Shares advice

[TheWhisper]

I have been following the collapse of the Yell share price, for £6 a year or so ago to the current 21p

The share price has been in freefall for a while now. The price just looks so good at the moment (but I don't know anything about such things)

I know that the Yellow Pages book has long since had its day but it will remain a decent profit earner for a long time to come yet, they have recently revamped their onine offering to a much more attractive propostion, the data they hold must be worth a small fortune.

They other thing that surprises me is the dividend that this share is expected to deliver seems pretty good.

I am thinking now must be the time for a speculative investment.

Thoughts anyone?

[boldie]

Just don't ask me...I thought HBOS was a good deal a year ago.

[Grier78]

You should invest in good companies with good profitability and long term sustainable growth.

Yell is none of these things and will disappear by the end of the next decade, your best hope would be that they got bought up by someone for a generous amount, but i can't see that happening.

[cia260895]

Just don't ask me...I thought HBOS was a good deal a year ago.

He's right you know

http://blondepoker.com/forum/index.php?topic=35245.0

Good @ the G G's though 

[TightEnd]

Today the company  reported an "unprecedented" decline in advertising revenues and predicted a 12 percent drop in sales in the three months to March. The worsening financial crisis and a decline in advertising spend meant there was little sign of a return to growth, the company said.

So one the one hand we have a current trading problem

Allied to this the group has a lot of debt, which is difficult to refinance in this environment. Worse short term results make it more difficult to generate the cash to fund that debt.

The core business is obviously structurally headed south, to be replaced by online. So even when economies recover its tricky to see advertising rates recover to the same extent. Other businesses will be better geared into an upturn eg Agencies, retailers, builders etc. And that recovery is a way away yet.

 Yes Yell has an Online business but so do many other directories operators. Its tricky to see that the Yell brand is a "must use" compared to any other directory online

I don't see it being taken over given the pressures on the core business

Avoid, just as likely to not be around in 3-5 years as to make you a lot of money

[Dingdell]

utilities, lage grocers. We all need to eat and use water, gas and electricity imo.

[Bongo]

Yes Yell has an Online business but so do many other directories operators. Its tricky to see that the Yell brand is a "must use" compared to any other directory online

I think they will lose out to google online.

[ItsMrAlex2u]

Deffo so cheap stocks out there but picking the right ones is the tough part !
There are plenty of better options out there.

[lazaroonie]

Yes Yell has an Online business but so do many other directories operators. Its tricky to see that the Yell brand is a "must use" compared to any other directory online

I think they will lose out to google online.

one thing I used to use them for (5 years ago) was mailing lists - companies in specific categories , geography etc. It was cheap and easy to use. The dont do this anymore, instead they direct you to some business intelligence consultants who want a kings ransom for the same data.

[TheWhisper]

I take on board what you guys are saying and will sit on my cash.
I think there must be some value in them though, in their last results revenue is up 6% at over £1bn