Trying to pick a company with turn around potential in the share price.
With the share price still close to long-term support 275p,UK Mail
looks quite capable of delivering some welcome portfolio profits.




https://www.ukmail.com/


The UK Mail Group (formerly known as Business Post Group) is the largest independent parcels, mail and logistics services company within the UK, offering innovative delivery solutions both locally and worldwide.


Over the past 40 years we have built up a business offering that we believe is second to none. With a national network of more than 55 sites and 2500 vehicles we are able to offer business customers an unique integrated service with a full range of time-sensitive and secure delivery options for parcels, letters and pallets – all of which can be tailored specifically to meet the needs of your business.

Over the past 40 years we have built up a business offering that we believe is second to none and our loyal customers now range from multinationals such as 02 and Talk Talk to family run businesses like Northamptonshire based Podington Garden Centre.

A dynamic and forward thinking company, UK Mail is committed to pushing the boundaries of the postal and express parcel delivery markets and continues to launch a range of innovative delivery solutions.

UK Mail Chief celebrates results with share purchase

Fri, 23 May 2014


The Chief Executive Officer of UK Mail this week celebrated a strong set of results by the mail and parcel courier with the purchase of 75,000 pounds-worth of shares.

Guy Buswell bought 12,195 shares at 615p each, taking his stake in the group to 267,807.

UK Mail's parcel business, which makes up 43% of its revenue, lifted revenue by 16.2% to £219.9m and operating profit by 37.2% to £22.4m as home deliveries related to online shopping partly drove increased volumes.

Its mail business, which contributes 48% of group revenue, increased revenue by 1.5% as it managed to keep customers and win contracts.

Mail volumes increased 2% against a year ago in comparison with an overall declining market as the group beat rivals such as Royal Mail to new work.

Investec raised its forecasts on the group, increasing its pre-tax profit prediction for 2014/15 by 3% to £24m and its earnings per share forecast to 34.6p from 33.5p.

It also confirmed its 'buy' advice with a cashflow-based target price of 700p.

UK Mail Finance and Operations Directors build stakes

Mon, 09 June 2014



The Group Finance Director and Group Operations Director of UK Mail have both upped their company holdings with the purchase of 4,000 shares each.

Both Steven Glew and Carl Moore spent 627p a share, giving each of the deals a trade value of £25,080.

The transactions come just a few weeks after the mail and parcel courier to deliver higher annual profits and dividends.

Group pre-tax profit rose 28.2% to £22.8m on a 7% lift in revenue to £508.5m.

It increased the final dividend by 14.5% to 14.2p per share, giving a total annual dividend increase of 13.3% to 21.3p.

The results prompted Investec to raise its pre-tax profit prediction for 2014/15 by 3% to £24m and its earnings per share forecast to 34.6p from 33.5p.

Glew's stake in the company now stands at 125,263 shares, while Moore holds 5,177.

Interim Management Statement

RNS


RNS Number : 7142L

UK Mail Group PLC

09 July 2014






9 July 2014





uk mail Group plc



INTERIM MANAGEMENT STATEMENT



"A solid start to the current financial year"



UK Mail Group plc announces the following Interim Management Statement covering the period 1 April 2014 to 30 June 2014.



We have made a solid start to the current financial year, with overall performance for the first quarter in line with our previous expectations.



Reported Group revenues for the first quarter increased by some 2.5% compared to the same period in the previous year. Adjusted for there being one less working day in the period compared to the same period last year, the underlying revenue increase was some 4.5%.



Our Parcels business continued to deliver a good performance, with daily volumes for the quarter increasing by some 10% compared to the same period last year. This volume growth was partly driven by an increase in home deliveries related to online shopping, with a continuation of the mix change towards B2C, as previously guided. We expect that the level of parcels volume growth will continue to moderate going forward as we annualise the higher volume growth achieved during the last financial year, reflecting the partial and temporary capacity constraints that we have previously disclosed, as we develop our new expanded and automated hub.



In our Mail business daily volumes were slightly up on the same period last year. Our Mail business has recently won a number of new tenders which we expect will lead to good volume growth for the remainder of the financial year.



Our Courier and Pallet businesses showed revenue increases compared to the same period in the previous year.



The Group remains in a sound financial position.



Our strategic investments are progressing to plan. Our new automated hub is on track to be operational from May 2015, providing a significant step forward in how we operate; creating extra capacity and reducing operating costs. Our key objectives during the relocation process will be to retain the knowledge and experience of our teams while maintaining our high levels of customer service. Good progress is being made and we are on track to achieve our objectives in this key area.



With the strength of our market position, a well invested, integrated and automated network, and a growing suite of innovations and industry-leading products and services, we remain excited about the medium term growth prospects for UK Mail.



