Frp Advisory Share Discussion Threads

[topvest] 04/8/2017 15:26

Yes, agreed. Looks like an opportunity to make more money for some individuals at the expense of shareholders. An onerous lease of £1m per annum shouldn't be a logical explanation for calling in receivers if the subsidiaries are still trading, particularly given its less than £100k of cash cost per month. In the context of the debts in the subsidiaries that is a sideshow. Nasty smell. Agreed.
I suspect the reality is that other than the legal subsidiaries the rest of the Groupis insolvent as the offer price for that pat of the business is negligible. The directors are not really explaining properly what is going on and therefore leaving the door open for a lot of criticism, rightly or wrongly.

[kramch] 04/8/2017 13:08

This doesn't smell right to me,

in Dec '15 they reported a NAV of c. £40 Million,and in 2014 had a profit of c £3.5M.

We were last told the legal acquisitions were earning nicely. Suddenly they can't afford £1M rent so call in administrators.

Are the directors et al acting in the shareholders interests?

AIMO K.

[sportbilly1976] 04/8/2017 10:52

From thebusinessdesk.com:

"Fairpoint Group, the consumer professional services company, has said it intends to bring in administrators, blaming the “onerous lease” on its head office.

Fairpoint has an annual commitment of £1m a year for the next four years on its lease of its Fairclough House headquarters in Addlington, Lancashire.

This has made it hard to find ongoing support for the non-legal subsidiaries and it is no longer able to continue trading as a going concern, the group said today.

It has filed notice of intention to appoint administrators within 10 days but stressed that the administration will not impact on the planned disposal of its IVA and claims divisions , which was announced last month.

Around 200 staff work for the IVA business, which is currently based at Fairclough House.

Meanwhile, Simpson Millar, the group’s Leeds-based legal services business, said that it was “business as usual”.

It received £5m of funding from Doorway Capital, a specialist provider of capital to law firms, in July.

Simpson Millar said this working capital will enable it to take advantage of the growth opportunity presented by the size and highly fragmented nature of the consumer legal services market place.

It said in a statement: “Whilst we are saddened that this has been a difficult time for Fairpoint Group, it is business as usual at Simpson Millar and we do not anticipate any significant changes as a result of Fairpoint Group’s announcement.

“Simpson Millar would like to emphasise that its’ primary concern is the continued protection of its clients’ interests and service of its clients’ needs. The client services that Simpson Millar provides and the protections its clients enjoy are not in any way affected by the announcement by Fairpoint Group plc.”

Fairpoint suspended trading in its shares on AIM in June, after bank AIB refused to provide ongoing financial support. This meant the group was unable to sign-off the audit of its annual report and accounts for 2016, and was not be in a position to publish its annual report and accounts by the end of June, as required by AIM rules.

Then on July 3 AIB Group notified the group that it had assigned debt due from Fairpoint to Doorway Capital, as well as providing the working capital facility to Simpson Millar."

[topvest] 04/8/2017 10:45

Yes, all looks pretty dire. No doubt offers will come in from the management team for the more valuable subsidiary. Probably not enough to pay off the onerous lease and debts though I guess. I made a mistake on not selling this when reading last year's appalling interim results. A good lesson!

[cybaajak] 04/8/2017 09:34

This sucks.. badly.

@ sportb. (Assumptions aside) The subsidiaries should be owned by the TopCo so therefore should appear as assets for the administrator to dispose of iaw liquidation rules.
Looking at the financial reports of 2015/16 they had a huge turnover, and big profit, paying 6.8p per share last year. (42.42 million shares in issue)
The subsidiaries did not just stop earning when the dividend paid out. Wheres all the funds gone since then, and what has happened to the funds kept back by the board of directors, that wasn't paid out to costs and divs.

Since August last year the profits should have been ploughed back into the TopCo. Where has a years trading gone ?

I'm betting the BoD have stripped it with a view to screwing over the shareholders, and when the administrator arrives he finds a bare shell.

