Patisserie Share Discussion Threads

[hpcg] 24/10/2018 13:02

Very good coverage in Private Eye. The key point for me is that the CFO was also the company secretary. Given that a CFO position gives one control of the books, and the secretary gives one control of official correspondence with banks and the authorities I think it is worth being suspicious of every listed company where they are one and the same person.

[bbmsionlypostafter] 24/10/2018 09:57

Wednesday 24 October 2018 9:08am

Patisserie Valerie survives HMRC’s winding up petition as it looks into share option accounting irregularities

[diku] 23/10/2018 22:36

It is all in the name...AIM = Am I Mug!!!...




eptimus Quaid
23 Oct '18 - 10:55 - 2082 of 2093
0   3  0

I sometimes wonder if the whole point of AIM is to recycle little people's cash into (already) wealthy individuals

[lefrene] 23/10/2018 12:53

The enquiry should make interesting reading, who was it that took out that £10 million of overdrafts? Whoever it was knew the true state of things, but was he trying to cover for himself or acting upon someone else's behalf? I suspect that Mr Johnsons reputation will suffer whatever is revealed, either he was in cahoots, or he was asleep at the wheel. He has plenty of money elsewhere, he can afford to retire in great comfort to wherever he chooses.

[thegreatgeraldo] 23/10/2018 12:39

Very good..... I imagine all will be a lot clearer next week after the meeting.

[lefrene] 23/10/2018 12:32

thegreatgeraldo, I have seen something similar about 20 years ago when I owned and operated a business with circa 250 employee's. Some industries become quite small worlds with most of the players known to the other participants, and certain individual personalities become known for their egotistical excesses. I knew of an individual in his late 50's having made enough to retire comfortably on, then went out of his way to destroy a senior person in a major transport company by entraping him in a 'ghost' workers scam. I believe there was a score to settle going back many years. The chap that I knew was giving up business, he just wanted to ruin the other mans career and retirement. He succeeded in making a thorough job of it, and by chance, (I was not party to the trap in anyway at all), I stepped in to supply staff in the aftermath.

[lefrene] 23/10/2018 12:20

If it was a scam, the only thing that makes sense was that the business was being bigged up in the hope of selling it on to another operator. I wonder if an inquiry would reveal if there were attempts being made to find a buyer? If it wasn't a scam then Johnson should lose all those lucrative directorships as plainly he cannot be relied upon to run a cake stand.

I doubt the regular users of the outlets will be much bothered just so long as the product and prices remain what they have become accustomed to, although they might see the faces behind the counter changing.

[thegreatgeraldo] 23/10/2018 12:20

efrene
23 Oct '18 - 11:04 - 2083 of 2088
0 0 0
A fair point, but this time the CEO seems to have lost out big time too. I can't help wondering if Mr Johnson had upset his erstwhile business colleagues and this was their way of putting him in his place?

...Are you serious? His fellow directors have ruined their reputations & damaged their own financial wealth to get at Johnson? Is that what you're suggesting?

[sikhthetech] 23/10/2018 12:02

good timing.. who has lost the most???
I think there needs to be a clearout of current BoD???


Forget Luke Johnson: the biggest loser in the Patisserie Valerie fallout is the brand itself

How will the bakery chain restore its reputation?

[sikhthetech] 23/10/2018 12:00

There should always be an independent investigation.

[lefrene] 23/10/2018 11:55

Hasn't he just seen his 37% holding crash from circa 425p to 50p or less? He may well have been 'larging' it on options and bonuses et al, but surely he has lost far more in this wipe out? Plus of course a reputation in tatters, who will want to back him in other ventures when he can't keep an eye on a simple coffee and cake operation?

[phowdo] 23/10/2018 11:45

How has the CEO "lost out big time"?
Looks like he has made many millions by not being very good at his job.

[lefrene] 23/10/2018 11:04

A fair point, but this time the CEO seems to have lost out big time too. I can't help wondering if Mr Johnson had upset his erstwhile business colleagues and this was their way of putting him in his place?

[septimus quaid] 23/10/2018 10:55

I sometimes wonder if the whole point of AIM is to recycle little people's cash into (already) wealthy individuals

[bbmsionlypostafter] 23/10/2018 10:16

Patisserie Valerie share options — so good they sold them twice?

Chief and CFO had second helpings of shares despite no explanation from chain
Matthew Vincent

Patisserie Valerie’s cakes, mini vegetable quiches, and hazelnut lattes are, according to online reviewers, extremely “moreish”. And so, too, it seems are its share options — to judge by the appetites of chief executive Paul May and suspended finance director Chris Marsh. Both appeared to tuck in to second helpings.........

[ntv] 23/10/2018 07:50

that is a bit late to stop the paper shredding and disappearing emails ;-)
oh lost paperwork and software problems always help !!

[ntv] 23/10/2018 07:48

Leading investors in Patisserie Valerie want Luke Johnson, chairman of the troubled café chain, to give up control of an internal investigation into a £40 million hole in its accounts over concerns that the review is not sufficiently independent.

Invesco, a top ten shareholder in the Aim-listed company, has told Mr Johnson and the board of Patisserie Holdings, the parent company, to hand over the investigation to a law firm or an independent investigation firm during talks last week, according to people familiar with the matter.

[johnwise] 22/10/2018 13:08

Called in at 11am for the Valerie experience, shop three quarters full and the retail cake counter busy

[kemche] 22/10/2018 09:44

Delicious and withering.

[blusteradjuster] 22/10/2018 09:38

Didn’t realise froth was still active.

[bbmsionlypostafter] 22/10/2018 09:17

Private Eye 1481
19.10.2018.

[savagedstock] 22/10/2018 09:14

Pugugly

there is cash and net cash....what you want to look at is net cash i.e positive cash balance after all liabilities are paid off (so a positive working capital cycle).

Cash is an accounting item that is fairly meaningless in an operational sense.

TLY - NO net cash ...its all net liabilities, so professional investors would never discuss how much cash they have on the balance sheet. It is a meaningless number, usually used by people to draw attention away from the underlying business / problem. My own view is that it will take at least 18 months to turn Vocare around, but how much new equity investment will that require? Alternatively you can securities the contracts with working capital loans, but that will eat into margins. In the meantime there are a lot of II itching for the exit....

CAKE - they claimed to have NET CASH - which is why the issue is fraud. Unstated / hidden liabilities etc. This is why i think the fraud issue will take sometime to resolve and I am unclear as to whether it can re-quote with the existing management team. Ignorance is no defence, and with the modern epos and integrated management info software, they could and SHOULD have known exactly what was going on.....

The most important thing to understand in any business is the working capital cycle.

[sikhthetech] 21/10/2018 18:16

After Patisserie Valerie bosses sell £13m shares months before scandal, why didn't ANYONE in charge see their cakes were sinking?