The Group's Annual General Meeting will take place at 12.00pm today, 9 July.



The Group expects to issue a pre-close trading update for the half year ended 30 September 2014 in early October 2014.



- Ends -

9 Jul Investec 700.00 Buy

By John Ficenec, Questor editor

6:00AM BST 10 Jul 2014


UK Mail
592¼p-1
Questor says HOLD


UK MAIL said yesterday that a strong increase in parcel deliveries had supported earnings but Questor argues investors should wait a little longer before cashing in.


The delivery group said online retail had once again boosted parcel delivery volumes by 10pc during the first


quarter compared to the same period last year.


First quarter revenue increased by 2.5pc. Once adjusted for the loss of three days trading this year, underlying revenue increased by 4.5pc.


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Trading was in line with market expectations. Full-year, pre-tax profits are now expected to be 8pc higher at £24.5m, giving earnings per share of 34.9p, increasing to 38.2p next year.

The company warned that the increase in the volume of parcels would slow throughout the year when compared to the rapid growth last year. The first quarter volumes grew by 10pc, down from 19pc growth the company reported last year.

This is significant because parcels contributed about 60pc of the group’s profits and about 40pc of the revenue in the annual results last year.

The age of the internet was supposed to be the death of traditional letter delivery operations as email replaced what disparagingly became known as “snail mail”. However, as increasing numbers of people shop online, the internet has provided UK Mail with its fastest growing business.

Traditional mail delivery is undoubtedly in structural decline but UK Mail has bucked the trend, enjoying volumes that it said were “slightly up” on the same period last year.

Shares in UK Mail have more than doubled in value from around 250p a year ago.

The forecast dividend on the shares is 34.9p, which offers a yield of 3.9pc. The dividend is covered 1.5 times by earnings and free cash flow.

The balance sheet is also strong, with around £27m in net cash reported at the year end. This is impressive, considering the group is investing £20m in a new automated sorting system to increase efficiency.

This means investment that is expected to take place over the next two years will be funded by the company’s own cash. The site is due to be operational in May 2015.

UK Mail is a growth company but, with the shares trading on 17 times forecast 2014 earnings and growth slowing, they remain a hold.

24 Oct Cantor... 700.00 Buy

Half Yearly Report

RNS


RNS Number : 2495X

UK Mail Group PLC

18 November 2014








18th November 2014



UK MAIL GROUP plc



UNAUDITED INTERIM RESULTS

For the 6 months ended 30 September 2014



Highlights



· Group revenues of £241.4m level with the previous year, adjusting for one less working day (2013: £243.4m)



· Group operating profit (pre-exceptional) increased by £0.1m to £11.4m, adjusting for one less working day (2013: £11.8m)



· Group profit before tax (pre-exceptional) of £11.4m level with the previous year, adjusting for one less working day (2013: £11.9m)



· Exceptional items of £6.5m (2013: £nil), comprising Pallets' goodwill impairment of £7.3m offset by HS2 compensation of £0.8m



· Net cash at period end of £9.5m (2013: £19.5m), after funding capital investment of £17.9m



· Interim dividend increased by 2.8% to 7.3p per share (2013: 7.1p)



· New products and service offerings continue to make good progress, with our one hour delivery window roll-out complete



· Relocation of hub from Birmingham to Ryton with full hub automation on track for completion, on budget, in May 2015



Guy Buswell, Chief Executive Officer of UK Mail, said:-



"Overall the Group had a satisfactory first half, with adjusted operating profit ahead of what was a very strong performance in the first half of last year.



"Trading in the initial weeks of the second half, and overall trends within our individual businesses, have been as anticipated, with our peak trading weeks still to come. Our expectations for the full year remain unchanged.



"We are now in a period of significant investment and transition, as we put the infrastructure in place for the next phase of growth. The new fully automated hub under construction represents the largest strategic development in our history. Ours is a growth market that is rapidly polarising between high quality, innovative and sophisticated operators and those at the opposite end of the value scale. Against such a backdrop, the investments we are making place us at a significant competitive advantage for the medium and longer term."



------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



By John Ficenec, Questor editor

6:00AM GMT 19 Nov 2014


UK Mail
410p+13¼p
Questor says HOLD


UK MAIL [LONUKM] said that parcel delivery operations had been resilient across the first half and that was enough to send the shares 3pc higher yesterday as markets had been expecting tough competition to hit profits.


The delivery group said online retail had once again increased parcel delivery revenues by 3.4pc during the first half when compared to the same period last year.

The more important information was that UK Mail said it achieved £6.2m in operating profits during the first half, down from £6.3m last year and that came despite increasing competition from the likes of Royal Mail and TNT. With an increasing amount of consumers using click and collect, causing parcel volumes to fall, the market was fearing the profit performance would be worse.


