Contentfilm Share Discussion Threads

[cardiffian] 19/10/2010 20:16

Does this mean Sky have acquired 'Republic of Doyle'.

[diesel] 19/10/2010 12:53

fft....nail on head!
this company has the potential to move forward now that it is back on a stable footing, and although exec pay is an easy target, the award of bonuses when the share price is at an all time low is hard to justify and when the the margins are so small that bonus alone would make a sizeable impact on profit.
It seems that there is little desire to rebuild the fortunes of this company and that shareholders are overlooked once again.
I still believe though, that the basics of this company are on a firm footing and that a recovery could be acheived with a little focus and more astute investment in partnering entertainment companies, still holding a few for the future.

[fft] 19/10/2010 12:42

I now think that on a risk/reward basis, that this is looking quite a reasonable 'bet'. I may even start buying on the dips (i know, you need a rise to get a dip...).

However, the only fly would be if, when things start looking rosy, they award themselves more options/whatever, which effectively dilute us further. That possibility does worry me as they havnt shown themselves to be adverse to making the most of what they have.

The thing about John Schmidts bonus that annoys me is not that it is 5%. It is the fact that it is not 5% of profit after tax, or even PBT, but that it is 5% of EBIT. earnings BEFORE interest. and interest on the loan , as we all know, is a large part of CFL's accounts. in the latest accounts it was 1.5m, so that is 75,000 that should not be due to him. His actual bonus was 120,000 (!), of which 80,000 is being deferred to this year, so watch out for a hit to this years cash. If he was genuinely contrite about the state of the company, he wouldnt just defer the bonus, he would have declined it.

[cardiffian] 19/10/2010 09:13

Just a follow-up article re the 3 Bristol-based films above.

[cardiffian] 18/10/2010 19:37

diesel, I wasn't as optimistic as you were re an AGM statement but was pleasantly surprised to see one. The share price reaction as well as the buying that took place was also most welcome. It just goes to show what a statement or announcement from the company to the market can do for the share price

What made me laugh was their response to a question that fft asked regarding no recent director purchases where they responded with 'a lack of liquidity'

Well ofcourse there's a 'lack of liquidity' and why do you think that is, could it be because the share price is so low and there is virtually no retail or insti interest in buying the shares and why is there no interest, could it be because the company refuse to talk directly with the market. What they do do is issue press statements via 'The Lippin Company'...the who ?. I keep asking myself which bod member is possibly connected to that company because it can't be down to cost saving !

If they were truly concerned with lack of liquidity, then surely by improving communications with the market which I'm sure would lead to a higher price, would give them an opportunity to increase the company's cash position by the issue of new shares thus increasing liquidity but because they (Syntek and directors) own ~51% of the ords plus the prefs, they would have to subscribe to any additional share issue to keep hold of their majority holding and I don't think they want to fork out their own money. NO ! they would rather fill their own pockets, taking money out of the company like our friend John Schmidt and his disgraceful 5% limited conditional annual bonus.

No doubt they will continue now as they have done over the last 2 yrs and issue RNSs only when they are obliged to do so. What a bunch of so-and-sos.

All IMO only.

============================================================================

CFI will......try......to sell the films around the world.

"...The BBC has also backed the scheme and has secured the rights to screen the three films on television. The sales company ContentFilm International will try to sell the films around the world."

[diesel] 16/10/2010 13:36

thanks for continued research Cardif..
What do you make of all this unannounced activity, together with the very low key AGM statement, are they just trying to be cautious after all the hulabaloo over the Allumination/Peacearch fiasco??
I am beginning to feel that this "recovery" we are seeing at the mo has more legs than the market has yet realised....

[cardiffian] 16/10/2010 11:24

Also - 'Multi Platform Catalogue 2010 - 2011' :

[cardiffian] 16/10/2010 10:45

The latest production report - for AFM '10:



Scheduled screenings:

'Ironclad' (Worldwide rights) - Fri 5 Nov (private screening)
- Sat 6 Nov (private screening)
(already known sales : Germany ; Greece ; Czech Republic ; Bulgaria ; Poland ; Portugal ; Romania ; Spain ; Thailand ; Turkey ; Planes /Ships)


'I am Slave' (WW) - Tue 2 Nov (pre AFM)
- Thur 4 Nov
- Fri 5 Nov

'Cool It' (WW x USA) - Tue 2 Nov (pre AFM)

'Age of Heroes' (WW x UK & Scandinavia) - Tue 2 Nov (pre AFM)
- Wed 3 Nov
- Thur 4 Nov

'Matching Jack' (WW x AUS/NZ) - Tue 2 Nov (pre AFM)
- Fri 5 Nov

'Welcome to the Rileys' (WW x USA) - Tue 2 Nov (pre AFM)

[cardiffian] 14/10/2010 08:26

Los Angeles, CA, Oct. 13, 2010 -- The 31st American Film Market (AFM) from Nov. 3-10...

