Re: Countrywide
Posted: November 24th, 2016, 3:29 pm
Yes,I have had it on my possible list for a month or two.
For those who might be interested, today's trading statement http://www.investegate.co.uk/countrywide-plc--cwd-/rns/trading-statement/201611240700089974P/ might be worth a look.
I've only had a quick look at it myself, but "We now expect transaction volumes for 2016 to be 6% down on 2015" isn't good news: 6% down on transactions might not sound all that bad, but it can mean a greater impact on revenues (due to pricing more competitively to try to counteract the fall in volumes) and a greater-still impact on profits (due to overheads having a more significant effect if they don't scale down with revenues). And for a company with already-low dividend cover, a big fall in profits could easily trigger a dividend cut.
I should stress that that's what struck me as the big worry from about 10 minutes of looking around. It's not the conclusions of proper research, more a starting point for it - specifically, fears suggested by the quick look that my initial research would be aimed at, to determine whether they are well-founded or not.
Gengulphus