FishWorks Share Discussion Threads

[andyh69] 21/10/2008 08:55

I sometimes (when I'm feeling flush) buy fish from their shop on Fulham Road. It's all good stuff but the restaurant never looks very busy.

[slapdash] 20/10/2008 22:47

they are still operating on Upper Street Islington. In my view concept was wrong. Smelly fish as you go in.... slap

[tiredoldbroker] 20/10/2008 20:13

There's a suggestion reaching me that the game may be over here, it could just be a nasty comment by someone with connections in the industry, but mind your eye if you're a holder.

[pictureframe] 07/8/2008 10:41

Has this company been battered enough?

[tiredoldbroker] 07/8/2008 10:25

Incidentally, I note that the Northcote Road site has now closed (London SW11 - Battersea) - deeply aggravating, because I was after that site for a client who would have had a better chance of success, but who is no longer interested in the location.

[itsourpete] 09/7/2008 21:38

Topic? A hazlenut in every PIKE!

[wiganer] 07/7/2008 19:59

Now we're back on topic.

[barn owl] 07/7/2008 19:04

Mitch Tonks who has stepped down, was the flounder of this company then.
Just a small flat fish.

[wiganer] 07/7/2008 18:56

I don't think you have understood the porpoise of this thread.

[hsbcpremier] 07/7/2008 18:49

must be struggling with low customer levels in present economic climate

[tricky1992000] 07/7/2008 18:23

i don't think john west would stick this in his keep net

[jonc] 04/7/2008 11:19

Aye he is well kippered....

[verulamium] 04/7/2008 11:01

So Mitch Tonks, a bluntnose minnow swimming in the waters of Barracudas, has been gutted. Good riddance.

[itsourpete] 24/6/2008 19:59

no path of flowers leads to john dory!

[haroldthegreat] 28/4/2008 16:22

lets forget the fish and stick to reality

[hsbcpremier] 26/4/2008 20:25

Trout is out. Target 3p.

[itsourpete] 26/4/2008 19:39

If you bought 600 shares at the current offer price of 6p your holding would cost you a dirty sick squid!

Cod that's cheap!

Dont want to carp on about it but am whiting a letter to my broker ali,but as he's a sole trader, eel probably consult john dory who talks pollacks! Salmon told me that this share is good but I think they're out of tuna with reality!

Over and Trout!

[longshanks] 25/4/2008 07:43

Looks like profitability is still eluding them....although

The Board believes, while trading losses have continued into
2008, that the group will deliver positive EBITDA for the last quarter of this
financial year.

Last quarter is the summer season and should be expected to be one of their best performing periods. This has further to fall IMO - will look again if it gets down to 3p or there abouts.

[longshanks] 17/4/2008 00:04

could be...or maybe he just got a free lunch. Ramp or no ramp...if the company does become sustainably profitable...it becomes a viable business model. If so then the business can be valued somewhat higher than todays rating, IMO.

I don't think it unrealistic for them to be looking to generate a net profit per restaurant of at least £50K p.a. in the short term. If this can be achieved then I think £5m is quite cheap for the business.

Jury is out but worth watching.

[jammytass] 16/4/2008 20:59

where does the hack work telegraph> just a ramp for his old boss

[haroldthegreat] 16/4/2008 15:59

have anyone eaten there and what were their experiences there?

[high park] 16/4/2008 09:26

A very useful analysis, tiredoldbroker, and the best advise longshanks is likely to get.

[tiredoldbroker] 16/4/2008 08:51

Yes, but the problem is longshanks, your gut may not be a very good guide. Also, I doubt that there are any short positions in FSH.

GP on last year's turnover was quite respectable at about 63% I think, which is probably as far as a restaurant group can go. So I suspect the real problems are far more structural - the wrong sites, which haven't and won't build to a weekly turnover which can become profitable (either too small, or badly situated, or usually just a rent that is too high and will only be reviewed upwards).

Part of the success of Pizza Express was that there was a limited amount of stock, and most of it had a long shelf life shelf life - a lot of flour and dough, which would last forever, but not a lot of immediate perishables. Also, folks had no concept of the cost of making a pizza against what they'd pay in a restaurant. But for FSH, it is practically reversed: almost all the stock is high cost and immediately perishable, and because FSH puts a fishmonger at the front of each store, you can see the margin between the price of a herring and what you pay to sit and eat it. At the very bluntest end of their problem, not everyone likes fish, and so their market is automatically limited.

I'd also say that there's absolutely nothing in the balance sheet: if a restaurant doesn't work, it's a write off, the fixtures and fittings which have cost a bomb sell for halfpennies, and the lease is simply an ongoing obligation. All this at a time when the London market is saturated with restaurants, more are going bust than probably ever before, and consumer discretionary expenditure is hardly likely to grow in the year ahead.

By all means, longshanks, invest in the stock, but try to make a coherent case for it beyond your gut feeling.