Romag Holdings Share Discussion Threads

[honiton] 28/6/2011 07:36

why nothave a 15% stoploss?

[r0ss] 08/6/2011 10:34

Sickening.

[cbgb] 08/6/2011 09:31

More than a bit, we were robbed in my opinion

[honiton] 08/6/2011 09:05

A bit annoying really!!


Romag hire staff as demand for solar panels increases
by Peter McCusker, The Journal
Jun 8 2011
0ShareJUST weeks after being taken over by Sunderland housing group Gentoo solar glass company Romag has recruited new staff.

The Consett-based company, bought out of administration by Gentoo in April, has established an additional production line to cope with demand, requiring an extra 20 people.

Romag was placed into administration in March after encountering difficult trading conditions, which were compounded by raw material supply and credit issues.

Gentoo bought the assets of the business, saving the jobs of its 160 staff and is looking to develop the business further.

Phil Murray, newly appointed managing director of Romag, said: "Romag is committed to supplying the highest quality products in order to meet customer requirements, now and in the future. Working alongside our current team, the new staff will be instrumental in helping us to do just that.

"With demand for Solar PV (photo-voltaic) on the up, we are also investing in a third production line to further expand capacity and benefit from the fantastic growth opportunities that the renewable energy sector offers moving forward."

Romag says it is witnessing increasing demand for its solar PV, security, architectural, and transport glass products and has recruited a mix of manufacturing and support staff.

Romag was established in 1943 and has been one of the region's most active companies in the renewable energy sector. Shortly before its demise as an independent business it had begun talks with Gentoo about creating a joint venture business involving the installation of solar panels on the roofs of some of Gentoo's 30,000 properties.

Andrew Taylor, deputy chief executive, of Gentoo, said: "Romag has a great reputation in the photo-voltaic field, but is also a traditional glass products maker which fits in well with a residential social landlord such as ourselves."

[honiton] 30/5/2011 11:50

asparks

Yes. Sorry. I have too in other companies.

That is why I stick to bluchips and FTSE 250 only (try BKG and SHB).

IM HO, DYOR

[asparks] 11/5/2011 11:37

Powerfilm Solar (PFLM) breaking out!

[asparks] 09/5/2011 12:39

have I lost my entire investment here?

[asparks] 05/4/2011 13:54

big time. I think this should be reported to the Serious Fraud Office

[9degrees] 05/4/2011 10:52

Presumably "Ask the Genie " will benefit from F-I-T by putting solar panels into all the houses that they manage . Quite a coup for them ?? !!
In my view the deatils behind the "loan" and maybe also what affect Lynn Miles' estate and tax affairs may have had on the decision making all need to be made public . We have clearly been screwed big time .

[davidosh] 04/4/2011 21:55

Mr Kennair, who owns around 12% of Romag, is understood to have told the board he made the £4m payment in the second half of 2010 to cover bad debts but acted in the "interests of the company".


Now the claim is that he told the Board ?? Is that so that the £4m can be paid back or allow him to keep the role as CEO.? All very strange and certainly it looks as if nothing will come back to shareholders.

I understand ShareSoc will be investigating issues surrounding the demise of Romag and if any shareholders want assistance in backing a claim against the company it is worth contacting them. All private investors should consider joining ShareSoc as it is free and acts as a common voice for individual investors. www.sharesoc.org

[masurenguy] 04/4/2011 21:36

John Kennair remains as CEO, according to this newspaper report, but he will have lost the £4m that he paid into the company last year unless there was still cash available after the bank had been paid and he was a preferential creditor. If the latter was the case then the FD would have known about the money deposited by Kennair into the company bank account but since the BoD claimed that David Banks had "no knowledge" of this money then he can't have been a preferential creditor so I guess it is a straight write off as far as he is concerned !

Bulletproof glass firm Romag sold to Gentoo

A FIRM which makes bulletproof glass and solar panels has been sold after it went into administration in the wake of cashflow and accounting woes. Romag Holdings, which is based in Leadgate, County Durham and supplies security glass to banks, embassies and police stations, was sold to Ask The Genie, a subsidiary of property group Gentoo.

