European Home Retail Share Discussion Threads

[bird of dawning] 15/3/2007 18:18

I guess you might be looking to start a new shorters thread?! EHR could be an acronym for `Early Hard Rains.......gonna fall' (with acknowledgements to Bob Dylan).

In its former Kleeneze (KLZ) guise, this company; Euro Home Retailing was engaged in the art of `bottom line management'. So.......as long as they showed a basic net profit each year, the bank would still lend out to this 80 years old, household name, Kleeneze business, with its relatively low cost network marketing (mlm) distributor catalogue retailing base. Albeit that the KLZ/EHR balance sheet showed up a perennial net loss value and was permanently strapped for cash.

Based on this premise......OK I'm pretty sure thats not a mispelling?! we could perhaps start off with the Robson Rhodes HGI Stockmarket unloved companies list:


Actually, I would venture to comment that there's some pretty good ones shown here e.g. Costain. Perhaps the best sector to start in might be retailing? Therefore, perhaps we should take a new look at......New Look. I wouldn't expect to find to many shorters candidates here..... Vodafone!!?....well I guess that you can never really know whats exactly around the next corner.

If R.R don't like Vofafone I can't imagine what they thought of EHR? perhaps it was already below the R.R event horizon and deep inside the black hole as early as 2004. Emblaze (BLZ) might be a candidate (its price has slipped over 30% today on UK VAT fears) though not on the R.R list however, its currently showing a net loss of $10m.....a gaff that would have meant `sudden death' for EHR. BLZ has the advantage over EHR in that its selling at 0.64 price/book and 1.63 Price/Sales, Emblaze balance sheet is really pretty healthy.....they could yet blaze their way through this mini-crisis quite well....a turnaround/recovery play?......therefore we must exclude it rom our shorters list.

The magic shorting formula (EHR style) could be; consistent bottom line (minimal) profit c/w imbalance sheet. I'll be taking a New Look.
Cheers
bod

[fusebox] 20/2/2007 13:48

I wonder how many more companies like this one will go under this year. With interest rates on the rise more I suspect.

[the skies the limit] 03/11/2006 15:50

The goodwill gesture by the retailers has also failed. That means a misserable christmas for thousands of poor families. According to working lunch Farepack didnt have a proper data base on who the customers were which does seem strange.

[skintvestor] 03/11/2006 15:35

It`s patently obvious, they were using the money received from Fayrepack customers to prop up the rest of the other businesses. This is effectively theft by the bankers and directors!!!

[elitebabe] 25/10/2006 07:30

I agree that the "done deal" was very probably not the best deal that could have been done.

Lots of other companies could have been interested in Kleeneze Ltd which is very profitable- Avon? Scotts of Stow (Nigel Swabey used to own it)? Betterware? Amway? JML? or even a consortium of Kleeneze distributors. I bet many of them are not too happy about being in yet another disparate gropup.

[skintvestor] 25/10/2006 07:08

DTI are investigating the goings on. Absolutely right they should. There`s been a complete carve up here, for customers and shareholders alike. Also a scandal that the profitable parts of the business are sold off for a song by the administrators, in what appears to be a "done" deal.

[the skies the limit] 17/10/2006 07:15

skint.

You would have thought any money that went to the hamper business would have been ring fenced!

Isnt that what happens when you have a co with various operations? They all have seperate bank accounts and loans just in case one gets in trouble then you can just get rid of that one!!!

Thats why they need investigating. The administrator will however know that.

[elitebabe] 17/10/2006 07:10

Check out the Kleeneze website -seems Mr Rollason is still there...

And yes - have to ask -why did the whole Group go into receivership? Why not just Farepak Ltd? Answer seems to be that the Group owed HBOS a lot, and they were not prepared to lend more. Overall prospects must have been dire for HBOS to prefer losing (reportedly) £24 million to lending more.

So far no one is asking why the Bank was not prepared to make that loan so that the thousands of customers could be paid out.

Maybe Agents could have lost out on their commissions -but from what I am reading elsewhere, most would have happily Deon that to make sure their customers got their money.

Now, seems to me, all the money is going to go in Receivers fees.

It all leaves a nasty taste in the mouth.

[skintvestor] 17/10/2006 07:02

They must have used it to fund some of the other failing businesses. Probably Eezee TV, which as far as I know, never made any money!!!

[the skies the limit] 17/10/2006 06:58

I think they need an investigation cos its not right those poor people paying money and not getting anything back. Where did all the money go?

[skintvestor] 17/10/2006 06:49

Hope they left William Rollason where he belongs. Out on his backside!!!!!

[elitebabe] 17/10/2006 06:08

Yes - in a very cosy deal, Findel picked up the part of Home Farm Hampers it did not already own, plus Kleeneze, Kitbag, I Want One of Those and Cabouchon. Not sure what is happening about the TV JV with JML.

[woodie3] 17/10/2006 05:59

are the agents of kleeneeze not transfered to findel?

[matt] 17/10/2006 02:20

Agreed. What's criminal is that the funds aren't protected in some form like bank deposits. That again it's not the mega rich who will suffer but people who have been putting a little aside each week for a little happiness at Christmas with their families!

[garykc] 16/10/2006 21:18

You've got to feel sorry not only for the shareholders, but also to the agents who have collected money from people at workplaces etc. My wife and I have "lost" over £500 but I know some people at her work have paid over £900 and will more than likely lose the lot. It's criminal that they continued to take money from people in the knowledge that the company was going down the pan!!!!

[earthian] 15/10/2006 20:43

No doubt you're right about the directors - and I guess the same is probably true for the major shareholders too.

Oh well, we just have to remind ourselves every now and again that we should never invest anything we aren't prepared to lose!

[the skies the limit] 13/10/2006 21:25

Yer!

LOL

[loverat] 13/10/2006 21:22

Yes - looks like it. Wasn't this one of Paulypilot's stocks?

[elitebabe] 12/10/2006 08:50

Around 70% of the share capital is owned by the family of Bob Johnson, the visionary butcher-turned-entreprenour who saw the potential in the Kleeneze business in the late 1980's. He missed out then to Nigel Swabey from Innovations, but eventually bought it from NS when it was in a very difficult financail situation. The cash flow of the hamper business balanced the cash requirement of the Kleeneze business beautifully. Now the Hamper business is in trouble, my question is - who is going to buy Kleeneze next????

[earthian] 27/9/2006 19:32

bod - the problem with going down an affiliate marketing route is quite interesting in that taking it to its logical conclusion...

...there would ultimately be no need for distributors at all. Stick up a website offering all products, people buy and pay online and goods shipped direct to their door. It's what IWOOT (and of course virtually every other commercial website in the world!!) does already.

Admittedly that would be quite some time in the future, as many Kleeneze customers don't have access to the internet, but distributors beware... :)

All - Getting back to the shares situation, I noticed over the year or so that I watched them (before stupidly buying!) that the price seemed to move, both ways, on very little volume. This suggests to me that the majority of the shares in issue must be quite tightly held and I wondered if anyone had any idea who the major holders are?