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?

I wonder why they have suddenly upped their target. No details presumably skinny, to go with that 515p target?

Harry - its a reiteration,not an update - see here.

Ah thanks, though not very inspiring as they have been punting around that target for ages now and the sp has drifted south! Perhaps I should average down now and ditch the lot at 470p!

I've been watching for months but don't hold atm.

shot up over the last two days, following the payment of the divi. Not sure why the rise has happened but opportunity to exit for me.

StockMarketWire.com
Mears Group said it continues to deliver a solid trading performance and anticipates reporting FY results in line with management expectations.

"The Group has 94% visibility of the market consensus revenue forecast for 2016 of £975 million (2015: 92%). This is ahead of recent years, reflecting the strong progress made in new contract bidding," it said.

"The Group continues to see a strong performance in its Housing division, which accounts for 80% of Group revenues, compared with the more challenging environment within the Care division.

"Strong working capital management continues to benefit the Group with a net cash position anticipated as at 31 December 2015."

StockMarketWire.com
Mears Group's FY pretax profit has slipped to GBP25.9m, from GBP29.7m. Sales revenue totalled GBP881.1m, from GBP838.7m. Dividend was 11p a share, from 10p.

Separately, Mears said it had been appointed preferred bidder by Devon County Council for the provision of homecare services. The contract is for an initial five-year period with an option to extend for a further two years and will be worth over GBP100m.

Returning to the results, CEO David Miles said:
"Our Housing business has delivered a strong performance. We are delighted with the progress being made with our developing Housing Management business. The speed of change in this area is particularly exciting and we are well placed to benefit from an extensive pipeline of opportunities.

"We continue to find the Care market challenging. We are placing greater emphasis on maintaining a portfolio of good quality contracts that can provide clear and sustainable margins whilst at the same time delivering a first class experience to our service users.

"The introduction of the National Living Wage has placed further financial pressures on both Care commissioners and providers but I have generally been encouraged by the initial reaction of our clients in recognising their responsibility to reflect the increase in our cost base with matching increases in our fee rates.

"We have significantly increased our focus upon carer retention and recruitment and I am pleased with the progress being made in this critical area. We remain confident that we have the right strategy and that Mears is well placed to take advantage of industry evolution.

"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 winning new contracts in both of our core growth sectors.

"Since the turn of the year, trading remains in line with our expectations for the full year. The Group is well positioned to take advantage of future opportunities and we look forward to updating the market with further successes."

StockMarketWire.com
Care support services firm Mears (MER) delivered a solid trading performance and anticipates reporting results for the half year in line with management expectations.

The group achieved 97% visibility of the £973 million consensus revenue forecast for 2016 and 85% visibility of the £1.03 billion consensus revenue forecast for 2017.

HOUSING
The group continues to see a strong performance in its housing division, which accounts for circa 83% of group revenues.

The housing division has experienced a particularly busy period of new contract mobilisations with a number of material contracts starting during the period. Two were of particular note:

- Mears formed a new regeneration partnership with Milton Keynes Council called YourMK, focusing on the regeneration of key areas in Milton Keynes. The contract, which mobilised in April 2016, is initially delivering repairs and maintenance services to nearly 11,500 homes and the company saw a significant extension to the scope of works. The contract is valued at &million;250 million over five years.

- Mears mobilised a key worker housing contract providing a full housing management service throughout the UK. This includes sourcing properties, managing the application and allocation process as well as the subsequent day to day administration. The contract, which fully mobilised in April 2016, is valued at £195 million over the initial three year term.

All new mobilisations are progressing well. The group anticipates a lower margin from a new contract during its mobilisation phase, being a time when the primary focus is in investing to establish excellent customer service.

Accordingly, whilst these new contracts will generate a lower margin at the half year, operating margins can be expected to normalise during the second half of the year.

In addition, Mears was re-awarded a contract with Sutton Housing Partnership to provide responsive repairs, voids and planned maintenance services to around 6,000 homes. The contract was previously awarded on an emergency basis following the termination of the incumbent provider.

The new award of a ten year contract, valued at £45 million, is a reward for the group's willingness to take the contract at short-notice.

The new contract is due to mobilise in July 2016.

Mears was awarded additional areas to its existing home group contract. Mears was awarded a five year contract to deliver responsive repairs, voids, gas servicing and planned maintenance services to a further 5,000 properties in the central region.

In addition, Mears won twelve month emergency contract to deliver the same range of services to 10,000 properties in the North West region. These two additional contracts, which were mobilised over a short timescale in April 2016, are together valued at around £35 million.

Mears was successful in re-securing the Sedgefield contract. The contract, which provides responsive and planned maintenance to around 8,500 homes, is valued at £110 million over the ten year contract term. The new contract starts in July 2016.

The company was also successful, subject to the conclusion of a standstill period, in being appointed as commercial adviser in respect to the Gateshead contract. The new contract, which is due to commence in April 2017, will see Mears take a greater role in the strategic development of our partnership to an enlarged insourcing solution. The Manchester City Council joint venture is the last material re-bid, with the contract due to expire in March 2017 and the tender process is ongoing.