Trading was in line with market expectations with group revenue down 1pc to £241.4m and pre-tax profits of £11.4m, down from £11.9m last year.


Guy Buswell, chief executive, said the company is still on target to hit full-year, pre-tax profits of £22.5m, giving earnings per share of 31.2p, increasing to 36.0p next year.

The company had previously warned that the rapid increase in parcel volumes would slow throughout this year. The UK parcel delivery market is profitable and fiercely contested with Amazon launching its own service this year and eBay also providing a collection service through Argos shops. This is significant because parcels contributed about 60pc of the group’s profits and about 40pc of the revenue in the annual results last year.

By contrast, traditional mail delivery is undoubtedly in structural decline which has affected UK Mail. The company reported revenue from mail delivery down 5.1pc to £109.7m and operating profits down 2.4pc to £6.2m.

Shares in UK Mail fell sharply from around 560p to 470p on September 25 when the company warned on the slowing growth in the parcel market. The forecast dividend on the shares is 22.7p, which offers a yield of 5.7pc. The shares are trading on 12.7 times forecast 2014 earnings and remain a hold.

Wrong Thread.

Director/PDMR Shareholding

RNS


RNS Number : 5458X

UK Mail Group PLC

20 November 2014






UK Mail Group plc ("UK Mail" or the "Company")



Director/PDMR Shareholding



20 November 2014

UK Mail Group plc. received notification that on 19 November 2014, Jessica Burley, a Non-Executive Director and person discharging managerial responsibility, ("PDMR"), purchased 1,500 ordinary shares of 10p each in the Company ("Shares") at a price of 405p per Share.



Following this purchase Jessica Burley holds voting rights attached to 1,500 ordinary Shares representing 0.003% of the issued share capital of the Company.

Ex dividend 4 Dec 7.3p

Signal Update

Our system’s recommendation today is to BUY. The BULLISH STOP LOSS pattern finally received a confirmation because the prices crossed above the Stop Loss level which was at 437.7500, and our valid average buying price stands now at 455.2500. The previous SELL signal was issued on 26/11/2014, 6 days ago, when the stock price was 429.5500. Since then UKM.L has risen by +5.98%.

Market Outlook

A rally after a bear setup can occasionally turn into an explosive long trade. We may be on the verge of catching one of them. There is now a strong positive sentiment in the market despite the absence of a bullish pattern. The bullish stop loss is finally confirmed and a BUY signal is generated. Market wants to reward the bulls. It may be now the right time to be part of this boost and bullish market sentiment by joining the growing bullish crowd


https://www.britishbulls.com/SignalPage.aspx?lang=en&Ticker=UKM.L

From the company website

Trading Statement
05 Jan 15 UK Mail Group PLC [UKM]


Now changed


Q3 Management Statement 13 January 2015

StockMarketWire.com
UK Mail Group said its expectations for the full year outcome for its core businesses remain unchanged. Trading in that business in Q3 to Dec. 31, 2014, has been in line with its expectations. It has proposed the closure of its non-core UK Pallets business.

"Our core businesses have performed well with our Parcels business successfully handling record volumes, and our network remaining robust, during the peak weeks running up to Christmas," the company said in a trading update.

"The demise of City Link is likely to have a positive impact on the overall UK parcels industry. We have taken on some volumes from ex-City Link customers but it will be some time before the longer term outcome, on our business and on the industry as a whole, can be properly assessed."

The construction and fit out of the new hub is on track for completion next week. The hub automation has been installed and is now entering a commission and testing phase ahead of implementation in May 2015.

UK Mail said at the time of its interim results that its non-core subsidiary UK Pallets Ltd, having suffered declining profitability in recent years, was continuing to experience a number of challenges and that it was taking action to address this underperformance.

"As previously indicated, we have been actively considering all options for this business and a proposal has now been made to close it," UK Mail said.

"This process will be managed over some three months, ensuring that all employees and customers are properly supported. It is hoped that a number of employees would be able to take up alternative roles within UK Mail.

"We estimate that the cash costs will be approximately £1m, with asset write downs of some £2m, including the residual goodwill that arose on acquisition. These will be treated as exceptional items.

"Pallets is the Group's smallest business, contributing just 5.3% of group revenue and 2.3% of group operating profit in the year to 31 March 2014, and is run separately from the Parcels, Mail and Courier operations. These core businesses will therefore be unaffected by the proposed closure."

UK Mail: Investec upgrades to 'buy' with a target price of 600p.

Broker Cantor has sent a positive message to parcels firm UK Mail (LON:UKM), repeating a 'buy' stance on the stock.

In the recent Q3 update, it was revealed the group handled record volumes in the three months and that trading was "in line".

