Mbl Share Discussion Threads

[timesmoney] 09/2/2011 14:46

What happened to CBS?

[kimboy2] 09/2/2011 10:51

OutNow plans
All OutNow's plans are listed above.
They are the only company to offer 4 disc unlimited plans. If you're really a really serious movie buff you might want to take them up on that challenge. For just £19.99 a month you could have a different film to watch every day of the week. Now, that's a lot less money than you'd spend in HMV! Find out more.

Choice
With 65,000 titles they offer a wide range of DVDs and Blu-Rays to pick from. They also have 2,600 TV programme titles to pick from. Unlike Blockbuster, they have a section of their site dedicated to TV box sets. They also have a wide selection of documentaries and marshal arts films.
If you're interested in World Cinema it might be better to take a look at LOVEFiLM as OutNow don't cover this within their "genres" section. They also don't stock adult films but do have some more unusual categories like "health and fitness".

OutNow currently don't provide games rental but there are plans to introduce this over the coming months.

Service
In the early days there were some customer service issues caused by the Royal Mail. We're happy to say these have all been resolved and OutNow takes customer service very seriously. In fact, DVD turnaround is very fast with films usually being dispatched within one day. Also, they've added a free phone customer service number to their website - something that no other DVD rental provider does.

To keep DVDs flowing and make sure that you get new releases first, OutNow send out discs marked as a "new release" and remind you to watch this first. This helps to prompt customers to get them back into circulation.
OutNow have also recently introduced trailers onto their site to make it easier to browse films and get the right content onto your list. LOVEFiLM and Blockbuster also have trailers on their site so it's great to see OutNow following suit.

Customers wanting to save money can also take advantage of the partnership between OutNow and Lidl. Late last year OutNow partnered with Lidl to bring you Lidl Movies. It's the cheapest way to rent DVD's in the UK - see all Lidl plans

The service is provided through Lidl's website but is actually run by OutNow. You'll get the same choices of DVDs as you would at OutNow's website - the site has simply been re-branded as Lidl. We've tried it out and it's pretty good if you're on a tight budget. Find out more here

Delivery time
OutNow use first class mail and deliver discs within 24 hours of receiving one back. If you're wanting brand new releases you might have to wait a little longer. OutNow recommend that you add at least 10 titles to your list and mark the ones you want to watch first as high priority.

Website features
OutNow's site is easy to use and has recently had a re-design. You can now access hundreds of trailers and read film reviews.
There are less customer ratings than LOVEFiLM's site simply because OutNow is growing and doesn't have as many customers.

OutNow has a wide number of categories and is adding more all the time. it's actually easier to search than Blockbuster's site as it includes TV content as well as films.

[davidosh] 09/2/2011 10:00

RBCRBC and goonertone....Can you give me your current email addresses via the TMF link please ?

[charliebrown2000] 09/2/2011 07:28

CBS - can you tell us what's going on with GMV? When are we going to see digital downloads? What is really happening with the clients in the Middle East?

[miamisteve] 08/2/2011 19:42

jeffian - I never had much hopes with the best buy contract. Even if they were successful, how long would it have taken to have developed a significant presence in the UK? probably need 5 years and 50 stores just to afford TA's bonus, by which stage it would probably have doubled again anyway.

[jeffian] 08/2/2011 18:52

Jeff H,
Thanks for that. What I was really looking for was some idea of the impact on MBL's sales. It was hailed as a significant transaction but the fact that they haven't mentioned it at all since rather suggests it has been a disappointment for them as well as Best Buy.

cbsreality,
I'm with Kimboy. You appear to be trying to stir up something by implication which really isn't a big issue. The only criteria for obligatory RNS statements is whether or not the matter concerned is "price sensitive". Here is the rule.

"General disclosure of price sensitive information

11. An AIM company must issue notification without delay of any new developments which are not public knowledge concerning a change in:
♦ its financial condition;
♦ its sphere of activity;
♦ the performance of its business;
♦ or its expectation of its performance,
which, if made public, would be likely to lead to a substantial movement in the price of its AIM securities"

It seems unlikely that paying £100k for certain assets of a company in liquidation would have had any discernible effect on the share price and, therefore, that any RNS was required.

[davidosh] 08/2/2011 18:20

cbsreality.....maybe you could email me via the TMF link ? Not really interested in intrigue or scaremongering just true hard facts to research.

Just reply to this post...



You simply reply to that post by unchecking the reply to boards box and putting the tick in the reply via email box. You may need to register on the TMF site if you are not already a member. Ideally if you can tell me anything about why Paul Ludlam left the company without making it public on a forum like this. Also what are your thoughts about GMV and its potential ?