CARE
The care business, which accounts for circa 17% of group revenues, continues to find the current market conditions challenging. There remains a significant disparity between the short and long-term care opportunity in the UK.

Mears continues to focus upon improving carer recruitment and retention rates, which remains a significant constraint to progress.

Much of the focus in the first six months of the year has been with a view to managing the impact of the national living wage (NLW).

At this time, we implemented rate increases covering approximately 75% of our care business which, in aggregate, has delivered a blended increase in charge rates of around 6%.

Mears commenced a detailed contract-level review by contract which is expected to conclude over the coming weeks.

As reported previously, Mears was appointed as primary provider by Devon County Council (Devon) for the provision of homecare services across South Devon.

The contract is fundamentally different from the norm, with the client outsourcing to Mears its adult social care function, taking on responsibility for commissioning, co-ordinating and supporting other local providers.

The contract is for an initial five year period with an option to extend for a further two years and is valued at over £100m. The contract, which is the largest care contract ever awarded to Mears, is currently in its pre-mobilisation phase and is due to commence in July 2016.

Mears was notified by Wiltshire Council, subject to completion of the usual standstill period and Cabinet ratification, of its intention to award Mears zones in the North and West regions of the county, to add to existing work in the south and east.

This will mean Mears will be the prime provider for the significant majority of work across the county, which will double the overall value of the work done by Mears. The additional work has been awarded to Mears due to the high levels of service and partnership working we have delivered under our existing contract.

In the long-term, Mears continues to see significant opportunity in the Care sector and remains confident that it has the right strategy.

FINANCIAL POSITION
As previously reported, the group recently amended and extended its revolving working capital facility. The total commitment under the facility increased from £120m to £140m together with a reduction in pricing.

The directors anticipate reporting a small net debt position at 30 June 2016.

Jefferies International today reaffirms its hold investment rating on Mears Group PLC (LON:MER) and raised its price target to 460p (from 430p).

Pre-Close Trading Update

Peel Hunt Buy 450.88 550.00 550.00 Reiterates

Liberum Capital Buy 450.88 540.00 540.00 Reiterates

Just closed for a 3day +25p round trip.

StockMarketWire.com
Housing and social care provider Mears said its housing revenues will be £30 million lower than previously expected this year, resulting in a loss of profit and lower overhead recovery.

It warned that the recent tragic events at Grenfell Tower will impact the housing division as clients review the commissioning and safety practices at their properties.

"These unexpected events will inevitably impact the timing of our planned workloads as clients' attentions have naturally been diverted towards ensuring that their housing portfolios are safe and fully compliant," the company said.

It expects housing revenues of around £800m in 2017, compared with its previous expectation of £830m.

Housing margins will be between 5.3% and 5.5% rather than the previous expectation of 5.6% to 5.8%.

In the first half, Mears' revenue increased by 1% to £470.8m, with adjusted profit before tax up 1% to £18.3m.

The housing division, which accounts for 85% of group revenues, reported revenues of £402.1m, representing organic growth of 3%.

The care division saw revenues decline by 10% to £68.7m, which the company said reflects significant progress in securing new contracts to replace the lost revenues following the closure of sub-optimal branches.

The company declared an interim dividend of 3.45p, an increase of 5% year-on-year.

Peel Hunt Buy 445.75 550.00 550.00 Reiterates

Liberum Capital Buy 445.75 540.00 540.00 Reiterates

Liberum Capital today reaffirms its buy investment rating on Mears Group PLC (LON:MER) and cut its price target to 500p (from 540p).

StockMarketWire.com
Social housing and care-sector support company Mears Group said it had seen further softening of revenues in its housing division.

The company said it had commenced a "right-sizing" across a range of support functions that would would last until the end of the year. More details would be provided in March.

"I do not wish to gloss over our 2017 performance and I understand the importance of delivering against our financial targets in the short term," chief executive David Miles said.

"Whilst some of the short-term challenges in housing could not have been anticipated, it is frustrating a number of other opportunities that could have helped mitigate these challenges did not develop quickly enough."

"Nonetheless, I am pleased with the progress made over the last year across the entire Mears business and on a range of important indicators."

Liberum Capital today reaffirms its buy investment rating on Mears Group PLC (LON:MER) and cut its price target to 480p (from 525p).

StockMarketWire.com
Housing and care-sector services provider Mears Group posted a fall in annual profit, amid delays to the timing of planned workloads following the fatal fire at Grenfell Tower.

Pre-tax profit slipped 7% to £37.1m, as revenue declined by 4% to £900.2m.

The company said it also experienced a slow period securing new contract revenues in its housing division.

It nevertheless increased its annual dividend by 3% to 12.00p per share.

'Whilst 2017 proved to be a challenging year, we have made solid operational progress,' chief executive David Miles said.

'The decline in housing revenues following the tragic events at Grenfell Tower has stabilised although there still remains some uncertainty as to the speed at which these revenues will recover.'

'The performance of the care division has been a highlight, returning to profitability as planned following a period of restructuring, putting the care division on a stable footing.'

Placing at 331p and the share price is now 327p so I guess some aren't impressed.