Choicesuk Share Discussion Threads

[jtcod] 11/8/2006 16:00

Worked for me also Sporticus.

I've been looking at my figures for next year and also the Seymour Pierce and Teather & Greenwood forecasts for 2007. Both brokers forecast 8p, though I don't know how they have arrived at the figure. I can't see how either has factored in 2.6m in annual overhead savings, plus the savings from closing the TV channel or the benefit of the Andromeda purchase. At some time during this trading year Sony's PS3 will be launched also, which we could well benefit from.

I'm convinced the brokers forecasts are out by more than 100 % for 2007. I am expecting EPS nearer 18-20p.

As ever all imho.

[goonertone] 11/8/2006 14:56

Mine worked?

[sporticus] 11/8/2006 14:39

Smoothly no. Check out the store locator. Same 4 test addresses for every store. Not sure on sales. Its very low but its more than the tv channel.

Im out BTW.

[jtcod] 11/8/2006 12:19

Sporticus
The internet business side of the firm:
You were saying you knew some guys who were laid off from the IT dept that bungled the launch. Do you know is it all up and running smoothly now?

[edmundshaw] 10/8/2006 18:01

Then let's hope it's from a nice happy operetta :-)

[sporticus] 10/8/2006 17:26

JTCod Lets pray you are right.
Ive just heard that a rotund diva is practising her libretto.

[jtcod] 10/8/2006 14:50

GT
I think AMU's resilience in the distribution market bodes well for CHUK.

[michaelmouse] 02/8/2006 10:29

Victor - We heard you the first time and we're still not interested!

[victorfromportugal] 02/8/2006 08:41

NEWS MEDORO RESOURCES !! (MRL)


Medoro is planning to commence a 15,000 meter diamond drilling program, at the La Cruz, La Sofia, and El Tapon prospects by the end of July 2006.

[victorfromportugal] 02/8/2006 08:40

NEWS MEDORO RESOURCES !! (MRL)


Medoro is planning to commence a 15,000 meter diamond drilling program, at the La Cruz, La Sofia, and El Tapon prospects by the end of July 2006.

[goonertone] 02/8/2006 08:25

Still here but not much to discuss. i'll try and think up a good rumour and post it tonight.

GT

[sporticus] 13/6/2006 19:21

Th Rumour mill has just called me after tea. Theyve just told me, son of Chukky who was made redundent? after the TV fiasco has been given a wedge to start up a buisness which they will buy back into the company after some time alledgedly. It looks like they will do anything to get him back on the payroll or board or something like that? Now I might be wrong here but is there still a back seat driver running our company. I wonder how it will appear in the year end accounts? I wonder if they did the same deal or no deal for all of the people who they made redundent.

[jtcod] 13/6/2006 09:43

What I like in particular about the Andromeda deal is waht it tells us about the minds of our management. Buy the stock, so the receivers cannot continue to service the clients, then take their clients for free.

Smart.

[jtcod] 13/6/2006 08:41

Cheers GT
That would explain the: "As a result of this acquisition, ChoicesUK has significantly strengthened its position in the fulfilment business , and will provide suppliers and customers with continuity and the benefits of dealing with a well established operator." Comment. Though I think they could have been far more informative.

I have lowered my expectations of enhanced turnover to £10-25m region, based upon that clarification. Still very beneficial though.

[goonertone] 13/6/2006 06:49

Guys

A bit of clarification. I think my Shelock Homes hat went into overdive over the weekend so I checked it out with the company yeaterday.The only thing that was purchased was stock so please ignore my Simply Games comments.

However I was told that due to the failure of the company their clients needed a company to take over from Andromeda. Therefore along with the stock Choicesuk has managed to cherrypick a number of clients which they appeared very happy with.

Sorry for the confusion.

GT

[jtcod] 11/6/2006 15:43

Edmund
I don't think CHUK will be penalised. The suppliers picked a dud company. It happens.

On the day Andromeda called in the receivers, the suppliers had lost their money and more importantly, lost a significant ongoing source of business. The worst scenario was if nothing had happened for months and the source of business was dispersed to the hills. At least now, they have a re-instated source of future business under the umbrella of a more financially stable company. The write off's are all part of the game imo. This is the best of a bad situation for suppliers.

[edmundshaw] 11/6/2006 11:05

Neat.

My concern over Andromeda would be how suppliers view the undoubted fact that bill are not going to be paid, invoices honoured.

Depends on who is not getting paid - if it's games suppliers who are going to be used for ongoing business, might CHUK need to cough up something to maintain good will and decent terms at that end?

To be frank, this is not an area I have any experience in, so comments from anyone experienced in asset acquisition in this type of business would be appreciated.

I have seen distressed asset deals in other sectors (often described as bargains picked up by smart management) go wrong within a year or two in the past, one reason being the poor buying terms achieved in subsequent years, another (more common in my limited experience) that the area of business was really in decline, and consolidation was just part of the process of overall business contraction (carpets, glassware, automotive manufacturing businesses, IT services). Of course, most of the sectors mentioned are UK manufacturing based - other asset acquisitions I've seen have been quite succesful (hostpitality, manufacturing shifted to China). As I said, I've no experience of this kind of deal in this sector.

Anyone care to comment?

[jtcod] 10/6/2006 20:03

With regard to the change in the end of financial year date to 28th July, I notice it coincides with the cessation of ChoicesUK TV overheads.

[jtcod] 10/6/2006 18:44

Excellent post GT.

Anthony Skitt, Chief Executive, commented: "As a result of this acquisition, ChoicesUK has significantly strengthened its position in the fulfilment business , and will provide suppliers and customers with continuity and the benefits of dealing with a well established operator."


