Lavendon Group (in 2010) rejected a takeover bid at 111p.

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"Lavendon Group plc is the market leader in the rental of powered aerial work platforms in both western Europe and the Gulf States. We have operations in the United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, France, Spain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar. Our equipment fleet totals more than 22,000 units and we employ over 1,600 people."

website www.lavendongroup.com



Safety legislation such as the UK's 'Working At Height Regulations' is helping to drive rental demand. Similar laws are being enacted in various countries. Powered access platforms are increasingly preferred to ladders and scaffolding.



Lavendon Group trades as Lavendon Access Services (UK) Ltd, Nationwide Platforms (UK), Panther Platform Rentals Ltd (UK), Lavendon Access Services (France) S.A.S, Gardemann Arbeitsbuhnen GmbH (Germany), Rapid Access L.L.C (Dubai), Lavendon Access Services (Spain) S.L.U., DK Rental N.V (Belgium)

BANGALORE, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Lavendon Group (LVD.L) rejected Belgium's TVH Group's 183-million-pound ($284.9 million) offer for the British rental equipment firm, saying the bid was "opportunistic" and "significantly undervalued" the company.

Shares of Lavendon, which rents out powered aerial work platforms that enable people to work safely at heights, were up 29.4 percent at 102.25 pence at 1308 GMT on Friday, touching its highest level in more than a year.

They earlier rose as much as 31 percent to 103.5 pence, making it the top percentage gainer on the London Stock Exchange.

Earlier in the day, TVH said Lavendon rejected its second offer at 111 pence a share, which was at a premium of 41 percent to Lavendon's Thursday close.

TVH, which provides replacement parts for material handling and in-plant industrial vehicles, also said in a statement it was committed to establishing a "constructive" dialogue with Lavendon, but no talks were currently on.

"It is interesting, because the approach is being based on longer-term thinking, rather than shorter-term reality of trading," analyst Paul Jones of Panmure Gordon, which has a "hold" rating on the stock, said.

The Lavendon acquisition, if completed, might work only in the long-term, given the current uncertain state of the British construction sector, Jones said.

Construction unexpectedly picked up in November, but it stayed near an eight-month low and may not give much of a boost to economic growth this quarter.

Lavendon cherry picking success
Date: Friday 31 Aug 2012


Powered access equipment rental firm Lavendon has reported revenues and profits significantly ahead of expectations for the first half of 2012 as it seeks to capitalise on its European and Middle East markets.

The group is explicit in targeting the return on capital employed metric (ROCE), which rose from 7.9% in the first half of last year to 10% by the end of June this year. "It is our continued aim to drive ROCE to a sustainable level in excess of the cost of capital over the business cycle and we believe the Group is well positioned to achieve this," said Lavendon’s Chief Executive Don Kenny.

The group's total revenues for the six months to June 30th increased by 8% to £114.5m, reflecting an increase in rental revenues of 4% and a £4.2m increase in the sale of new and ex-rental fleet equipment.

Underlying operating profits increased by 31% to £13.6m (2011: £10.4m), with margins improving to 11.9% (2011: 9.8%).

Profit before tax came in at £9.5m, 55% ahead of 2011 while the interim dividend has been increased 102% to 0.75p per share.

Kenny said that trading “since the half year end has been in line with our expectations and we are well positioned to deliver another year of financial progress and, in the medium term, significant value to our shareholders."

Mention of the medium term is pertinent because since 2007 Lavendon shares have dropped 80%. Today’s figures resulted in a rise of 7.44% by 11:23.

LVD

A FULL DECK of Buys.

Not suprised the forward P/E for
2013 is only 10 whilst historicaly
in the past few years it has
been as high as 23 plus.

PEG 0.57 (2012)

Far to cheap imo.

