Web Site : http://www.hasgrove.com/

Hasgrove is the parent company of some of the best communication brands in the United Kingdom and Europe.

Hasgrove offer their clients high quality consultancy and implementation at affordable prices across a range of disciplines from brand design to creative advertising; public relations to European public affairs; from on-line marketing to new media development and even, TV and broadband as well as corporate video production.

Hasgrove operates through 3 well-established independent brands and their related companies: Interel based in Brussels, Paris, Prague and Antwerp offers expert corporate PR and PA advice and knowledge; The Chase is one of the best design agencies in the UK based in Manchester, London and Preston; while Connectpoint offers an integrated marketing and advertising mix from its Manchester city centre headquarters.

Hasgrove believes in attracting best of breed companies into the group and offers those companies the opportunity to benefit from the companys management and financial ethos which includes a growth strategy based on brand development, careful expansion and investment in management and people.


Shares in Issue : 18.59m

Major Shareholders :

Godfrey Taylor Director 10.8%
Octopus Asset Management 9%
Stephen Rodgers Director 8.1%
J-L Schuybroek Director 6.8%
Unicorn Asset Management 6.7%
RB Casey Director 3.9%
R McLoughlin Director 3.7%
Rod Hyde Director 3.5%
Universities SS 3.2%

Moving up, and it should, its cheap at the moment, and with earnings enhancing acquisition potential, it could get quite a bit cheaper over time.

Ticking up again nicely today too.

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/business/s/236/236732_pooling_their_talents_pays_off.html


Pooling their talents pays off

Simon Donohue

20/ 2/2007


IT might be something of a corporate clich', but `blue sky thinking' really did play a part in the birth of the Hasgrove Group.

Chief executive Rod Hyde was on a sunshine holiday on the Greek island of Lefkas when he chanced upon fellow founding director Rob McLoughlin at a cocktail party welcome meeting.

During the course of the week, the two men came up with a plan to capitalise on the way technology was changing the world's communications needs.

"We come from totally different parts of the world of communications but realised that our worlds were coming together," said Mr Hyde, 57. "My background was one of technology, I'd previously worked in software and finance, while Rob's background was one of media and marketing services.

"We realised that we knew quite a few of the same people, but had never met each other. We decided there and then that there was an opportunity to do something exciting together. It happened in Manchester because that's where we both live."

Hasgrove Group was officially created in November 2004, with a third founding director, `finance man' Godfrey Taylor, an award-winning TV presenter and producer who used to be a director of Granada Television.

The three men raised a fighting fund of '1.6m - much of it their own money - and set off on the acquisition trail.

Poolside

And, in just three years, that same poolside dream has evolved into a pan-European marketing communications group boasting a market value of '27m and a listing on the Alternative Investment Market which raised an additional '5.4m last November.

Key to the group's vision is adapting to the needs of the marketplace while bringing together companies with complementary communications skills.

Eight deals totalling '19.6m have been completed to date.

The first deal came in March 2005 with the '2.2m acquisition of Connectpoint, an integrated marking consultancy offering advertising, PR and marketing services from a base in Quay Street, Manchester.

At the same time, Hasgrove did deals totalling '300,000 for the Flent Public Relations and Carm Media businesses.

Hasgrove paid '11,000 for the On-Line Direct Marketing company in October 2005. The Chase - a respected design agency with offices in Manchester, Preston and London - was acquired last March for '1.6m.

The group's largest acquisition to date was the '6m purchase of Interel SA, which is based in Brussels and has offices in Paris and Prague. Its services include corporate communications, brand marketing and government relations.

It spent '11,400 on Spirit Marketing Communications in August 2004 and in February purchased Cabinet Stewart in a '1.59m deal. The Brussels-based EU Public Affairs consultancy is seen as being `highly complementary to' Interel. The Hasgrove Group now has more than 200 employees and a similar number of clients.

Brands

They include some of the world's best-known brands, many of whom - Swinton Insurance, Keycamp and drinks giant Diageo - are already utilising the skills of more than one Hasgrove Group company. Other clients include MUTV and Co-operative Funeralcare (advertising), Nivea and Nokia (PR), UNISYS and CISCO (PA), informa and SurgiCare (digital) and YorkshireWater and Citibank (design).

Indeed, Hasgrove sees cross referrals between its brands as one of the key factors for organic growth.

But the company is still acquisitive. It has a '6m war chest and could pull off even bigger deals by offering a mix of a cash and shares to potential targets.

In particular, Mr Hyde says he would like to work with some of the smaller, pioneering technology companies which exist across Manchester.

"They will be working on ideas within the world of communications which we haven't imagined yet," he said. "What we can provide is a bigger platform."

The Hasgrove philosophy is one of allowing the companies it buys to continue with minimal interference, Mr Hyde explains.

"We have great teams working for us. We essentially buy in their vision and support them.

"We are not going to try and change the cultures of those organisations. My main role is to spend time supporting the management in growing that vision faster and that's really exciting."

PapalPower , I can see that this stock has some useful plus points but what gives it an edge over some of the other more established players. I must admit that I do not have a great understanding of these sorts of service industries but some of the players must be massive in comparison , offer many related services and have a large geographic spread. Are these sort of industries not losers if the economy takes a downturn ?

Madelin, that all depends on their performance, and repeat business is a sign of good performance, of which Hasgrove has lots of repeat business. There is a high degree of revenue visibility, which is a plus point for us investors.

They are serving presently over 200 customers, and as said above the cross referrals is a driver for organic growth.

And ticking up nicely again.

L2 is 2 v 2 @153/160

Another nice day so far :)

Well, were are off on a zoom upwards again today :)

L2 now 2 v 1 @170/177

Ticking back up nicely again.

Results read very well today.

The GCI April update is below :

http://www.growthcompany.co.uk/recommendations/254716/hasgrove.thtml


Hasgrove - STRONG BUY

Companies: HGV

12/04/2007
Progress has been maintained at Hasgrove, the pan-European marketing and communications counter recommended here at 144p in February.

The Manchester and Brussels-based group joined AIM with a 6.25m funding at 120p in November and subsequently impressed with preliminary numbers for the ten months to December 2006, delivering strong sales and profits surges for a transformational 2006. On a 200% plus revenue rise to 15.3m, pre-tax profits powered ahead by 156% to 1.8m, with earnings surging 74% north to 9.2p the year-end balance sheet was flush with 3.5m of net cash.

Readers may recall Hasgrove is the holding vehicle for a diverse batch of niche, though profitable and highly cash generative, ventures providing services across the public affairs and PR markets, as well as in advertising, graphic design and digital online marketing.

The three core brands are Connectpoint, The Chase, and Interel, the European public affairs and corporate communications consultancy that works with clients like Cisco, Weight Watchers and Shell and which has been benefiting from a burgeoning number of multinationals headquartering in Brussels. Recent acquisition Cabinet Stewart has proved highly complementary to Interel and given Hasgrove a leadership position in the fast-growing EU public affairs consultancy market.

Boasting balance sheet strength as well as a profitable portfolio of businesses, Hasgrove has acquisition targets in its sights and says investors can expect a maiden dividend from results for the year to December 2007. Based on forecast profits of 3.4 million and 12.1p of earnings for 2007 numbers now looking decidedly conservative the shares are swapping hands for less than 13 times estimated earnings. Thats undemanding and we remain fervent fans. Keep buying.