[topvest] 04/8/2017 07:50

Odd RNS really. Given shareholders are wiped-out I think the tone was wrong. We are fine...you are screwed! Looks like the buyer didn't want to take the building lease. It would have been more helpful to actually state that no return is expected for shareholders, if that is expected to be the case. Looks like they are only interested in jobs. Obviously that is the priority, but this was an RNS for the listed company on the stock exchange.

[sportbilly1976] 04/8/2017 07:30

Shareholders screwed, admin appointed as obviously the property (and stock market listing) held by the TopCo, all trading via subsidiaries....so jobs preserved

[paduardo] 17/7/2017 12:52

Rent was guaranteed to 2021(if I recall correctly). If I was a purchaser I would be looking for a hefty break fee.

[sportbilly1976] 17/7/2017 11:58

They can then move into the existing office in either Manchester or Leeds - a nice £700k pa cost saving

[paduardo] 16/7/2017 17:00

Yes that is definitley a problem. If they can sell the IVA, combined with the financing for Simpson Millar, maybe there is enough room for management to agree to whatever write downs are needed for the auditor to sign off on the accounts.

What also is potentially not a good sign - their headquarters was up for auction on the 13/7. If you read the Legal Pack (auction house is acuitius)debt management solutions (rent guaranteed by FRP) have not paid their current period's rent (as of late June). Maybe FRP is leaving that for whoever buys the business.

All in my opinion of course.

Cheers
Paduardo

[paduardo] 16/7/2017 17:00

Yes that is definitley a problem. If they can sell the IVA, combined with the financing for Simpson Millar, maybe there is enough room for management to agree to whatever write downs are needed for the auditor to sign off on the accounts.

What also is potentially not a good sign - their headquarters was up for auction on the 13/7. If you read the Legal Pack (auction house is acuitius)debt management solutions (rent guaranteed by FRP) have not paid their current period's rent (as of late June). Maybe FRP is leaving that for whoever buys the business.

All in my opinion of course.

Cheers
Paduardo

[topvest] 13/7/2017 19:41

They still need to work on getting the accounts finalised though. 2 weeks late so far.

[paduardo] 13/7/2017 14:01

I had mentally written off the value of my entire hiding in FRP. I am starting to think this might actually survive, its share might trade again and I will able to get some of my money out : )

[sportbilly1976] 13/7/2017 08:54

Move to becoming 100% legal business continues, just need to dispose of the millstone which is the IVA element

Depending upon terms agreed, this should be quite a positive for the Company

[paduardo] 03/7/2017 10:30

This is actually good news for a change : )

I would not be surprised to see the share price drop 50% on reopen as the suspension will have really opened peoples eyes to the risk with this share, but there could be a bounce after that as long as their isn't a highly dilutive fund raise happening as well.

[sportbilly1976] 03/7/2017 08:39

Funding issue resolved, just need to publish the accounts & lift the suspension....issue might be how many will sell on re-list due to this issue

[sportbilly1976] 28/6/2017 08:48

It has been at the mercy of AIB since the warning last December.

[escapetohome] 28/6/2017 07:43

Oh dear , i had these on my radar, but perhaps glad i didnt dip a toe, it doesnt sound too good.

[touche] 28/6/2017 07:31

Suspension

[sportbilly1976] 23/6/2017 13:04

Looks as though they will use all the available June to get the results out...new low being hit though

[paduardo] 07/6/2017 13:19

I wonder if they will post truly dire results on election day (or the day after) when people are not paying attention

[paduardo] 24/5/2017 13:30

further delay. Not a good sign!

[paduardo] 23/5/2017 12:44

Getting towards the end of "Mid May" yet no prelim results. The silence is ominous.

[sportbilly1976] 31/3/2017 11:38

Disposal for working capital....cost cutting to take effect too - problem with taking a lot of costs (people) out, is sometime to reduce the ability to make profits too