Countryside Partnerships Share Discussion Threads

[recruiter] 05/4/2005 09:13

we have a Dragons where I live, my wife & her friends belong to it, I looked at it but was not overly impressed. The competition within a 1 mile radius is fierce with a large David Lloyd & a Top Notch in walking distance. A further mega large David Lloyd is being built about 10 miles away....
On the positive side, they seem to have a hard-core contingent (including my wife) who would not leave there & go somewhere else...
£60 per month for membership...seems average enough. Cant see how they will attract new members though as the club is relatively small compared to the David Lloyd - although parking is free, a major plus in the town area...

[heidigynne] 05/4/2005 08:56

OPERATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS

• 10% growth in Dragons operating profit (excluding central costs) to £6.4m
(2003: £5.8m)
• 2.6% improvement in Dragons operating margin
• Club membership up 3% on like for like basis to 51,237
• Club joiners up 5% on like for like basis to 27,894
• Transfer to AIM completed in May 2004
• Capital reconstruction completed in June 20

Commenting on the future, Martyn Grealey, Chief Executive of Crown Sports, said;

'In the short term the market remains tough and highly competitive but we are
continuing to make progress with net membership growth of over 3% in the first
quarter of 2005 which represents a significant achievement in challenging market
places.'

[heidigynne] 05/4/2005 08:42

Crown Sports PLC
05 April 2005


For Immediate Release 5 April 2005


Crown Sports PLC

Preliminary Results for the Year Ended 31 December 2004

RETURN TO PROFITS AND DIVIDEND


Crown Sports plc, the health and fitness club operator, today announces
preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2004 and the payment of a
dividend for the year.

'Our performance over the past year has seen a good uplift in profitability and
further significant reductions in our debt levels, reflecting the success of our
strategy of disposing of non core businesses whilst focusing on the health and
fitness sector. The work undertaken by the management team has resulted in the
successful completion of our turnaround plan that has established a distinctive
platform on which to build our business for the future.' Ray Pierce, Chairman.


RESULTS

• Group turnover £22.9m (2003: £26.3m)
• Group operating profit (pre exceptional items) up 40% to £4.2m (2003: £3.0m)
• Pre tax profits £3.3m (2003: £2.0m loss)
• Earnings per share 0.8p (2003: loss 0.8p)
• Net debt down £5.3m (29%) to £12.7m (2003: £18.0m)
• Gearing down to 25% (2003: 37%)
• Net Assets per share 17.3p (2003 : 16.7p)
• Final dividend proposed 0.27p (2003 : nil)

[nikesh4] 05/4/2005 07:23

i mean 17p

[nikesh4] 05/4/2005 07:23

net assets 27p per share
why is this so low
solid results

[konkel] 16/12/2004 10:35

LA Fitness deal surely further enhances buy case for Crown...50-100% cheap in my view...don't forget NAV is way above share price

[konkel] 04/11/2004 09:58

Hi Wonder Boy,

Felt you were fighting a bit of a lone battle on this stock so have taken a position to join you!! I agree that, on the face of it, this is a prime candidate for takeover,VC,MBO etc...even if this is not the case co. seems to have dramatically turned around its fortunes and should be able to power on independently. The tight share register is, in my opinion, a positive as it keeps the punters away and makes any end game so much easier to deliver.

Good luck WB and all other holders.

[wonder boy] 19/10/2004 13:01

Anyone else think this could be a takeover target?

LA Fitness CEO is known to be on the acquisition trial. Loads of the other big players are now in the hands of the private equity houses & everyone knows their appetite for takeovers.

NAV of £50 million (surely due an upward revision in light of property prices in recent years). Reliable and growing profit circa £2 million. Market cap of just £27million = BARGAIN!

[mufmitz] 16/4/2004 19:38

I picked this up ---


The Company has announced that it is proceeding with the transfer to trading on AIM. It is expected that admission to trading on AIM and cancellation of listing will become effective on 6th May 2004.

[sportbilly1976] 15/4/2004 12:29

this stock, given the recent rise, the modest fall back yesterday pm, and the resurgent rise again this am looks to be one of the strongest prospects on small cap market...any one have a clue as to price target in 2-3 months (or weeks at this rate!!)..given NAV currently 16p

[terry moon] 15/4/2004 12:28

Give it time - small volm shifts this - we are getting nice sustained buys

[pointscorer] 15/4/2004 12:07

offer moving up, will the bid follow??

[terry moon] 15/4/2004 12:05

Moving up again this is building nicely - could see it break through 12p today

[terry moon] 15/4/2004 11:54

looking strong - adding all the way 8.5, 9, 10, 11.5

[mufmitz] 15/4/2004 11:47

Could be! It is an odd situation when so much of the equity is held by so few people.

[sportbilly1976] 15/4/2004 11:02

Given that 84% is held by 6 holders - i wonder if the MM's are requesting that stock be entered onto the market to improve liquidity....could explain the large sells...imo

[pointscorer] 15/4/2004 10:54

Another 175k sell @ 10.5??????

[sportbilly1976] 14/4/2004 16:51

the 125k T trade at 10.5 probably was single handedly responsible for the fall this pm...expect another gain tomorrow...

[mufmitz] 14/4/2004 16:09

I don't think I bought enough! Only about 8K. I find it a little worrying that so much of the share issue is held by so few people. This can encourage wild swings in the share price. If they knew anything they could dump the lot and holders like me would get stuffed.

I am fairly convinced however that CSP is the way forward. When everybody got lots of exercise just cycling to work we didn't need health and fitness clubs but now we do. It could be a real growth area.

[pointscorer] 14/4/2004 16:07

1 v 2
10.25/10.75

[sportbilly1976] 14/4/2004 16:02

good to see though that buyers are coming in despite the fall - seeing the increased value for money at these levels they probably didn't think they would see again!!

[sportbilly1976] 14/4/2004 15:50

question is how far it falls....could well trap in a few holders from today (me included)....

[pointscorer] 14/4/2004 15:45

10.25.10.75

1 v 1

tree shake worked. expect some big sells to come after a big rise over the past few days..