Marston's Share Discussion Threads

[wigwammer] 16/3/2020 14:56

Surely the Bank of England liquidity measures are there to help businesses like Marstons get through the next few months.They borrow the money and pay it back later, through a banking system that is being encouraged by he powers above to help them.We don't know everything there is to know about CV, but we can have a reasonable stab that pubs will be reopening in 3-4 months time.

[diku] 16/3/2020 14:26

Costs of deep steam cleaning...

[m_kerr] 16/3/2020 14:23

dinvestor - 'The only relief that is now available is the rates not having to be paid for a while due to being hospitality industry.' only applies to properties with rateable value under £50k. i just looked at the 4 Marston's pubs near me (south wales), and two would qualify, two wouldn't. Marston's has been moving towards higher value properties and selling off the smaller pubs in the midlands and so on (and that would qualify for business rates relief)..

[diku] 16/3/2020 14:12

It is never ever ever never CEO fault...hence they never ever get sacked...instead they step down with a golden goodbye...that is how it is set up...one way street...

[meijiman] 16/3/2020 14:04

Not qualified....

[fenners66] 16/3/2020 13:23

Switch to entertainments officer then ?

[meijiman] 16/3/2020 12:58

The strategic mistakes that the clown running this company has made, make him unfit for the ceo role.

[dinvester] 16/3/2020 12:36

The problem of paying interest from cash generation is that you need to actually generate cash.
Its looking increasingly likely that cash will stop in the next couple of weeks.
Secondly, the value of the property portfolio may very well drop through the floor.
The only relief that is now available is the rates not having to be paid for a while due to being hospitality industry.

[jeffian] 16/3/2020 11:08

"I'm sure the cash generation is sufficient to pay the tiny bit of interest there is on ~£1.5bn"

Well not that tiny! Remember, MARS do not benefit from current low interest rates as most of their debt is long-term mortgage-style finance at fixed rates of interest and the overall debt is 'managed' by SWAPS. I think the total 'blended' rate is in the region of 6-7%. As you will see from their last accounts, 'underlying' interest costs run at about £78m, but they were £126.5m after SWAPS.......vs an Operating profit of £106m!

Having said that, I agree that the reaction is over done (in the whole market) and a buying opportunity. Remember EiGroup (Enterprise Inns) went down to 25p on the same fears a few years ago. I am just banking 285p following a takeover.

[fenners66] 16/3/2020 10:34

"When the panic goes"

By then the debt holders may already own the company.
Then when things improve they dress it up and sell it back to the market at a massive profit and get their money back and some.....

Only ones to lose - shareholders....

[iaincc] 16/3/2020 10:27

Given the mass of available funds, it seems unlikely that a big employer like Marstons will get sacrificed.

I'm sure the cash generation is sufficient to pay the tiny bit of interest there is on ~£1.5bn

When the panic goes this will be seen as the buying op. of the century !

[diku] 16/3/2020 09:47

Most insiders don't have ideas of their own...they seek from advisors, consultants, investment banks etc etc to which they get paid for their services ...insider just endorse it...if it all goes pear shaped they will say the decision was made based on expert opinion...

[skinny] 16/3/2020 09:40

CC2014 13 Mar '20 - 16:09 - 3398 of 3405
0 0 0
I can't quite believe 50p is on the horizon

CC Oh for 50p now!

[redartbmud] 16/3/2020 09:28

The problem here is not only the debt, but the amount of debt securitized on the assets. If the value of those assets falls substantially they have a very real problem.

The management has been in denial over debt for far too long, despite warnings from PI's at the last 5 or 6 AGM's. - Management knew best!!!

[diku] 16/3/2020 09:23

Insiders own the company so they call the shots...wider shareholders are just a side kick...a bit like the extras in a film...

[mister md] 16/3/2020 08:49

shareprice seems irrelevant on some shares now (like MARS). It seems to have turned into a BUST vs NOT BUST binary type situation

[dinvester] 16/3/2020 08:42

0.20p Wednesday.
Towel thrown in Friday!

Borrow borrow spend spend, pay stupid high Director wages, defend s*x assault manager, treat staff like sh*t, treat investors with total disregard.
All coming back to haunt.

[robizm] 15/3/2020 18:26

All pubs in Ireland to shut for two weeks. When will that happen in uk and what price Marstons.

[yf23_1] 14/3/2020 21:02

-60%, what a dog !

I don't suppose the overpaid bozos at the top care much, owning less than 0.4% of the company.

---------------------------------------Amount Holding %

Mr. Ralph Graham Findlay 1,290,475 0.195
Mr. Andrew Andonis Andrea 332,773 0.050
Mr. Neil Geoffrey Goulden 268,000 0.041
Mr. Peter Dalzell - 171,531 0.026
Mr. Robin Rowland - 152,219 0.023

Findlay has been CEO since 2001.

[mister md] 13/3/2020 19:18

I like their beer brands. Perhaps not the wisest reason to buy their shares, in hindsight.

[cc2014] 13/3/2020 16:09

I can't quite believe 50p is on the horizon

[gisjob2] 12/3/2020 09:22

Another company up to it's neck in debt with no provision for a downturn. Italy have closed all but pharmacy and food retailers due to corona virus, if any restriction on social gatherings happens here MARS is F#€ked. Even self imposed isolation will hit earnings and make debt reduction impossible. Who would want to buy this now when they could pick it up for a song when it goes down the Kermit!

[fenners66] 11/3/2020 22:50

janekane
11 Mar '20 - 18:04 - 3392 of 3394
"creditors will call in the receiver"

A few years ago that idea would have been a catastrophe.
However events over the past year - Debenhams etc.... mean that it can happen without the attached problems for the staff.

Holding equity becomes the yoke when the debt holders become the ones calling the shots.

May be the debt holders preferred route would be to take advantage and take the business for a song.

[essentialinvestor] 11/3/2020 21:10

There was a 12 month timeframe around 2015/16, with the share price over £1.50,
where a placing to reduce debt was possible imv. That could have been
accompanied by a dividend cut, there would also have been some equity dilution.

Instead MARS did the opposite, ploughed cash in to expansionary CAPEX, kept the payout and continually reiterated how great business metrics were on their new builds.

If you are an optimist, the chance of a bid at some point?.