The company is a clear winner in the shake-up of the UK parcels business, reckons analyst Robin Byde, although he does says he's cautious on the outlook short term and trims estimates mainly for 2015.

"Generally, the next 12 months are pivotal for UKM with its new hub coming on-stream. This should deliver significant benefits and further improve competitiveness," he said.

The target price is lowered to 620p from 700p.




http://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/columns/broker-spotlight/17615/broker-spotlight-including-uk-mail-rbs-british-american-tobacco-and-itv-17615.html

Buy UK Mail on record parcel numbers

UK Mail says that the parcel delivery business delivered record Christmas volumes

the company is still on target to hit full-year, pre-tax profits of £22.5m, giving earnings per share of 31.2p


By John Ficenec, Questor Editor

8:00PM GMT 17 Jan 2015


UK Mail
500p
Questor says BUY


The demise of parcel delivery firm City Link was good news for rival operator UK Mail [LON:UKM]. The company last week announced record volumes of parcels during the vital Christmas period.


Shares in UK Mail jumped more than 7pc last week as the delivery company said it had taken on ex-City Link customers.


UK Mail shares have now gained more than 18pc in the past three months. This could mark a turning point for the company which saw its shares tumble almost 25pc last year as investors shunned small-cap companies.


The company was rocked by fears for parcel delivery after Amazon launched its own delivery service. This is significant because parcels contributed about 60pc of the group’s profits and about 40pc of the revenue. UK Mail shares peaked at 715p in Febraury last year before falling as low as 380p in October.

In the most recent detailed update for the first half ended September 30 trading was in line with market expectations. Revenue down 1pc to £241.4m and pre-tax profits of £11.4m, down from £11.9m last year.

Guy Buswell, chief executive, said the company is still on target to hit full-year, pre-tax profits of £22.5m, giving earnings per share of 31.2p, increasing to 36.0p next year.

The shares are trading on 15 times forecast earnings and we upgrade to a buy.

Why I Would Buy UK Mail Group PLC But Sell Vedanta Resources plc And Enquest Plc

http://www.fool.co.uk/investing/2015/01/20/why-i-would-buy-uk-mail-group-plc-but-sell-vedanta-resources-plc-and-enquest-plc/

some strange goings on....any thoughts?

Trading Statement
RNS
RNS Number : 3804V
UK Mail Group PLC
07 August 2015

7 August 2015

UK MAIL GROUP PLC

("UK Mail" or the "Group")



TRADING STATEMENT



As stated in its preliminary results statement on 20 May 2015, UK Mail is in the midst of a period of major investment and transition. Whilst the longer term opportunities for the Group are substantial, the first half of the current financial year was expected to be challenging.

It is now clear that the near-term challenges and their impact on the current year's performance are more significant than anticipated.

The Group has now completed the move of its Birmingham hub and head office to a new, fully-automated facility in Coventry, with the relocation contract with HS2 expected to complete on the 10th August 2015.

While parcel volumes for the first four months of the new financial year were some 4% ahead of the comparable period last year, the move has caused a greater level of customer churn and loss of volume than anticipated, with an associated adverse impact on parcels revenue mix. In addition, a greater than anticipated proportion of current parcels volumes is incompatible with UK Mail's new automated sortation equipment, resulting in additional operating costs and therefore a delay to the full benefits expected from automation.

Management is taking action to resolve these issues, and the Group remains satisfied that the anticipated financial and operational benefits from the new hub and increased automation will be achieved in the medium term.

The Group's Mail business continues to perform well, with volumes up by some 6% during the first four months of the new financial year, representing a further increase in UK Mail's share of the access mail market. The Group has recently won a number of major contracts and has a good pipeline of opportunities, as a significant number of competitor contracts are now coming out to tender. UK Mail's packets initiative also continues to make good progress, with a strong pipeline of opportunities in this market.

Overall, as a result of the above factors, the Board anticipates that the Group's performance for the current financial year will be materially below current market expectations, with profit before tax (before one-off exceptional items) now expected to be in the range of £10m to £12m, and with some continuing impact into the first half of the next financial year.

Guy Buswell, Chief Executive Officer of UK Mail, said:-

"This near-term setback to our financial performance is clearly very disappointing. However we are taking decisive action to address these issues and we are confident that they can be reversed.

"The completion of our new fully-automated hub represents the largest strategic development in our corporate history and the rationale for this significant investment remains compelling.

"We continue to believe that it will make us one of the most efficient and competitive operators in our markets and, with number of significant new customers keen to use our services as a result of this investment, we remain confident in our medium and long term growth prospects."

ENDS

7 Aug Investec 485.00 Add
7 Aug Cantor... N/A Buy