Paragon Entertainment Share Discussion Threads

[bearhug2] 29/10/2015 12:57

Wasnt there supposed to have been an update before the end of the Month? If so where is it.

[themadstork] 22/10/2015 15:25

Hahaha.

Looking strong today; would be great to see a recovery to pre-trading update levels before the quarterly update and any other news.

[pj 1] 22/10/2015 14:28

Lets hope the Chinese have not put their foot in it! :-//

[themadstork] 22/10/2015 10:52

Wall Street Journal confirming Hamleys takeover:

[pj 1] 21/10/2015 08:34

I wonder.....? Unsure if Merlin have their own supply chain or not.

ref to Legoland and Dreamworks as per Dubai Park?

21 October 2015
Merlin Entertainments and China Media Capital to set up a joint venture to develop a LEGOLAND
Park in Shanghai area and other attractions in China
Highlights
- Merlin Entertainments (‘Merlin’;) and China Media Capital (‘CMC’) announce the formation
of a partnership to explore opportunities to develop visitor attractions throughout China
- As part of the agreement Merlin and CMC plan to develop a LEGOLAND® Park in Shanghai
area as well as additional Midway attractions across China; including existing and new
brands
- Agreement will be announced in the presence of China’s President Xi and the Duke and
Duchess of Cambridge during the President’s State Visit to the UK
Merlin, a global leader in branded, location based family entertainment, and China Media Capital
(‘CMC’), a most prestigious name in China’s media and entertainment investment and operation,
today announce that they are forming a joint venture to create world-class visitor attractions in
China and to build on and expand Merlin’s existing location-based entertainment expertise and
brands.
The partnership will be proudly announced today in the presence of China’s President Xi Jinping and
the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, at a high-profile creative event at Lancaster House hosted by
UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) as part of the President’s State Visit. The event will feature different
industries and will be where world-leading companies announce new collaborations in film, TV,
entertainment and low-carbon technology in the presence of UK and Chinese dignitaries.
As part of the joint venture, Merlin and CMC plan to develop a LEGOLAND Park in the Shanghai area
and target the roll out of various Midway brands throughout China. The new Midway opportunities
to be explored by the joint venture will include both the adaption and localisation of existing and
proven Merlin brands, such as ‘The Dungeons’ and selected ‘LEGOLAND Discovery Centers’ for the
Chinese market as well as the development of new Midway brands and concepts including
‘DreamWorks Tours – Kung Fu Panda Adventures’ and others.
At present Merlin has five attractions in China (Madame Tussauds in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Beijing
and Wuhan, and Chang Feng Ocean World aquarium in Shanghai) and has announced plans for three
further attractions scheduled to open in the next 18 months – LEGOLAND Discovery Center
Shanghai, and a Madame Tussauds and SEA LIFE aquarium in Chongqing.
Nick Varney, Chief Executive of Merlin Entertainments, said: “We are delighted to announce that we
are forming a joint venture with CMC and are honoured to be able to make an announcement at
such an important event to showcase British creativity and celebrate China and UK collaboration.
China is a key growth market for the Group and we see this partnership as providing a significant
opportunity to accelerate our plans. We’re also very excited to be working with CMC on the
development and roll out of new brands. By working together in partnership we will be able to
combine our expertise in operating world-class attractions with CMC’s insight and expertise in the
Chinese market.”
CMC is a leading innovator in China’s location based entertainment market and creator of China’s
iconic urban entertainment and recreational complex – DreamCenter in Shanghai. CMC also owns
many prominent media and entertainment companies and product brands.
Ruigang Li, Chairman of CMC, said: “It’s a great honour to be supported by top leaders of both
nations in forging this strategic partnership with Merlin. CMC has a highly diversified portfolio of
entertainment content and platform. Through investing and operating across the whole spectrum of
the media and entertainment sector, CMC has accumulated unique experience in aligning
international know-how with local market needs. Through this partnership with Merlin, a global
operator, we will be committed to creating a premium experience as well as establishing a working
system in China for the development and operation of location based entertainment attractions that
meet international standards.”
ENDS
Merlin Entertainments plc
[phone]
Alistair Windybank, Investor Relations
Simon Whittington, Investor Relations
Brunswick Group
[phone]
Imran Jina
China Media Capital
Jiaming Wu
[e-mail]
About Merlin Entertainments plc
Merlin Entertainments plc is a leading name in location based, family entertainment. Europe’s
Number 1 and the world’s second-largest visitor attraction operator, Merlin now operates over 100
attractions, 12 hotels and 4 holiday villages in 23 countries and across 4 continents. The company
aims to deliver memorable experiences to its more than 60 million visitors worldwide, through its
iconic global and local brands, and the commitment and passion of its circa 26,000 employees.
About China Media Capital (‘CMC’)
Founded and chaired by Ruigang Li, CMC is one of the most prestigious names in media and
entertainment investment and operation in China and global markets. CMC has created and grown
many leading companies in media and entertainment, Internet and mobile, and life style sectors;
including film, television, music, sports, location based entertainment, financial media, financial data
service, smart TV, virtual reality technology and content, online-video, advertising, social network,
game, online-education, e-commerce, O2O etc.

file:///C:/Users/User/Downloads/Merlin%20China%20JV%2021%20October.pdf

[grantlfc] 19/10/2015 15:36

Nice rise today. Same again tomorrow.

[luckyphilip] 19/10/2015 14:18

followed your lead but I have done my research and am happy buying at this level.

