Havelock Europa Share Discussion Threads

[mesquida] 10/2/2016 07:18

Perhaps the fact that they are not buying shares at the moment is a telling sign. After all it is fairly obvious that greengiant's stake is up for grabs, so a bid now would hardly be a surprise.

[neverforget] 10/2/2016 07:12

Somethings going on in the background. Imagine what would happen if the dire ts actually bought shares. I'm

[mesquida] 09/2/2016 14:51

Increased bid for ISG , followed by Board's spirited rejection of new terms , might be catching investors' imagination. Certainly very difficult to buy in size this week.

[gleach23] 09/2/2016 13:34

flight to quality hehe

[gargoyle2] 09/2/2016 13:08

Some quiet buying going on here, amongst the chaos of the wider market.

[roastedpeppers] 01/2/2016 07:47

No problem I know alot about the company as ex employee but also still in touch with many there. The delist question is not going to happen. Personally I don't agree with it either. While the idea may be brilliant about selling it rarely happens. Better the directors bring about changes to NED's if that is what all the fuss is about. It is time for rotation anyway. They appear stale.
Also not bitter being an ex time was right.

[jbarker5555] 30/1/2016 21:26

Thanks for the reply roasted, plenty to think about! :)

[roastedpeppers] 30/1/2016 15:22

The company was looking to Clearwater to restructure its debt. And before any of you say it is debt free consider that the working capital cycle means that the company is squeezed on its £5 million overdraft facility. Also consider that its best paying customer walked away / Lloyds. Also consider that the company need to renew its banking arrangements by April. Something it hasn't done as yet/ Also consider that the normal debt financing arrangements invoice discounting or financinag or factoring have no9t been agreed by management or lLloyds sick company team of which Havelock are part of. But there was also another conversation with Clearwater. One that leaves shareholders out of pocket. The Non executive directors have done everything for the banks and have added nothing to shareholders. Consider that!

[jbarker5555] 30/1/2016 11:25

Hi roasted - what are you expecting them to do with Clearwater? :)

[roastedpeppers] 29/1/2016 13:06

So if you think they are looking after your best interests then you might be mistaken. Why have the board been quiet on this matter? If you think these Non Executive Directors are independent you are wrong.

[roastedpeppers] 29/1/2016 13:04

I wouldn't trust these guys. I know as a fact that they have had meetings with Clearwater Corporate Finance.

[neverforget] 29/1/2016 09:43

The management could always do an mbo with this but then again seeing that they have not bought a single share for 5 years and own 300g shares between the 5 of them I doubt very much that they have the bottle. what purpose do the 3 neds serve? 150g with expenses for what? useless and have added nothing to the company in 5 years, that's like 750g taken in salaries!!!!!!!!!!!

[neverforget] 28/1/2016 08:36

lest we forget the only reason they have money in the bank is because they sold teacherboards. otherwise overdrawn. notyhing left to sell.

[mikepompeyfan] 26/1/2016 06:48

Shares in Fife-based Havelock Europa made progress after the under pressure group said full-year trading was likely to be in line with revised forecasts.

The company announced a major cost-cutting exercise in September in a bid to save £3 million on an annualised basis.

The move involved cutting around 50 jobs from the 520-strong workforce, but the axe fell again in November after the company missed out on renewing a key £14 million contract with Lloyds Banking Group.

As a result, management moved to cut a further 50 jobs from the workforce and warned that its 2016 financial performance was likely to be materially impacted by the loss.

A company spokesman yesterday said the majority of redundancies had now been made, and the workforce was expected to settle at around 420.

In an update to the London Stock Exchange yesterday, Havelock said the £3m cost-reduction target from the business “right sizing and simplification programme” had been achieved by the turn of the calendar year.

The company said it continued to focus on careful management of its working capital, and at December 31 it was debt free with net cash of £1m.

The figure compares with net cash of £200,000 held at the same juncture in 2014.

Havelock said trading in the final quarter had been as expected, and the board expected results for the full year to Hogmanay to be in line with guidance at the time of the restructuring announcement in September.

That means that its full-year return is expected to be “materially below” previous full-year expectations, but the situation has not significantly worsened in the fourth quarter of the year.

The group will announce its preliminary full-year results on April 14.

Chief executive David Ritchie said the group was making progress.

He said: “We are beginning to see the benefits of the measures taken in late 2015 and, although trading continues to be challenging, particularly in the retail sector, we are encouraged to enter 2016 with an order book of £23m for in-year delivery which is 15% up on 2015.”

Shares in Havelock Europa closed the day up 2.50p at 8.50p.

[clocktower] 25/1/2016 12:36

Very positive order book and with cut backs they appear to be on top of the problems.

[mikepompeyfan] 25/1/2016 11:00

A few buys on the back of today's update.

[neverforget] 25/1/2016 08:10

So where are director share buys then? Surely such a good opportunity to buy? Actions speak older than words.

[mikepompeyfan] 25/1/2016 07:10

For those who've been going on about the balance sheet being weak -

"The business continues to focus on careful management of its working capital and the Board is pleased to report that, as at 31 December 2015, the Group was debt free with net cash of £1.0m comprising cash of £1.9m and finance leases of £0.9m. This compares favourably with the £0.2m net cash at 31 December 2014".

[boll] 24/1/2016 12:13

I hold a fairly small number of Havelock shares. Whilst the shares have suffered in the last 9 months most of the current problems relate to the previous directors where the focus was on cost cutting rather than broadening the customer base/markets and improving the customer experience in doing business with HVE. Consequently the loss/cutbacks on one large customer impacts the group in a material fashion.
Turning around this situation is going to take sometime as the group's retail customers are facing their own problems on the high street. So the next question relates to the ongoing debate on this board about whether or not the shares should delist. My initial thought on this was that this wouldn't be a great idea however looking at the costs of listing and the number of shares traded then I could support a delisting subject to a very clear view of the strategy. Either the company should seek a trade buyer or alternatively the delisting be set for two to three years with a view to relisting once the company has sorted itself out and developed the business to enable this. Many of you have complained as small shareholders about being disadvantaged on delisting. This is less likely in the case of HVe because executive directors don't own much of the company and we have a number of investors with large holdings including g g who have a vested interest in getting some value back for their shares remind you his holding has also lost 75% in the last 18 months. Most investors can't sell in any large amounts at the moment due to poor liquidity.

[neverforget] 23/1/2016 11:53

Boom there is your issue
No shareholdings
No promotion
No interest
Why not present here?

That's right they don't want retail investors
So all you whingers and whiners, they are not interested in you
They want institutions
But institutions don't want them
So AB whatcha going to do bout it?

[greengiant] 23/1/2016 11:15

Another day, another airport
😳

[greengiant] 23/1/2016 11:11

Wow a lot of talk. Listed / not listed. Let the owners of the company decide is what I say too, as Harry. Unfortunately with directors owning less than 1% of the company- their say is minimal.

Andrew