Morson Share Discussion Threads

[gingerplant] 23/7/2012 14:27

Thanks qvg - mine's just gone in (Selftrade).

[qvg] 23/7/2012 11:18

GP
I have just spoken to Hargreaves Lansdown. They tell me should be today, but might be tomorrow.

[gingerplant] 23/7/2012 08:54

DAK when our accounts should get credited?

[killieboy] 09/7/2012 20:18

Thieving gits!!

[red ninja] 02/7/2012 06:16

Mmm they have 71% so they only have to get another 4% in the extened period.

I must admit I accepted the offer not because I am happy with being mugged, but it looked like a done deal. They had 56% and I believed they only had to get 75% of those who voted. Looks like I was wrong.

Can they change the conditions of the deal so they delist on a lower pecentage eg 70% ?

If they delist it seems to me they will have more chances to dilute the remaining shareholders at low prices and that worried me

[gingerplant] 29/5/2012 14:56

Shareholders Are Being Fleeced

[darwenlad] 28/5/2012 11:21

One shareholder, at least, is prepared to speak out against this lousy deal, which grossly undervalues this company.



If only the 6 big institutions, which own 31% of Morson's equity, were prepared to do the same.

Given the age of the chairman(73), this company could well be resold again in 3-4 years time for several times what the family proposes to pay for it now.

Do the institutions have the guts to stick around for that long? Given the short-sighted nature of the institutions, the answer is almost certainly no.

[killieboy] 25/5/2012 22:14

Daylight robbery

[liarspoker] 25/5/2012 21:56

Maybe Medlock was in the know ?

Nothing surprises me anymore. :O)

[battlebus2] 25/5/2012 15:16

Maybe this is in response to David Medlock taking a stake. Your not getting our company we'll take it of the market first attitude.

[red ninja] 25/5/2012 15:11

I've got to say I agree. Morson has been expanded by aquisitions of bancrupt agencies and foreign offices. This expansion has hit the bottom line, but that is what you would expect in difficult times. The company should benefit when the new offices and agencies have established themselves.

The canceling of the dividend has wiped out the share price, but last results showed decent coverage of the dividend.

Thus this all looks a bit contrived with the company management getting a bargain and the small PIsbeing mugged....

[red ninja] 25/5/2012 15:07

Copy of Darwen Lad post on iii:

The term daylight robbery springs to mind. Morson, which came to the stock market at 160p in 2006 is now being bought back by the Morson family at 50p a share.

The Morson family, in the form of chairman and his chief executive son, have overseen a dramatic decline in the company's fortunes since its flotation. Revenues have nearly doubled, operating margins have halved and staff numbers have risen four fold. Last December the company axed its final dividend with the result that the share price roughly halved from 80p to 40p.

Without the dividend cut the company's shares would probably still be trading around the 80p level and yielding around 7.5%. The company's balance sheet gave little hint of the need for a dividend cut. The company remains profitable, its interest cover is over 8 times, and a maintained 6p dividend in 2011 would have been just over two times covered. As it is the 2p interim dividend is more than 6 times covered.

However, the company has now warned that it could not even guarantee any dividend at all will be paid in the current year. No wonder the share price collapsed, and the Morson family, which owns around 45%, can buy back the company for around 4 times earnings. They are buying a business with net assets of around £60m for £22.5m. Stripping out goodwill, the price being offered its still a discount to net tangible assets. The sole independent non-exec says that it is OK.

So much for the idea that backing a family run business should encourage the good stewardship of a company's assets over the long-term. This is a grubby deal which deserves to be voted down. But given the size of the family shareholding, and the irrevocable undertakings of some lilly-livered institutional shareholders, it will almost certainly be nodded through.

Wouldn't it be great to see David Medlock, whose private Sitec recruitment business has recently taken a 6.1 per cent stake in Morson, mount a rival bid and kick out this discredited management? Sadly it is probably too late.

[liarspoker] 25/5/2012 14:34

Ok, ok. Post removed.

In my own defence I must say that I invested in MRN and included in the MS portfolio because it was dirt cheap. I wouldn't have bought it at a higher price than I did. I invested on the basis that over time debt would be reduced and the divi reinstated then the company would trade at fair value at which time I would sell.

FWIW I think fair value here is north of 60p thereby making this a bargain share when I invested in it. 50p falls short of fair value imo but I'll take it. If there was no bid I'd be happy to hold for a few years until fair value was realised but it looks like MRN worked out faster than expected but at a lower return than expected.

I thought the international expansion was progression well and would have liked for the co to stick around. However as we all know when purchasing bargain shares a lot of the companies get taken out ( sometimes fairly, sometimes not ).

[deswalker] 25/5/2012 14:21

Agree. They could just as easily have offered the current price and then it wouldn't have looked so smart. I'll find my 20%'s elsewhere rather than playing with and relying upon situations like this.

[davidosh] 25/5/2012 14:19

Liars...I think your post is in rather bad taste when looking at the situation of probably 90% of the independant shareholders here. This is not quite the way I would be looking for quick 20% returns around the market as they would run out pretty quickly and investors getting shafted everywhere would run off wounded and take money out elsewhere with it ! We need strong companies that deliver for shareholders and longer term investing not short term shaftings !!

[davidosh] 25/5/2012 13:36

Have any of you guys reported your concerns to ShareSoc ? You can join for free at www.sharesoc.org and they will help you co-ordinate an action group.

Did anyone attend the Agm today ?

[pictureframe] 25/5/2012 13:04

This is a p take - I bought for a recovery with the company paying dividends again.

[c1d] 25/5/2012 10:44

Value Viper - I totally agree. I have been holding these on the basis that they are massively undervalued based on net assets and consistent record of profitability even when their markets are difficult. I can't understand how the independent director can recommend a deal at this level. I guess I have to hope that the remaining major investors don't cave in at this price and negotiate a better deal? - but if management can get to 75% acceptances then it will be game over...

[value viper] 25/5/2012 10:19

correction , mgment are stealing the co back at hideously low level !!!

[deswalker] 25/5/2012 09:25

Why are the Directors allowed to vote their shares ? I thought they needed to be excluded ?