Best of the boards: Quindell, Royal Mail and Halma

This week on Interactive Investor's best of the boards, we take a look at how users reacted to news from Quindell, Royal Mail and Halma.

There are yet more problems for Quindell, with what seems like every man and his dog leaving the company. It wasn't the greatest week for Royal Mail either, after it released a mediocre update. However, once again it's good news for Halma, who published yet another brilliant set of results.

Quindell

What happened:Quindell began the week allegedly in talks with several hedge funds regarding financial backing for a MBO led by founder Rob Terry.

A day later, on Tuesday this week, QPP announced the resignation of Rob Terry, who was serving as chief executive. He was joined in leaving by his chief financial officer, Laurence Moorse, and non-executive director, Steve Smith, all of whom were involved in the much discussed Equity First Holding share deal. Only the latter will depart instantly though, with both Terry and Moorse staying on to help smooth the transition; Moorse retaining his position for a year, while Terry will act in a consultancy role.

This week also saw the departure of joint broker Canaccord Genuity, with the firm handing in its notice on 21 October, before the controversial EFH deal. Its resignation was effective from Monday 17 November. The departure of a technology analyst from QPP's other broker, Cenkos Securities, has sparked rumours that they too may be parting ways with the firm.

And that's not the only rumour doing the rounds, with the company having to issue a statement on Thursday denying that they are looking to sell their stake in Nationwide Accident Repair Services (NARS), not to mention the rumours of potential investigations by the Financial Conduct Authority and/or London Stock Exchange.

What users said: It has been a busy week for users of the Quindell discussion board, with many questioning the decisions made by the board of directors. 'F Samps' said: "It is an unfortunate feature in business that those who started a venture are seldom the best people to take it forward fully once it becomes established.

"Friendships and sentiment will block good business decisions, so this turn of events could be good news. As it is I am guessing some dodgy financial 'experts' advised the three directors to execute the questionable sale and buy back manoeuvre, which speaks volumes about the directors' judgement. Probably the company is better off without them."

'LoadsaDosh2', who recommended a strong sell, believes that there will be a cash injection or rights issue, saying: "The directors have got out with their millions and jumped ship. Why would they do that if everything was hunky-dory? This will go down to 20p or less with either a rights issue or cash injection of some sort. New directors will find a complete mess!"

'ookyfly' is of the opposite opinion, believing it looks like a "raging buy at these prices". However, he went on to add "why the cunning manoeuvre by Rob Terry and his henchman to give the impression of buying while in reality being net sellers? Still a fishy smell. A trading statement is urgently needed. Is QPP cash flow positive, or not?"

Royal Mail

What happened: Royal Mail this week released its first-half results which saw a drop in parcel revenue by 1% to £1.46 billion. Overall revenue for the UK business, UK Parcels, International and Letters (UKPIL) was flat at £3.7 billion.

The report announced operating profit (before transformation costs) fell by over a quarter to £219 million. However, letter income rose by 1% to £2.2 billion, while a 3% drop in the letter volume was better than the predicted 4-6% fall.

Furthermore, it seems that due to the growth of Amazon's own delivery network, Royal Mail now believes annual growth in its addressable market will be a mere 1-2% for the next two years.

What users said: On the discussion board this week, 'bamboozled' believes Royal Mail is still a viable investment, saying: "Looks like a good trading share for the next while with share price weakness about but also upsides of improving the business plus selling their property. I don't think it will reach low of 330p flotation price."

There was also a fair amount of discussion around the potential of the company for improvement, with 'wally2' saying "they do need to update and rationalise their parcels service and quickly. They have the infrastructure; unfortunately they also have a large union to contend with but the potential is there."

'Buy Hold Sell Panic' believes the company still needs to catch up to the rest of the private sector, as "one of their biggest challenges is modernisation and security. Their systems are five years behind competitors and a lot of the staff still act in a state owned 'backside to the customer' way. Like any big company it's going to take a long time to sort things out. Amazon will probably buy them (if allowed) or another carrier sooner or later."

Halma

What happened: After the 35th year in a row where the dividend grew by 5% or more, it was no surprise to see Halma's share price continue to rise this week.

The first-half report this week showed revenue increased 2% to £340.9 million, pushing pre-tax profit up 9% to £61.9 million.

Specific sectors of the company generally performed well, with the most impressive revenue growth coming from in the process safety business, which grew by 18% to £73.9 million. Other areas of growth were Infrastructure Safety, which grew by 5% to £112.7 million, and the Medical arm, which grew by 4% to £78.4 million.

The Enviromental & Analysis unit did see a fall though, with profit dropping by a fifth to £11.9 million. However, they anticipate the E&A unit to improve in the second half.

What users said: Users of the discussion board were very pleased by the performance of Halma this week, 'Yertiz' called it "a real diamond."

'Mutandis13' could only agree, saying: "this is a high quality company, just a pity that the market has consistently recognised it."

'valuemanbuyer' sees this company as an investment for old age, saying: "Many happy holders of Halma may be wondering whether to cash in especially as we are now looking at a forward earnings of over 22x.

"My shares have almost doubled since buying May 2010.

"The issue is why sell when they aim to double sales and profits roughly every five years. If that can be achieved going forward then it is likely the shares will maintain their premium rating. They may dip 10% in rough markets as we had last month and that should be seen as a buying opportunity possibly. I can't think of a safer, more consistent or better place to invest my capital than Halma."

This article is for information and discussion purposes only and does not form a recommendation to invest or otherwise. The value of an investment may fall. The investments referred to in this article may not be suitable for all investors, and if in doubt, an investor should seek advice from a qualified investment adviser.