Comptoir Share Discussion Threads

[pugugly] 12/9/2019 06:30

Smoke and mirrors-
Adjusted EBITDA* before highlighted items of £2.0m up by 11.1% (H1 2018: £1.8m).

Claims profitable after the accountants have massaged/ sorry mean adjusted/ but on basic accounting horribly loss making - IFSR16 makes accounts (imo) very foggy and too much subject to judgement rather than fact.



Could this be another restaurant group possibly likely to go the way to money heaven?

[drobinson1991] 08/5/2019 19:31

Just joined the journey and bought a sizeable holding today. The 5m director purchase speaks for itself the bottom has been hit and the rebound has begun. Strong amount of assets alone makes this a desirable investment. Popped into my local restaurant today and was pleasantly pleased with the service and good quality food on offer.

[computerclinic] 08/5/2019 10:09

7dig going to fly

[tudes100] 11/2/2019 01:32

Not holding, on the watchlist

[goofrob] 09/2/2019 10:47

Hope you are right...dumped mine last September....sector could take 2 years to recover but good luck anyway.

[tudes100] 09/12/2018 23:07

sector sentiment pretty awful but looks like it may have bottomed

[vilage_idoit] 12/10/2018 07:26

I've covered the dining sector and who I think the winners will be here:

hxxps://cube.investments/food-still-off-in-the-dining-sector/

Please always DYOR.

@vilage_idoit

[aberdeen_investor] 28/2/2018 11:52

Well, I can't ignore this much Longer...

Thinking of going in now come April time....(maybe before)

I like the fact that
- I'll be getting in cheap
- There are no other chains of similar nature
- The energy that Tony brings to the business

[tiredoldbroker] 09/2/2018 11:00

Ingredient costs continue to be a pressure point: now it's hummus (or hommos, as they spell it on their menu).

hxxps://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/08/business/hummus-chickpeas-prices.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fbusiness

[tiredoldbroker] 08/6/2017 09:24

I've let my grasp of technicalities like Rule 26 info slide rather!

I don't think Comptoir expect to be the "regular" in the way that a neighbourhood curry house might be, but equally, for most of the UK, there's less competition in their particular niche. My bit of south London probably now has as many Lebanese(ish) restaurants as it can support, but then it's over-supplied with Indian, Italian, burger, chicken places. Things like Vietnamese seem to do ok, which I'd see as another niche; and for many of COM's locations, there will also be a Mideast population or passing trade. On the one hand, they're not trying to find a place in the intensely competitive Edgware Road dining market, on the other, there are enough people familiar with the cuisine in say South Kensington for them to have a "cushion".

I think the key thing will be managing the cashflow, and slowing down the rate of new openings while last year's sites move into profitability will probably do it for them.

[pugugly] 07/6/2017 13:51

You have put your finger on one of the key points (imo) "(let's be quite blunt) possibly an unspoken effect from them serving modern mid-East style food in a time of mid-east inspired violence."

The point you have missed (imo) is that middle east food (unless you are of the races) is an occasional change and not for the usual night out - Though I stand to be corrected on this point.

Experiential eating which means continuously sampling new offers is all about change rather than multiple repeat purchases or family nights out - where Italian - Indian etc seem to have the regular customer base - and (imo) experiential dining will not be sufficient to give enough bums on seats to generate a profit.

PS On a technical point are they in beach of codes by hiding their Rule 26 data behind a registration requirement ? The fact that they do has saved me a significant sum !!

[hybrasil] 06/6/2017 19:18

Still wildly overpriced imo

[tiredoldbroker] 06/6/2017 12:07

I know the business and they are not in the same price bracket as Wild Honey, Ottolenghi etc, nor are they the same business model. The point of Comptoir is that it's an affordable, modern, scaleable business with an offering at a keen price-point, capable of being expanded into a decent-sized chain. Taking the Wigmore St branch as the example, the 'starter' type mezze are priced generally at £4.50-£6, the mains mostly under £10 (and quite substantial servings), soft drinks from £2, 175ml glass of wine from £4.50. And 23-25 branches so far.

