Alba Share Discussion Threads

[m.t.glass] 11/11/2005 16:17

Tumbling towards the week end

[adeyberry] 09/11/2005 19:31

I have a fair sell limit set at 350p, but alas, all my serious bear money is on ALEA now!!

[madgooner] 09/11/2005 11:27

Getting interesting again. New lows or a bounce off 340?

place your bets ;-)

[madgooner] 04/11/2005 17:43

I've made a small update to the header to reflect the identification by Investor's Chronicle as a 'Price to Sales' ratio buy.

[m.t.glass] 03/11/2005 14:28

Support levels arguably 338p, 322.5p, (300 perhaps), and 240p

Edit: A bit more re Grundig, from Wiki:

...In 1972, Grundig GmbH became Grundig AG. After this Philips began to gradually accumulate shares in the company over the course of many years until assuming complete control in 1993, but resold several years later. Philips, in turn sold it to a Bavarian consortium in 1998 due to unsatisfactory performance.
At the end of June 2000 the company relocated its headquarters in Fürth and Nuernberg, and Grundig took a loss of €1.281 million the following year. In the autumn of 2002, the Grundig's banks did not extend the company's lines of credit, leaving the company with a April 2003 deadline to announce insolvency. Grundig AG declared bankruptcy in 2003, selling its satellite equipment division to Thomson. In 2004, Alba plc and Beko Elektronik A.S. jointly took over Grundig Home InterMedia System (HIS), Grundig's consumer electronics division.

Currently, the Alba/Beko consortium retain control of Grundig, although in the United States, products marketed under the Grundig brand are manufactured by the Eton Corporation (formerly Lextronix), based in Palo Alto, California....

( I understand some other bits of Grundig - in-car and mobiles for example - got taken up by others)

[m.t.glass] 03/11/2005 13:48

608... I agree. This article from last January includes several comments on how they (Beko and Alba together, under a title which anonymises their names) hoped to shift Grundig production (to Turkey) whilst not advertising the fact:


Digging a bit deeper, this (April 2004) sentence from an EU investigation into the Alba-Beko joint venture suggests they are merely slapping the Grundig label onto existing product lines. Presumably not a statement they would wish its customers to see:

"..Beko will increase its branded sales by selling all its current non-branded CTV under the Grundig brand.." (last sentence of Clause 20)

[6085544] 03/11/2005 13:29

They bought Grundig presumably to bolster their image to a quality brand.However I do not think anybody will associate grundig with quality but simply a has been company struggling to survive. They have no inovative designs or new products worth looking at. Could be a costly mistake as was internet TV a couple of years ago.

[m.t.glass] 03/11/2005 13:18

Yes, with premium brands now also being made in the same cheaper areas of the globe, I guess the previous labour cost advantage is no more. There will still be extra cost in using better quality components, but labour cost differentials were what originally gave Alba its edge and they have largely disappeared.

[6085544] 03/11/2005 12:50

Just logged on to this thread. Problem with htis company as with many electrical goods suppliers is everything is on a sale or return basis.
basically Argos Tescos etc only pay for goods they sell and return the rest.

Also I have noticed that the difference in price of Bush/Alba/Goodmans TVs etc to the price of the better quality items ie Philips etc is not enough to make me buy the inferior product.In the old days the price was half. I reckon 280 is a fair price. Lovely for a short.

[m.t.glass] 27/10/2005 08:51

"..According to traders, both the mid and small cap indices were boosted by a large automated, or programme, trade that ripped through the market and pushed the prices of several tightly held stocks sharply higher. These included Luminar, up 38p to 493p; Findel, 26p higher at 430p; Alba, 45.25p stronger at 400p, and Alea Holdings, 14.25p better at 132p..."
(The Guardian)

[m.t.glass] 27/10/2005 01:32

I shall watch with care in case you are right there!
Twenty six letters in the alphabet. 'A' stocks targeted on 26th...

[madgooner] 26/10/2005 19:03

aba,axn,alea...hm...

buying b's tomorrow ;-)

[m.t.glass] 26/10/2005 18:59

Unlikely. AXN is clothing and shoes. ABA is domestic electrical goods. (And ABA is slightly bigger). Looks more like several recently successful shorts (with evident downtrends) all got targetted.

[nirvs] 26/10/2005 18:36

AXN up 12%, and some hefty trades after hours...perhaps it's them

[m.t.glass] 26/10/2005 18:17

Almost look like some gang of big shorters has pulled stumps across the board, in unison! Except it was nearly all small trades, by those forced to follow. The final scale of the rise on Alba makes it look more like a genuine takeover rumour/leak. But who would want it? Possibly a finance group rather than one of its peers. Could still be phoney.

[nirvs] 26/10/2005 16:39

Seems like th entire sector is up....wonder if its due to any takeover news or Retails stats?? AXN, FDL also up alot

[m.t.glass] 26/10/2005 15:32

Or maybe someone thinks they are buying Alba Therapeutics who put out good news at lunchtime ;o)

[m.t.glass] 26/10/2005 14:57

Whether spike is faked or for real, it was enough to shake me outta the reamainder of my short.

[madgooner] 26/10/2005 13:58

Up she goes...

[madgooner] 24/10/2005 12:41

Hm..are we finding a bottom here?

[m.t.glass] 24/10/2005 09:33

"..From this week YouGov, the online pollster, will offer firms a new way of assessing how their brands are doing. It is launching Brand Index, a daily internet survey that covers 1,100 consumer brands..."



Alba is shown down in the bottom ten brands - with a minus rating.

[m.t.glass] 17/10/2005 10:21

Slipsliding away again

[m.t.glass] 14/10/2005 08:36

A glance at the products page on their website is a useful reminder of how heavily exposed Alba is to the domestic electronic products market, in which the shops they sell through are already suffering and looking to screw suppliers prices down even lower. (Think "Currys..Always Lowering Prices" slogan, and Tesco brutally expanding its pricing power into this sector).


A usefully broad range when consumer spending is in freeflow, a millstone whenever it tightens

[madgooner] 13/10/2005 20:00

Anything is possible if trade deteriorates. The margin of safety is pretty low.Only mitigant I can see is the exchange rate depreciation is making competitors products more expensive.

If it goes Ex-profit given the asset type and gearing it is vulnerable to failure IMO.

[m.t.glass] 13/10/2005 19:57

I don't regard 350 as significant.
Bounce at 320 perhaps,
then 240 maybe?
Or even 165?
Surely not heading that low is it?