Watch out for this one floating in the next few days, it could turn out to be the float of the year. Theres not much available on the company yet but I have found the write up below which shows the fantastic potential of this one. Note just how cheap it is.

New Issue: here's one that's more than hot air

Published: 12:45 Monday 27 February 2006
By Cliff Feltham, Companies Correspondent

Owners of thousands of buildings in the UK are facing massive bills over the next few years to comply with new energy standards, which is good news for new AIM entrant Worthington Nicholls.

Air conditioning and ventilation units using ozone depletive gases have to be replaced by systems using more environmentally friendly gases.

The measures are creating a windfall for air conditioning installation companies like Manchester-based Worthington Nicholls which is to float on AIM with a price tag close to 35 million.

The firm, which has been around since the early 1970s, needs extra working capital to cope with the influx of orders which will see this year's turnover climb from 11.7 million to nearly 30 million.

The flotation, sponsored by broker Corporate Synergy, will also allow founder chairman Peter Worthington, who is nearing his 70th birthday, to sell shares worth around 7 million.

After years of steady progress, the firm has seen a huge jump in work triggered by new energy efficient legislation flowing from the Kyoto Agreement.

The deadline for owners of buildings to replace air conditioning, heating, ventilation and chilled water systems using banned gases is the end of 2009.

Chief executive Mark Worthington, son of John, believes there are at least 9,000 buildings in the UK which will have to comply with the new regulations. But the figure could be much higher. ' We are talking billions of pounds here,' he says.

Worthington Nicholls has concentrated on servicing hotel and retail clients which include Hilton, Holiday Inns, Debenhams, Arcadia and Boots.

A new, energy compliant air conditioning plant in a high street store can cost anywhere between 80,000 and 120,000. Re-fitting a Debenhams branch cost 670,000 while hotels can expect to pay around 3,500 a room for a new air conditioning unit.

Worthington Nicholls offers a complete service, designing the system, managing installation and providing regular maintenance. At present income from maintenance contracts is running at around 20% of total sales but that is expected to rise.

The flotation, which is raising a total of 15 million, will also provide a warchest for acquisitions. Two deals have already been lined up with will add another 20 million a year to turnover.

Mark Worthington says there is huge scope for acquisitions. The company claims to be market leader yet it only has a 3% share suggesting plenty of room for consolidation.

The company is making some confident assumptions about future growth. Profits are expected to rise from 3.7 million last year to 8.6 million in the current year to September. By 2008 it is projecting earnings of 12.6 million on sales of 45 million but this does not take into account any contribution from future acquisitions.

Says Worthington: 'Stringent environmental legislation has changed our business. Now the large international hotel and restaurant groups prefer to deal with a single supplier. We believe there is huge scope for expanding not just in the UK but across Europe.'

Price of the shares being placed will be fixed over the new few weeks following investor presentations with dealings due to start in about a month's time.

Please DYOR and do not use money on shares you cannot afford to lose.

cheers GF.

I got lucky that was all.

The more you practise Dil the luckier you seem to get ;)

Article from Daily Mail today indicates that Mark Worthington CEO is about to be blown out of the company that bears his name. Brokerage Panmure Gordon called the shock earnings alert 'a scandal', adding: 'The remnant of credibility that remained with shareholders is now destroyed.'

Yes, same article in the Express.
It looks as though quite a few hotels which were hit by the recent floods have delayed their A/C contracts with WNG, thus affecting this year's figures. I wonder if releasing a profit warning now might not be such a bad idea. Final results aren't due for a few months yet, so releasing a p.w. early in to a depressed market might soften the blow later. Yes, y/e figures will be disappointing but that should already be factored in to the sp. But, looks like top man is to get his marching orders.

Must feel sorry for the Worthingtons after all they have cashed in 8million of shares before the market found them out.

Sorry I got it wrong the amount Peter and Mark Worthington have realised from selling shares is in excess of 16million. Perhaps there ought to be an enquiry into how the compny's position changed so dramatically after the trading statement issued in April prior to the placing at 1.70 per share. Something fishy here? Or can you blame it on the weather!!!

Would appear Panmure are not impressed, post from AFN :


PUGUGLY - 17 Aug'07 - 11:52 - 2850 of 2989

Bulls selectivly posting:-

Full note ex Reuters suggests do not touch with a proverbial barge pole.

