Glisten Share Discussion Threads

[babolat] 02/11/2003 14:09

Angel

No I haven't sold PDR - I would echo your comments on Share Weekly tips, in fact they are so similar to those of Chart Breakout that I think there's a connection - Share Weekly tipster (Kewill Ludens), Chart Breakout (Quentin Lumsden)- there seems to be some sort of anagram going on there(?). Or maybe I've just got a suspicious mind.

Anyway, back to Glisten - according to Citywire, they have been tipped this weekend by The Business.

[whitehall55] 31/10/2003 21:12

Long Post
Hi everyone (And Babolat...Sold your PDR?) I just joined your ranks today after monitoring this share for some time. The article in Share Weekly finally persuaded me to enter the fray! This fairly new site is now subscription only so the article is reproduced below. I know this site well and know it to be VERY well informed and make their choices by seeking out good businesses rather than punt at get-rich-quick choices. However, because of this their portfolio has left the opposition MILES behind! So here I am a Glisten shareholder! and here is the article.

From www.everyinvestor.co.uk (The Share Weekly)

Over the years investors have learned to be wary of businesses that grow by acquisition. It lends itself to accounting tricks that flatter the reported profits and can be a way of boosting salaries and perks for management while achieving little or nothing for shareholders. But there are exceptions to every rule. The highly acquisitive Hanson Trust, under the leadership of Lord Hanson and Gordon White, was one of the best-performing shares in the history of the London stock market. I will be surprised if Glisten achieves success on quite that scale, but as a strongly managed business in the fragmented food industry it has a considerable opportunity to grow both organically and by making well-judged acquisitions.

Market Data
EPIC Company Share Price Market Cap £m PER Dividend Yield% 12-Month hi-lo Company Report
GLI Glisten 175.5 15.5 21.14 n/a 92.5-175.5 --

Although still relatively tiny, with 2003 sales of £15.9m, the team at the top of Glisten has the experience to run a much larger business. Non-executive chairman, Jeremy Hamer, is also chairman of Inter Link Foods, another small but acquisitive food company with an excellent record of growth and value-adding acquisitions in its five years as a quoted company. Chief executive, Paul Simmonds, with an 8 per cent shareholding, has a formidable track record. Among his previous jobs in a 25-year food industry career include running Hibernian Foods with sales of £180m and Glambia, a food company with £250m of sales. Finance director Robert Davies was formerly at another large food business, Uniq.

Another strength of the group when it comes to doing deals is a supportive base of institutional shareholders. There is a string of institutions in the list of largest shareholders including such well-respected names as Artemis and New Star. This is vital because it gives the group placing power, the ability to raise funds by selling new shares to its supportive big shareholders. They have just shown their worth by helping the group to raise £700,000 by placing 424,000 new shares at 165p, a tight discount to the latest market price.

Buying Glisten was the new company's first deal
The company now known as Glisten started life as a private company with heavyweight management but no business. Its first deal was to buy a niche confectionery business called Glisten, take its name and use the acquisition as the background for a flotation/ fund-raising on Aim. The float took place in early June and the shares were issued at 80p, since when they have more than doubled, helped by rising in investor enthusiasm for Aim-quoted companies.

The acquired business, Glisten, is a niche supplier of confectionery products to a broad range of customers. Simmonds says these are in five sectors including major multiples like Tesco where the group supplies the biggest- selling line of sweets sold in bags. The group's speciality is coated products, whether coated with chocolate or sugar. Other customers range from Harrods to Costco and include manufacturing businesses like Richmond Icecream, for whom Glisten supplies coatings, and food service businesses like Whitbread to whom the group supplies ice cream toppings.

Simmonds says the Glisten business was in good condition before they bought it with £1m recently spent on a new packing plant. However the group spent a further £1.5m upgrading the facilities, brought in some 50 new customers and intensified the focus on innovative new products such as Snowballs that carry higher margins. Simmonds says the acquisition was possible because the second-generation owners no longer had an involvement in the running of the business.

UK and Scandinavian rights to Sunmaid brand
Another attractive asset was the rights to the Sunmaid confectionery brand in Scandinavia and the UK. There are plans to launch five new products under the Sunmaid banner into what should be receptive markets. The Scandinavians rank even ahead of the UK as the biggest world-wide consumers per head of confectionery.

