Cattles Share Discussion Threads

[e-venturer] 28/6/2009 12:02

I don't think the shares will be back until the results are published. I think the agm is called purely because it has to be.Ultimately if the shares do come back cattles is facing a number of with its future business. Their business model will have to change drastically.

I wouldn't be waiting on the banks to help them either given that Alan Johnson offered to help them and then they cut the 1,000 jobs in Hull. Cattles is and has been a PR diaster. David Postings has to be positive otherwise the game is well and truely up.

The past few months has only seen further job losses therefore Welcome's customers must be in increasing difficulties. I would like to know how much the cost saving exercise has saved? However the cash collecting in the last month is now only "pleasing". Don't forget this was the same company that only 8 moths ago was promising record profits and now they can't even produce the correct results for the previous year!

[tom111] 28/6/2009 09:09

Dosnt he go on.

[quepassa] 27/6/2009 20:42

But the question is HOW LONG after the AGM?

You are referred to the following two extracts from the recent AGM notification:-



"As the Company has not been able to publish its Accounts by 30 April 2009 as required by Disclosure and Transparency Rule (DTR) 4.1.3,
in order to avoid a disorderly market and to protect investors, trading in the Company's securities was suspended on 23 April 2009
pending publication of the Accounts."


and


"Due to this delay in finalising the Accounts they are not available in time for the Annual General Meeting, which must be held on or
before 31 July 2009 under the company law provisions applicable to the Company. Once the Accounts have been finalised, a separate
shareholder meeting will be convened at which the Accounts can be presented to shareholders and related matters can be dealt with."




Whilst open to interpretation, these extracts from the AGM Notification would in my opinion indicate that the shares would not be back from suspension ( just or shortly) after the AGM. The first extract clearly says shares were suspended "... pending publication of the Accounts".

The Company gives no precise temporal guidance as to when it expects the Accounts to have been finalised.

Nor does The Company give any temporal guidance when it expects the shares to start trading again.

There is no indication given as to how long after the AGM that the Accounts will be ready. This may be days, less likely in my view, or weeks or even longer which is more likely in my view.

Nor is it inconceivable in my view that the current share suspension is further affected by other actions.



All IMO. DYOR.

QP

[alistair4444] 27/6/2009 19:17

Tom111 I agree with you on that point, after AGM

[tom111] 27/6/2009 16:48

In your opinion? Shares will be back from suspension shortly.,or after agm

[quepassa] 27/6/2009 08:23

Shares unlikely to be back from suspension in my opinion after AGM as annual report will still not be available in time for the AGM. The AGM will not be to approve the Annual Report and Accounts.

The full AGM Notification is important reading in my opinion for followers of Cattles. The full text is found at Cattles.

Attention is drawn to Resolution Six which they want to pass at the AGM. This seeks to increase the Company's Borrowing Powers as laid down in their Articles of Association beyond the current 6 x Adjusted Cap & Reserves.

The Company is at lengths to stress the importance to shareholders of voting in favour of Resolution 6.


And the same AGM Notice says (twice) :-"The
Company is only able to continue to trade with the continuing support of its lenders, bondholders and noteholders....."

Rather an uncomfortable situation, many would say.

All IMO. DYOR.

QP

[tom111] 26/6/2009 20:09

Well it looks like they will come back from supension just after the AGM

[catmanboogie] 26/6/2009 16:44

Cattles Notice of AGM





TIDMCTT

RNS Number : 6206U
Cattles PLC
26 June 2009

?
26 June 2009




Cattles plc




Publication of 2009 Annual General Meeting Circular


Cattles plc announces that the 2009 Annual General Meeting will be held on
Wednesday 29 July 2009 at Saviles, Armouries Square, Armouries Drive, Clarence
Dock, Leeds, LS10 1LT and will start at 11.00 a.m. The 2009 Annual General
Meeting Circular and accompanying Form of Proxy will be sent to shareholders and
others entitled to receive them on 27 June 2009 and copies of these documents
are today being forwarded to the Financial Services Authority for publication
through the Document Viewing Facility.


