The Sunday Telegraph finance editor doesnt like the idea of Mears anymore and, several weeks ago, suggested selling them -@128. Since then, they have been up to 138 and are now around the 130 mark. Since the Telegraph suggestion Fidelity Investment have stached away a 3.31% stake - as have others.All this for a share that was languishing, with others, at 58p just a wee while ago. NOW. How much are they worth? REALLY WORTH. To assess their ability to stay in business one only has to look at the average Council Executive. Reared on HIGH SALARIES and SMALL WORKLOADS their main aim is off load as much responsibilty as possible commensurate with spending extended time on the golf course and at sensible restaurants. Remember High Executives of Councils are not there with the intention of actually working themselves. Mears, therefore, is a ready made OUT for this idle,lazy band of brothers.A responsible, trustworthy, diligent and patently HONEST outfit who will assume the responsibility and afford our overloaded executive the ability to goof off for another lunch/game.YOU KNOW IT MAKES SENSE.Would anyone like to guess if I own a restaurant?

Not heading in the right direction atm.......fallen below the 200 DMA. Post ex-divi date so fall not unexpected, but hoping for a recovery pdq!

That's better!

Almost back to breakeven.............sp now above 200 DMA.......... have had the divi. Would be nice to achieve a little profit before moving on!

Strong looking chart - interims tomorrow 19th.

Interim Results

Financial Highlights
· Profit before tax* from continuing activities of £18.7m (2013: £16.9m), growth of 11%
· Excellent EBITDA cash conversion from continuing activities of 100% (2013: 85%)
· New contract wins in excess of £200m: Social Housing awards of £135m with a win rate of 35% (2013: £235m and 33%) and Care awards of £66m with a win rate of 63% (2013: £21m and 37%)
· Strong balance sheet with net cash at 30 June 2014 of £2.7m (2013: net debt £21.7m); average net debt of £63.0m (2013: £74.2m)

Liberum Capital Buy 492.75 493.25 560.00 560.00 Reiterates

Investec Add 489.88 520.00 520.00 Reiterates

Interims seemed reasonable. I go away for a week and sp goes into reverse for no apparent reason!

460 gone.

Bearish engulfing candle....

Isn't that a Bullish engulfing candle (but the wrong colour!). Doesn't a Bearish engulfing candle follow an obvious uptrend?

I knew there was something missing (the up trend) :-)

Clear as mud to me!!! The one in mid Nov last year is presumably a better example.
My understanding is that this should now be implying 'over sold', but if only it was that simple!

Yes - but it looks like a test of 440 on the way.

Might try and bail out if it gets close to the 200 DMA. Would be about break even for me. (+ divi).
Looking at the 5 year chart, the downside risk is just too great, imo.

Acquisition of Omega Group


Mears, the support services group to the Social Housing and Care sectors in the UK, is pleased to announce the acquisition of the Omega Group ("Omega" or "Omega Group") for an initial cash consideration of £20 million. Omega is a leading private sector provider of residential lettings and management services to the Social Housing market, with a portfolio of circa 1,700 properties and a client base of 24 Local Authorities and Housing Associations. The large majority of Omega's customers are based within London. However its most significant recent success has been to become the Social Lettings Agency for Birmingham City Council under a five-year contract to provide lettings, housing management and temporary accommodation services.

The Omega Group comprises:

· Omega Lettings Limited, 100% owned, property lettings
· Tando Property Services Limited, 50% owned joint venture, property lettings
· O&T Developments Limited, 50% owned joint venture, property lettings
· Zenon Property Services Limited, 100% owned, maintenance provider
· Omega Housing Limited, 100% controlled, Registered Provider (not for profit)
· Let-to-Birmingham Limited, 100% controlled, property lettings


Prior to its acquisition by Mears, Omega was owned and operated by members of the Antoniou family. The management team will remain with the business.

Rationale for the acquisition

The acquisition of Omega is in line with the Group's strategic aim to continue growing in the evolving Social Housing market; it will add further innovation to Mears' housing management offering and it is sympathetic to our partnership ethos. More specifically, the acquisition is a logical extension to the services provided within our Social Housing division and will add value to our existing customer base. Moreover, this acquisition will enhance our ability to work more widely with housing providers to improve the delivery of housing and property management services and to increase the supply and management of housing. Omega has been very successful in developing customer relationships, and Mears' national footprint will offer a wider range of customer relationships for Omega's services. The acquisition augments the Mears' medium term growth strategy and is anticipated to be earnings enhancing in the year ending 31 December 2015.

Key financial information

The latest audited accounts for Omega Lettings Limited are for the year ended 31 December 2013. The remaining Omega Group companies are entitled to accounting exemptions given their individual sizes and so prepare abbreviated accounts which are unaudited. The latest unaudited accounts for O&T Developments Limited are for the year to 31 January 2014 and the latest unaudited accounts for the remaining Omega Group companies are for the year ended 31 March 2013.

