Paragon Entertainment Share Discussion Threads

[tomboyb] 02/7/2018 14:27

"I suspect short term there is much relief that Results were published before suspension."

Agreed -

[phowdo] 02/7/2018 14:21

Perhaps some director buys followed by some bottom fishers?

[fft] 02/7/2018 14:12

Has a brokers note come out, or is this just a dead cat bounce ? Some very enthusiastic trading.

[pj 1] 02/7/2018 10:44

The Debtor position (and current asset) raises immediate concerns with the slow start to 2018 compounding the problem, but some reassurance as I assume, rightly or wrongly, that the overdraft facility has been raised and the Banks support is a recent commitment. If correct that would support the bullish outlook comments from the CEO and Chairman. I would think though that there is still some very hard work to do financially over the next couple of months. I'm guessing there must internally still be pressure to reduce or at least control, as is, all costs. It is a little unclear as to if the 'challenging' contracts how now been cleared or if they may encroach into the start of H2. A big plus though is the repeat mention of ''Products'' which I believe could lead to repeat orders and improved margins.(plus reducing Risk per project). The improved (record high)order book is also an indication the Sales team are performing and hopefully filling any internal surplus capacity.


Other than that my own view is that we (it almost feels perverse to say) need HY Results asap, so hopefully a line can be drawn from which the Company can move on from, and the bullish comments can be put into more perspective.


I suspect short term there is much relief that Results were published before suspension.

[stiffybristol] 02/7/2018 10:18

If I had £50K atm I would buy at this level.

Fundamentally i still love what this company does.

[1savvyinvestor] 02/7/2018 08:41

Looks like a few bottom fishers!! Not convinced anyone will buy seriously though until we get clarity on the supposed better future!!

[stiffybristol] 30/6/2018 13:38

The problem with any business is you often do not know when your next booking or sale is going to be. You can be the best but if no one requires what you do at that moment in time you have workers doing little. Paragon's work is naturally bespoke, maybe they could make things that can be sold off the shelf so when work is quiet they can at least do something that may add value later.

The reverse is also true and you can be too busy, obviously better.

Paragon directors can only tell the truth and clearly the period from Oct 1st till fairly recently was pretty bleak, they are only going to issue news they have too, especially if the news is not good, it was obvious to me 2017 was not the problem it was the current trading situation, this forum more than helped to chase the share price down, in real terms not many have really been traded sub 3p.

When you value companies one way is PE obviously based on profits and a multiple another is 1x the turnover.

The obvious problem was the FD going and the background reasons, that may be difficult to discuss publicly. Staff can always be a problem for any business and KEY staff amplify the problem when you lose them, you could liken it to a football team getting a man sent off and the rest have to do some jobs they are not so good at or they are not doing the job they were very good at.

Would be interesting to see who buys from this price now.

[my retirement fund] 29/6/2018 18:15

Spivs here !

[1savvyinvestor] 29/6/2018 17:18

But can we believe them!! Personally I like the directors but we have been let down . Indeed sounds like employees feeling the pain too so they might come out leaner and tougher ! I will take this moment to say good luck to shareholders and to paragon employees . We all deserve better going forward !

[stiffybristol] 29/6/2018 17:01

Well that's good news as far as I am concerned, they actually made 100k more EBITA in 2017. Have survived the bad start to 2018 and now have a record order book. They have re-iterated the £20M 2020 turnover.

I was expecting a suspension and clarification of their financial position with a possible fundraise or a delisting.

I agree they need some help with their communications.

[playful] 29/6/2018 15:27

I have no idea but got the impression the previous FD had a lot of questions to answer.

[dirtyn] 29/6/2018 15:24

Q&A - 2017 Annual Results
29 June 2018

Q: Why has it taken so long to get the 2017 Report & Accounts out?