Copies of the 2009 Annual General Meeting Circular may be obtained from the
Company Secretary, Cattles plc, Kingston House, Centre 27 Business Park,
Woodhead Road, Birstall, Batley, West Yorkshire WF17 9TD and will be available
on the Cattles website (www.cattles.co.uk/index.php?2009_agm) from 27 June 2009
onwards.






For further information:


Roland Todd, Company Secretary, Cattles plc 01924 444466



This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END

[spectoacc] 26/6/2009 16:25

AGM 29th July; just over a month to wait but might be some more information to finally come out.

Anyone going along to heckle?

[wsm812] 25/6/2009 09:23

22 June 2009













Cattles plc



Ongoing standstill discussions




Cattles notes the recent press speculation regarding discussions with its debt providers and confirms that it is in constructive discussions with its debt providers with a view to obtaining a standstill agreement.




A further announcement will be made when appropriate.







Enquiries:




David Postings, CEO, Cattles plc

Paul Marriott, Financial Dynamics Tel: [phone]

As long as they keep keep talking we'll be alright!

[redd] 24/6/2009 14:14

Forget about expectations as just like much of the speculation here recently, it's pointless without the facts. Hopefully there will soon be a RNS giving sufficient detail to make some assumptions but with the country in recession, and the accompanying rising jobless numbers, the concern will be the impact of further, unquantifiable, bad debts.

Might make a good option for a gamble both long and short if that's your thing;-)

[thehearse] 24/6/2009 13:37

What's the future expection of shareholder value once the stock starts trading again i.e. < 6p or > 6p or even 0?

[wooly62] 24/6/2009 12:59

QP - I agree re DP. I don't understand how some posters still hold him in high regard when it's under his watch that the accounting irregularities have occurred.

Spec - Agree entirely. If CTT can survive it's good for everyone, but I still think that shareholder value has been largely destroyed. Hopefully we will be proven wrong and the share price will rise once the true position is known, but I wouldn't invest my childrens inheritance on that (to borrow a quote from a certain Theo Pathitis)

[spectoacc] 24/6/2009 09:40

63John - thanks for that post, interesting. Delighted there may be light at the end of the tunnel for Cattles; can't see how the business failing benefits anybody. Although doesn't change my view that shareholders v. unlikely to get anything back.

[quepassa] 24/6/2009 08:39

Of course, the big question about David Postings is just what was the man doing for the last 18 months in the run-up to the disasters within Cattles and the subsequent humungous losses, share suspension and inability to produce statutory accounts in a timely fashion?

I think that many shareholders (as well as the 1,000 staff made redundant) who have loyally supported Cattles for so many years and who followed the Board's recommendation on The Rights Issue have every right to be not only furious but also scathing about the poor job done by Cattles' management in recent times, especially in allowing the breakdown in internal controls. - After all, that's their job innit, to ensure that proper internal controls and procedures are in place and being followed at all times.

All IMO. DYOR.

QP

[grahamburn] 23/6/2009 21:16

QP. I am not going to get into a discussion with you because you never ever read what other people say.

My earlier post effectively said what you said, but in a more rational and sensible manner without a degree of vindictiveness towards the company. I did, however, also offer the possibility that it may work out OK for the company. I have never, so far as I can recall, made a strong INVESTMENT case (as others have done) for Cattles during this year. I have simply tried to balance your posts which are always blatantly one-sided to illustrate to others that, even though you are always saying DYOR to others, that you may not be quite so thorough in your own research or knowledge.

But, unfortunately, I cannot see you ever wanting to discuss matters in a sensible thorough manner and, as I have said before, I cannot understand why you spend so much time talking about a company which, in your view, is finished. It may very well be finished, so why waste your time here? No, don't respond, because I am not going to respond any more to you. We'll just have to accept that you have a fatalistic view, and I have a view that all may not be lost. There's nothing you or I can do to alter the case or change the investments decisions we have or have not made until such time as the situation is resolved one way or the other.

Good night. And good bye.

