Portfolio and blog situation update Q1/2017

It's three months since I last posted so I thought I will make small update on how I and my portfolio is doing, and to tell that the lights in this blog are still on, although apparantely less often. My posting frequency has come down radically for two reasons; first, I haven't had good new investment …

Still no respect for Martela: Q4’15 update

Last Thursday Martela, the largest office furniture manufacturer in Finland, announced its full year result for 2015 which showed 4 MEUR operating profit, almost net debt free balance sheet and significant increase to dividend, highlighting the successful turnaround after three years of losses. Still, market was disappointed and rewarded the stock with solid 10% move …

Few more thoughts on Martela (part 3)

Martela, the largest office furniture designer, manufacturer and distributor in Finland, has been going through a difficult restructuring since 2013 as recession in main markets and change in working habits has reduced office furniture demand. In response Martela has reduced personnel, optimized logistics and manufacturing and hired new CEO, among other organizational changes. As a …

Martela revisited: Will iPad kill the furniture industry?

Last week I bought 5% position in Martela, one of the largest and oldest office furniture manufacturers in the Nordics. With 0.09 P/S, 0.6x p/b, 46% net gearing and more than 70 years of operating history it seems like decent bargain. With so low P/S multiple the main questions is if Martela is ever going to make …

Cheapest stock of the week: Martela

Martela is a Finnish office furniture designer and manufacturer which is currently trading at 0.6x P/B, 0.1x EV/Sales and 4,5x EV/my forward EBIT estimate and is the cheapest stock I stumbled on this week. It is a potential turnaround situation as the current recession in Finland has effected to office space related industries and subsequently …