The company identified cashflow problems and suspended its shares after an investigation into a £4m payment ex-chairman John Kennair made to one of its divisions without informing the board. When Mr Kennair stepped down as chairman in February, Romag said it was experiencing significant demand for its products, particularly solar panels, and had a strong forward order book. But it was unable to secure further funding from its bank - Lloyds - and its trade and assets, including 160 staff, have been transferred to Ask The Genie.

Romag supplies transparent material - glass and plastic - to security, renewable energy, architectural and specialist transport markets. It is one of only two solar panel manufacturers in the UK. Mr Kennair remains chief executive at the company, a position he took up in 1975. He was awarded the MBE for services to the specialised glass industry in 1990.

Sunderland-based Gentoo is a construction company, housing developer and the main registered social landlord in Sunderland, managing and maintaining around 30,000 properties. Peter Walls, Gentoo chief executive, said: "We believe the low carbon market will continue to be a strategic area of growth and this puts us in a unique position to take full advantage of opportunities in our sector. "Solar energy is a huge agenda with global governmental targets and it is great to be playing a part in it whilst doing our bit for the planet in the process."

Romag appointed KPMG to investigate the payment Mr Kennair made to the company and decided the previous year's results would have to be restated. Mr Kennair, who owns around 12% of Romag, is understood to have told the board he made the £4m payment in the second half of 2010 to cover bad debts but acted in the "interests of the company".

[roger-lawson] 04/4/2011 20:56

Just learnt about this debacle. What a comic story about £4m being put into the company and the board not knowing about it! Anyway this is a typical "pre-pack administration" (see www.sharesoc.org/Prepacks.pdf for I letter I wrote to the Government last weekend on this subject where shareholders simply get screwed).

Of course if anyone cares to look into the background of the new companies that have acquired the assets (and who the directors are), which will cost you all of £2 from the Companies House web site, it might make interesting reading.

Are the former management of the company still involved one wonders?

Roger Lawson, ShareSoc

[9degrees] 04/4/2011 20:03

as investors we have got to know what has gone wrong . Is this fraud or what ? Sounds like it to me . The chair pumps in money without anyone knowing not even the FD??? This is appalling

[utterberk] 04/4/2011 19:29

So we'll never know what was in their Report and accounts, then. Sure would like to have seen why this was such a terrible investment.

[honiton] 04/4/2011 16:16

Gentoo are formerly Sunderland Housing Association.

[asparks] 04/4/2011 15:30

surely the market has a right to be informed what ROM was sold for?
Strange buyer too

[asparks] 04/4/2011 14:43

I dont understand how this has happened. Surely the business was not in such a dire position?

[masurenguy] 04/4/2011 13:57

Unfortunately this had the air of inevitability about it as soon as the explanation for the suspension was announced in early February. My commiserations to all remaining holders - I really hope that floppyhat also got out before the suspension in January.

[neilrr] 04/4/2011 13:52

That's bad.

Commiserations to all share holders, PIs get it up the gary again.

[masurenguy] 01/4/2011 16:54

Not necessarily ! We don't know the full financial picture but if Kennair had not surreptiously deposited almost £4m into the company's bank account, and a major bad debt writedown had then taken place, this could have prejudiced refinancing negotiations with LBG. That could have resulted in the company going into administration with a complete loss to existing shareholders. This may still be the outcome !

As a 10% shareholder, Kennairs interests were largely in tandem with other shareholders and it would appear that he acted in what he believed was in everyones best interests. It is not often that you get a suspension due to financial irregularities resulting from a director putting several million of his own money into a company to offset a potential third party bad debt - it is normally the other way around with money being syphoned out of a business !

It must be very frustrating for current shareholders - fortunately I took profits and sold out over a year ago but kept this on my watchlist as a possible future buyback.



All you can do is just wait for the process to be played out. In the meantime, speculation without any tangible information, is rather pointless. :o|

[utterberk] 01/4/2011 15:43

If they took the company private again at a significant discount to the market price before the "gift" was given, then the gift would be from shareholders to the Kinnears.