Distil Share Discussion Threads

[waterloo01] 24/11/2023 12:51

24% dilution to insiders at a 22% discount. £750k won't last long if they go ahead with all they put on their wish list.

Remains on my watchlist but once again, I'll await some sales numbers over the Xmas period.

[haggismchaggis] 24/11/2023 12:39

See RNS and then this:.hTTps://www.linkedin.com/mwlite/profile/in/grahamcooley.

[petersinthemarket] 18/11/2023 15:20

Many thanks for the news from the NE Fishyneck.

Some useful buying building up during the last few days. Not sure why, but very welcome. With wider distribution heavily under way, perhaps there are people within the system who know more than we do. If there is anyone looking in here who knows something about how the new arrangements are working, please drop us a few notes.

More stock news from different parts of the UK would be really interesting.
pete

[fishyneck] 17/11/2023 17:16

The standard and pineapple redleg is on sale, and has been for some time, at my local Tesco (large branch) up in the NE. Not been in for a while so not checked if they have the special bottle. Will probably pop in over the weekend.

[petersinthemarket] 17/11/2023 17:15

Thanks Tommy. Really interesting. And encouraging to know it is selling well in some districts.

What do you make of the Special Edition? Did you notice what they were charging for it?

Anyone else from a different county checked RedLeg availability?
pete

[tommyjnewton] 17/11/2023 16:59

Four rows of Redleg in my local West Country Tesco Extra and this includes the new special edition bottles. It seems well established in my part of West Wilts which is why I've had confidence in the brand. I'd be very interested to know how typical or atypical this is.
Redleg tends to move especially when on special offer and my concern has been that sales get lost when it sells out. Not enough preparation for the extra demand. My observation may be unusual, I grant you. Definitely concerning to me that it is apparently not so visible in other areas of the country.

[petersinthemarket] 17/11/2023 12:33

Would more contributors please let us know whether RedLeg is on offer in their local supermarkets? I would also like to understand how much RedLeg Amazon is shifting. Does anyone know how to take a guess at that?
pete

[petersinthemarket] 17/11/2023 10:33

>jonnyfaz/#10442: Thanks for that. That's most encouraging.

The way the Tesco system works is like this: Tesco HQ makes the overall decision on what products to approve and make available to their stores. They then position large volumes of such stocks in their regional warehouses. This does include RedLeg. Local Tesco store management is free to decide which of the approved products to call off from the warehouse for sale at their local Tesco store.

It seems that RedLeg sales in Pembrokeshire must not have been high enough to justify offering it. For several months now I have been asking Tesco staff to look up RedLeg stocks on their mini computers and they have consistantly told me that RedLeg has been delisted, at least for now. I hope this is only a localised issue and that sales are more successful elsewhere.

There's a lot riding on the January TU.
pete

[jonnyfaz] 16/11/2023 15:37

Redleg (x2) is in both my local Tesco stores around Greater Manchester. Both have the limited edition bottle also.

[petersinthemarket] 14/11/2023 13:20

No DIS products in our local Morrisons either. A bit concerning that some of the majors are no longer enamoured with our range. We can only hope that the work going into the new distribution arrangements will spread the word and work out well for us. The January Q3 TU will tell us if we are beginning to motor again.

As for Mr Grain, to me at least, it's not entirely clear what Roland Grain's long term intentions might be. He owns about a quarter of DIS, but he seems much more interested in Ardgowan, as whisky is the major passion for him. He is a very experienced businessman who made most of his money from staff agencies and the like in Germany and across eastern Europe. His practice has always been to buy 100% of the stock in small companies, mostly private companies, assimilate them, tidy them up and then let their original managers run them for him. Having bought Ardgowan, he appears to be doing the same thing.

DIS is a different matter. His purchase may just have been his way of buying into the UK booze industry, but I suspect there is more to it than we are seeing right now. DIS has moved a substantial part of it's business to Scotland and will be dependant on the Ardgowan site for future production of all the white spirits. The DIS scotch product, if/when it finally appears will tie us in even more closely to Grain/Ardgowan.

Grain has made no recent purchases, which would take him nearer to the mandatory offer level, but it cannot be ruled out. To put it in a nutshell, DIS has two worthwhile things to sell, RedLeg and itself. I am not implying any takeover or merger right now, but something will have to change in due course as Don Goulding is old enough and rich enough to start seeing retirement ahead.

