FirstService Corp.
Toronto symbol FSV, operates in the real estate services market, providing services in the following areas: commercial real estate; residential property management; and property improvement.
FIRSTSERVICE CORP. $18.58 (Toronto symbol FSV; SI Rating: Extra Risk) (416-960-9500; www.firstservice.com; Shares outstanding: 28.1 million; Market cap: $522.3 million) operates in the following areas of the real-estate services market: commercial real estate; residential property management; and property services. FirstService has more than 17,000 employees. In the three months ended June 30, 2009, FirstService’s revenue fell 6.5%, to $425.3 million from $454.8 million a year earlier. (All figures except share price in U.S. dollars.) Earnings per share fell 17.9% to $0.46 from $0.56. FirstService’s overall revenue was held back by a 32% drop at its commercial real-estate division. However, that was partially offset by a 42% revenue gain at its property-services division, which helps maintain foreclosed houses in the U.S. As well, residential property management posted a 3% rise....
FirstService and Stantec both continue to expand by acquiring competitors in their fragmented markets. This strategy lets companies grow steadily, but it can also add risk. FIRSTSERVICE CORP. $18.58 (Toronto symbol FSV; SI Rating: Extra Risk) (416-960-9500; www.firstservice.com; Shares outstanding: 28.1 million; Market cap: $522.3 million) operates in the following areas of the real-estate services market: commercial real estate; residential property management; and property services. FirstService has more than 17,000 employees. In the three months ended June 30, 2009, FirstService’s revenue fell 6.5%, to $425.3 million from $454.8 million a year earlier. (All figures except share price in U.S. dollars.) Earnings per share fell 17.9% to $0.46 from $0.56....
RDM CORP., $1.05, symbol RC on Toronto, reports that its revenue rose 13.4% in the three months ended June 30, 2009, to $5.9 million from $5.2 million a year earlier. The company earned $175,000, or $0.01 a share, compared to a loss of $298,000, or $0.01 a share. RDM sells software and hardware for electronic-payment processing, mainly in the United States. Its Image & Transaction Management System lets banks scan all types of cheques, and then route them to any location for immediate processing. The company benefits from the recurring nature of its payment-processing-services revenue. In the latest quarter, this jumped 47%, to $2.5 million from $1.7 million a year earlier. Transaction volumes for RDM’s Image & Transaction Management System averaged 3.8 million items per week, up 36% from 2.8 million....
FIRSTSERVICE CORP. $11.16 (Toronto symbol FSV; SI Rating: Extra Risk) (416-960-9500; www.firstservice.com; Shares outstanding: 28.1 million; Market cap: $313.3 million) operates in the following areas of the real estate services market: commercial real estate; residential property management; and property improvement. FirstService has more than 17,000 employees worldwide. In the three months ended December 31, 2008, FirstService’s revenue fell 6.7%, to $417.9 million from $447.6 million a year earlier. (All figures except share price in U.S. dollars.) Excluding one-time items, the company lost $0.18 a share, compared to a profit of $0.49. Cash flow per share was positive, at $0.68, although it was down 38.1% from $1.10 a year earlier. A 28% drop in revenue at FirstService’s commercial real estate division held back overall revenue. However, that was partially offset by revenue gains of 15% at its residential property management division, and 35% at its property-improvement division....
FIRSTSERVICE CORP. $14.21 (Toronto symbol FSV; SI Rating: Extra Risk) (416-960-9500; www.firstservice.com; Shares outstanding: 27.9 million; Market cap: $396.5 million) operates in the expanding real estate services market, providing services in the following areas: commercial real estate; residential property management; and property improvement. The company has more than 17,000 employees. FirstService continues to expand profitably through acquisitions and internal growth. Both avenues still offer lots of potential for expansion in the fragmented service sector. Revenues rose 23.5% in the three months ended June 30, 2008, to $457.8 million from $370.5 million a year earlier. (All figures except share price in U.S. dollars.) Excluding one-time items, earnings per share rose 6.3%, to $0.51 from $0.48. Cash flow per share rose 8.2%, to $1.06 from $0.98....