A: 2017 was a difficult year, as is more fully explained in the final statement, in addition to which this was only the second year with new auditors. These factors, in combination with our strong desire to achieve a clean audit report meant that that these statements took longer to produce. Time has been taken with our auditors and our bank to ensure that the audit report was unqualified, which has been successfully achieved. The “emphasis of matter” language you will see in the 2017 accounts does not amount to an audit qualification and merely serves, at the behest of our auditors, to draw your attention to the fact of the obvious importance of cashflow going forward in terms of sustaining the day to day needs of the Group.

In the current environment (post well publicized cases such as Carillion), auditors are taking a more cautious approach to their work to satisfy themselves as to the soundness of any business. As a contracting company, this focus has been emphasized by the auditors during the course of their work this year with Paragon. The “emphasis of matter” language used by the auditors in their report is prescribed by auditing standards, however, we stress that this does not amount to an audit qualification and in no way impacts on their clean audit report or on their view of the Directors’ assessment on going concern.

As the Directors point out in the 2017 annual report, we have the ongoing support of our bank, HSBC, who have recently extended our facilities and we have the largest order book we have ever had with a good spread across UK and international work, and balance between short term and longer term projects.

As ever we remain vigilant as to cashflow and liquidity (the lifeblood of any business) and look forward to the future with more confidence than we ended 2017, and in anticipation of being in a position to announce more about our new business wins in due course.

...and we have the largest order book we have ever had with a good spread across UK and international work, and balance between short term and longer term projects.

We thank you for your interest and continued support.

[1savvyinvestor] 29/6/2018 15:14

Did you get any indication of why John Dobson was prepared to pay 2.5p for shares only a few months ago?

[playful] 29/6/2018 14:55

I am confident they will engage the services of someone that will help them in suchlike going forward.

The AGM is August this year so I’ll probably attend and ask the directors to accept a salary reduction until they deliver on what’s in the pipeline.

[1savvyinvestor] 29/6/2018 14:45

I'm astonished by how unprofessional they are being with accounting. One very simple rule when you have bad news. Get ALL the bad news out in one release. What this RNS does is leave us with uncertainty. Why should we believe them going forward? I would like to. They seem decent people but they desperately need a head of finance who understands PR as well as accounting. At the moment both are done shockingly badly.

[phowdo] 29/6/2018 13:09

"Sales and margin weakness in H2 2017 continued into 2018, and Paragon's first half of 2018 is forecast to end in a significant loss with a substantial recovery in the second half due to a notable acceleration in contracted work."

So flat at best for 2018?
I would suggest things may not be as rosy in the 2nd half as they paint them. And if things go pear-shaped again, shareholders will be last to find out. Again.

[1savvyinvestor] 29/6/2018 13:07

at least they have got them out. Bad news pretty much priced in and a realisation (finally) that real profit is important. I'm not going to sell. Under water anyway and I reckon at some stage over next 12 months these will be back up to 2p. In the cold light of day that is a 100% lift from where we are now and is achievable.

[playful] 29/6/2018 13:02

fft, they were still checking things when I was there.

To their credit they didn’t know I would suddenly show up and they treated me very well and felt the CEO was open and honest with me. The delay was partly due to factors outside their control, but nevertheless it should have been handled better.

[playful] 29/6/2018 12:57

I agree it’s not very professional and told them as much.

They know they have made mistakes with a full explanation going on the Q&A forum today.

I told them years ago who should have been appointed to avoid such things and repeated this request today.

[phowdo] 29/6/2018 12:52

They should delist. This is no way to run a listed business.

[fft] 29/6/2018 12:41

Playful,Did they give you any reason why results didn't come out earlier ? Even at 7am this morning...

[hallowed be thy name] 29/6/2018 12:30

A truly astounding disgrace with how to treat Investors who have believed the Directors. It sure makes you question their agenda, it's almost as if they want the share price to be as low as possible. any large Director buys assuming Results ever do come out would raise serious concerns.

[playful] 29/6/2018 12:18

I was with them this morning and they are publishing the accounts today.

[1savvyinvestor] 29/6/2018 10:55

still no results. 4.29?