Essenden Share Discussion Threads

[battlebus2] 24/9/2013 14:29

Hi chrisis33, should be trading at 40p imv not even taking consideration of possible M&A. Bought again myself this morning.

[chrisis33] 24/9/2013 14:27

Bought some this AM. Looks silly cheap ad you say.

[battlebus2] 24/9/2013 08:43

Ridiculously cheap imv, EBITDA verses a market cap of 5.2 million and debt free
got to be major upside.

[battlebus2] 24/9/2013 07:33

Results out with continued momentum in operational and financial performance and conversion of ebitda into cash.

o 0.7% Like for Like sales increase in first 6 months
o EBITDA up 24% to GBP2.9m (2012: GBP2.3m)
o EBITDA margin increase to 11.7% from 9.3%
o Average unit EBITDA up GBP10k per unit for H1 to GBP175k (2012: GBP165k)
o Increase in pre tax profits to GBP1.3m up 66% (2012 : GBP0.8m)
o EPS increase of 88% to 4.7p (2012 :2.5p)
o Net Operating Cash at June 2013 of GBP1.4m (Dec 2012: GBP0.7m Net Operating Debt)
Nick Basing, Chief Executive, said:

"Despite choppy waters, we have managed to hold our course. All measures of performance are pointing the right way"

[battlebus2] 19/9/2013 09:57

Share price still falling down over 35% since April! Results needed asap.

[battlebus2] 07/9/2013 14:27

Results should be this month and i'm connecting the recent fall in the share price to the great summer we have had and possibly less visits but with the last update in May saying they should be debt free and the possibility the weather has had less of an impact i'm looking forward to these results. This summer was a one in ten chance so normal service resuming no doubt. They could also have another card up their sleeve but we will see.

[battlebus2] 20/3/2013 20:55

Old news but worth a read-

[battlebus2] 20/3/2013 20:49

Great detective work GHF. This was what drew my attention to Essenden-

[glasshalfull] 20/3/2013 20:35

Agree CR...like you I think it's a more "steady as she goes" type following the realignment of business & continued pressures that consumer spending is currently experiencing...and looks unlikely to disappate any time soon. More rapid share price appreciation probably depends on any acquisitions that this team make and whether they can extract further synergies IMHO.

Here's a note of the £15 deal I mentioned in my last post for any investors or lurkers that may wish to take opportunity and see what a competitor is offering...and with all their sites in England, this poor Scot is unable to take advantage.



;-)

Regards,
GHF

[cockneyrebel] 20/3/2013 20:11

Nice to see you Glasshalfful :-)

It's all about what they do going fwd now imo.

I'm not holding a lot of these as it's AIN, non divi paying and very illiquid so it's a bit of a carefree investment really, it will never destroy me or make me a fortune with the stake I have.

But interesting imo, with the CVA done, to see what they do in the coming year.

All imo/dyor etc.

CR

[glasshalfull] 20/3/2013 19:33

Let me know how you get on shanklin. Like yourself I don't currently hold but continuing to research.

The fact that battlebus & CR were here meant that the stock made it onto my watchlist a few months ago & I've subsequently had the opportunity to do a little digging. As I said, liked the positive impact Nick Basing has brought & really liked yesterdays statement in respect of action taken and I'm a great believer in backing proven management teams.

Loan notes are the only big negative for me as on reading back previous Annual Reports it looks like they sold & leased back a number of their properties.

Tenpin sold and leased back 9 of its freehold and long leasehold properties on 28th August 2007 for £43m (cash of £41.25m and a receivable of £1.75m). A profit of £27.9m is included in non recurring items. £12.4m cash was also received in the year for the sale of Bristol bowl (for which the profit on disposal was recorded in 2006) and Plympton bowl (profit of £0.5m included in non recurring items). In 2006, £8m was received for the sale of Streatham bowl and profit on the sale of Bristol and Streatham bowls of £9.1m was recorded.

I've not been able to access their 2008 accounts so unable to determine what properties they still have but last years results flagged further property sales. Are they in a position to sell and leaseback any of their remaining properties? Looks to me like they only have £3m of long leasehold properties left of the £23m plant, property and equipment listed & therefore prospects limited.

Loan notes currently valued at £7.5m on IDSX but potential liability of £21m if they redeem in full in 2020.

There are a few tenpin bowling companies of similar size to Essenden/Tenpin & they all appear to providing a similar offering in respect of family deals and off-peak promotions.

* The Original Bowling Company comprises AMF Bowling's 17 centres and Hollywood Bowl's 25 centres = 42

* Bowlplex = 16

* 1stBowl & Lakeside = 36 & who are currently offering £15 For Two Games Of Bowling and Hot Dogs For 4 People per one of the Groupon style deals today.

