Ennstone Share Discussion Threads

[nod] 09/1/2009 09:10

palwing - with such a large spread we have to watch the trade prices rather than the bid/offer spread.

the instis were selling last month ... they may have sold too early.

It's feasible that many funds were looking to write down ENN losses on their books at the end of the calendar year. If instis were going to take a big loss on ENN it was best to get it out of the way before end December.

If so, this may leave the way clear for a change of sentiment with the appointment of a new [turnaround] Chairman and hopefully new banking facilities as the credit crunch eases. ENN is not short of tangible assets.

[palwing] 09/1/2009 08:38

nod...yes, was watching most of the afternoon. Funny how it only spiked up at the end though. 1p is the resistance and it could bounce back from there...watch this space???

[nod] 08/1/2009 21:03

Brumont - we timed our buys well on Monday :))

when to sell?

[nod] 08/1/2009 21:01

palwing - most trades are on the PLUS market, some 7,390,300 today

buys going through at 0.99 ; sells 0.75



the volume chart shows quite a bit of activity recently...

[palwing] 08/1/2009 17:36

There's a bit of cloak and daggers going on here?

Noting all day and then a good tick up at the bell... Hmm....

[nod] 08/1/2009 09:47

most of the Ennstone trades seem to be going through the PLUS market

at the mo' volume today is 1,339,260

buys are at 0.94 and sells at 0.70

[palwing] 08/1/2009 08:05

ENN turning a corner? Break through 1p and with some good debt management news, this could rise quite quickly. However, it could all go pear shaped in an instant.

Cheap gamble for bottom feeders?

[phbatbjco] 07/1/2009 16:04

interesting appointment coupled with Barc holding. Suggest Barc found the Andersen chap but I know nothing about him - does he have a track record?

[monkeywrench] 07/1/2009 10:27

Brumont, good gamble.

[roadwalker] 07/1/2009 09:37

Barclays are shrewed and can probably see potential here Long Term; in the meantime I expect more activity with the share price.

[nod] 07/1/2009 09:26

It may be noteworthy that Barclays has acquired over 5% and Barclays is the main lender to Ennstone.

[nod] 06/1/2009 09:25

quite a few press reports on appointment but no further info...

Times:
Shares in Ennstone rose by more than 17 per cent after the troubled quarries group appointed a restructuring expert as its new executive chairman.

The concrete supplier was one of the main casualties of 2008, hit by higher input costs and lower demand, and has to do a deal of some sort in the coming months to secure its future. Its appointment of Julian Cooper, at present managing partner in MPC Partners, the corporate restructuring practice, is seen as a step in the right direction. The company, up 0.06p at 0.4p, which recently sold its precast concrete products businesses to buy itself more time as it struggles under £200 million of debt, is considering options under which it could sell its business in either Britain, the United States or Poland.




Contract Journal:
Julian Cooper has joined Ennstone, the quarrying and aggregates group, as executive chairman.

Cooper is a chartered accountant and a former partner at Arthur Andersen, the accountancy group.

Currently, Cooper is a partner at MPC which is a specialist in turnaround and restructuring.

Ennstone is struggling with a debt profile stretching out to £200m while the asset value of the business is only slightly higher than that figure.

Cooper will undertake a review of Ennstone's prospects.

Ennstone has received an indicative offer from Marwyn Materials, a group that is also quoted on the Stock Exchange and which was only established 18 months ago.

With no activities at that time, its plan was to make acquisitions in order to become a player in the UK aggregates sector.

It is not known whether or not Marwyn has put a definite bid figure for Ennstone on the table.




New chairman hired to rescue Ennstone
Robert Lea, Evening Standard
5 January 2009, 10:16am
Quarrying group Ennstone is attempting to dig itself out of a hole in the new year by bringing in an insolvency accountant as its new executive chairman.

Ennstone was among the most spectacular stockmarket failures of 2008 as a market capitalisation of £177m all but disappeared as its shares fell from 35p to 0.34p.
Today it said it is bringing in Julian Cooper, a former insolvency partner at accountants Arthur Andersen and currently managing partner of corporate restructuring practice MPC Partners, to turn round the business.

Ennstone has been hobbled by the collapse of the housebuilding industry for which the Midlands-based company supplies aggregates.

The company is £200m in debt compared to a market capitalisation of just £2m.

Barclays is understood to be the lender of the bulk of that debt pile, though bust American bank Wachovia was also a lender.

Cooper's role will be to attempt to realise value for a business whose quarries are reckoned to have an asset value in excess of £200m.

[nod] 06/1/2009 09:00

Brumont - me too.

[roadwalker] 06/1/2009 07:25

Bull_Mega - language please!!!!!!!!!!!!

[philo124] 05/1/2009 12:08

Impressive appointment

[brumont] 05/1/2009 12:05

Nod,
I agree this must be seen as a positive and have put a small gamble into play. The 100k share purchase was me.