TOROMONT INDUSTRIES, $22.81, symbol TIH on Toronto, rose this week after it reported that revenues rose 15.8% in the three months ended September 30, 2008, to $578 million from $499.3 million a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, earnings rose 21.3%, to $37.1 million or $0.57 a share, from $30.6 million or $0.47 a share. Toromont is an industry leader in construction equipment, power generation, refrigeration and natural gas compression systems. In the latest quarter, higher compression group revenues boosted sales and earnings. Toromont’s sales to the U.S. natural gas compression market continued to perform especially well, rising 26.2%. Toromont is a buy....
Today’s rebound in the market is reassuring, but I expect stocks to remain highly volatile for a month or more. After that, we could see a six-month rebound in prices. The U.S. bailout of major financial institutions raises inflation risk over the next few years, but it heads off panic. Nobody can predict market bottoms, but I suspect we are much closer to the bottom than the top. ADOBE SYSTEMS INC. $40.94, symbol ADBE on Nasdaq, rose this week after reporting earnings that exceeded consensus expectations. Excluding one-time items, earnings per share in the three months ended August 29, 2008 rose 11.1%, to $0.50 from $0.45 a year earlier. That beat expectations of $0.46 a share. Revenues rose 4.2%, to $887.3 million from $851.7 million. In the latest quarter, stronger sales of established products such as Acrobat, Flash and Photoshop software boosted Adobe’s revenues and earnings. However, sales of its Creative Suite 3 software fell 10%, as customers delayed purchases to wait for the launch of the new Creative Suite 4. That upgrade will be available in the fourth quarter of 2008....
FIRSTSERVICE CORP. $16.91, symbol FSV on Toronto, moved up almost 29% this week after reporting that revenues in the three months ended June 30, 2008 rose 23.6%, to $457.8 million from $370.5 million. (All figures except share price in U.S. dollars.) Earnings per share excluding one-time items rose 6.3% to $0.51 from $0.48. That was well above consensus expectations. FirstService companies include commercial real estate firm, Colliers International, residential property manager, FirstManagement Partners, and property improvements provider, The Franchise Company. FirstService recently completed the sale of its Integrated Security Services division for $187.5 million. It may now use that cash to make acquisitions of companies selling at depressed prices....
BIRCHCLIFF ENERGY, $12.82, symbol BIR on Toronto, rose over 15% this week after it reported that cash flow per share rose 33.3% in the three months ended March 31, 2008, to $0.28 from $0.21 a year earlier. Revenues rose 13.1%, to $56.2 million from $26.4 million. Excluding one-time items, the company earned $7.1 million or $0.07 a share, compared to a loss of $1.4 million or $0.02 a share. In the latest quarter, new production and rising oil and natural gas prices boosted both earnings and cash flow. Total daily production rose 62.5%, to 9,470 barrels of oil equivalent from 5,829 barrels. Average daily production from Birchcliff’s Worsley light oil wells more than tripled, to 2,827 barrels from 742 barrels. Average daily production at its Montney/Doig natural gas assets at Pouce Coupe rose 28.4%, to 37.8 million cubic feet from 29.4 million. Both Worsley and Montney/Doig are located in Alberta’s Peace River Arch region....
FIRSTSERVICE CORP. $24 (Toronto symbol FSV; SI Rating: Extra Risk) (416-960-9500; www.firstservice.com; Shares outstanding: 28.8 million; Market cap: $687.4 million) operates in the rapidly growing service sector, providing services in the following areas: commercial real estate; residential property management; integrated security services; and property improvement services. The company continues to expand profitably through acquisitions and internal growth. Both avenues still offer lots of potential for expansion in the fragmented service sector. FirstService reported 34% higher revenues in the three months ended December 31, 2007, to $502.2 million from $374.8 million a year earlier. (All figures except share price in U.S. dollars.) Excluding one time items, earnings per share rose 31.8%, to $0.29 from $0.22. Cash flow per share rose 35.3%, to $0.92 from $0.68. FirstService now trades at 6.5 times cash flow....