Merrydown Share Discussion Threads

[gateside] 08/6/2004 18:46

Link below shows the new juice from Merrydown... plenty more growth to come in my opinion.

[gateside] 08/6/2004 17:48

From The Independent

Merrydown a hold after its recovery

There was nothing sour in Merrydown's numbers yesterday. The cider company has matured well since being rescued from the brink of bankruptcy six years ago, even if its name is somewhat misleading these days.

Almost three-quarters of its sales come from Shloer, the grape juice drink behind the group's renaissance. Yesterday it said sales of the adult soft drink soared by 30 per cent in the year to 31 March as it pushed the brand into posh squashes, cans and different flavours.

Nigel Freer, the chief executive who has masterminded the recovery, reckons the UK is his oyster, given that even the hardest Shloer drinker consumes just four bottles a year. He is also quietly optimistic about the cider market. While total cider sales rose 4 per cent to £6.37m last year, sales of its Merrydown Vintage soared by 10 per cent.

Pre-tax profits rose 26 per cent to £1.72m last year, while share buy-backs boosted its earnings per share by 33 per cent. The shares, up 0.5p to 94p, have frothed higher since we backed them last year and are worth hanging on to.

[one for the money] 07/6/2004 16:18

Yes, Good results and IMHO no real sign that they are priced in yet (and not a bad divi either)

Just bought a few more.

Cheers
john

[gateside] 07/6/2004 16:02

OK... An excellent set of results... but no-one interested? Amazed!!!

Will be interesting to see if any press comment alerts people to what an great set of results these are. I seem to recall that The Independent have taken a lot of interest in Merrydown before. Have added to my holding today ;-)

[gateside] 07/6/2004 15:59

LONDON (AFX) - Merrydown PLC full year to end March
Sales - 20.33 mln stg vs 16.89 mln
Pretax profit - 1.72 mln stg vs 1.37 mln
EPS - 5.51 pence vs 4.15
Div - 1.35 pence vs 1.05

[gateside] 07/6/2004 07:10

"Yet another year of strong and profitable growth"

Merrydown, which markets the Shloer adult soft drink and Merrydown cider brands,
today announces preliminary results for the year ended 31 March 2004.

Highlights

* Group turnover increased by 20% to #20.33m (2003: #16.89m*)
* Shloer turnover up 30% to #13.96m (2003: #10.75m*)
* Shloer further consolidated as the Number 1 Table Top Adult Soft Drink
* Merrydown Vintage turnover up 10%; overall cider turnover up 4% to
#6.37m (2003: #6.14m*)
* Profit before tax up 26% to #1.72m (2003: #1.37m)
* Basic EPS up 33% at 5.51p per share (2003: 4.15p)
* Dividend increased by 29% to 1.35p per share (2003: 1.05p)
* Net cash increased by 38% to #3.52m (2003: #2.55m) after share buybacks
costing #0.84m

* Turnover is restated following a change of accounting policy to include
volume-related trade expenditure within turnover, as explained in the
turnover note.

Nigel Freer, Merrydown's Chief Executive, commented:

"Shloer has made a good start to the current financial year despite the
emergence of a tougher retail environment. The strong position of our brands in
their respective markets is supported by continued marketing investment and the
underlying trends remain positive for both Shloer and Merrydown."

"The Board, therefore, looks forward to further growth and has every confidence
in building its brands over the current and future years."

[gateside] 04/6/2004 10:59

So supprised that there has not been much trading at all in the run up to results. It has not helped by the mm's widening the spread, clearly they have wanted to discourage trades until those results are out, although any buys this week have been coming in at over 1p under the offer.

Still as sure as I can be that the growth story is far from over, looking forward to those results on Monday ;-)

[gateside] 24/5/2004 13:14

Will be interesting to see if there is any buying (T10's maybe) in the run up to results in a fortnights time.

I Honestly believe that MYW is undervalued at the present price.

[gateside] 12/5/2004 22:40

Notice of Preliminary Results

The Board of Merrydown Plc announces that its preliminary results for the year
ended 31 March 2004 will be released on Monday 7 June 2004.

[gateside] 04/5/2004 15:40

Last year final results were on May 22nd, so not long to wait now ;-)

[gateside] 13/4/2004 09:50

Interesting to note that after there was no Trading update, the mm's widened the spread.

Reckon there will be low volume until we get some news.

Still very happy to hold.

[gateside] 22/3/2004 15:47

I see the bored are selling a few today... they will be sorry when we have the next trading update, in my opinion!

[gateside] 18/3/2004 09:24

Good to see that while duty went up on beer, no extra duty was added to cider.

[daza75] 05/3/2004 16:42

hi Gateside, just me and you on this one. Im not trading for a while just holding SGI big time and a few of these, FFY looking good again though.

[gateside] 05/3/2004 16:23

Seems to be strong support at the present price, those results are getting closer by the day.

I'm sure the directors made those big buys in December for a reason! ;-)

[souleillat] 18/2/2004 09:00

This has now broken the 100p resistance. Does anyone have a view of its potential?

[gateside] 17/2/2004 21:34

daza75... It's looking excellent

Looking forwards to those results in March ;-)

[daza75] 17/2/2004 14:23

STILL LOOKING GOOD, SLOW AND STEADY!!

[daza75] 12/2/2004 16:43

I believe todays rise has now confirmed the breakout of £1, im hoping for a slow ans steady rise up until the results.

[daza75] 11/2/2004 20:37

Hi Gateside, looking good today. Gonna pick up a few more tom am. Again holding for the medium term, sold some of my SGI today. With PRVD falling 8% in the last couple of days i thought i should take some profit and wait for the build to the reults for the rest.

[gateside] 10/2/2004 10:08

Offer now reached 100p.

If it does not make it through the £1 barrier this time, the results at the end of March will in my opinion ;-)

[gateside] 06/2/2004 16:25

Nearly all buys today, this has more chance of getting through 100p, if it ticks up slowly. A nice end to the week. ;-)

[gateside] 02/2/2004 09:47

Daza... 100p acted as a strong resistance last month, feel like its got a lot more strength this time.

Yes I have also bought into SGI

Good luck :-)