Connect Share Discussion Threads

[norbert colon] 10/12/2020 10:43

Name changed to Smiths News #SNWS - new ticker and new bulletin board

[scotslass76] 10/12/2020 10:42

Company name changed and I think is now listed as smiths news plc

[micos] 10/12/2020 10:38

What's happening with this share? It has been flat-lining for over a month now. Is it terminal?

[fenners66] 12/11/2020 07:26

"We are focused on the delivery of four clear priorities."


I have not read further - got to go - but

1, consistently wrecking shareholder value - must be number 1 yes ?

[cc2014] 10/11/2020 11:36

I'm not invested so I'm going from memory and would advise you to check my memory.

If my memory is correct the £10m loan has been repaid to CNCT and presumably Tuffnels borrowed the £10m from a lender providing the assets as security in order to get the loan.

[chickenvindaloo] 10/11/2020 11:26

Probably not many of you are really interested in what happens to Tuffnells now but I see at Companies House there is a "Registration of Charge" recently filed by TPE. I didn't know what that was but having skimmed through the 84 page document, am I right in saying Tuffnells have taken out a large loan and all the assets listed i.e. depots, vehicles etc are put up as security for the loan?
Connect Group already loaned them £10m as part of the agreed sale earlier this year, so what exactly is going on here? Should we, the employees, be worried?

[the pilgrim] 10/11/2020 11:12

Yes, if you mean Dennis Millard

[nicholasblake] 09/11/2020 22:16

I think the chairman had a fair bit to do with it.

[the pilgrim] 09/11/2020 20:34

Of course he was responsible. Mark Cashmore and Jon Bunting were the architects of the CNCT strategy that failed. The pair of them made all of the decisions at board level. Cashmore deferred to Buntings greater intellect and business brain. The predicament is his as much his as it is Cashmore’s

[kazoom] 09/11/2020 12:14

For me, this time around I have only been in a few weeks - so I'm happy today.

Also in fairness the current directors are not responsible for all of the issues of the past.

Anyways for anyone interested, in light of the name change there is a new thread here

[fenners66] 09/11/2020 11:15

Happy? How long have you been a shareholder then ?

[profdoc] 09/11/2020 10:01

A very pleasing announcement this morning.  The final piece of the jigsaw falls into place. Now we're all set to profitably fulfil customer requirements for the next five years without the worry of running out of money.

Retaining a couple of year's profits should bring the interest/EBITDA ratio down to around 1 - so, hopefully, interest rates will be lowered then. Then dividends can be a high proportion of profits (assuming directors have learned their lesson on the evils of using cash flow to buy businesses they can't manage)

Out of the mire of diworsefication ;- onwards and upwards! A happy shareholder.

[fenners66] 09/11/2020 08:48

Well having that yoke around the neck may curb the next white elephant idea at least....

[this_is_me] 09/11/2020 08:37

The amortisation schedule of GBP15m per annum should be easily payable given the cash flow. In two years time the debt will be down a by a quarter. That means less interest to pay and an ability to reduce the debt even faster. I made a lot of money buying NTBR when they had a very large debt but were paying it off rapidly.

[lord gnome] 09/11/2020 07:40

Fenners - damned autocorrect strikes again.

[lord gnome] 09/11/2020 07:40

LoL fenders. Trebles and share options all round.Come back two years from now by the sound of things.

[fenners66] 09/11/2020 07:27

Jonathan Bunting, Chief Executive Officer, said:

"We are pleased to have reached this agreement "

It ensures no dividend for our owners and over the odds cost of debt whilst interest rates are at an all time low.

We think our owners will feel royally shafted after years of management decisions leading to wasted funds and loss after loss on hair-brained ideas.

I am sure our shareholders would want to join with me in thanking the BOD for their overwhelming success and show their appreciation by voting them a massive bonus.

[davidosh] 22/10/2020 15:10

Kazoom.....Did you not watch it? The video is available now.

[kazoom] 22/10/2020 14:29

Thanks Jak,

Yes I'd seen that and personally I felt relatively comfortable that they could refinance even before that update. However I didn't think all of the MelloBASH panelists were quite as sanguine.

Interestingly, Ed Croft gives a less positive readout on the panels conclusion suggesting : disagreement over whether a hold/avoid vs strong buy.

Still, everyone's entitled to an opinion.

[kazoom] 21/10/2020 11:32

So they are all comfortable that the refinancing will be achieved without dilution?

[robow] 20/10/2020 13:00

at least one did