Leeds Share Discussion Threads

[liarspoker] 20/7/2012 12:26

The Dawson investment is heading for administration by the looks of it.

[cg1953] 04/2/2012 04:03

Clearly the large seller is not expecting any price appreciation any time soon !!!

[arthur_lame_stocks] 03/2/2012 11:29

Another large buyback I wonder who the seller was anyone here?

Now they're up to 12% in treasury they'll have to cancel some shares.

[bracke] 02/2/2012 14:47

It seems they are adding Treasury shares plus others in issue to get 9.6%

[arthur_lame_stocks] 02/2/2012 12:43

They're holding 9.6% according to the announcement.

cg yes probably stuck in this price range unless the Swedes do something to realise value. What i'm not sure though.

[bracke] 02/2/2012 12:31

The company appears to be holding more than 10% of its own shares in Treasury.

Is it not limited to 10% and therefore will have to cancel some of it shares?

[cg1953] 02/2/2012 12:17

nice one.
Wife of the company secretary sells her holding to LDSG, less 10 shares.
not quite sure what this means?
probably nothing at all; in every sense of the word.
So years more in this 17-20 pence range ?

[callumross] 10/1/2012 12:56

Been watching this for years and always seems to look like good value but I can never bring myself to invest. Today's results look fine too. However, there never seems to be a hurry to buy in!

[liarspoker] 05/1/2012 13:33

A bit of exchange rate worry here I'd say. Looking forward to buying in when the share price is much lower. :O)

( ex-holder )

[ansc] 15/6/2011 09:45

Better late than never:

LEEDS GROUP PLC - 15 June 2011

Interim Results for the six months ended 31(st) March 2011

STATEMENT BY THE GROUP CHAIRMAN, KATHRYN DAVENPORT

I am pleased to report that Leeds Group plc ("the Group") made a profit after tax of GBP627,000 in the six month period ended 31(st) March 2011, compared with GBP534,000 in the corresponding period of last year. It is particularly pleasing to report such positive news after a disappointing performance in the second half of the previous financial year. Earnings per share increased to 2.2 pence (2010: 1.8 pence) reflecting the increased profit and the reduced number of shares in issue.

Revenue at Hemmers Europe, the Group's German based operating subsidiary, increased to GBP14,641,000 (2010: GBP13,990,000). Sales volumes were marginally down on last year, and the increase in revenue reflects sales prices on average 10% higher than in 2010. There has been a substantial increase in the price of cotton goods, but our sales price increases have made it possible to preserve margins at close to last year's level. This, together with modest reductions in overhead expense, led to a profit before tax for Hemmers Europe of GBP947,000 (2010: GBP715,000), which included a gain on valuation of financial derivatives of GBP220,000 (2010: GBP193,000).

Although external revenue at Hemmers China was lower than last year, total revenue grew by 18% as Hemmers Europe sourced a substantially greater volume of its purchases from its Chinese operation. The directors remain satisfied with the progress being made in China.

Net asset value per share (excluding shares held in treasury) at 31(st) March 2011 was 46.6 pence (2010: 46.8 pence) inclusive of goodwill. During the period lower stockholding contributed to a reduction of GBP1,996,000 in the aggregate debt of Hemmers Europe and Hemmers China, whilst cash balances held by the holding company at the period end were GBP1,751,000 (2010: GBP2,025,000).

At 31(st) March 2011, the Group continues to hold an investment in Dawson International Plc ("Dawson"). The Board noted the interim results for Dawson issued in May 2011, which showed cash resources in excess of GBP11 million, but also a significant liability in a defined benefit pension scheme. Whilst Dawson has been active in restructuring itself during the last couple of years, the Leeds Group Board believes that any growth in the value of Dawson's shares will be subject to a satisfactory resolution of the pension scheme issues.

The Board is proceeding with a further appeal against the decision by Leeds City Council to classify the land owned by the Group at Haw Lane, Yeadon as a town or village green and a charge of GBP125,000 relating to the costs of the action that is expected to be heard in the near future has been made in the accounts of the parent company.

The Company has continued to use the authority granted to it to buy back shares into Treasury, although liquidity in Leeds Group shares has been limited. During the six month period, the Company purchased 250,000 shares into Treasury, and cancelled a further 500,000 shares in order to comply with Companies Act 2006 requirements. In line with previous decisions, the Board does not propose an interim dividend.

The months of April and May represent the low point in the annual business cycle when losses are to be anticipated before activity picks up in June and July and reaches a crescendo in the very busy months of August, September and October. With this in mind, the Board has decided to change the Group's accounting reference date from 30 September to 31 May so that the work involved in stocktaking, accounts preparation and audit can be accommodated with significantly less disruption to sales activity. The next Annual Report will therefore cover the eight months ending 31 May 2011.

The economic environment remains challenging, and the large increase in the price of cotton goods has led to a current order book that is less full than twelve months ago. We have taken action on sales prices aimed at protecting margins: it remains to be seen whether order levels pick up as the year progresses and it becomes clearer to customers that current price levels are not a short term phenomenon that can be avoided by delaying orders.

As ever, thanks are due to staff throughout the Group for their unstinting efforts in the period covered by this report.

Kathryn Davenport (Chairman)

[the troll] 03/6/2011 15:28

perhaps not.

[ansc] 01/6/2011 12:28

Still no sign of the Interim announcement which, generally, I would interpret as being an ominous sign. However, I notice in 2008 they were released on 2nd June so perhaps tomorrow will be 'R' day.

[the troll] 20/5/2011 18:10

no, perhaps.

[the troll] 10/5/2011 16:24

interim's 10th May last year, expect soon ?

