Patisserie Share Discussion Threads

[cockneytrader] 11/10/2018 13:44

Capitalism is built on the very foundation of trust, and its starting to unravel. Heads must roll, and lessons learned.

[wwepe] 11/10/2018 13:43

May and Marsh both dumped a lot of stock in Feb and March of this year - worth millions of £. Perhaps they knew? Mere speculation of course

[tomboyb] 11/10/2018 13:40

No research or numbers will prepare you for something like -

So clearly very very tough on shareholders who have been completely conned -

[volsung] 11/10/2018 13:39

I'm sorry for the workers

[cockneytrader] 11/10/2018 13:37

Sorry guys, it really does look like game over for shareholders.

[tomboyb] 11/10/2018 13:34

I hope they can get something out of this however it does look v difficult -

11 October 2018

Patisserie Holdings plc

Further trading update

Patisserie Holdings plc (AIM: CAKE) ("PH", the "Company" and together with its subsidiary undertakings, the "Group") announces that the Company, in conjunction with its professional advisers, has during the last twenty-four hours, undertaken further investigation into the financial status of the Company. The Board has now reached the conclusion that there is a material shortfall between the reported financial status and the current financial status of the business.

Without an immediate injection of capital, the Directors are of the view that that is no scope for the business to continue trading in its current form.

As a consequence, the Directors and the Company's professional advisers are assessing all options available to the business to keep it trading and will update the market in due course.

[hvs] 11/10/2018 11:15

Looks like the cake never ROSE it was all mirrors . Grant Thorton did a very very good job here and off course the IDIOT FD

[danny baker] 11/10/2018 11:11

In the last six months coffee has fallen from 130 to under 100 before recovering to about 110 this month. Cocoa has fallen from 2,800 to under 2,000 at one point. It would have been very easy for someone 'hedging' by going long on these commodities around the end of May then 'averaging down' as the prices fell to lose an absolute fortune. Margin calls would soon soak up a lot of cash and typically positions are closed at the very worst point. Just a hypothesis and it will be good to hear a further update tomorrow.

[hvs] 11/10/2018 11:06

These so called Financial Directors have become magicians. Look at Carillion.

The Accountacy profession is a disgrace.

[jotoha2] 11/10/2018 10:36

It's not the price of coffee , it only dropped 10% and is now nearly back to aug levels , lower commodity price improves margins , retailers have held a cup around £2.95 for the last 2 years , I gather we will hear something tomorrow !

[danny baker] 11/10/2018 10:25

We are very early in the unfolding of what has happened. The board are probably shell-shocked at the company running out of cash suddenly despite the company continuing to operate in the same way which had produced profits and cash for years previously. Something has gone awry in the last 3-6 months outside of normal trading. I find it too strong a coincidence that the Stonebeach accounts highlight commodity prices as an area of risk, cocoa and coffee prices have slumped in the last 6 months contrary to general expectations and suddenly £20 million in cash is missing.

Of course I may be completely wrong with my hypothesis. If the FD is mentally fit to withstand questioning he should have all the answers the board need for the next RNS. The good news if I am right is that the underlying business remains sound.

[jotoha2] 11/10/2018 10:25

Lots not right with this company , if we are to belief their accounts then they have one of the best margins in this sector , 30% better than Costa , so dodgy accounting certainly a possibility.

[catsick] 11/10/2018 10:17

Interesting situation Im not involved but might have a dabble if the shares reopen a lot lower and its just a case of cash being stolen, if the profits are misstated then all bets are off, they have been showing some of the best ebitda margins in the business so there is a lot of scope for fraud, I dont think sales will have been misstated as that would require huge amounts of extra vat to be paid which would make no sense, I think Luke is a decent bloke but he himself has been scammed with false accounts when he bought into red hot buffets who then went bust . All going to be interesting and I think the best case for shareholders is cash has been stolen and shares reopening at 200 after luke stumps up a loan to pay hrmc ...

[smokybenchod] 11/10/2018 10:01

@Harold let’s wait and see if LJ is bothered. It all depends on if this is actually a profitable business, if not I’m sure he will walk away. I personally am not holding my breath, hence why I decided to write this off as a loss this morning.

[jonc] 11/10/2018 10:01

What do you fancy off the menu hvs?

The Share Club Melt or the Smoked Accounts Salmon?

Hope you were not caught up in this.

jc

[hpcg] 11/10/2018 09:59

Hedging isn't gambling so long as it is treated like insurance. With insurance you spend money in the hope of not needing it and accept it as a cost. So cheap out of the money hedges against a core commodity making a sharp move can make sense. It makes no sense for a cake shop because they can put prices up tomorrow, as can / will competitors. Anyway, let's not go too far down this rabbit hole as we have no reason to believe hedging was some way involved.

[hvs] 11/10/2018 09:56

lol !!!!!

lol !!!!!

The size of Rowntree and our dead CAKE maker you does get them.

[haroldthegreat] 11/10/2018 09:55

If that was the cause of the loss surely they would have stated it in the rns.

[pugugly] 11/10/2018 09:54

DB Good point - I seem to remember that Rowntree went bust ofver an unauthorised chocolate hedge and so another iconic English coy had to be rescued (scalped/stolen/lost to Britain) by the Swiss.

[haroldthegreat] 11/10/2018 09:51

Hedging is gambling just like buying aim shares !

[rackerrs1] 11/10/2018 09:50

blame rees4