Leeds Share Discussion Threads

[deswalker] 10/6/2008 14:50

Buyback. 50k at 18.25.

[arthur_lame_stocks] 07/6/2008 19:43

There's not much to go on in the results really, 1p a share earnings which is good, but I hope the finals go into a bit more detail. What about that 5.5 acres in Bradford? Is that now gone for good or is there still a chance that'll have some value? How is Hemmers actually doing?

[arthur_lame_stocks] 03/6/2008 23:40

I've just had a quick look at EET, it looks interesting. About £60m in assets for £20m. The gearing doesn't seem excessive. But what are they exactly? Can anybody help me? Some sort of fund of mortgage backed securities but what sort of risk?

I'd like to see PG's justification for investing Leeds's cash in punts like this, but I won't complain if it works out.

It's obvious though that this company belongs to two men and the rest of us can like it or lump it and sell out (to the Swedes) for a fraction of the value.

[jonak] 03/6/2008 20:57

June 2nd announcement ''.....a pretax profit of 361,000 million
pounds for the six months to end-March compared with 393,000 million pounds ...''

oh if only !

[tiredoldbroker] 03/6/2008 14:58

I have to say, I'm not thrilled at them possibly turning LDSG into another lame investment vehicle; I wanted the cash paid out. I don't see cashmere companies as suitable stock market businesses - it's either boom or bust, depending on whether or not cashmere is in fashion in the couture house collections, and depending on the supply situation (how the goat-combing is going). I don't want to have to check the fashion pages and the goat-harvesting, on top of everything else I do; and I'm appalled at them taking a piddling stake in EET, which makes no sense in terms of synergy or experience, or for forcing EET to release value, if there is any.

Dawson's businesses just don't attract me; Dorma loses money, is a business risk, and needs to be got rid of; Todd & Duncan is the world's biggest cashmere yarn spinner, but can't turn a regular decent profit; and the Barrie and Forte cashmere garment businesses need a home in a much bigger clothing company, where they have protection against cyclical swings in fashion.

The best thing that can happen here is forcing a dismemberment of Dawson without staking any more of LDSG's cash, or the sale onwards of the stake without too much delay. I don't think these moves are in the best interests of the individual shareholders of LDSG.

[the diviner] 02/6/2008 21:17

I do not know what to make of this news.

I do know that I would have preferred that they have given our money back to us in the form of dividends. (That would have driven the share price north and would have given us an outer).

Buying stuff is always full of extra risks that many of us may have preferred not to have taken.

[deswalker] 02/6/2008 07:29

Results look good to me. We've invested in the European mortgage market too with £276k spent on one million shares of EET ...

There's an EET thread here ...

[deswalker] 24/5/2008 11:35

I don't see it as terrible news.

As has been clear with this share for a long time, there is more to the share price than purely the underlying fundamentals. These have looked good for a long time but the market has never been interested for a couple of reasons (Hemmers very small and based in Germany whilst LDSG listed in London & the uncertainty over the intentions of the major shareholders). To my mind this acquisition has eased both of these fears somewhat whilst simultaneously acquiring a stake in a possible multibagger.

Leeds Group is a group once more with interests in this country and elsewhere. This shouldn't be underestimated when looking for share price appreciation. Also, I see this acquisition as making a cheap management buyout much less likely. Still a possibility but not so great IMO.

Once it became clear a year or so back that they weren't willing to distribute the cash to all shareholders, it became imperative to me that they got a move on and used it for other purposes. They have done this with the Hemmers expansion and the DWSN purchase. If they hadn't but had kept buying back shares I would have delighted in the increased NTAV per share but would have worried about the ever increasing proportion of voting rights held by management and the likelihood of a buyout. The market would have worried too and we would have remained in limbo, this being the reason that the shares have not traded closer to NAV in the first place.

But now I see less reason to be concerned about the possibility of a buyout. Hopefully others will feel similarly and the share price will rise closer to NAV.

[cg1953] 24/5/2008 11:08

its the kiss of death for both companies.
using ldsg cash, our cash, because they now have none of there own !!!
what do they know that the potential chinese investor didnt know ? less, thats what.
maybe they are going to try and do a bit of greenmail, like camellia did to them with british mohair spinners !!!! lol.lol. yea, and i am warren buffett !!! lol.
this is terrible news.

[poacher45] 24/5/2008 08:38

Perhaps it might give them access to special deals on fabrics for europe.

[jonak] 24/5/2008 03:04

It won't kill LDSG - its a million pounds of cash; it will reduce the net asset value; But they've bought 30 million pounds worth of turnover in a similar but non-overlapping business for the million. Doesn't sound like a bad deal.....

[arthur_lame_stocks] 22/5/2008 15:15

I can't make my mind up.

DWSN is basically a pension fund with a Cashmere company attached. It's still up for sale if I remember correctly and there was some interest from China where a lot of their products are sourced from. Doesn't Peter Gyllenhammar already own a big chunk of the UK's Cashmere industry?

On the plus side DWSN recently announced that their pension fund deficit had fallen a lot which is going to make the balance sheet look pretty good, but probably won't alter the fact that they need to fund it to the tune of a few million quid a year. DWSN would probably have been better off never buying Dorma which has done nothing but lose money, they bought it from their then major shareholder GPG so you can bet they were only looking after their own interests.

I think the DWSN investment is a big all or nothing punt. If it goes broke it won't kill LDSG but if it works out it could be an absolute steal. I wouldn't bet on it working out though.

Just a few thoughts.

[stewjames] 22/5/2008 14:58

Urgh. I really hate this kind of deal with interlinked boards or interests - far too much chance for corruption.

[langland] 22/5/2008 13:25

You must be right. I am not sure about a bargain tho'! Maybe they think they can distribute Dorma products thro Hemmers.

[deswalker] 22/5/2008 12:07

Clearly they've been bought from TAVR. See DWSN RNS dated 12/5/08. Is this part of TAVR's winding up in which case LDSG may have got a bargain.

[deswalker] 22/5/2008 11:58

Gulp. They've bought 28.76% of DWSN. Arthur, what think you ? Not one of your faves I seem to recall ...

[arthur_lame_stocks] 15/5/2008 18:01

It's only 6 or 7 weeks after the end of the period, it's not that big a delay, why not contact them if you're that worried. It may be that these accounts are a bit more complicated due to the expansion. Hopefully they'll show an increase in turnover and underlying profit, although that may be masked by the costs of expansion.

[jonak] 15/5/2008 15:53

its pretty consistent with past reporting, they eventually get round to it.

[clangor2] 13/5/2008 08:35

Announcement made on the 10th last year so we're three days late already - not usually an indicator for the release of blindingly-good news !

[hugepants] 11/5/2008 20:20

Results this week?