GT
He has to be talking about the suppliers and customers of Andromeda, as he was commenting on the purchase. That statement by A Skitt is it in a nutshell for me.

We have bought the goodwill asset and some stock from Andromeda and we did it within 24 hours so as to maintain continuity of service. I'd stake my life on it.

We couldn't buy the company because to do so, we would have inherited the debt that brought it down in the first place.

I suspect the Logistics business to have remained within the Andromeda company umbrella. Perhaps we may have done a short term deal to retain their services maybe not.

If I am wrong, that statement from A Skitt is grossly misleading imo.

No way can CHUK have ".....significantly strengthened its position in the fulfilment business , and will provide suppliers and customers with continuity and the benefits of dealing with a well established operator." if it only bought a bunch of stock.

This was a cracking piece of opportunism imo.

[goonertone] 10/6/2006 12:33

JT

I have not tried to get a take on the launch of PS3 or any other games console in regards to CHUK yet as until we can get a proper idea of the impact if any of Andromeda then any figures/guesses are finger in the air at best.

In general it would seem that sales of games/games equip go in cycles and we are coming up to the end of the last cycle as everyone holds off buying releasing games awaiting the new consoles at which point the cycle begins again. So if we can integrate Andromeda into both the high st and online then effectively we bought at the bottom of the cycle so we will be in for the ride with the other games retailers.

Before anyone says anything I don't think we are aiming to beat these people at their own game just improving the offering to those people visiting the stores/website.(though I will place a caveat on this based on the outcome of my little sherlock holmes effort below)


The GMG messageboard is a good read to get a grip of the cycle.

Now hows this for following the clues!! Make up your own mind at the end of it as to what we actually purchased.

The important thing for me with Andromeda is purely a play on words. This was from the press release from Choices:-

"ChoicesUK has acquired the computer games stock and certain assets from the receivers of Andromeda Entertainment for an undisclosed sum.

Anthony Skitt, Chief Executive, commented: "As a result of this acquisition, ChoicesUK has significantly strengthened its position in the fulfilment business , and will provide suppliers and customers with continuity and the benefits of dealing with a well established operator.

Following completion of the acquisition, a number of key personnel from Andromeda Entertainment will be employed by ChoicesUK ."

The strategic update said:

"On 13 April 2006, the company acquired the stock and certain tangible assets from the receiver of Andromeda Entertainment PLC. As a result, the company has significantly strengthened its position in computer games, particularly in the fulfilment market with mail order companies."

Whereas the receiver for andromeda said:

"Confirming the surprisingly swift transaction, a representative of Menzies Corporate Restructuring told Gamesindustry.biz: "We were appointed receivers on the 13th of April, and we subsequently sold certain businesses and assets, including stock, to a purchaser within the same industry on the same day."

So have we bought stock, stock and client list or the business? If its the business then the benefits could be huge my confusion is to where the continuing business of Andromeda logistics fits in. Gamesbiz states :

"The company also operates Andromeda Logistics, which provides transportation, warehousing, inventory management and returns services for software publishers. Gamesindustry.biz spoke to Andromeda Logistics general manager Matthew Allen, who confirmed that the logistics services division of the firm remains unaffected at this time. Full details on the situation will be announced as soon as negotiations with the official company receivers have completed."

The reason for this interest is the questionm are sites like this now being powered by CHUK or Andromeda logistics:



Which has the following at the bottom of its website.

"©2004 Future Publishing, All rights reserved. The offers shown in this website are promoted by Future Publishing on behalf of Andromeda Entertainment PLC. The goods and services you buy will be from Andromeda Entertainment PLC and will be subject to their terms and conditions . You should read these before placing your order."

Go to terms and conditions and you are told that you are contracted to Simply Games.

Go to your rights to cancel and you end up on simply games's website.



Go to info contact information and the address shown is that of Andromeda entetainment.

Go to about simply games and you get:

"About Simply Games
Trading since 1998, Simply Games specialise in the direct supply of Video Game products to end user.

Part of a group of companies based in Hertfordshire England, Simply Games consists of a team of over 50 people, all located within a state of the art trading environment and a 34,000 sq ft warehouse facility. Each member of staff is an expert within their field, with specific teams dedicated to bringing you the broadest range of products, strongest quality of offer and highest levels of customer services.

Simply Games enjoy strong trading relationships with all of the major manufacturers of video gaming products and now under new ownership, are determined to grow their customer base via positive shopping experiences and high levels of customer satisfaction."

So there you have it, have we brought some stock at firesale prices or pulled of a coup just as the games industry cycle is about to turn up, you decide.

GT

[jtcod] 10/6/2006 09:56

I agree GT.

In that respect it will be much like an old stock of mine: Clinton Cards (CC.)

The more I think about it, logic would say they are waiting to clear those remaining leases.

As for next year, do you think they will benefit from the PS3 launch?

[goonertone] 10/6/2006 07:53

Sporticus

Thank for the clarification of your points on the old thread.

JT

I think it is a bit like you say all the bad news in this extended period and draw a line. However in addition it means that the first half of the new all clean ChoicesUK is in early Feb with a full contribution from Xmas and the January sales.

This could make the two halves a bit difficult to compare for a while but it does mean that, when one period ie xmas is so important to the figures, you are able to tell from one statement the exact effect of a good or bad year rather than the half and half story that is shown at the moment.

GT

[sporticus] 09/6/2006 14:14

As you say, this is all about getting the bad news into this years accounts.
And of course this will include the world cup, most of the summer weather and another wedge of piracy. Still if it makes next year look good, who cares.