African Battery Metals Share Discussion Threads

[mally6] 15/10/2013 14:44

whats the opinion of the mystery buyer someone sure has been buying big chunks.possibly ezcorp increasingto take abm on the cheap or someone else ready to make an offer.

[enfranglais] 15/10/2013 14:01

Saint - Your short still not in profit yet?
Don't be put off folks, the QC stands for - Qualified Coaker - the boiler shop boys must have been caught SHORT?

[simon templar qc] 15/10/2013 13:00

Price of gold fallen again to a new short term low. If they are holding much gold its a concern.

[enfranglais] 14/10/2013 23:12

Saint - Is'nt the whole basis of pawnbroking, you loan against a percentage of the value of a fixed asset. They have had a 20 odd year record of profits in that 'old style' business & are not likely to be sitting on much of a writedown - i allowed 20% when getting to a break up value of 90p a share, which with the normal margin on the loan book, should make that a full 50% odd!!
Don't deramp the share but i would not ramp it either, that's why i am out at 49.10 & hope i might get back in at 42.50, if todays froth comes off!!!

[simon templar qc] 14/10/2013 22:19

enfranglaisa

Don't be so sure in the company is carrying a lot of receivables and its questionable how much they can collect.

[enfranglais] 14/10/2013 17:28

hvs - did you go to the blind school of accounts reading - crikey!!!
This company is far from bankrupt, with a break up of about 90p - it's run out of WORKING CAPITAL - t'is a different thing altogether.
Back to nursery rhymes - more your style methinks, unless of course u r short from 25p ? ouch!!!!

[hvs] 14/10/2013 17:06

Its BANKRUPT

[mally6] 14/10/2013 16:15

somebody is definitely loading up massively be silly to think pis can price go up or down there was a 200k gbp buy earlier today still think 1.00 share price easily possible

[enfranglais] 14/10/2013 16:03

Understand your comments but for the first time in ages, institutions are buying in chunks over £100k - not likely when almost 100% up from floor if they think it is going belly up?
Only reason i sold is that it is prudent & would be glad to have the same shares back at 42.5!!!

[druinsky] 14/10/2013 15:55

shareholders look likely to be wiped out by debt for equity - business volumes down and debt at the ceiling - only a matter of time. Dyor.

[enfranglais] 14/10/2013 15:50

Well, out at 49.05 for 54% & buy orders in place at 42.5 (price before this pm's spike).
Risky but achieved just about my price & we will see if the day traders will start dumping towards the close?
Good luck all & may be back with y'all soon!!!

[enfranglais] 14/10/2013 13:34

Up over 17% this morning & getting nearer to my 50p short term target!!
The only trouble with being near the top of the risers table is that the day traders jump in & we then see a late sell off.
Anyway, a couple of 10% days will see me there & will decide what to do then!

[c1d] 14/10/2013 11:10

enfranglais, agreed! One factoid that impressed me was that up until this debacle they had announced something like 20 years of consecutive growth in profits. I haven't checked but I would think that the gold price had moved up and down several times in that time.
I would like them to go back to concentrating on the core pawnbroking business so that an increase in gold price would be the icing on the cake but the business should do fine whatever the gold price does.

[grahamite2] 14/10/2013 11:07

Gold may well be sold down but it could just as easily be back above 1,500 early next year

We should not forget that the astonishing turnaround in the stock market is not based on real growth but on QE, latterly $85bn a month. That sort of rate cannot go on forever - if it does the dollar will be debauched and inflation will skyrocket.

I have no idea what the timeframe will be but there is every prospect gold will recover strongly in time.

[enfranglais] 14/10/2013 10:46

El c1d,
Glad to have confirmation, as those grey cells are departing rapidly at my advanced age - lol
The pop up's should have no closure penalties & as you say, perhaps a few closures of loss making sites, staff cost reductions & a year without divi's & Bob's yer Uncle. Anyway, short term Gold may well be sold down but it could just as easily be back above 1,500 early next year!!!!

[grahamite2] 14/10/2013 10:44

One reason I always liked this company was that the accounts were a thing of beauty - no nonsense like EBITDA or a balance sheet needing goodwill to show solvency, but rather, real profits and real assets.

Of course, a sufficiently serious cash flow problem can lay the best business low, and that's the reason for the collapse in share price The key question for me remains the rate of redemption of pledges.

[c1d] 14/10/2013 10:36

enfranglais,
I did a similar calculation and got the same result as you. I also calculate the current assets less total liabilities at around 60p per share i.e. assume total write off of fixed assets to get approximate possible liquidation value.
I was concerned about the lease costs as they have overexpanded but when I looked at the (admittedly now out of date) 2012 accounts I could see that while their lease costs were £7.2m for 2012 (expect it will be higher for 2013 due to staged store opening programme) the annual staff costs were £22.5m. This made me think that even though they are tied into store leases there is a lot they can do to reduce costs by cutting staff and reducing hours - I am assuming that a lot of store staff will be on flexible contracts and have relatively short notice periods.
There is also cash that can be conserved through minimal capex and no future dividends.
Because of the above, I personally don't see why the bank will not give the new CEO a chance to recover the situation while charging a higher margin and collecting a big fee for renegotiating the facilities.
Just my opinion - DYOR!

[enfranglais] 14/10/2013 10:10

When i bought a stake at 32p, i did a quick calculation of break up value (taking out intangibles such as goodwill) & came to about 90p!!
Why would the Banks want to sell the debt on the cheap if the Company is taking the right measures to restructure, with a lower Gold price & profit centre from this item?
I am holding for at least 50p - has anyone else done the maths?

[fbrj] 14/10/2013 09:19

Sunday Times


A PACK of suitors is stalking Albemarle & Bond as the stricken pawnbroker desperately tries to renegotiate loans from its banks.

Vulture funds, private equity firms and rivals are circling the company after its shares crashed 90% following a failed attempt to raise emergency funding. A&B, which lends to consumers using jewellery and other items as security, has been hit by turbulence in the bullion market, where gold has lost a third of its value since 2011.

Last month the company, which has 200 high street stores, was in the final stages of a fundraising but talks collapsed, plunging it into crisis.

A&B's shares plummeted and it had to secure a covenant waiver from its lenders to avoid a breach of its loan terms. The company has since drafted in a new chief executive and a specialist restructuring officer to lead discussions with its banks. They are expected to grant new management several months to come up with a turnaround plan.

The company's struggles have alerted a handful of predators which have approached its lenders in an attempt to buy its debts on the cheap and take control of A&B.

Shares in A&B closed at 37½p on Friday, down 85% over the past year.

[simon templar qc] 08/10/2013 15:08

Mail today...

www.dailymail.co.uk/money/article-2449426/SMALL-CAP-MOVERS-Pawn-brokers-Albemarle-Bind-scrabble-cash-pay-51millon-debt.html

[simon templar qc] 07/10/2013 14:52

HVS

Very funny. "Well done boys you desrve a cheap bar of GOLD shall we make it TOBLORONE ?"

They would probably do better trading in these...

www.mcvities.co.uk/product/gold

[hvs] 07/10/2013 14:35

And history keeps on repeating itself.