Wild Honey is by contrast a Mayfair restaurant. À la carte menu starters from £11 to £16. Mains mostly £28-30, wine (only 125ml!!!) by the glass at up to £13.

Honey & Co, which the last poster might have meant, is starters at £7.50, mains at £15.50 (bit much for some roasted aubergine with rice), 125ml wine from £6 to £9.50. Still a fair bit dearer than COM. Ottolenghi also: hot main course £21.75, etc etc. So maybe like isn't being compared to like (and none of these others are chain-builders, for example).

The problems for COM, as I see it, are: probably expanded too fast last year, when landlords were falling over themselves to offer sites, and they had cash coming (or banked) from going public. But this is with hindsight, having seen consumer expenditure weaken since, due to Brexit, continued economic pressure, general election uncertainty and (let's be quite blunt) possibly an unspoken effect from them serving modern mid-East style food in a time of mid-east inspired violence.

What do I think will happen? First of all, the COM team are quite talented and have shown in the past that they can adapt and evolve. They "banked" the freehold of their nth London production facility when they had the chance, and are cashing it in now, to keep the finances straight. They've let go of sites in the past which don't pay back, or switched the branding, and they have more than the core Comptoir brand to play with. I'm sure it does take longer to build up a customer base for a new branch, because what they are selling lacks the familiarity of pizza, chicken, burgers... but they also have the advantage after that of being in a less over-subscribed part of the market. So many businesses reliant on consumer leisure expenditure are having a tougher time right now, I don't get the feeling that the COM team have lost their way, and I think they are more likely to get it right than fail.

[eh9] 05/6/2017 17:04

I invested a year ago and sold a couple of months later. The restaurants are just not full in London and look tacky vs wild honey, Palomar, ottolenghi etc which are where it's at nowadays for this type of food

[pugugly] 05/6/2017 12:24

and they are (imo) in breach of AIM Rule 26 in that investor website only accessible after registration. So why consider investing if restricted access - NOMAD please take note

[hybrasil] 08/5/2017 08:41

Even at the current share price this is way overvalued.
Each restaurant is value at £1.57m.
Gaga

[hybrasil] 22/4/2017 07:12

Compare the share price on either a turnover basis or number of stores to tast. On that basis this could fall significantly

[pugugly] 21/4/2017 15:13

wrong thread sorry

[qazwsxedc69] 13/4/2017 10:49

I had been considering buying in here. I like the food, and the layout of the restaurants are very well designed. But I had not looked at the business case until these recent results, and I must say they are disappointing. This quote in particular seems to undermine the entire business model.....

"While Lebanese food is growing in popularity, it is not familiar to all our potential customers and for this reason we have to educate the local population and our sales tend to build towards maturity over a number of years rather than maturing after several months"

Seems to me they are admitting that the market for Lebanese food currently just isn't big enough. I'll keep an eye on this one, but I'm passing for now. The Paulypilot write up yesterday also raised some valid points for steering clear.

I would be interested to hear from anyone who thinks this is worth investingin, but for now I will just continue to enjoy the occasional meal here....

[dell1234] 12/4/2017 14:02

Shares magazine article out today on Comptoir's news

[keifer derrin] 15/12/2016 04:48

will have to check it out.....bet the rent and bizz rates much be very high.......

[philanderer] 14/12/2016 17:38

I`ve often eaten at Yalla Yalla , Soho ; usually busy, very cosy and great food :-)

[keifer derrin] 14/12/2016 12:22

seems alot of pay for when the net value was half the price paid.

but if Com can provide the food from their Core Processing Unit this should save money and with a turn over o 2.4m should hopefully make a decent profit....

[dell1234] 21/6/2016 09:38

(coverage ahead of the IPO)