[themadstork] 19/10/2015 14:11

Good buying, Philip. Hopefully it will pay off for you as PPG has done.

[luckyphilip] 19/10/2015 14:03

second tranche at 2.067 ; that's me for now

[luckyphilip] 19/10/2015 11:13

I decided to get a tranche at 2.08. Will probably fall back but it feels like hard work to buy at under 2.07

[grantlfc] 19/10/2015 11:11

Good volume today considering what's going on. Steady rise for rest of month hopefully.

[luckyphilip] 19/10/2015 10:46

buy order not triggered yet. Holding out for 2.05

[pj 1] 19/10/2015 10:29

Unsure of any direct opportunity for PEL here but some major competition from Nakheel for MAF in Dubai, reflecting the massive general opportunities over there.

"With its portfolio of developments, Nakheel looks on track to overtake rivals Emaar and Majid Al Futtaim and become the biggest shopping centre operator in the UAE as it switches focus to generate more recurring revenue."

[kinbasket] 19/10/2015 09:52

They put some new A's on the Q and A page on Friday.

hxxp://paragonent.com/questions.php?Y=2015&M=10

[grantlfc] 18/10/2015 21:30

I'm in Cnel as well but I think there could be big movement upwards there tomorrow. And sqz as you know is waiting news on Columbus so don't really want to sell that. My only dump tomorrow maybe Cnel. I'm hoping Cnel multibags this week.

[ashtree2] 18/10/2015 19:51

TMS..enjoyed the podcast and hope you picked a good one here.cheers ash

[themadstork] 18/10/2015 19:35

I am in both, as you know. PPG and PEL are the only two shares I will be holding long term and both for very good reasons.

Personally I also wouldn't sell either short term (obviously) because a)PPG has serious momentum behind it at present and b)PEL may have some exciting news coming up.

[grantlfc] 18/10/2015 19:13

TheMadStork. I'm assuming possible rally's from tomorrow, I might buy another £5k on open. Will have to sell some PPG though. Looks like faster returns here.

[themadstork] 18/10/2015 13:25

Hamleys takeover "within weeks".

[themadstork] 15/10/2015 19:10

Good to hear, mate. As I said, I strongly believe this is a great growth story and a bargain at this price.

Here's my post from Sunday:

PEL at this price represents an amazing opportunity. The company is in the strongest position it has ever been in terms of the order book, workforce and demand for its services, yet the market cap is near historic lows. This is exactly the time to be buying before the inevitable correction occurs.

1) Margins, profits and mcap.

Gross margins are roughly 25%; this is incredibly good for the sector. It means that every £1m over £8.3m revenue (this covers admin costs) brings £250k profit to the bottom line, or £2.5m on the mcap at a conservative 10x multiple. There was £15m confirmed order book through to end 2016 as of July this year, and this is bound to have increased since then, given the recent contract wins. I would personally expect 2016 revenue to be in the region of £12m This is based on the board's stated goal of 20% growth/year, with the target for 2015 having been £10m. Such a result would mean approx £1m net income. On a very conservative 10x multiple that is £10m mcap / 5.3p or £15m / 8p on a perfectly plausible 15x.
These figures are very conservative based solely on what has been already been announced. Clearly further large wins could alter the sums significantly.

2)Director confidence.

PEL had a historical deferred tax liablity from the acquisition of Paragon Creative in 2011. In July of this year, instead of letting the full sum fall on the company, which they would have been within their rights to do, the directors paid the lions share of the tax bill out of their own personal resources. That screams confidence. Also, the CEO, Mark Pryah, owns 11% of the company, and in total the directors own 20% of the shares. They definitely have skin in the game.

3) No dilution.

The board have historically been very reticent to dilute shareholders. There has only ever been one equity placing (in Oct 2013), and that was almost all taken up by directors and a single II. The cash position as of July was not good on the face of it, but the company is now profitable, HSBC has been fully supportive, Finncap say the company is generating cash, the auditors have signed it off as a going concern with no reference to external funding, and the latest RNS confirmed that there were no banking issues. There will therefore (IMO) be no equity dilution.

4) Greater communication.

One thing that has historically not been satisfactory is the level of communication from the board to shareholders, especially via RNS. The directors have now taken on board what I and many others have said, and are changing their policy going forward. (Here is the updated comms policy: I expect much greater efforts to spread the story in the near future. One example of this will be Mark Pyrah appearing on Sharepickers in the next few weeks. I'm told that he is expecting to have something specific and exciting to talk about within that timeframe.

5)Upcoming newsflow.

Near term newflow may include


-quarterly update for the 3rd quarter of 2015, inc contracts etc
-possible news on a major JV parternship, alluded to in the 2014 RNS Riddler posted below
-further info about the framework agreement with the major retailer mentioned in the latest RNS. ADVFN detective works speculates this may be Hamleys and that it may be *very* lucrative

I currently hold 4.8m shares (at 1.9 avg) and will at some point possibly cross the 3% barrier. I fully expect to be sitting on a substantial profit short term, and a potentially life-changing amount medium/long term.

[luckyphilip] 15/10/2015 18:32

on here after Madstorks interview. Will be doing some research. PPG has been fantastic for me so looking for something similar. I used to think the way to make money on AIM was with the likes of Fitbug but I now realise there has to be a serious prospect of profitability within a reasonable time scale...otherwise there is dilution after dilution after dilution. Look at PTV and MTV. Worst of the lot.

[themadstork] 13/10/2015 16:00

Podcast is here. PEL Chat starts about 18 min in, but you should listen to it all IMO!