[kimboy2] 08/2/2011 18:10

Pleased to hear it.

What did they buy for 100k in July ?

[kimboy2] 08/2/2011 17:47

Here are the AIM rules



IMV it is unlikely to be aby requirement for them to report such a small transaction.

I have had a look at the James Allan companies and the allegations by boaf. I don't think that there is anything in them.

What else do you have of interest

[timesmoney] 08/2/2011 11:58

Guys
WH Smith, Best Buy, Sainsbury's and Bee are all side shows and however well or badly they may do will have little effect on the overall picture.
Fiddling while Rome burns springs to mind.
If Morrisons goes or continues on slimmer margins its game over. However there is nothing for shareholders to do until the news in March.
Shareholders can and should be seeking answers to questions raised recently on this BB and making moves to remind the board that they are supposed to be running a Public Company.
The Directors if they cannot be persuaded to repay some of the outrageous bonus payments,should at the very least undertake to recieve no bonus payments this year.
The Chairman should announce an investigation into some of the issues raised recently which include the relationship between companies owned by James Allan and MBL.

[jeff h] 08/2/2011 11:25

jeffian - here's a recent article on BestBuy:-

[jeffian] 08/2/2011 10:34

Nobody responded to my query before, but does anyone know what is going on with Best Buy? Best Buy seem to have problems of their own (3 key personnel leaving UK operation in past few months) and although this was hailed as a great deal with a major US retailer, it seems to have been a bit of a damp squib so far.

[rbcrbc] 08/2/2011 10:18

I thought WHS was the second largest customer ??

Although 22 extra stores would only be a 5% increase on the 448 we already supply.



The Board of MBL Group plc, the UK distributor of home entertainment products,
is pleased to announce that it has signed a new contract with WH Smith for the
supply of DVD and BluRay formats to its high street stores. WH Smith currently retails DVD and BluRay in 448 of these stores. The contract runs through to 2012.

[davidosh] 08/2/2011 10:10

I had an email promotion yesterday from Bee.com withsome very good deals and prices on new releases.

[kimboy2] 08/2/2011 10:04

I don't think they do much with WHS.

Incidentally Bee.com has overtaken Sainsburys entertainment online in the Alexa rankings, if that means anything at all.

[rbcrbc] 08/2/2011 09:16

WH Smith High Street confirms it has acquired 22 stores and intellectual property from British Bookshops and Stationers Limited (in administration) for a total cash consideration of £1.05 million. No stock has been purchased.

Hopefully they will all need stocking with DVD's !

[kimboy2] 05/2/2011 22:06

I would also expect that MRW is re-signed altho as everyone says at a lower margin (again I seem to recall that MRW have moved displays around and sales have dipped as a consequence - quite possibly this has been done to give them an upper hand in negotiations!)

I don't think that the MRW sales have dropped much. The main drop has been in other distribution sales which I presume were at much higher margin.

[toback] 05/2/2011 14:15

Possibly - certainly a lone wolf . . .

But am sure I have done crazier things and come out right.

[jonc] 05/2/2011 14:14

I bought in again at 55p after the profits warning - and have a bigger holding than the FD ;-) .



With the greatest respect To are you mad?

[toback] 05/2/2011 14:10

I have been pondering on this for some time and despite all the gloom, the lack of communication and the lack of any coherent explanation behind UExplore, I think there are reasons to think that the shares are relatively cheap now.

EPS at the interims was around 2.5p - I am not expecting a loss for the second half and I have not seen anyone on here suggest that yet! So I think we could see eps of 10p in the final results.

Looking forward I see some costs dropping out relating to setup costs and of course no bonuses!! (FWIW I reckon that they expected volumes to grow and were not prepared or on the ball when then started slipping - meaning that discretionary costs were not managed down soon enough - creating a double whammy in terms of a hit).

I would also expect that MRW is re-signed altho as everyone says at a lower margin (again I seem to recall that MRW have moved displays around and sales have dipped as a consequence - quite possibly this has been done to give them an upper hand in negotiations!)

Finally there should be some possibly limited upside from the new sites and businesses.

If all of this looks possible then I would expect the divi to be held as it will be covered by earnings and we have cash balances. Earnings could bounce to a worst case 15p (from my 10p).

So on that basis we are on 5x this year and a yield of 15% dropping to just over 3x a further year out.

Longer term the new businesses need to start doing the heavy lifting and costs need to be ground down (that way even with declining sales on the traditional business profits can move ahead).

I bought in again at 55p after the profits warning - and have a bigger holding than the FD ;-) .