[nod] 05/1/2009 11:20

Julian Cooper - Managing Partner
Julian joined MPC in 1999 having been a restructuring Partner at Arthur Andersen. He is a nationally recognised turnaround leader, with extensive experience in the UK and Europe. He has also operated in Asia, having been advisor to the World Bank in relation to a $17bn rescue package for Thailand. He has acted as CEO, COO and Chief Restructuring Officer for a number of stressed businesses, including a billion dollar contract catering business and a $750m wind turbine manufacturer. Julian is a chartered accountant and qualified insolvency practitioner. He holds an MA from Oxford and an MBA from IMD.

[nod] 05/1/2009 11:02

I would have thought that the appointment of Julian Cooper as Chairman was a very positive sign that Ennstone is not going under in the near term.

Cooper is a partner in turnaround specialist MPC.


MPC Partners is a long established restructuring firm whose partners have a wealth of experience resolving corporate distress.

We work with companies facing substantial financial or operational issues and provide a range of management and advisory services to assist key stakeholders fix major problems.

We are appointed by creditors, equity investors and companies. The scope of our work covers financial restructuring, operational turnaround, and asset management.

[nod] 02/1/2009 20:14

Ennstone: 18 December debt deadline looms close
15:16 16 Dec 2008
By John Leitch

Ennstone has announced that it is battling on to stave off the imminent prospect of a breach of its banking covenants.

Ennstone announced a temporary waiver of certain technical breaches of its facilities agreement on 19 November... but this waiver only runs through until 18 December which is only two days away.

Discussions with debt providers, with the objective of securing an extension, are under way.

The problem is that with a deteriorating cash position in the US, Ennstone has been forced to suspend payments of interest charges and finance lease repayments on its US facilities.

The group is in discussions with its US lenders regarding restructuring proposals for Ennstone's US subsidiary.

Accordingly, the group is in breach of its US facilities. The consequence of which is that, as a result of cross-default, it is also in breach of its UK facilities.

Ennstone says: "The US and UK debt providers are aware of the current breaches and are currently considering their position including potential waivers of the breaches.

"As previously announced, Ennstone will be in breach of its UK and US banking covenants as of 31 December 2008 unless agreements are reached with the lenders."

Ennstone is in advanced discussions regarding potential disposals which could provide sufficient liquidity to meet cash requirements in both the UK and the US until the end of January 2009.

"Although there can be no assurance given that such disposals will be completed, the board is hopeful that the funds raised from such disposals will provide sufficient time to agree a restructuring of the group's banking facilities or to find the necessary alternative financing," said the Ennstone board today.

[nod] 02/1/2009 19:56

Bull - I would have thought there was value in ENN of more than 2m but L&G just sold another 1,570,677 @ GBP 0.003

The instis don't seem to think a sale is imminent or that survival is likely.

[bull_mega] 02/1/2009 10:37

what's the most possible out come ???

[bodgit] 29/12/2008 08:27

Extract from article - 'The year's worst performers'

By Jane Croft

Published: December 29 2008 02:00 | Last updated: December 29 2008 02:00

FTSE ALL-SHARE

Ennstone

A poorly timed acquisition binge and the downturn in construction landed Ennstone, the aggregates group, with the unenviable title of biggest faller on the FTSE main list this year, writes Stanley Pignal .

Shares tumbled so far - from 36¼p on January 1 to 0.35p in mid-December - that Ennstone fell off the main list before Christmas.

The equity of the only UK-listed quarry operator is worth less than £2m, from £177m at the start of 2008.

Ennstone buckled under a £200m debt pile it acquired following rapid expansion in the US and Poland in recent years.

Having defaulted on its US debt this month, it is in desperate talks either to liquidate assets or look to be taken over.

Until a deal is done, Ennstone is in limbo, with its operations hampered by Treasury problems and the impossibility of securing credit from suppliers, a person close to the company said.

The group's debt ballooned from £160m at the start of 2008 to just under £200m at the end of June, with a small rise expected at the year-end. A hoped-for equity raising by the end of December to ease the burden became unfeasible due to market conditions.

In spite of this, observers note that some value remains in the Derby-based business. Quarries are defensive, offering in effect local monopolies where margins can be defended. Some of their end markets, such as road maintenance, are more resilient than other parts of the construction sector.

[whyme] 27/12/2008 13:42

Well according to some : contractjournal
Lafarge has revealed that it has so far received 1,500t of Blue Circle cement back from DIY outlets and builders' merchants following a recall
Westbury plant, which are thought to contain higher than normal levels of chromium VI. : 280,000 bags

Could Ennstone produce cement for the DIY industry - if not could they ?

With possible contract deals from the EU for new
buildings and Lafarge with Ennstone could this be a match ?

Question are there any other suppliers/makers of materials
on the stockmarket plenty of builders but at the start of the chain
who is there ?