[63john] 23/6/2009 20:17

Here is DP intranet message in full:


Dear colleague,

In my last update on 1 June I said that I would try and update you every few weeks.

Three weeks have now passed, so it's time for another update from me to you.


Cash and Costs

I am delighted with the progress that has been made on reducing our costs. As Robert

mentioned in his recent note we have achieved significant reductions in mobile phone call

costs, Managed Expenses claims and the number of hotel nights booked. A big thank you

to you all who have sent in their cost saving ideas and made this happen. The results

prove that with your focus and actions we really can make a difference. Please keep

sending your cost saving ideas to Robert and to me. Sometimes it is the smallest ideas

that can make a big difference.

Looking forward, there is no doubt that we will have to look hard at all our costs again. I

think that we have to stand back and ask ourselves the question "is there a better way to

organise the business and would it create a better result?" Over the next few weeks

ExCo will be giving some serious thought to this and what it means for everyone in the

business. We cannot avoid this issue if we are to produce the best long-term outcome

for the business.

Our cost management has been great and so has our cash collection. Total cash

collections for May were very pleasing. Well done on another good month. When you

think about how tough the economic environment is for our customers, and the impact

this has on their disposable income, to be doing well against our cash target shows just

how hard everyone is working.

As I mentioned in my last update, collecting cash must be done in a fair and ethical way.

Treating our customers in a fair way is vital if we are to build trust and achieve the best

long-term cash collection result.

2

Bank refinancing

Jamie, Robert and I are in daily contact with our lenders and their representatives. We

have given a series of presentations to different groups and we have had a very fair

hearing. We believe that all concerned would like to see Cattles pull through its current

problems. The work that we have done on reducing costs and collecting cash has

enabled us to discuss the future with more confidence.

You may have seen an article in the press yesterday talking about a potential standstill

arrangement. We have issued a statement confirming that we are working towards a

standstill. If we achieve this it will be a good thing for the business. A standstill is what

it says – a period when the lenders stand still and it would mean that we would have a

period of stability during which to finish our planning and agree how to move forward

more formally with our lenders. I would have preferred that this had not been discussed

in the press and there is little more I can say now.

I know that many of you continue to question when we anticipate being able to publish

our 2008 annual report and accounts. As I've mentioned earlier, discussions with our

debt providers continue and until these are completed we will not be in a position to

publish our 2008 annual report and accounts. If we succeed in entering into a standstill

with lenders this may not be sufficient to allow the accounts to be signed off.

I will, of course, continue to share any information that I can with you at the earliest

opportunity.


Control

Control isn't just about rules and compliance, it is also about how we run the business

day-to-day and what action we take. So, I thought an update on the 100-day plan would

be useful. We have delivered a lot. We are now pulling together the next 100-day plan.

100-day plan

Back in March I talked about putting together a 100-day plan so that we have a clear

view of how we can put the business on a stronger footing going forward. The first 100

days is up next week and I am pleased to tell you that we have made great progress.

• In Finance we now have a 13-week cash forecast which gives us much more

insight in predicting cash flows for the business;


• We have improved the Management Information (MI) packs so that there is more

analysis to enable senior management to make better-informed business

decisions.

3


• We have completed a supplier review and implemented an e-PO system to control

purchases.


• In Risk & Compliance a review of the Risk Governance arrangements has been

undertaken, and as a result new committees have been established to ensure

better controls. The new committees that have been set up are:


o Board Risk Committee: This committee assists the Boards by reviewing

and approving key elements of the Group's Risk Management

arrangements and the Group Risk Appetite;


o Group Credit Committee: This committee monitors the credit risk profile,

strategies and policies of the Group ensuring that risks are properly

identified and mitigated and that they are managed within appetite; and


o Group Operations and Operational Risk Committee: This committee

ensures appropriate management of the design and delivery of Operations,

IT services, change activity to the Group and appropriate implementation

of the Operational Risk and Governance Framework.


• We have completed a strategy review on Treating Customers Fairly (TCF) and the

outputs of this strategy will be taken forward to the next 100-day plan.