[arthur_lame_stocks] 31/3/2011 21:24

Hi Des

I've sent you a reply. I'll have a better look at the weekend when i'll have a bit more time.

[ansc] 31/3/2011 19:49

Another 100k bought back yesterday (@19p).

[deswalker] 31/3/2011 19:31

Arthur_Lame_Stocks - you have mail via TMF. I'd appreciate your thoughts via email on that message. It isn't about DWSN. Cheers. Des

[deswalker] 09/3/2011 13:21

Buyback. 25k at 18.5p.

[deswalker] 25/2/2011 10:56

Buyback. 100k at 18.25.

[deswalker] 24/2/2011 12:11

You're welcome guys.

I get the impression that JC and PG are keen to get as much input as possible from other shareholders as to the strategy going forward. They are not in the slightest bit aloof or wary but genuinely seem to see the puzzle of unlocking value at LDSG as a collaboration.

JC mentioned that they would not be averse to possible small acquisitions if the fit was right and it facilitated the strategy of a move towards higher margin bespoke products. Long run such a move could conceivably aid the attractiveness of the group (or just of Hemmers) to an Eastern bidder.

So, we have some smart guys on this thread. Please consider getting your thinking caps on about possible strategy and don't be afraid to get in touch with JC and/or PG with any suggestions. JC is more hands-on at Hemmers whereas PG is more involved with DWSN (amongst all his other stuff). MW is the one pursuing the Yeadon issue at the moment.

If you feel you do have some ideas but would prefer to run them by me first in confidence just to check that they haven't already been discussed and discounted then feel free to drop me an email. Address supplied if required.

Des

[bracke] 24/2/2011 11:47

DesWalker

Many thanks for your report. It is much appreciated.

[liarspoker] 23/2/2011 20:19

Yes, thanks Des.

[arthur_lame_stocks] 23/2/2011 19:22

Thanks for the update Des.

[deswalker] 23/2/2011 18:03

Another year, another AGM ...

Attendance: JC, MW, me (that's the three shareholders out of the way), Kathryn Davenport the new Chair but only there as a guest this year, a bunch of suits from auditors, brokers, Nomad etc.

PG was unable to make it due to a clash in his schedule.

Formalities over inside 20mins and then I quizzed JC for 40 mins and MW for 5 mins the latter about the Yeadon court case and where do they go from here. They are still considering the position and it is not dead as the Supreme Court actually liked some of their arguments before finding 2-1 against them. But they seem to think there's still some mileage in it and costs can be kept very low.

As for JC, we mainly discussed Hemmers with just a passing reference to ongoing efforts to resolve the pension issue at DWSN. The underlying DWSN business is fine but trading is tough due to raw material prices. Results are due on Monday so more info then.

As for Hemmers, it looks like the out turn for H1 will be pretty satisfactory as can be judged by the RNS issued today. Remember they are against pretty tough comparators as last H1 was very good.

Clearly H2 is less certain as custiomers are holding back hoping for a softening of the cotton price. But at some point they are going to have to blink.

Hemmers are trying to be much tougher on margin protection this year and have been told to turn away sales in the future if the margin is not right. Clearly this means that some customers are lost but better that than supplying them at a loss.

JC and PG have a lot of time for the top guys at Hemmers but they are turning the screw slightly by demanding that they improve working capital and cash generation going forward.

They would like to start supplying more plain vanilla product directly from the Chinese operation and start trying to add value with more bespoke product supplied out of Germany. This will clearly take time but it is the way forward in a tight market. More and more retailers are going straight to the source for their product and Hemmers will not compete on price for this business. But they have just added a new designer (Italian I think) to start trying to attract higher margin business.

I was very impressed with how open JC was. He asked me for suggestions and I made a few but it appears that he and PG are thinking along very similar lines to me.

I actually think that JC and PG are being absolutely straight with small shareholders, and this is a big change for me. I think they simply want to improve the operational efficiency of Hemmers, find ways for it to generate more cash profits and then try and sell it to an Indian or Chinese buyer although this is very much hypothetical at this stage.

Finally, I asked JC if he still wanted to be involved with this business in 5-10 years time. He laughed and said "absolutely not".

So in sum. Trading is tough but they are working hard to improve things. The team at Hemmers are well aware that they are not running it for themselves but that shareholders must start to see a return and that cash generation / working capital management are crucial. Payment policies are being changed etc.

Eventually they might hope to attract an Eastern buyer wanting a foothold in Europe, but first they need to improve efficiencies.

At DWSN the big issue is the pension and negotiations with the authorities continue.

At Yeadon, things are not dead.

Boy it's a slow burner this one, but JC is clearly not in this forever and IMO shareholders can rest assured that PG and JC are looking to realise the value here asap. But they are thinking medium term rather than short term as they want to improve Hemmers first.

Rgds,

Des

[liarspoker] 23/2/2011 13:09

At today's Annual General Meeting, Johan Claesson, Acting Non-Executive Chairman, will make the following statement:

"In our preliminary results announcement made on 12 January 2011, the Group reported a return to profitability in the year to September 2010 with Group revenue in our European and Chinese trading operations having grown by 7.7% over the previous year. I am pleased to be able to report that Group revenue for the first four months of the current financial year shows further growth of 7%, and that profitability is in line with management expectations.

At the same time, we find that our wholesale customers are delaying placing orders for delivery in the second half of the year in the light of the very large price increases that continue to affect cotton products, no doubt in the hope that prices may soon fall. We regard that as unlikely in the short term, but it is too early to say whether the current price levels will have a major impact on our sales volumes in the coming months"