Glisten is on a strong growth path with profits rising from £1.17m in 2001-2 to last year's £1.36m with £1.57m forecast for the current year and £1.7m next. Reported earnings per share for 2002-3, the first year under the new management team, showed earnings per share rising 23 per cent to 11.9p and strong cash generation.

Financial Data
Fiscal Year Proj Turnover £m Pretax Profit Change % EPS Change % DPS Change
%
2003 15.6 1.05 NA 10.36 NA 0 NA
2004 * 16.62 1.45 38.1% 11.7 12.9% 0 NA
2005 * 18.26 1.66 14.5% 13.16 12.5% 0 NA

EPS - Earnings per Share
DPS - Dividend per Share

But the real opportunity for shareholders comes from the scope for acquisitions. Three giant concerns, Mars, Nestle and Cadbury Schweppes dominate the confectionery industry with around 75 per cent of the market between them. But that still leaves 25 per cent in much more fragmented hands and Glisten with ample room to grow from its present minuscule 0.3 per cent market share.

Just made first acquisition for £1.1m
The group recently announced its first acquisition since the flotation. It spent just under £1.1m in total including costs to buy Sunya, a manufacturer of chocolate confectionery such as 'foiled' and 'netted' chocolate balls and seasonal products. The acquired business had sales last year of £1.8m. Production is being moved to Glisten's Blackburn site through December to cut costs while the group will also benefit from the customer connections enjoyed by its new parent. Simmonds says that the acquisition will be earnings-enhancing in the second half of the year to 30 June 2004.

It is obvious that there will be more and larger deals to come. The fund-raising referred to above took place after the latest acquisition and means that the group has already rebuilt its firepower. The initial emphasis will be on confectionery to gain synergy benefits from the deals. But, in the medium to longer term, the group will not confine itself to sweets. The aim is to look at any niche areas of the food market where the group can add value. Glisten also claims not to be at the mercy of the major multiples with their margin-crushing buying power. In the latest full year around 33 per cent of sales went to the big multiples with the other two thirds going to a wide range of customers including export markets.

The attraction of Glisten is that the business is tiny in relation to where it might be going. Furthermore investors can be sure that management, who are themselves significant shareholders, will be careful to do deals that really do add value. The shares look an attractive investment that could produce substantial returns over time.

So here's to another PDR!

Gan canny oot there!

The Angel of the North (In disguise as Whitehall55)

[hareram] 31/10/2003 12:27

Strong management team aims to build large niche food group at Glisten -Tipped in the Share Weekly.

[martini] 23/10/2003 18:53

Two posts in a day (well three now) this is in danger of becoming a hot share :)
All good stuff thanks for the updates guys.

[dcb] 23/10/2003 16:12

Another good write-up on Citywire:

Glisten-in; this Citywire tip could get even sweeter
Wholesale sweetie maker and successful Citywire tip Glisten has delivered a strong trading update and placed a tranche of new shares with eager institutional investors.

[slj] 23/10/2003 08:05

LONDON (AFX) - Glisten PLC said it has raised 700,000 stg in a placement of
423,600 ordinary shares for cash at 1.65 stg per share with institutional
investors, using the proceeds to increase the company's cash reserves.

In a statement to the company's AGM, chairman Jeremy Hamer said Glisten has
made a good start to the current year with turnover for the first 16 weeks at
the principal operating subsidiary, Glisten Confectionery, 5 pct ahead of the
same period last year.

"Early demand for the important Christmas period, including the new range of
Glisten-brand products is very encouraging," he said.

Hamer added the company is looking forward to the remainder of the current
year with confidence.

He said the 1.08 mln stg acquistion of chocolate maker Sunya earlier this
month "will in the medium term provide a number of additional cross selling
opportunities as most of its customers and product capabilities are new to
Glisten, and in this regard we have already received keen interest in the Sunya
range from Glisten's existing customers."

[e-mail]

[slj] 22/10/2003 08:28

22/10/03
LONDON (AFX) - Glisten PLC said it plans to raise 700,000 stg through the
placing of 423,600 new ordinary shares with institutional investors at 165 pence
each.

The placing represents 5 pct of the existing issued share capital of the
company.

The company said the proceeds of the placing will be used to augment the
company's existing working capital facilities, following the acquisition of
Sunya, and to assist with future acquisitions as and when they become available.

