Printing.Com Share Discussion Threads

[dd776] 20/5/2010 07:25

people looking for income"

[spaceparallax] 19/5/2010 13:37

Interesting signs of share price life even in the difficult last few days.

[tyranosaurus] 18/5/2010 20:09

They expect dividend to be maintained so no increase then.

That`s what I would have thought as well.

[dd776] 11/5/2010 16:20

Hardman and co May statement

Printing.com is heavily in close period and we
expect its full year results to be published on
Tuesday June 1. The company issued a Trading
Statement on 6 April stating that it expected profits
to be 'marginally' below expectations, and
accordingly we have made an appropriate
adjustment in our forecasts. Our current figures
leave the company with an uncovered dividend, but
given the strong cash position in the company, its
likely levels of future cash generation when the
current leasing contracts on printing machinery
expire shortly, and the fact that chief executive
Tony Rafferty is the largest single shareholder in
the company, we expect the dividend to be
maintained.
Not long to go, expect update on what they are thinking about with Austalia
Look forward to the Dividend, spent already ¬not* /|:-:|\

[wmloto] 13/4/2010 00:09

richjp - thanks for taking the time to respond. (PDC aside)i think the master franchise holder say Pindar or Kallkwik needs to think about creating a central hub at no cost to the franchisee. These guys already have huge production facilities at their disposal that can be utilised by their existing franchisees at no extra cost. A new press is a new press,and capacity is capacity, investing in say for eg three massive presses in one site to allow for centrally produced material is investing in the corporations future. This will allow each location to continue with their individual businesses (local knowledge) whilst pooling resources to undercut the likes of pdc. this will enable critical information to be held centrally. PDC does have a great model but they are not being aggressive enough and they are no way near enterprising enough. Mr R needs to capitalise on the great work he has done already and he needs to move fast otherwise his along with so many other ships will sail. If he needs a hand he can mail me here. I must stress again I do not hold shares in this co but i am doing my research (apologies for the lenghthy response)

[richjp] 12/4/2010 18:55

wmloto you raise an interesting point about existing print franchises, however I think it is probably harder for them to adopt the PDC business model than it might appear.

The existing print franchisors would have to invest significantly in new equipment but perhaps the bigger problem is that the business model is so different that managing a transition would not be easy, desirable though it may be. PDC have the advantage that they start with a clean sheet of paper (couldn't resist that one!) and that gives them a major advantage.

The other problem for the existing players, is that if they move to a PDC type operation it will impact them financially. As Doctor L pointed out, PDC can offer a cheaper product and I suspect that if other companies go the same way, it will impact negatively on the fees payed by the franchisee to the franchisor.

[tyranosaurus] 12/4/2010 18:54

Strange days trading.

[wmloto] 12/4/2010 17:15

hi Dr - I rarely post on threads and never question individuals holdings - each to their own I say. But I am genuinely interested in this market along with financials. I just think that there are existing print franchises worldwide with networks in place that could adopt this model much quicker and with local knowledge. Peperoni is peperoni - but as you implied print is much more individual - i continue to wait for a reason to buy in, but sincerely hope it works out.

[doctor l] 12/4/2010 17:02

Also wmloto - I spent many a year in the print business and PDC's business model enables them to massively undercut the competition on price, quality is generally far superior, full colour for less than conventional 1 or 2 colour spot printing, delivery times are far better...... to name just a few reasons...! I know, I tried to compete and coudn't - so bought shares in the early days (OFEX) and am happy to hold and take a good divi.

What happened to the 10% rise today!?

[wmloto] 12/4/2010 17:01

Cheers Mr Hangman - hopefully you are right, but I will sit aside for a while, just think print is going through a massive transition at the moment and we wont be using these types of services for much longer. Whereas we will alway NEED!! pizza. We will go to more targeted mediums incorporating cross chanel communication and co's that offer complete solutions - spend less target more etc. Just my opinion for what it is worth. But I will watch with interest. GLA

[mr hangman] 12/4/2010 16:45

Well WMLOTO, It has the same buiness model as DOM, but that sells boring
old pizza's which when they came to AIM was about 30 years to late.
But they seem to spit off cash, hopefully in a few years this can do the same

[wmloto] 12/4/2010 15:57

Can I just ask what makes PDC's model so special. Its just a franchise (Hub/spoke) operation and as far as i can see is bringing nothing new to the world of print. Just bulk print, that you get when you get if you are lucky. Not holding here but i think they are 10 years too late.

