Savile Group Share Discussion Threads

[harrogate] 10/10/2011 08:56

Hi

Do you happen to know what the likley sales are for the 2 units going forward.Are there any broker notes about. I can't seem to find much about these guys but looks interesting at this level
Thanks
H

[deswalker] 10/10/2011 08:37

Finals out this morning.

Obviously a complete fiasco this past year or so BUT the Balance Sheet is better than I expected and the Outlook statement sounds quietly confident. We will have a new independent non-exec Chairman in time for the AGM which begs the question as to the role of Jonathan Cohen going forward ?

I think there is decent upside in this share over the next few years with as little tampering as possible - IDDAS being allowed to stick to its knitting and Fairplace Cedar being run more effectively under Penny de Valk. I haven't got the guts to buy any more but I might just see a profit from my existing holding bought at 27p in due course. IMO, DYOR.

[deswalker] 29/9/2011 10:14

Had a conversation with the FD.

They acted very quickly y'day to protect the group.

Penny de Valk joined Fairplace Cedar a couple of weeks ago and is bedding in well. With Helen Pitcher in charge at IDDAS we now only have two operational heads. Both these divisions are currently trading better. The Group still has decent cash balances.

The results will obviously look messy and the performance for the year to date will not be great due to 7 days but perhaps, just perhaps we can start from today with a more optimistic outlook.

It is the FD's understanding that all the 900k deferred shares are no longer payable and he confirmed that the heavy dilution due to the options struck at 20.6p have also been torn up.

They are the first to put their hands up and say what a mess has been made of it all. But hopefully they will now just stick to their knitting of developing Fairplace Cedar and IDDAS. These two divisions ought to support a share price higher than this if they can return to anything resembling the past performance.

[deswalker] 29/9/2011 07:48

A complete fiasco. Trying to be positive at least they are grasping the nettle but the Chairman should fall on his sword for this.

[playful] 29/9/2011 07:11

Less than 12 months ago Jonathan Cohen paid GBP1.29m in cash, and issued in total 1.4 million Ordinary shares of Savile to Louise Palmer, so how much time did he spend doing his due diligence?

[davidosh] 28/9/2011 17:31

I do know Louise was heavily pregnant at the point where she joined the group...Maybe she just wants a more relaxed life and was happy to integrate the business and go off into the sunset ? One would expect them to be rather more detailed and thanking her within the RNS if that were the case though.

[deswalker] 28/9/2011 13:49

There's two ways of looking at it ...

Clearly the 7 days purchase was a huge mistake and the Chairman needs to answer for this at the AGM. But hopefully their clients will stick with the brand name and not follow the boss so that at least some residual value will remain. We'll see ...

On the positive side, I can't see how any of the 900k deferred shares can be paid which is a significant reduction in dilution. Also that is another Board member salary gone without severance.

The running of this company over the last two years has been a total fiasco. But I still believe there to be large upside if Helen Pitcher at IDDAS can gel with Penny de Valk at Fairplace Cedar and the architect of this mess Jonathan Cohen simply stops turning up to the office.

The results are out on Friday and the AGM is on 4 November I believe. I shall be there to let them know my feelings.

Des

[playful] 28/9/2011 12:11

Not good news. I wonder if she will forfeit her anniversary shares?

[playful] 29/6/2011 08:58

I'm certainly not complaining

[deswalker] 29/6/2011 08:56

Good question. My thoughts are in #337 but who knows ...

[playful] 28/6/2011 16:27

30% not bad going, just need this every day now ;o)

[deswalker] 28/6/2011 10:53

A few possible reasons for the tick-up IMO ...

1) A brief mention in the press last weekend pointing out the Director buying and speculating that the worst may be behind it. They offer no apparent basis for this assertion apart from the Director buying but just maybe they've been given a steer ...

2) The shares do appear to be tightly held at these levels so illiquidity magnifies things.

3) Year end is on Thursday and they should be in a position to start the new year with the new cost structure and business model in place. Fingers crossed we have just been through their annus horribilis ...

4) A trading statement is due in a week or two. The vibes I get from the company are that they are fairly busy so perhaps it will be not quite as downbeat as the share price suggests.

Des

[playful] 28/6/2011 09:00

Nice start to the day from SAVG

[playful] 12/6/2011 12:48

Thanks for your efforts Des, much appreciated!

[deswalker] 10/6/2011 16:48

The FD says it was "one of the Directors who left" selling up. This has to be Michael Moran as Cindy Mahoney didn't own that many shares.

Indeed checking the AR we see M Moran held 564,389 shares on 30/6/10. He then sold 93,333 at 30p on 9/7/10 and the number sold today brings us to 564,384 which is close enough.

I suspect he is responsible for a lot of the problems this past year ("no comment" from the FD on this hypothesis) so I have no sympathy for the lowly sale price. However I am annoyed that the shares weren't taken by the company for the benefit of everyone as they ought to have been.

The FD said that they decided it wasn't appropriate to buy back shares at this time.

However, he did give some general vibes that business is doing okay, that the restructuring is just about complete, that they are doing fine in Talent Management with some decent activity within the financial services industry, that Fairplace is also winning contracts some of which have started and some of which haven't, that the cost structure on that side of the business is now much better linked to performance and that they have so far been repaid 25% of the bad debt mentioned in the last results and are confident of getting it all back.

I intend to try and speak to Jonathan Cohen next week to ask why he didn't authorise the buyback for the benefit of all and not just his Concert Party. However, I urge all shareholders to call either Mark Sidlin (who is very happy to talk) or Jonathan Cohen to make them aware that things need to improve for the benefit of all shareholders who have so far been badly let down, not just operationally but also on the corporate governance side.

Finally I take a big consolation that post the dilution of Louise Palmer's deferred shares the two largest holders will own 23.9% whereas Linda Jackson, David Stewart, Louise Palmer & Helen Pitcher will own 19.52% and a couple or three institutions owning approx 11%.

I find it very hard to believe that this is the register of a company that could get a delisting resolution through, especially with their line of work being corporate governance and their apparent anxiety to pay dividends.

I suspect it is just opportunism from the two largest holders and they see it as an opportunity to leg over the guy they hold responsible for the problems this last year. Personally I hold Jonthan Cohen primarily responsible in spite of his apparent shareholder friendliness.

Des

[davidosh] 10/6/2011 16:21

They might claim 8.5p is the market price ...lol !!

Why on earth was 8.5p not a good price for the company to undertake buybacks so that every shareholder benefits from the forced selling at 8.5p ??

[parvez] 10/6/2011 15:18

That would be nice! what price though?
:):)

[liarspoker] 10/6/2011 15:11

This management is taking the proverbial and if they take their options, especially if they boost EPS with exceptional figures, I will report them to the FSA.

Edit: Cue - management will read this post and promptly take the company private.

[bigbigdave] 10/6/2011 14:31

Shirley shum mishtake??

[davidosh] 10/6/2011 14:03

That may be...but only if I can get them anywhere near the same price !! 8.5p ?

[parvez] 10/6/2011 13:16

Great time to buy with directors now buying!!

[cambium] 21/4/2011 08:18

Are they going into mining?