Does anyone know much about this stock?
I read something a while back, hinting the company were heading back into the black, there has been nothing much since.
The company are due to release results on 15th September.

with thanks to mdchand on A***N:




mdchand - 9 Apr'05 - 11:22 - 105 of 105


Collins Stewart broker note (8/4/5) - Hot Group (13.25p)

After a modest share price recovery after the prelims at the end of February, Hot Group shares have underperformed their staffing peer group by 6% in the last month, and are worth re-visiting. The valuation looks anomalously low. We forecast EPS of 1.2p in 2005 and 1.55p in 2006, putting the shares on a 2005 P/E of 11.4x (25% discount to the peer group) and 2006 P/E of 8.5x (30% discount to the peer group). We forecast 150bp improvement in EBITA margins in 2005 and CAGR EPS growth of 19% (2004-6). The key driver of the profits improvement is the Online recruitment business, which we expect to contribute 50% of profits in 2005. 2H04 margins of c. 25% demonstrate the benefits of scale in the Online business. We believe that the Education segment in the Traditional division, which held back performance in 2005, is now on an improving trend. Our Sum of the Parts analysis, which seeks to capture the different growth characteristics of the two divisions, is 20p (52% upside).

The company is hosting a site visit at its head office in Hammersmith on 18th April (10.30am-12.30pm) that will focus on the Online business. Present from the management team will be Tony Reeves (CEO), Harvey Sinclair (MD Online), Chris Herrmannsen (MD Traditional Recruitment) and Steve Wright (FD). Please contact Laura Littley at Collins Stewart (0207-523-8445) if you would like to attend.

Worth buying for the epic alone.With the site visit next week,we may see the share tipped which would help the sp to recover.Since the fall from hi of year 2000 the sp has drifted along almost repeating the same pattern,with a 21p high reached in each of the last two years.The moving averages are unpredictable and the sp movement can appear almost volatile at times.
The increase in internet trading is a positive sign.
All the acquisitions of last year has diluted the sp as well as lowering the cash held and increasing the intangibles,intellectual property etc.
I am not qualified to make an in depth study of the financials.Maybe someone can help out here.This seems an interesting punt if they have not over-reached themselves by buying so many of their competitors.
It must be safer than a mining stock and there's no interest to shorters is there?

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/printFriendly/0,,2020-9076-1672756,00.html


"June 29, 2005

DMGT joins Trinity Mirror as suitor for Hotgroup
By Joe Bolger


THE publisher of the Daily Mail is considering making an offer for Hotgroup, the online recruitment group, The Times has learnt.

Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) is understood to be contemplating an offer for the owner of the website workthing.com in an effort to boost its online portfolio.

DMGT already owns jobsite.co.uk, one of the countrys largest online recruitment sites, and londonjobs.co.uk, which plays on the groups strong presence in the London market with its Evening Standard and Metro newspapers.

News that DMGT is eyeing Hotgroup comes days after it emerged that Trinity Mirror, publisher of the Daily Mirror and a string of regional newspapers, is lining up a 50 million approach. Earlier this month Hotgroup confirmed that it had received an approach from another party about a possible takeover bid.

It is understood that talks between DMGT and Hotgroup remain at an early stage. Speculation of a 50 million approach from Trinity Mirror would value the shares at about 20p, a premium to yesterdays 15p closing price. Traders believe a potential bidder could be willing to pay more.

Hotgroup also owns a string of traditional recruitment businesses. It is possible that a suitor could make an approach for only its online businesses. The group acquired Workthing in September, Gis-a-Job in May last year and has expanded into niche areas.

Trinity Mirror has made no secret of its desire to diversify from its core printed business."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,3604,1517720,00.html



Third suitor joins fray to buy Hotgroup

Nils Pratley
Thursday June 30, 2005
The Guardian

Three major regional newspaper groups are set to fight a bid battle for Hotgroup, an online recruitment business whose shareholders include Michael Ashcroft, the former Conservative party chairman.

Intense competition for the Aim-listed company could push Hotgroup's takeover price close to 75m, far higher than expected, according to market analysts.

Interest from Trinity Mirror and the Daily Mail's publisher is already known, but it is understood that a third group has made a serious approach within the last few days.

The new entrant is thought to be Gannett, the American owner of Newsquest which publishes the Oxford Mail and the Northern Echo, or Johnston Press, the other member of the quartet of companies which dominate the UK's regional newspaper industry.

Online recruitment sites have eaten into regional newspapers' classified advertising revenues over the past three years. Hotgroup alone reckons to generate 300,000 job applications a month, about 10% of which are successful. One study estimated that a sixth of job vacancies in Britain are now filled from an online site.

Hotgroup, as the only major recruitment site independent of media ownership, is now seen as a strategic asset as regional publishers seek to defend their advertising revenues.

The bid battle promises to divide some of the members of the consortium behind Fish4jobs, the only recruitment site larger than Hotgroup. Fish4jobs is jointly owned by Trinity Mirror, Daily Mail & General Trust, Gannett and Guardian Media Group.

Hotgroup has tried to position itself as more specialist than Fish4jobs, building strengths in accountancy, banking, retail, media and information technology.

Half the business is concentrated on workthing.com, a site bought last year from Guardian Media Group for just 6m and transformed into profitability months after the acquisition.

Mr Ashcroft's investment arose from his 30-year friendship with Tony Reeves, co-founder of Office Angels and Hotgroup's chairman and chief executive.

A takeover of Hotgroup would represent the biggest deal in the rapid consolidation of the online recruitment market. Hotgroup itself has made about a dozen acquisitions, but the record price of 36m was paid in March last year by DMGT for Jobsite.