[doctor l] 12/4/2010 12:19

Agree, big jump....potential buyer? will get a good business cheap potentially.

[dd776] 12/4/2010 09:39

Cor what is happening . big jump up on no trades to big

[cw2000] 08/4/2010 20:34

Thanks for the links DD

[dd776] 07/4/2010 23:10

link to the latest Hardman and co thoughts !



No mention of Australia from them !

a link to that story

[cw2000] 07/4/2010 21:50

Buying a broken company in Australia !
I thought this whole franchising idea was to eliminate risk.
Since when has this been a long stated aim - I've not heard of this. Anyone have any further comment on this?

For PDC it has proved difficult running a business in the UK & Ireland, let alone on the other side of the planet.
The whole thing sounds like a crazy idea - Not a business plan I'd support.

Whilst the recent trading statement was disappointing, a result close to expectations will suffice.
However, I do hope that this Australia issue goes away and allows the management to concentrate on running the business on a European level – there is much to do in Ireland and France.

I'd considered adding to my holding slightly, however, given this news I shall hold fire and enjoy my dividend cash in the meantime.

[dd776] 07/4/2010 09:21

Nice trading statement from ecm, incuded some information unlike pds which was lacking, lower than forecast??? makes for an unsure market. Are lots of stores deserting? Do we need to raise cash for Australia?, is the div safe?

[richjp] 06/4/2010 15:19

"Rafferty described Printing.com's business as one of the best barometers of economic confidence"

That is exactly what I said some months ago about PDC.

I think that any growth in the economy is going to be slow at best, which despite the fact that I believe PDC has an excellent business model, means that any growth in the share price will probably be equally limited.

The yield however is great, therefore I feel that if they can maintain the dividend or even grow it slightly, ideally together with a statement that they intend to adopt a progressive dividend policy in the future, then the share price could move forward to the point that the yield falls more in line with that available in the broader share market.

[dd776] 06/4/2010 13:33

Printing.com warns March slowdown points to double-dip recession
Simon Nias, printweek.com, 06 April 2010

Printing.com chief executive Tony Rafferty has voiced concern that the UK could be heading for a double-dip recession after the company issued a profit warning this morning (6 April).

In a pre-close statement, the company said that trading had softened across its established markets in the UK and Ireland in March and that its results for the year ended 31 March 2010 would consequentially be "marginally below market expectations".

While annual profits at the hub-and-spoke print franchise are unlikely to dip much more than 5% below the £1.85m forecast, the poor trading conditions in March could be indicative of a wider malaise in the UK economy.

Rafferty described Printing.com's business as "one of the best barometers of economic confidence" and added that there had been increased caution from UK SMEs, which make up the bulk of the print franchise's clients, in March.

"We have seen circumstances in March that point to a material drop in confidence in the SME community," he said.

"The problem is that the money that has come into the top of the economy through the stimulus package is not getting through to SMEs."

Rafferty added that with today's confirmation of a 6 May election, he hoped that the return of political stability post-election would have a beneficial impact on business confidence.

Meanwhile, Printing.com could be on the verge of completing it's long-stated aim of breaking into the Australian market, following the collapse of local hub-and-spoke print franchise Worldwide Online Printing.

Printing.com is understood to be one of several parties currently in talks with the administrators for Worldwide Online Printing, which went into administration on 25 February.

Rafferty confirmed that Printing.com was "looking at the opportunity with some interest".

"We think the business failed because of a lack of systems," he said. "We think we could put our systems in and make it work."

[spaceparallax] 06/4/2010 11:52

TS is fine by me

[topvest] 06/4/2010 11:28

Mr H. I hold these; I think they are paddling upstream at the moment. Great business printing.com, strong management team, but a very tough market. Hence, the net result is a small reduction in profitability. Hopefully, things will rebound over the next year or two.
Maybe you should have bought Lo-q instead?...lol!

[mr hangman] 06/4/2010 11:23

Yes paid 30p, i was upset was hoping to deal with in the spead at 29p,
over the next 16 months will get atleast 5.25p in divs, works out at 17.5%
return, that's not to be sniffed at.

[dd776] 06/4/2010 11:18

lucky you they want 34p now.

[mr hangman] 06/4/2010 10:09

Just topped up