Future Share Discussion Threads

[outsourcer] 30/7/2008 14:48

over 7 million in buys in 3 trades if the trades data is correct, is something finally happening !!!!!!!

[outsourcer] 29/7/2008 08:24

good interim date released, whats the betting the shares do absolutely nothing.

[outsourcer] 28/7/2008 08:14

so another institution increases its holding yet we are still at these ridiculous low levels

[altube] 17/7/2008 12:42

Future debt is low whereas other publishers have quite high debt mountains. I here that everyone is fully stretched across the business. There is no fat to cut, it really is a healthy company that can survive any downturn.

A

[huffnpuff] 16/7/2008 17:34

Last set of ABCs saw some quite smart increases in game mag circulations on the back of the present console boom, and there will be more this time round. Don't write off magazines yet - until I can safely take my laptop in the bath with me, there'll be at least one magazine buyer round these parts. Also, Future are set to capitalise online - their two big internet sites for games (Games Radar and CVG) are both doing great guns. After all, games publishers have to advertise their games somewhere! Future might have been slow off the mark with these two sites, but they're capitalising from them now. And my original point was that Future is now a much more diverse publishing company than it was 10 years ago. It's been painful watching them stumble with the ball at times, but under Sprint they look like they're finally getting there.

[uncle-bob] 11/7/2008 18:19

But they're not in the games business, they're in the magazine and advertising-funded editorial business. Games will flourish, yes, but games magazines (and games retailers) are not the sectors to buy into - publishers are. That's if you can still find an undervalued publisher, of course. SEG perhaps, but extremely risky. The US publishers are pretty expensive right now, but still, they will perform far better than FUTR, IMHO.

[huffnpuff] 11/7/2008 17:08

To be fair, games was only a small part of Ziff Davis' interests. The last set of ABCs showed a rise in overall games mag circulations, too. And Future has diversified away from games in the last ten years. I can't remember what the percentage is off-hand, but the games sector only accounts for a third of their profits. Also, who would want out of games at the moment? It's a huge and growing market and there's another two years of growth to come before we have to worry about another 'next gen' cycle.

[uncle-bob] 11/7/2008 16:21

I wouldn't trust a Future director to run my investment portfolio for me, and I equally wouldn't time a purchase in a stock on the back of their purchase. Directors believe in their company - they have to - but their rose-tinted specs do not always correct their myopia.

And I stand by what I said re the relevance of game mags. They are an anachronism waiting for the chop. Hence Ziff Davis's woes.

[huffnpuff] 11/7/2008 15:18

The Internet does offer another delivery platform, but all the really big games exclusives are still channeled through the mags. Demo discs, too, still hold some value otherwise the company wouldn't still use them to jack up the price of their official titles. Some people //don't// want to trawl the net for news on their hobby, they'd rather have it persented to them in a professional, fun, portable magazine. Also, the company is using its expertise in various fields to expand its web-based presence and to soak up extra advertising revenues. It's not all doom and gloom.

Still, when a director buys company shares you don't expect the share price to plunge like it is doing at the moment. Odd.

[uncle-bob] 11/7/2008 14:30

alt - that was pre-internet. In the games sector, monthly news and demo discs are no longer relevant. Mag circulations have generally been falling in every other sector too, and advertising, which funds part of their mag businss and all of their online business is extremely vulnerable right now.

[altube] 11/7/2008 13:20

Uncle

Have to disagree, the titles they produced are generally recession proof because they formpart of the readers lives. In the last recession the company grew.

[uncle-bob] 09/7/2008 17:49

You're not selling because you're losing too much money? That is insane. Ask yourself this - "Would I buy this share now, if I had not done so previously?". If the answer is no, then CLEARLY you should sell.

As for some accountant's opinion as to their asset value, well that's irrelevant. If they're in a shrinking industry and they are set to go bust, ultimately, unless they change their business model, then any investment is a timebomb.

Their industry is extremely vulnerable, both to recessionary pressures and to the advance of the internet. One of their competitors, Ziff Davis, just went bust for this reason.

But good luck. I have no position right now, long or short, but I am tempted to short them for a long term fall down to, possibly, 0p.

Rob

[outsourcer] 09/7/2008 16:39

because I am sitting on a £7k loss at present

why is it over valued, at today price it has a market capital of about 78M on a net assets per the last accounts of about 168M, which is hardly unhealthy

[uncle-bob] 09/7/2008 14:47

And you're still holding? W H Y ?

Well over-priced. Why not go short and make your money back?

[outsourcer] 04/7/2008 08:30

what is the point in this stock, it climbs one day and 2 days later it is back to where it started

[outsourcer] 01/7/2008 14:42

bletherer, a tiny bit, still need 36p to start breaking even though

[bletherer] 01/7/2008 12:26

Outsourcer, feeling happier now? Any rise at all given the current market turmoil is pretty good. Fingers crossed that Future can defend that 24p level and then rebound when we get some buyers back in this market. Schroders' move is a welcome vote of confidence, at any rate.

[huffnpuff] 01/7/2008 12:08

Anyoe know when we get our cheques?

[outsourcer] 01/7/2008 09:45

schroders upped their holding to over 15%, I cant understand if the funds are still buying them why we are still at these levels

[outsourcer] 05/6/2008 08:19

I assume an RNS will be on its way after yesterday.

I wonder if it was Artemis offloading their entire holding

[outsourcer] 04/6/2008 12:40

someone selling a lot of shares today

[outsourcer] 04/6/2008 10:31

2.3M in sells today

[outsourcer] 04/6/2008 09:38

lets hope its not like games radar was at first!!