[e-mail]

[cootuk] 21/10/2003 06:16

I would expect a lot of sells just below £2....
firstly £2 is a psychological barrier to break through, and secondly if a share price doubles people can tend to sell half to get their purchase price back.
Seeing as the shares traded 80-100p for about six months, would expect steady sells due to this.
Would be nice to see a decent little acquisition, but barring that would expect next news to be after xmas saying how good it was and what easter looks like.

[pedro] 17/10/2003 10:10

Looks like short term seller has cleared and off we go again, slowly but surely ;-)

[babolat] 17/10/2003 00:21

hughlss
'Chart Breakout' is a monthly newsletter (costs about £100 per year) - their name is a bit misleading, as their recommendations are based mostly on fundamentals & visits to companies, rather than charts.
Their write up on Glisten is very bullish & refer to the certaincy of more deals ahead.

[hughlss] 16/10/2003 22:58

hi Babolat, excuse my ignorance, but was is 'Chart Breakout'? and is there any further info. re Glisten in their recommendation?
Glisten being my major holding by far, I'm very keen to gather as much news as possible, to either confirm my high regards for the company, or to even point out any possible downside. I've said it before, this is the best little company on AIM, IMO.

[babolat] 15/10/2003 10:35

This month's 'Chart Breakout' has just come out - GLI one of the main recommendations.

[martini] 12/10/2003 12:32

I hear IC have again put GLI as a buy in their tip updates.
Not read the detail of what they had to say.

[cootuk] 01/10/2003 18:14

It's been a good run though, 90-odd pup to 170p.....

[cootuk] 01/10/2003 18:14

It's been a good run though, 90-odd p to 170p.....

[hughlss] 29/9/2003 09:16

Just to add a little perspective to the share price, I noticed, in Shares Magazine yesterday that they are rated no more than a 'hold' at present. Glisten lost out in the bidding for Fox's - a set-back in acquisition plans. The article maintained that the share price hike has left the share fully valued, and high enough until acquisition news comes through and/or the dividends start to roll.
So, rampers and day-traders, I'm afraid to say this isn't the company or its' 'forum' for you. There are plenty of more volatile shares and mugs that will welcome your attention. For the more astute and traditional investor you could do no better than stay committed to Glisten - the best is yet to come, just a little patience required, but we're backing a winner here which must rate amongst the very best of the AIM stock.

[a1zulu] 27/9/2003 00:41

Buy Buy soon will be £3. +

That my 15,500

[boadicea] 26/9/2003 17:09

ZULU - What 15,500? Are you sure you're on the right thread or bought the right share?

[martini] 26/9/2003 14:01

A1ZULU
Well your's hasn't shown yet but the a 50000 T has gone through which feels like a buy with this rise.
So how do you work out £3?

[hughlss] 26/9/2003 09:13

Glowing report in the Inv.Chron. today. It usually means the 'kiss of death' to most shares but as it's one that they've tipped from 98p, their 'buy' recommendation looks spot on. With a p/e of 12 there's no reason why it shouldn't rise 25% or more in the short term - it would still be inexpensive, IMO.
There's bound to be growing interest in this company, with (I believe) 75% of shares with institutions/directors. I won't be selling my shares for some considerable time.

[a1zulu] 25/9/2003 13:52

Acquisition news will be on Tuesday.

[cootuk] 23/9/2003 21:26

I guess the future depends on what acquisitions they can find.....and any company seeing the share chart of GLI will want top dollar.

[martini] 23/9/2003 10:25

Well I had a few of these at the 130p levels looking to sell on the results but liked what I saw and added more.
The chart is to die for.
Not my usual type of punt, with dreams of untold riches from some new wonder technology.
All that Glistens may well be gold here.

[slj] 23/9/2003 09:27

Sunday Express (21 Sept 03)
The outlook for Christmas appears promising for chocolate and sweets maker Glisten after annual results showed a 16% rise in pre-tax profits and sales up 9% to £15.6 million. Buy at 148.5p.

[slj] 17/9/2003 07:30

GLISTEN, the AIM-listed confectionery group floated last year at 80p, rose 4p to 146½p on filing full-year figures in line with forecasts. The Blackburn company, which plans to grow through acquisition, said the summer heatwave had briefly slowed demand for chocolate products, although this was offset by sales of sugar-based coatings to the ice-cream market.