Roland Grains part in our future is intriguing. He is averse to public companies. If he did make a move on us, and perhaps it's a big 'if', I believe his instinct would be to take the new business private as soon as possible. Personally, I might welcome some sort of move, whether from Grain or elsewhere as I see it as the only way to get out of our impasse and unlock some of the undoubted value here.
pete

[gipps] 13/11/2023 20:53

My Sainsbury's don't stock any red leg anymore since 2 weeks ago somewhat worrying come on Mr Grain sort the place out.

[petersinthemarket] 13/11/2023 15:53

Do you have another life on LSE Haggis?
I just read most of your latter note on there.

Next real DIS news is Q3/TU expected around 12 Jan 2024.
Year end sales absolutely crucial - the most important sales period of the year.
It will be our first real test of the new distribution arrangements.

My county is Pembrokeshire and by far the largest supermarket influence is Tesco with two major Tesco Extra stores in Haverfordwest and Pembroke Dock. They both used to sell RedLeg, Blackwoods and the Franklins cans. All have been delisted for some time, so I have to buy my RedLeg from Amazon.

I still feel DIS may be too London-Centric.

Isn't it time we saw a whisky announcement - it's been promised for nearly 2yrs.

Can anyone see the point of the so-called RedLeg Special Edition?
pete

[haggismchaggis] 12/11/2023 18:06

Many many years ago we all hoped that Don could sell one of the brands to Diageo for tens of millions. Now Diageo is finding life difficult.
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In their results in July, Diageo stated cash and cash equivalents of £1,439m. They started an 'up to' $1 billion share buyback, but with the issues they have, that is likely to end, which means they still have a cash mountain.
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With some markets falling back for them, one way to recover some the business would be to acquire more products to sell in the markets that are working well for them.
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DIS is valued at a paltry £2.91m but has some great products that Diageo could make huge with it's advertising machine.
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If Diageo offered, say £10m for DIS, I can't see many shareholders saying no.
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Not saying it's going to happen, but it would not surprise me if I looked at the news at 7am one day and saw it had.

[chinese investor] 10/11/2023 16:18

Santa Rally ?

[petersinthemarket] 10/11/2023 15:48

Some buying interest (1.2m at last count) at a bombed-out share price seems to have sparked a little life here. Just shows that this share could motor with a bit of encouragement. Good year-end sales are absolutely crucial.
pete

[gipps] 10/11/2023 13:22

Drink up chaps are we having a large one today.

[berny3] 18/10/2023 16:44

It is difficult to put a good spin on things at the moment. The last fund raise was a disaster. I fought tooth and nail against it, being in contact with DG expressing my dissatisfaction. My concerns then and now are that the company is being used as a fund raising tool for the whisky project. Which I believe is flawed. That is why I also voted against, in the AGM, the ability for the company to raise further funds to contribute to the project further. I would suggest as other shareholders that you don’t waste your vote in the AGM as another fund raise to support the Whisky project does not appear financially prudent. It has been a great concern for me that the company has not had great financial control over the past few years. And it is with great disappointment to see cash allocated to an advert when there was no support in the trade to meet any upturn in demand. My current concern is whether DG is calling the shots now and whether somebody else is playing the tune. I do hope so much that the fantastic brand created under DG, Red Leg, can find its feet again but it appears all that hard work has been lost and we are back building a small brand again. I have not posted for sometime due to my dissatisfaction with how things have played out. I believe forcing the company to be more prudent with cash by voting against the additional fund raise option in the AGM will hopefully force the board to be more focused and hopefully get Redleg back on track.

[skinny] 12/10/2023 11:14

Well that's woken the share price up - Not!

[gipps] 12/10/2023 07:48

So does that mean if they had not paid out for that tv advert they would be showing a profit ?

[thepopeofchillitown] 12/10/2023 07:39

Not generated much interest this update. Not yet anyway! I actually picked up a few recently as a bit of a punt, hoping for a quick profit, but it's good to see things are moving in the right direction. After every update haggis your advice is to wait for the next update.

[haggismchaggis] 12/10/2023 07:11

Peter, slightly interesting results, figures a tad better, more new products sounds great, and the direct online sales should help a lot. Need the next trading update to see where cash is heading, back up or further down.