William Ransom Share Discussion Threads

[davidosh] 10/1/2012 08:32

Do we know where the Agm will be held?

[thehangman] 09/1/2012 18:11

I will be attending.
Hoping Fred will announce that he will be appointing a new Sales Director

[playful] 09/1/2012 17:35

I and many others will be attending the AGM in March to listen to what Fred has planned and hope to have an open and honest discussion on the best way forward.

[investor concerned] 09/1/2012 16:05

Thanks DesWalker,

I wonder what will happen to the rest of the Company?
A merger with Dr Organics?

What options for the share holders now?

[deswalker] 09/1/2012 13:28

ic - it looks like they wanted to sell and had more than one interested party so put the company up for auction with a sale to the highest bidder. It's quite a common way of doing things in the oil and gas industry when a company decides to divest its assets in a particular country or for other strategic reasons. But it's the first time I've heard of it for a small trading company like the Natural Products division of RNSM.

[investor concerned] 09/1/2012 12:31

can anyone explain "following a competitive auction process"

[deswalker] 09/1/2012 11:30

In the year to March 2010 the Natural Products division produced an Operating Profit of £464k, an EBITDA of £745k and had net assets of £2.794m.

Since then we know that it must have traded much better in the year to March 2011 as the group profitability was much better for that year. One might speculate that this division did £1m of EBITDA in the year to March 2011, is possibly on track for something similar in the current year to March 2012 and currently has net assets of circa £3.6m which is the purchase price.

So to me it feels like the purchaser has paid the current NAV and has got the business at circa 3.6 times EBITDA. This is probably £750k cheaper than I would have liked but there can't be too many buyers around so it is what it is.

Everything is now much simpler. Let's hope that 2012 will see a takeover of the remaining business and not just a divestment of the brands followed by a lengthy liquidation process. That is what I shall be pushing for at the AGM in March.

But so far congratulations to Fred and Ran for the big progress made in just over a year.

[deswalker] 09/1/2012 11:12

Cheers playful. Good news indeed. It seems something along the lines of hairyback's comments above are coming to pass. The question is where do we go from here with the Consumer division. It would be great if somebody like Petty Wood bought us out for the brand names.

[playful] 09/1/2012 10:54

hairyback2 was bang on with his prediction, I was hoping for a little more but hey ho



The Company will receive cash consideration on completion of approximately £3.6m which will be used to repay all of the group borrowings in total of £1.35m.
Sir Roger Jones, Chairman, commented:

"The disposal of the Extract Division is part of the simplification of the business and the board believes the divestment is in the best interests of the Company and its stakeholders taking into account the current market conditions and the performance of the group over the last two years. The Board is reviewing the trading outlook for the year taking into account the current retail market position which may result in further simplification of the Company's structure"

Thornton and Ross might be interested in consumer but not sure if they have the cash available.

[hairyback2] 23/12/2011 10:41

hangman,i still reckon they will split extract from everything else and someone like obg will bid for it at rock bottom (sub £4m) price.
consumer element only attractive in parts,anyones guess who will go for that.
all in all after dealing costs and expensive legals,they might get £4m net out of it or less than 5pps.
even if i wanted to,cant get hold of shares in any volume,so im out just with my existing holding.
all in all,not a pleasant experience
never mind,there always other stocks and 2012,lol
GL
HB

[thehangman] 18/12/2011 12:01

playful
RNSM dominated this market for years,but Lifeplan are moving strongly into this sector,offering a lower RSP and im told by retailers far lower trade price than RNSM.

dyor

[thehangman] 12/12/2011 18:31

hairyback
As I said gossip.
Whats your thoughts as why Ransom do not sell Kordels/ Musseltone plus other smaller brands anymore?
Interesting to see who buys them

Ive known Fred and Steve for many years when Steve had a Health food shop in Swansea and Fred was big into Antiques and they launched Aloe Vera as a side line !!,though not been in contact with them for the last 3 years--------both very astute guys.
gl

[hairyback2] 12/12/2011 16:27

hangman,dont think its them
i would have thought about £8m for extracts and consumer less tax,costs say £7m or say 8pps
anyway JPJ have no volume to sell so thats that
good luck to all long suffering holders
HB

[thehangman] 05/12/2011 10:17

GOSSIP in Health food industry that Petty Wood are in early talks re RNSM buyout?
dyor

[hairyback2] 02/12/2011 11:11

des,i will,on to JPJ now - thanks for that
HB

[deswalker] 02/12/2011 11:08

Fair enough. Thanks for your thoughts. Let us know if you manage to get any shares.

I'm long at 3.93p average and am hoping for at least a 6p return within 18 months from now. We should get a much better idea at the AGM in March.

Fingers crossed.

[hairyback2] 02/12/2011 10:55

des,been a shareholder for some years,and underwater for most of those.
it just seems logical to me that the remaining divisions have some asset value and would be attractive to a buyer at anything between £5 and £8m or 5.9 - 9.5p per share gross or about 4.5p - 8.3p per share after taxes and closing down costs - therefore an acceptable upside for a purchase of shares at 3p or maybe a little less or more.
i would not pay 4p ps,but i reckon the market is ready for a buyer that could pay the equivalent of say 6p ps.
very speculative,but worth another punt i would say
HB

[deswalker] 02/12/2011 10:21

hairyback - have you tried going through JP Jenkins ? I suspect there might be some sell orders waiting to be filled or perhaps you know otherwise ?

Why are you interested in RNSM ? Have you heard anything ?

Des

[hairyback2] 02/12/2011 09:34

ok chaps,anyone want to sell me some shares,cash waiting ?
HB

[thehangman] 02/12/2011 08:52

I was speaking to a couple of retailers last weeek:
Why did Ransom give up
Kordels / Musseltone etc etc ranges.
These though not huge sellers brought in a decent turnover?
Dr Organics i must say is a good range,but is it only seen in H and B,which is 600 odd outlets but they squeeze for margins as im led to believe they "demand"
63% below trade,and trade is 33.3% below retail.

[playful] 30/11/2011 09:04

Fred commenting on another award for Dr Organics last month

Director and Co Founder Fred Whitcomb said, "This is simply unreal. We always believed we had some great products before these awards, but when you compete with established brands such as Clarins, Clinique, Estee Lauder, Nivea, No7 and Lancome and you finish up as the winner, it's a remarkable achievement and a credit to our team"



When will we win awards Fred?

[playful] 29/11/2011 19:19

I have been walking around Ransoms warehouse today and was surprised, although not too unexpected i guess at the amount of Dr O products we are holding, I'd say they account for 70% of the entire warehouse space which is divided into two sections Dr O 70% & Ransoms 30%, so it follows that 70% of staff time is attributed to DR O distribution.

I am wondering how we benefit from this arrangement? Perhaps we should divide the running costs of the warehouse on the same basis.

[deswalker] 28/11/2011 19:47

Cheers playful. Any more news about anything ? Please let me know if so. Des

[playful] 28/11/2011 19:14

Stock is now available and being shipped to retailers as was promised. H&B are first on the list to receive their consignment.