...Films making their world premieres include Age of Heroes starring Sean Bean, Danny Dyer, Izabella Miko and James D'Arcy (ContentFilm International); ...

[cardiffian] 14/10/2010 08:09

[10/13/10 - 11:00 AM]
Syfy.com Will Premiere "Riese: Kingdom Falling," Critically Acclaimed, Award-Winning Steampunk Digital Series, Beginning Tuesday, October 26
Released by Syfy

Read more: Breaking News - Syfy.com Will Premiere "Riese: Kingdom Falling," Critically Acclaimed, Award-Winning Steampunk Digital Series, Beginning Tuesday, October 26 | TheFutonCritic.com

[cardiffian] 13/10/2010 12:55

Yet another inaccessible c21media article (subscription required) that has a quote that makes it sounds like an interesting read.

Running on empty
C21Media - ‎Oct 12, 2010‎
"Greg Phillips, president of Fireworks International, agrees back-catalogues should be treated creatively. "We're taking on more library titles and thinking ..."


What are you 'thinking', Mr. Phillips.....pray tell !!!

[fft] 12/10/2010 08:25

looking at all these very small purchases making the price move, i do wonder if there is a bit of background buying also going on. The trade would only be announced when the trade is completed, or the buyer decides he cant get anymore, so can be a week or two. I see no reason why 500 pound buys should have so much effect.

[fft] 12/10/2010 08:17

Cardiffian,

it doesnt feel quite as good as 6-7 years ago when they changed the direction of the company by buying fireworks, and the directors admitted that they would never get that kind of opportunity again.

My only concern is the opening up of small operations (collins last year, the new venture last week) which are obviously attempts to find the right mix/path. Will these ventures ever have the critical mass too amount to anything or will they spread themselves to thinly and not have the resources to be able to capitalize on what they find ? jury is out.

However, assuming there are no more allumination moments, it should see a steady growth as debt is paid off and NAV value slowly rises. The world economy will recover and media buying also recover. I hate to say it, but over 2-3 years it should be a 2-3 bagger. There. that will close the company :-(

[diesel] 12/10/2010 08:12

if the rise we have now holds we are appear to have broken out of the lows held all year. Now while very few investors will be in profit yet, many may have told themselves that with any recovery they will sell and move on. Although this has risen over 100% in less than a month there is little appetite to sell, is this a sign that there is renewed confidence?
Although there was little in the AGM trading statement to cheer investors there have been a few good deals of late.

[cardiffian] 11/10/2010 19:29

I'd also like to thank you fft for your report on the AGM.

The following article is worth a read. It gives an idea to CFL's thinking behind the moves into holding multi-platform material on the books. Perhaps that 'forward thinking' phrase used last time in a c21media article has more substance to it than I gave it credit. I'm certainly coming around to the idea.

As I also said a while ago, I believe there's huge revenue potential to be had with the right content, with current and no doubt future technological advances incorporating all sorts of media broadcasting...short and longform... and although I'm by no means an expert in the area it does seem like we may be in just at the start, so perhaps the worst really is behind us and we should all look to the future and not dwell too much on past mistakes. All IMHO only.

[djderry] 11/10/2010 16:49

Most informative fft,thanks again.

[fft] 09/10/2010 08:57

covenant

Still feeling very mellow, i asked if there was any danger of any of the loan covenants being broken. I was expecting a short "no", but the response was a lot more complicated than that. In fact the answer went on for quite a few minutes. They said that if turnover decreased substantially then there would be a danger. unfortunately, no figures as to how far turnover would have to fall. Looking at the numbers there doesnt seem any reason why any normal repayment ratios would be in danger. I didnt follow up, to my regret. It was the only really surprising answer all day.

Headroom on the loan didnt seem to be a problem. They had looked at other acquisitions, but nothing had progressed. Again, liquidity, cash, and being careful were mentioned. I get the feeling that any further use of the loan has to be positive on all metrics from day 1.

The loan is up for renewal in 2013. Reducing debt seems to be a priority before then, and keeping a clean nose. The library valuation was mentioned, but it is obviously not the only thing that is important regarding the loan.

They mentioned that 2 other businesses had gone bust.


Directors shareholdings.

With a smile and apology i asked whether directors had any plans to show confidence in the company by buying shares. As i also said, obviously they couldnt answer that, but with the share price being very close to the lows it would be the ideal time to buy. Again, the response was interesting. They said that the directors already had quite a few shares/options, but that the market for cfl shares was very illiquid and it was impossible to buy a reasonable number. (So at the very least, one of them has been keeping an eye on things).


Syntek shares

I asked about the move of shares,and they said it was just being moved from a subsid back to the main company. as far as they knew it didnt imply anything.

Valuation of the company.