The aggregate pro-forma financial results extracted from the latest accounts for each of the Omega Group companies reported revenues, profit before tax and gross assets of £15.9m, £2.0m and £7.9m respectively. This reflects a 50% profit contribution and no inclusion of gross assets in respect of Tando Property Services and O&T Developments which will be accounted for using the equity method of accounting going forwards.

Mears expects the transaction to be earnings neutral in the year ending 31 December 2014. Whilst there will be some initial costs of integration, together with the transaction costs already incurred, these will be reported within normal trading and will be funded by Omega profits generated in the period up to the 31 December 2014.

Acquisition consideration

The initial consideration for the acquisition is £20.0 million in cash funded from Mears' existing banking facilities. The Omega business will be acquired with a normal level of working capital. Additional deferred consideration is payable at a multiple of 6.8 applied to average EBITDA over the 36 month period to 31 October 2017, up to a maximum of £20.0 million, and is payable in instalments across the earn-out period. The deferred consideration will be satisfied using either cash or shares, at the discretion of the Company, with the total consideration capped at £40.0 million.

Commenting on the acquisition, David Miles, Chief Executive of Mears, said:

"We are delighted to announce the completion of the acquisition of Omega. The shortage of safe and secure housing is a significant challenge faced by Mears' clients today. I anticipate Local Authorities having increased responsibility to provide more social homes and remove the reliance upon those private landlords who provide properties which are not of a uniformly high standard. This acquisition is a logical extension to the services provided within our Social Housing division and will enhance our ability to work with housing providers to improve the delivery of housing and property management services.

"I have been impressed by the quality of the Omega Group management team, who appear to have a strong cultural fit with Mears, and I welcome the Omega team to the Mears Group.

"I am excited by the medium term organic growth opportunities that will be facilitated through the development of the Omega business model. I know that Mears' clients will welcome our involvement to help professionalise this service area whilst being in a position to provide financial stability."

Interim Management Statement

Investec Hold 432.50 432.50 520.00 450.00 Downgrades

Hmmmmm.....I knew I should have kicked this one into touch. Am going to have to hold longer than anticipated!

Appointment as Preferred Bidder
Mears, the provider of support services to the Social Housing and Care sectors in the UK, is pleased to announce that it has been appointed preferred bidder by Torbay & Southern Devon NHS Trust ('Torbay' or 'the Trust') for Living Well@Home Services. It is anticipated that the contract will be awarded in January 2015 and will be for a minimum five year term with three possible one-year extensions. We understand this to be the first time that a contract of this type has been let to a single prime contractor in the UK.

The Trust has responsibility for all community NHS and Adult Social Care activities in the area. Mears will deliver a full range of community based services including personal care and more complex services such as health care at home, community support, mental health and learning disabilities support. The Trust currently spends in excess of £10 million per annum on home care and support services.

As prime contractor, Mears will also be responsible for working in partnership with the Trust to integrate IT systems and drive future innovation in service development. The Trust specifically wanted a long term strategic partner who is able to demonstrate a commitment to integrated working and the development of services that push the boundaries of quality care and support. Outcome-based payments will be implemented as soon as possible within the contract period.

This new contract is expected to commence in April 2015. The contract is designed to provide the flexibility for other services such as sheltered housing and a seven day response service, to be considered in the future.

Pre-Close Trading Update

Mears, the provider of support services to the Social Housing and Care sectors in the UK, today issues a pre-close trading update ahead of its preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2014, which will be released on 17 March 2015.

Mears delivered a solid trading performance across both core divisions and anticipates reporting results for the full year in line with management expectations. Mears continues to benefit from strong cash conversion and anticipates reporting a net cash position as at 31 December 2014.

The Group has 92% visibility of the market consensus revenue forecast for 2015 of £886 million (2014: 90%).

Commenting, David Miles, Chief Executive, Mears, said:

"I am pleased with the progress Mears has made in 2014.

"Mears has been focused over the last twelve months on providing a broader affordable housing offering to its customers. Our extended range of services has mirrored our clients' changing needs. We have invested in Housing Management and continued to develop new forms of partnering arrangements. I believe the opportunities for us in Social Housing remain very strong as our clients seek broader solutions to their increasingly complex housing challenges.

"In Care, as a robust high quality provider at the forefront of change in the sector, we remain very well placed strategically to take advantage of the longer term opportunities. I am delighted at the success we have achieved in new contract bidding and, importantly, we continue to see a positive move in the structure of tendered opportunities with new contracts being awarded to fewer providers but with increasing contract lengths. The anticipated award of the Torbay contract is another crucial milestone for Mears and represents further strong development in the UK Care market.

"I am delighted to report that we continue to achieve high levels of service delivery and customer satisfaction. The quality of our service delivery continues to be our key differentiator and underpins our success in bidding new contracts in both of our core growth sectors."


-ENDS-