I too would be frustrated with SUM's silence on forward guidance, especially after announcing they won't replicate last year's growth rate… a statement that I feel needs some kind of basis to back it up and should additionally provide some kind of guidance band/range. I mean, as Harvey Specter alludes to, does 'wont replicate' imply a better or worse result compared to last year? It certainly begs the question.
My own take on SUM is that they are a good company with a great future. While Norah Barlow was MD & CEO I have had my trust in them dented a few times by for example this piece of prose written about herself around 2010/2011:
"Ms Barlow has Summerset Retirement Villages starting to sway to a 'more interpretive consumer' rhythm. As her competitors build by rote, she, with the finest attuned ear in the sector, has subtlety reshaped the product to meet a market in flux."
In my experience is that this sort of stuff is auto-biographical 99% of the time; the same sort of fluff that Rakon would write about themselves.
With Norah gone now (as I understand), I will be very keen to take a fresh look at SUM, but not before the next set of audited results come out. In my (possibly paranoid :scared:) mind there is a small chance that SUM's latest sterling results might have been a little too ahead of themselves at the expense of next year's figures. Something that I hope with all sincerity is not the case.