--Panmure Gordon said the company's outlook for the year was below its worst-case expectation. In a research note titled "A Scandal," the brokerage said, "The remnant credibility that remained with shareholders is now destroyed."

--For a catalogue of errors, including those related to previous company guidance and expansion strategy, the brokerage expects deep-rooted changes to the company's management and internal reporting systems.

--"The company requires a complete overhaul before it is worth re-visiting as an investment," Panmure wrote in a research note on the installer of air conditioning, heating, ventilation and chilled water systems. (Reporting by Nivedita Gupta in Bangalore)

Where is this going today?

Hmmmm. Those with foresight will be buying, or selling; those with hindsight will have made a fortune!

Can't hear the fat lady singing - just yet, anyway.

Took a look but the knife's a bit sharp !!

If these do stay afloat I don't beleive there's any rush to jump in just yet. ;-)

The Independent's Small Talk column on Monday reckoned the market was justified in hammering WNG but says the firm isn't dead in the water just yet. It finished by suggesting that, for investors with "nerves of steel", the firm could be worth a punt. But I think you're right, Big Al - there's no need to pile in just yet. Any good news issued (boardroom shake-up etc) is liable to be met with a fairly lukewarm response by the market. So I don't think there'll be any danger of missing the boat as the sp rockets (to mix a few metaphors!).

If execs sold a few weeks, or months, before making a statement that covered a period prior to their trading date; then it seems to me they will have known the figures were not good enough. It is possible they hoped a few big-orders would save the day and took the risk (not much of a risk!) of Selling whilst the sp was reasonably stable.
However, it would be my case that they would be aware that orders could be lost, or delayed - unless they had a signed committment which is most unlikley. Therefore, I believe the Execs should have warned the market and only then traded their shares - the sp might have been lower, but their Bone-Fides would be untouched.

I now hold these and hope the business is Good! - when I bought I was not aware of any Exec share-selling. This probably drew the Market's attention to the sp and the level-of-orders that would support it.

Bad show, er, IMHO.

Does anyone know the cash-position? I understood they'd done rather well with the placing, or was this to cancel debts, cancellations, floods and pestilence?

what's happened to goldfinger............no comment on there demise?........after all he bought this one to our attention!............strange!

Yes perhaps Goldfinger would like to update the header!!!

I think in fairness to GF, he bailed quite some time ago and took profits when he saw fit. It rather sounds like he should carry the can for others losses. Don't thhink so.

We enter and exit positions of our own free will and company situations can change quickly.

Get real, guys!

what a load of twaddle I am reading. In all my time on here I have found Goldfinger to be the most reliably informed bod.
I guess all those that think he should carry the can are also going to send him some dosh when they make a profit

GF was also the man who raved so extensively about SMC - and look what happened to them. In that case, I think he also exited before the excrement hit the fan, without so much as a nod or a wink to those he left behind.
So, while I wouldn't say he was a Midas-in-reverse, I'd certainly DYO(extensive)R before following in his footsteps. Either that, or try to develop his impeccable sense of timing!
BB's, eh - trust 'em at your peril. As Big Al says, when it comes down to it, it's every man and woman for themselves...

who on earth suggested you should TRUST BBs? .... certainly much of the opinion voiced on them has validity at the time of writing, but many factors move so fast, that if you are dumb enough not read the writing on wall, then you have only yourself to blame and should not try to pass the buck to the original poster

All

We all read BBs and many contributors research companies on them. The fortunes of companies change radically. You can read many threads on any BB and find outfits that were tremendous buys 1, 2, 3 or even 4 years ago which haven't done so well since.

I re-iterate: to buy or sell is an indivdual's choice and just because someone starts a thread does not make them responsilbe for the future fortunes of that company.

BBs can give you ideas and present you with some numbers to work on, but the choice is yours and yours alone.

goldfinger, and others, do some very good work in unearthing potential winners and take the trouble to publicise it for the benefit of the many. It's always the lazy ones who bitch and moan after they crash back down some time later.

DYOR means DYOR. As usual, many jump in with absolutely no idea of why or when to take the money and run. If you've lost it on WNG, then tough s**t. It's your own fault.