• In Operations, cash collections throughout the 100 days have improved month on

month. We continue to improve customer and collection experience and we have

undertaken a number of pilots such as:


o colleagues in CSSC managing outbound dialling for bounced Direct Debits;

o suspending transfer of accounts between branches to establish stronger

customer relationships and improve cash collections;


o merging Regional Asset Branches (RAB) and operational branches to

reduce transfers and handovers of accounts; and


o Working closer with TLG on managing accounts in arrears.

• On the People side, we have done a lot of work on Balanced Scorecards. In my

previous updates I have explained the importance of scorecards for all colleagues.

Scorecards will ensure that we are all clear about what we are working to achieve

and how our success will be measured. The process will be rolled out to all our

people across the organisation over the next few months so you can all see how

the part you play contributes to the overall success of the business.

We are working on a new strategy in The Lewis Group, Shopacheck and in Welcome.

This work will allow us to see what the market opportunities are, what competition we

have to face and what capabilities we would need to take them on. Once completed, we

will be talking to the lending groups about the options that we have developed. We are

working with the assistance of a firm called Oliver Wyman. I would hope that we could

put these options to the lenders in due course and build new plans as a result.

4


Culture

In May I wrote to you on the importance of Future Focus and that this remains a key

building block for the future of the business. We created a Future Focus 'Re-Focus'

session and sent out an information pack to help you act on your team's feedback. I

would like to take this opportunity to remind you to please complete your planned

actions to the end of 2009 and log these onto the Learner Management System (LMS) by

the end of this week.

I am keen to see our Future Focus action plans and discuss with you the progress we are

making to achieve our 'Future Focus' strengths and ensure we're Fit for the Future.

Please don't just fill the forms in. Future Focus is something I passionately believe in

and I know it works. If you sit down as a team, discuss the issues that frustrate you and

then resolve to make change you will see the benefit straight away. There are obviously

many things that can and should be done centrally to improve life in the business, but

the power of your team must not be underestimated, so please take this chance to

harness it.

Closing thoughts

When you write communications like this it is often easy to slip into generalisations. I try

hard to avoid that but the issue of confidentiality means that sometimes I have no

choice. I am trying to be as open as possible and to treat each of you sensibly and with

respect. There is no doubt that life is tough for everyone. I am asking you to collect

cash, reduce cost, and operate in a more controlled and disciplined way. All this and

keep the customer at the forefront of your mind. This is hard enough but there is still a

good deal of uncertainty around.

Despite the uncertainty you have delivered great results. What you have done means

that we have the possibility of a standstill with lenders. That would be a good outcome

for the business. We will be thoroughly reviewing what we do, how we do it and how we

are structured over the coming weeks. Your input via 'Dear David' has played a vital part

in helping shape the business and really would like you to keep it coming. I am

confident that we will come through the weeks and months ahead and be strong and

ready to meet new challenges.

Thank you

David Postings

[quepassa] 23/6/2009 17:14

For Grahamburn.
As I have said many times in the past, you have always displayed a woeful lack of understanding about this company. Clearly your past positive posts and views about the company and its attractiveness as an investment have now been shown by the passage of time to have beeen not just absurd but wholly incorrect and terribly misguided.

Previous posts refer.

One has to continue, in my opinion, to ask oneself about the assertions made in the Rights Issue prospectus last year as well as the quality of the due diligence contained therein.

In my view, no bank will agree to any final or binding agreement on the way forward until such time as they have seen concrete figures about the final size of the hole in Cattles' balance-sheet and received reliable 2008 figures which are now a number of months overdue.

ALL IMO. DYOR.

QP

[rodeogirl] 23/6/2009 14:48

The following post was posted by an employee on iii, may be true may not be, but thought I would share with this board.

This was published by David Postings on the Cattles intranet site at 11:30am this morning.

Jamie, Robert and I are in daily contact with our lenders and their representatives. We have given a series of presentations to different groups and we have had a very fair hearing. We believe that all concerned would like to see Cattles pull through it's current problems. The work that we have done on reducing costs and collecting cash has enabled us to discuss the future with more confidence.

