Connect Share Discussion Threads

[ls24] 27/9/2018 12:39

Maybe, it needs a boost, but Tuffnells is a niche player, its not a small parcel operator that can be managed on spreadsheets. Hope he can turn it around, I am nostalgic about the old players

[turbocharge] 27/9/2018 12:03

fresh blood and all that kind of thing, maybe?

[ls24] 27/9/2018 11:33

See they are falling into the trap of appointing a ceo who doesn’t have a clue of Tuffnells marketplace or a competitive distribution company. At least they now realise leadership is needed

[turbocharge] 27/9/2018 10:23

Business Unit Accountabilities and Notification of Change in Director's Role

Connect Group today announces that it is to re-establish business unit leadership in relation to Smiths News and Tuffnells.

The decision follows a challenging year for the Group, during which it has pursued a strategy to integrate its combined operations. While good progress was made in centralising support services, the Group has concluded that there are not the same synergies to be achieved at a network and operating level. Establishing business unit leadership for both Smiths News and Tuffnells aims to strengthen the focus and accountability of each business as a key element of adapting a customer-centric approach, while retaining the scale efficiencies of central support.

The following senior management appointments will take effect from 1 October 2018:

1. Jonathan Bunting, previously Chief Operating Officer, will assume the role of Chief Executive Officer of Smiths News, including responsibility for DMD. Jonathan will remain an Executive Director of the Company.

2. Peter Birks will join the Group as Chief Executive Officer of Tuffnells. Peter brings a wealth of experience in logistics, having held senior executive roles across a number of successful and innovative UK-based distribution businesses including Premier Farnell/Avnet, Staples, Lyreco, 3M, Acco and Office Depot.

Commenting on the new structure, Jos Opdeweegh, Chief Executive Officer said:

'A review of last year has highlighted the opportunity for both of our operating businesses to benefit from dedicated and focused attention. I am confident that this new structure will help to improve our operational excellence and network capability, qualities that are essential for our long-term success'.

[turbocharge] 27/9/2018 10:10

Something strange going on with all these small sell trades this week...

[edmundshaw] 27/9/2018 06:59

RNS says that as it wasn't broke they shouldn't have fixed it. So back to running separate businesses as separate businesses... though it makes the point of the original acquisition a bit obscure. Still, it is probably the right thing to do from where we are now.

[turbocharge] 24/9/2018 15:22

16:21:40 32.2550 11,111 O 32.00/32.30 Buy

[turbocharge] 24/9/2018 15:16

Well, here goes, I think I might just take 11,111 of these....

[cc2014] 24/9/2018 13:06

The ones on IRV are buys so I would suggest not.

It's a way of executing a trade which gets the client vwap. Possibly something to do with that.

[skinny] 24/9/2018 12:51

Or employee share save scheme ?

[cc2014] 24/9/2018 12:45

CNCT not the only stock with these on. I'm guessing it has something to do with options expiry which took place on Friday.

[turbocharge] 24/9/2018 11:33

What's with all these single figure sell trades going on today?

[scobak] 15/9/2018 16:03

It has further to fall.

[colonel a] 14/9/2018 17:41

The share price has tanked.
Iff this TU is telling it like it is they should be able to announce a modest {2p say} dividend next month with a plan that starts paying down debt slightly next year and then more aggressively in 2020 when the one off costs are cleared and they no longer have to cough up £4 mill per annum on the pension deficit.

[scobak] 14/9/2018 16:51

We are going to be in for a terrible next few months in the share price hastened by the rapid closure of Pass my parcel. All the costs will necessarily be bundled together. If we are aware of that then it will not come as a surprise and we can ride it out in the full knowledge that we will come out of it sooner.
Also means that when the S/P tanks we can take full advantage.
Keeping my powder dry for now.

[ls24] 14/9/2018 16:06

How does a fatality reflect on the previous owners, had it happened in the previous decade they owned it? They bought them in 2014.

[mitch74] 14/9/2018 13:10

Yes: that was a great write up speedsgh. He seems mildly positive (unlike some readers in the comments section!). Clearly a difficult time for CNCT but having re-read this morning's announcement I can't help but think we've seen a bit of an overreaction in the share price Most of the bad news were one-offs and it appears that they will be dealt with sooner rather than later. It looks like they've made rapid progress in closing down P2P. They've had issues with HMRC over minimum wage payments and the terrible fatality but reading between the lines my view is that this reflects on the previous PE owners at Tuffnells. Q: who the F would buy ANYTHING from a PE outfit?! There are reasons to be positives IMHO with the new CEO having started and a biz review underway. Noticed also that Nortrust and Aberforth recently increased their shareholding in the company. Obviously this is not without risk but we do have 2 out of 4 (very shortly 3) businesses performing within the group...

[speedsgh] 14/9/2018 12:41

Excellent write up by Graham Neary in today's SCVR over on the other side following today's TU...

[speedsgh] 14/9/2018 11:50

If the CEO wants to show that he means business, I would expect him to cancel the dividend in the short term with a commitment to reinstate it asap once the business has stabilised. It needn't be for a long time, just long enough to generate figures/evidence that show his turnaround strategy (which is still to be communicated publicly) is working. At this point in time the business needs to retain as much cash as possible to help rectify the situation. Investors may have bought this primarily for income but withdrawing the div in the short term is in the long term interest of the company imo.

[elpirata] 14/9/2018 11:12

In July cnct paid out an interim divi of £7.662m (3.1p per share) on 247m shares in issue - there should still be plenty in the tank to absorb the exceptionals just by cancelling any final divi

[skinny] 14/9/2018 10:53

Overall performance

In summary, trading in the period has seen a continuation of the challenging trends experienced throughout the year; as a result, the Group expects its full year trading performance to be below expectations.

FWIW :- Berenberg Hold 33.38 40.00 35.00 Downgrades

[steverabet] 14/9/2018 09:52

this has a 'dixons' flavour (or maybe woolworths but hopefully not) - last man standing will mop up whats left of the market. as long as they don't go bust in the meantime. i suppose thats why they trade on pe of about 2 - there is a chance of them not digging their way out of this. worth a punt though. not for widows & orphans

[this_is_me] 14/9/2018 08:46

Edmund, it looks like your abilities are similar to mine!

[riverman77] 14/9/2018 08:32

And it looks like the core business is trading on 2-3 times earnings.

[riverman77] 14/9/2018 08:08

The market again too distracted by all the peripheral and one-off issues. Hardly surprising the new CEO would want to get everything out in the open. The core business, which makes up the bulk of the profits and accounts for virtually all the value of the business, is holding up ok.