Account gamble
Bibby bet
John Bull
It is a far cry from the days when J. Bibby enjoyed a glamour rating in the 1968-69 bull market and at one point the shares then touched 280p. Now Bibby stand at 136p and much of the support for this level comes from perennial hopes of news on the bid front. I hate choosing a share just for this latter reason since one so often buys on such a whisper and then gets burnt fingers when the rumour-mongers take their profits. So I am by no means recommending Bibby because of its potential bid appeal even though Dalgety, Imperial Tobacco and Cavenham are all reported to be sniffing at this tasty morsel.
I basically like Bibby as a short-term speculation because I believe that the full-year profits due on March 29 will be better than expected.
The interim results last August showed that profits had doubled to £1.01m. However, for the whole year Bibby was going for a figure no higher than that of 1971 at £1.9m. This indicates that second half profits are expected to come clown from £1.5m to £900,000.
Bibby is looking for higher profits from Cip-Zoo, the group's major overseas investment. This Italian company, in which it has a 53.3 per cent holding, recovered from a substantial loss in 1970 last year. Further continued progress should also be seen. The grocery business in the UK was also out of the red last year and this side should similarly do better.
Rather like the curate's egg, the earlier report from Bibby was good in parts. The gloomy area was, in fact, the group's egg division but I see from recent reports that a forecast of a 50p a dozen retail price for eggs, rising eventually to 5p each will be seen.
This should have helped Bibby in the final half while prospects for the current period are brighter. The present level therefore offers a good chance to get into Bibby.
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