Compare this to Tenpin who have 32 sites & are offering £39 for eat & play deal for a family of 4 with hamburger & chips.

I've still to do a lot more research and possibly speak to management before I dive in here, but have enjoyed giving the tyres a good kick so far.

Regards,
GHF

[shanklin] 20/3/2013 16:09

Thank you for your feedback.

Time for me to do some research.

[glasshalfull] 19/3/2013 22:35

I've been otherwise engaged most of the day but now had chance to have a better look.

There appears to be plenty value here & the management team deserve enormous credit for rescuing the business from inevitable administration or liquidation. This company was a basket case 18 months ago...sales declining, poor cashflow & potential to breach banking covenants, hence shares dropping to 5p level.

So I think it an impressive turnaround. They've exited the CVA a year earlier than planned; slashed the operating cost base while improving staff morale and are clearly passionate about improving customer service. The statement is littered with common sense actions and proposals for further improvement across all areas of the business.

There's still plenty to be done, which they clearly acknowledge, and also redemption of the loan notes as discussed a few posts back on this thread.

However, management have clearly the bit between their teeth and now that they've cleared the decks its worth remembering that the Tenpin business achieved £7.2m PBT in 2007 when there were 39 outlets compared to 32 presently...and current market cap is only £7.4m now!

Look good value in my book.

Regards,
GHF

[battlebus2] 19/3/2013 20:25

Hi Shanklin, i believe we have much further to go here given the management are not content to rest on their laurels. The acquisition they are after will change this company into something much larger, the only doubt for me is how they will finance it but i have every confidence in them after what has been a fabulous piece of management to turn this around so quickly. I still rate this a buy with atleast a 50p target.

[cockneyrebel] 19/3/2013 16:48

Spent the day mulling the results over here and think I agree - looks good value still.

Got to allow a bit of discount for the iffy history but even so, still think these might be a decent play over 12 months. Shame they are so illiquid and you can't really buy a meaningful amount or safely hold a lot really, imo. But at a new high today and it stayed there. John Lee or whoever it was in the Indy was buyin gthese so perhaps a weekend update.

I'll keep hold, in my pension and a one bagger so will be interesting to see how these go.

Think I'd have read through the results and come to a conclusion sooner than this but been busy watching THT rocket today - too distracting :-)

CR

[shanklin] 19/3/2013 15:55

GHF & BB2

I would be very interested in how you both see this one playing out. Obviously the share price has already risen from 5p to circa 34p but even so there seems to be a lot of potential here.

Thank you, Martin

P.S. No position in ESS currently.

[glasshalfull] 19/3/2013 09:32

I agree battlebus. Excellent example of a decisive management team in action, focusing on core values & achieving great results.

Look v good value at this level and I see the outstanding loan notes currently valued at £7.5m on ISDX but with improved cashflow they certainly are out of the woods and clearl looking to develop the business through a "transformational acquisition".

Regards
GHF

[battlebus2] 19/3/2013 07:57

Looks increasingly cheap to me given the market cap

[battlebus2] 19/3/2013 07:22

Great results given the economy with acquisition likely-
3 year strategy has delivered progress on all measures

o EBITDA up 86% to GBP3.8m (2011: GBP2.0m)
o Net Debt : EBITDA ratio of 0.18x (2011: 1.75x); approaching debt free
o Positive Like for Like sales of 0.7%
o Adjusted Profit before Tax GBP1.5m (2011: loss GBP1.1m)
o Average site EBITDA up GBP87k to GBP301k
o Customer Service improved 16.3% since initiative began
o Colleague satisfaction increase to 72% (2011: 57%)
o Online bookings up 62%; represents 17% of bowling revenue
o Tenpin exits from CVA; 12 months ahead of schedule
Nick Basing, Chief Executive, said:

"At its full year results check-up, the Company, having served over 3.7m visitors, has been given a clean bill of health across all measures. Essenden needs to continue its intense programme of getting fitter and stronger.

The Board are now looking to use the skills and wider experience of the team. Using Essenden as a platform, the Board intends to build the Company through a transformational acquisition in the leisure sector. "

[battlebus2] 15/3/2013 08:09

Added a few more over the last few days, looking forward to the results C.R.

[cockneyrebel] 03/3/2013 19:17

Results this month.

CR

[cockneyrebel] 23/1/2013 07:43

Nice trading update - already done 2.5p eps in H1.

If they have done the same or better in H2 then the fwd PE looks low single digit imo.

All imo/dtor etc.

CR

[cockneyrebel] 03/12/2012 10:42

Strong buying today - news?

CR

[cockneyrebel] 28/11/2012 16:11

I suppose this is the reason for this week's rise?