I asked about this after the meeting. I pointed out my estimates allowing for hair cuts in valuation / sale price of the library still gave a NAV of 8p or so. So why wasnt anyone either buying the company or investing in it ? Again they mentioned other companies going bust, the depressed state of the market for tv shows etc. (I got the feeling that at the moment, there may not be a huge market (if any) for buying the library, so the haircut would be worse than i calculated). They were waiting for prices to improve - and that then should feed through.

Mipcon and the other big trade show.

I asked (after the meeting) why so many people went. soft soap answer. our stand is not the biggest. most business done there, everyone very busy. Generates leads etc.. I meant to ask why it couldnt be done over the net etc, but didnt.

If anyone has any questions, i'll see if it jogs any of the memory cells.


Summary : a solid business that has been in survival mode but is now waiting for recovery.

[djderry] 08/10/2010 21:49

Looking forward to more of your posts fft,I'm very grateful for your reports.

[pimp] 08/10/2010 19:58

Thanks for your input fft

[pimp] 08/10/2010 09:58

thanks for update fft

[fft] 08/10/2010 03:53

Maybe surprisingly, there was a fairly active q+a session. I was feeling very mellow after having had a number of beers in the Worlds End in Finsbury watching 2 CL games back to back the night before, followed by a bottle of wine and a pizza.

The first question came from shareholder1 (s1), who when they were proposing re-election of chairman asked if he would be missed if he wasnt re-appointed (!). Not the kind of question i have heard too many times. S1 seemed to run out of steam on his follow up, so i thought i would help out by asking how many days a year he spent on CFL business. (I didnt have a copy of the report in front of me, and had no idea how much he earned or even what his name was). The reply was curious in that apparently he is constantly consulted, but they couldnt even estimate how many days he worked for CFL. I am not sure why S1 was querying his re-appointment.

rest of proposals were nodded through without questions.

Then we moved onto general questions. This may take a few replies.

New Venture
-----------

I asked about the level of resources being allocated from CFL towards it - looking at it over the year as we can expect no/little revenue in year 1. The reply said that it was a modest investment. On pressing, they said that no CFL staff would be working for the new venture. When asked whether modest meant 100k or 250k, they refused to give numbers, but the body language and replies suggested 250k would be nearer the mark. I asked whether Peter cowley would be full time, or was he working elsewhere as well, and was assured he would be working full time. The CFL stake in the new venture is 60%.

They were enthusiastic about the deal and talked about it quite a bit. In questions after the meeting i asked where he would be based, and they indicated whilst being in the UK to start with, he would probably move to the states (LA i think) as that is where the business is.


Profits
-------

The trading statement said in line with management expectations(me). When i pushed on what 'me' meant, they said they were more concerned about liquidity in the company. I pushed on whether 'me' indicated a similar performance to last year, or slightly better, or slightly worse, and they settled for a similar performance to last year. They did seem to be very aware of the problems they had been through, and seem to be in 'safe mode' for running the company esp. wrt cash. Maybe a change as IMHO they now seem to go in for modest expectations with (i guess) hopeful outperform.

After, i said i was concerned that the new venture didnt turn into another Allumination, and there were wry smiles and 'that isnt going to happen again' noises coming out.


Questions about banking covenants, directors buying, why is the share price so low given my valuation estimates of 8p per share (see post 9640), why so many people go to mipcom, the state of the industry etc and more coming up !

[diesel] 07/10/2010 20:05

thanks for the feedback FFT...I guess they were beetling off to pack for Cannes!
Interesting comment about the reminiscences of the old days when the share price was this price, with a fair wind, the recent deals maybe a sign that there is some momentum building. A lot of water under the bridge and a near breaking of the company over the disastrous Allumination affair, of which I note that McCluggage and Sagansky have swapped a raft of shares...don't trust either of the wasters!

[fft] 07/10/2010 13:08

btw,

at the AGM it appears there were, 2 board member, 2 from the advisors, and 4 shareholders (one of whom was there cos i mentioned it to him the day before). Water came in large glass bottles with stoppers, not twist tops, biscuits were ok, didnt have the coffee as i bought in a starbucks . there may have been an analyst behind me, but i am not sure as only the shareholders asked questions.

carpet in the room was 'amazing'. Never seen so many large stains. as though it was the party room - it did have a very large terrace (100 people big), so perhaps it was.

When i asked one of the other shareholders whih bb he was on (adfvn ?), he seemed bewildered about 'bulletin board' and 'advfn'.

The board members hung around after the meeting to talk to me and colleague for as long as wanted. Good reminiscences about the days when the share price was also less than 3p, but going up. No one else left in the room ! after that i spotted them at the nearest tube station as i was looking at the map to find a decent pub, so they didnt hang around at the advisors.

We only had the agm statement read out to us at the meeting (it was timed for when the agm started !), so had to respond to it on the fly.