Lavendon Group PLC

SUMMARY CHARTS DIRECTOR DEALINGS FORECASTS WIRES 2012 2013
Date Rec Pre-tax (£) EPS (p) DPS (p) Pre-tax (£) EPS (p) DPS (p)

Panmure Gordon [A]
03-09-12 BUY 25.40 12.30 2.46 29.00 13.40 2.97
Peel Hunt [A]
31-08-12 BUY 26.54 11.91 2.25 29.46 13.22 2.45
Canaccord Genuity Ltd
31-08-12 BUY 27.30 12.30 2.30 30.80 13.90 3.00
Westhouse Securities [A]
30-08-12 BUY
Charles Stanley Securities [A]
19-06-12 BUY 25.80 11.78 1.81 28.80 13.18 2.08
Investec Securities
07-12-11 BUY 25.36 11.51 1.20 28.00 12.71 1.30

2012 2013
Pre-tax (£) EPS (p) DPS (p) Pre-tax (£) EPS (p) DPS (p)

Consensus 27.30 12.30 2.30 30.80 13.90 3.00
1 Month Change 0.00 0.00 0.29 0.00 0.00 0.69
3 Month Change 1.55 0.63 0.23 1.67 0.80 0.62

Notes to forecasts
(12 Jul 2012) A flag refers to outlook


GROWTH
2011 (A) 2012 (E) 2013 (E)

Norm. EPS 108.69% 19.88% 13.01%
DPS 11.83% 121.15% 30.44%

INVESTMENT RATIOS
2011 (A) 2012 (E) 2013 (E)

EBITDA £72.96m £77.60m £82.10m
EBIT £29.05m £31.90m £34.90m
Dividend Yield 0.75% 1.66% 2.16%
Dividend Cover 9.86x 5.35x 4.63x
PER 13.55x 11.30x 10.00x
PEG 0.12f 0.57f 0.77f
Net Asset Value PS 57.37p p p

I had looked at the stock yesterday and to me for 2012 the EPS I will only expecting 10p or maybe just above considering the Half year was 4.45p.

So on that basis is on a PE of 13 Plus at 138p, with time will see if it carries on the big recovery at the Interim stage.

High enough for the moment being 2013 is too far away 18 month on my books.

SDY is on a much lower PE

Earnings % are better in the second half. Anyway its each to their own. Im not keen on the management at SDY. Let me down in the past. Have considered it but opted for LVD instead after selling my AHT as I think thats running out of steam for the moment.

LVD - blue
SDY - red

LVD has outperformed SDY on both 3 month and 1 year by 35% or more

on this basis SDY needs to gain ground as on past times and get level or close to it

That was the main reason for buying some SDY last week at just under 24p

Up she goes.

.

Lavendon this morning bounces off 150p. It’s worth noting broker recommendations for Lavendon with current consensus being that of buy. Panmure Gordon provided its last update on Lavendon on the 31/08/2012 when the price was 128p at the time it placed the stock on buy recommendation increasing its target price from 136p to 160p. I'm feeling cautiously bullish on Lavendon following a relaxation on planning laws, although this is good for the UK market I can’t help but be cautious as European austerity will drive down demand there.

On dividends the final was paid at a rate of 1.38p on the 1st May 2012, the interim dividend is due on the 15th October 2012 at a rate of 0.75p. Total dividend for the year is 2.13p, at the current share price of 148p this equates to a 1.44% dividend yield.

Earnings, EPS for end of 2012 are forecast at 12.07p which against a share price of 148p is a PE of 12.2, and for 2013 EPS is forecast at 13.4p give a PE of 11, whilst historically in past it has been as high as the 20's. So the share would appear to be cheap at present rates.

If the yield were higher this would sit as a buy for me, I am worried about forward momentum with the cut backs in Europe and I would like to see a further reduction in debt. Panmure Gordon based its 160p target on a PE of 12 which we know the market supports and forecast 2013 earnings of 13.4p which is logical. I think 150p will provide resistance as investors will want confirmation if the company is still on track to meet forecast earnings before raising their target prices and accumulating further. One for the watchlist I think..

Trading Update

Full year results expected to be at the upper end of Board's expectations



http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=4519662

Up nearly 8%

SDY has performed better as I was expecting ( the graph above shows and the figures below also)

at 10 Sep 2012
SDY Was 26p now 40p up by 53.8%

LVD was 138p now 155.75p up by 12.8% ( after today's large rise )

Lavendon: Panmure Gordon shifts target price from 160p to 164p and downgrades from buy to hold.

Been in since Aug sold my holding

Nice one squirrel!

Early I know skinny, On to the next investment. What it is I don't know yet. lol

I hear these might catch on - worth a punt!

I don't think so.lol

Lovely breakout and very strong momentum........