You may have seen an article in the press yesterday talking about a potential standstill arrangement. We have issued a statement confirming that we are working towards a standstill. If we achieve this it will be a good thing for the business. A standstill is what it says - a period when the lenders stand still and it would mean that we would have a period of stability during which to finish our planning and agree how to move forward more formally with our lenders. I would have preferred that this had not been discussed in the press and there is little more I can say now.

I know that many of you continue to question when we anticipate being able to publish our 2008 annual report and accounts. As I've mentioned earlier, discussions with our debt providers continue and until these are completed we will not be in a position to publish our 2008 annual report and accounts. If we succeed in entering into a standstill with lenders this may not be sufficient to allow the accounts to be signed off.

I will, of course, continue to share any information that I can with you at the earliest oppurtunity.

[grahamburn] 23/6/2009 14:44

QP. As ever you make some strong and sensible comments. However, you always view events from a limited perspective which can mislead the unwary unsophisticated investor.

Shareholders could not possibly expect any value IF the company cannot repay bondholders and banks. But that is assuming the company ceases to trade. IF the loans are rolled over or refinanced on new terms (which would have been the expectation under normal circumstances), then the company is still a going concern because it is not required to repay all its borrowings on "D-Day". One or other of these is still a possibility, though only a weak one. Even if the borrowings become the subject of a standstill arrangement, then the company continues to trade and may - just may - come out of the mess it is currently in.

Secondly, the auditors and advisors (and the FSA during the banking licence application) could indeed be taken to task for not discovering the accounting irregularities and (probable?) slight of hand of some of the senior management and directors. But then, most people can see everything with hindsight and at this stage it is not known whether these problems were only around in the last financial year or maybe the one before that too. Prior to that, all might have been in order. Indeed, it probably was, otherwise the company would have been in trouble much sooner.

So, I think, QP, you are trying to appear slightly more knowledgeable than may be the case. But, regretfully, the outcome you predict may still come to pass - even if not for the reasons you have advanced.

[tom111] 23/6/2009 14:27

Well said Badhshah

[badhshah] 23/6/2009 13:28

It will get back to its previous glory. The journey for the rise will begin after signing standstill deal with the lenders. The standstill deal is the first step towards the rise.

[quepassa] 23/6/2009 11:19

So much talk of banks and bondholders. But what is glaringly absent is any talk of shareholders. Funny that innit? - Or perhaps not, if you are a shareholder.

I maintain my long-held view that shareholders will end up with diddly-squat.

How can shareholders possibly expect to see any value if there clearly is not enough cash to repay the senior creditors being the banks and bondholders.

The auditors and advisors who signed off on Cattles' Rights Issue last year really ought to be taken to task on the assertions they gave in the RI prospectus.

ALL IMO. DYOR.

[wooly62] 22/6/2009 13:28

Bahshah - you have consistently viewed this with rose tinted glasses and I applaud your loyalty, but I think your opinions are based on wishes as much as fact. The new RNS does suggest some positive discussions are ongoing (great) but the fact the banks and bond holders can't agree who gets what could also be what's stopped an early (and unpleasant) conclusion.
My view remains that the political angle is the most positive thing in CTT's favour. Right now, as discussed above, we don't know when CTT last made a profit. I think it's pretty obvious they have made profits in the past or they'd have failed long since, but we don't know what the trading results have been for the last umpteen years. Citi used inaccurate information to make an assessment, so their position should be wholly discounted.
If I buy a car for £10K and sell it you on credit for £15K have I made a profit? No, not until you pay me more than the £10K plus any costs I incurred in writing the deal and collecting the money etc.
You mention above net cash means capital + profit but that is completely wrong. Net cash = collecting more money than they've spent (on new loans, on running the business and on repaying debt) - a dead cert given how lending has been paired back and debt hasn't yet been repaid. I truly hope the company will survive and the measures taken over the past few months will certainly improve the chances of that, but let's not build false hope on information which is so clearly wrong.