today after a few weeks of small falls. Anyone any ideas why?

I sold out at around 260 around 6 months ago. And would be worried to buy back in given the fall in the SP over the last 2-3 months for no apparent reason.

Just flicked through the results, they seemed very good. Maybe it is the fact that there has been so much rain that demand for a lot of their water saving items will have been close to nil for about 2 months.

Straight, the supplier of recycling containers and environmental container solutions is pleased to announce the acquisition of the assets and trade of Gummy Bins Limited.

Straight has been distributing Gummy Bins for 7 months and, although a small part of the business, saw this acquisition as an opportunity to drive revenues for this product. The acquisition further reinforces Straight's commitment to tackling the problem of chewing gum littering with this acquisition which will assist the business in gaining a significant share in a market which is set to grow considerably following last month's introduction of the smoking ban in England and Wales.

Chief Executive Jonathan Straight said 'We are delighted to consolidate these new products into our portfolio. I am confident that we will be able to quickly leverage our existing relationships with both local authority and B2B customers to further strengthen our presence in this area'.

Today's SP fall was overdone IMO:

Straight PLC's first-half pretax profit fell compared to last year due to certain one-off costs even as revenues rose 11 pct. For the six months ended June 30, the supplier of recycling containers reported a pretax profit of 0.8 mln stg compared to a restated 1.3 mln last year while turnover grew to 13.9 mln from a restated 12.6 mln.

Chairman James Newman said: 'Our trade order book is at a very healthy level with a higher margin products mix than in recent years. Consequently, the second half of the year is looking positive.'

The group has declared an increase of 4 pct in the interim dividend to 1.25 pence per share versus 1.2 pence last year.

Little comment here to explain "why" this year has been such rubbish - STT started at 80p about 2 years ago .... and now it's returned, having hit 2 as punters thought the World owed Straight a living. . . . what with the Recycling Bin demand (as Councils attempt to fine their citizens).....then we had the 2006-Drought and folks bought anything to hold water - Except in 2007 we needed fewer Wheelie-Bins/boxes ( I thoought WB's were European-sourced? )....and it was very wet, meaning that few of us wanted Straight products - combine this with the extra cost of Energy/plastic and it's hardly surprising it's been such a poor year . . . indeed what is surprising is that Straight Execs didn't know this two, or three, months ago - - - - why wait until now?
(that looks like careless, or Hope over Reality.)

Therefore, one wonders if there won't be another snipet to escape, just when we don't expect it?

Indeed the Surprising thing, straight-up - is that the SP is still close to the Float-figure, which contained much Hope/hype and Market expectations - to put it bluntly - - - that figure should now reflect the withered expectations . . . . so, sub-50p IMHO; - but DYOR, eh?

62p Somewhat lower, since Dec07 - so it's starting to look fair value IMHO.....but not yet.
I guess it depends on the Summer - with Garden centres making a call on the Weather...if 2008 is dr,y they'll re-order....but if not the stock will last until next year.....Straight really needs to find a non-weather-related product line, to avoid this Stop-Go relationship.
- - - - Any ideas?

Some good news at last!!!

Straight has said it has won tenders worth about 1.42 million pounds to supply food and kitchen waste collection equipment to seven local authorities in Wales.

The tender wins follow the Welsh Assembly's announcement in October 2007, that it is providing 14 million pounds in grants to local authorities to boost recycling across Wales over the next two years.

A positive outlook from Straight raised its share price 7-1/2 pence to 76, taking the sting out of the news that its pretax profits fell to 589,000 pounds from 1.957 million a year-ago.

The supplier of recycling containers said profits were hit by the extreme weather conditions in 2007 but looking ahead, it is confident that 2008 will deliver an improved trading performance, with a strong order book, a significant number of new customers and a full year's sales of new products developed in the second half of 2007.

Straight sees lower H1 profit
Straight Plc. said it will see a reduction in first-half profits from the year-ago period due to lower-than-expected sales in its retail business.

[STT] = 83p . . . . . . fell 22% today, was 60p a few weeks prior to AGM.

I have a theory that "....there is a limit to the number of waste-containers we need....."
Straight expanded into water-butts (about 2-years ago during a drought)...and I suspect this market is satisfied.....where there is a pool of consumers that "want it" - at any price - and this encourages distributors to stock more product at a better discount, without understanding they have satisfied the wealthy consumners. Hence, if the market doesn't snap up the whole stock, there will be significant delays in new orders. In particular the credit- crunch makes buyers wary, and the retail-prices must harden to pay for the (more-expensive) plastic.
What surprises me is that the sp is still this high!

STT = 43p now


Straight swings to H1 loss, sees H2 improvement - AFX


Sept 23 (Reuters) - Sept 23 (Reuters) - Recycling container supplier Straight Plc slipped to a first-half pretax loss on a poor performance from its retail business, but said it expects improvement in the second half.

The company, which warned on profits in July, said on Tuesday it is eliminating loss-making activities from its direct to consumer retail business and that this should reduce its losses for the rest of the year.

It said its core trade business has continued to perform well into the second half and has a record order book of 9 million pounds ($16.60 million).

For the half-year to June 30, Straight reported a pretax loss of 936,000 pounds, compared with a profit of 763,000 pounds a year earlier.

The company cut its interim dividend to 1 pence from 1.25 pence last year.

This is 28p worth of rubbish now

18/25 now - but I can't read any co Ann. the AFX notices are about some other companies...grr.
That apart this was a play on rubbish containers ( don't we have enough?) and water butts (ditto)...I'm not sure such a business is as valuable as it was - but this fall looks like there is some bad news out there....and I'm not sure the full order-book is altogether profitable....and that's the real issue....in these days they need to get the money before delivery....CWO.

An encouraging set of results. I hope nobody listened to hlyeo and sold at 28p last year as they've risen over 3-fold since!

Recycling containers group Straight reported a 27% increase in first-half revenue to 17.2m from 13.5m thanks to a strong performance by the group's Trade Business. The group increased its interim dividend to 1.3p from 1p.

Headline operating profits for the six months to June increased to 0.9m from 0.1m while adjusted EPS rose to 6.1p from 0.9p. Profit before tax was 0.95m, against a previous first-half loss of 0.96m which included goodwill impairment of 1.03m.

Trade Business revenue rose 36% to 16.5m from 12.1m. Straight said substantial investment last year in new products had enabled it to capitalise on its leading market share in the supply of food waste containers, the biggest growth market in the sector.

The group had developed new markets at home and overseas. Substantial progress had been made in the Garden and Hardware sectors and with waste management companies.

Gross margins increased from 17.4% to 17.5%.

Rationalisation of the Retail Business has resulted in a turn-around in trading performance, said the group. Excluding depreciation and from a lower sales base of 0.7m (H1 2008 1.4m), the business made a small profit compared to a substantial loss previously. Retail was now in a strong position to take advantage of WRAP's withdrawal from the English home compost bin market and should make a more significant contribution in 2010, said Straight. The second half has continued in line with forecasts and the group anticipates its full-year performance will be in line with market expectations.

Terrific set of results, cash flowing through, considerable potential in overseas markets and the interim dividend lifted.

New FREE commentary at

http://www.investorschampion.com/research/company/straight/