Powerleague Share Discussion Threads

[wjccghcc] 28/11/2007 21:23

Just to clarify:

1) The debt is linked to the BOE base rate, not LIBOR. "In May 2007, we refinanced our existing term loan, development loans and overdraft into one 5-year term loan of #17.6m, which bears interest at 1% over Bank of England base rate ('base rate'), a reduction from the previous margin of 1.15%."

2) I think they're valued on PE basis for earnings not NAV as a property company. Based on recently upgraded forecasts, current year PE is 18.5 dropping to 15 next year.

3) Agree with you on this one.

Actually with five openings this year vs 0 last year, the rate of growth should increase. Personally , if you believe in the sector, they seem better value than GOAL which trades on a current PE of 32 dropping to 25 next year even though GOAL's LFL growth is a bit better.

[farmers son] 28/11/2007 14:25

I can think of 3 factors:
1) Debt on balance sheet (not sure if this is at floating rate, which will reset at higher level if linked to Libor)
2) Assets tied up in (commercial) property, which is very unlikely to appreciate significantly in the near future.
3) Short-termism. England out of Euro 2008 will knock sponsorship/advertising revenue over the next 6-8 months, although the inability of the pros is unlikely to affect pitch revenues in my view.

These concerns are probably just enough to warrant a reassessment of profit margins in what is a fairly slow growth model anyway.

[shauney2] 28/11/2007 13:47

Look a good buy to me at these prices or have i missed something?

[graniteboy] 22/10/2007 08:38

.........£1.30 is not nearly eough. £1.60 more the ticket.

[serious] 22/10/2007 08:18

from the GUARDIAN



Traders are hearing that Powerleague, the five-a-side football operator, has started talks with a suitor about a 130p-a-share cash offer which would value the firm at just over £100m. The Aim-quoted company, which operates 34 centres with 350 pitches, has had a good run, not least in its full year results, which were announced at the beginning of October. The group posted a 56% rise in pre-tax profit to £5m, on a 12% increase in sales to £23m. Some analysts subsequently raised their price targets on the company. Numis Securities, for example, increased its target to 129p from 120p, and KBC Peel Hunt upgraded it to add from hold. Shares yesterday rose 1.5p to 101.5p. Since listing on Aim in May 2005, shares in the company have doubled in value

[mangal] 20/10/2007 18:37

Citywire:

"THE GUARDIAN
Traders are hearing that Powerleague has started talks with a suitor about a 130p-a-share cash offer

DAILY MAIL
....
Other comment: Powerleague's price gets a kick on speculation it has received a bid approach from Goals Soccer Centres
"

[maddox] 19/10/2007 14:51

Surely, England need to develop players that can play effectively on artificial surfaces - PWR's the solution....stands to reason don't it.

Regards, Maddox

[scudmurphy] 18/10/2007 15:05

I don't agree, while I accept if England did achieve European qualification there would be an increase in usage, it would be marginal at best. Power league achieves steady growth throughout the entire year, overall more and more people now are playing football - so it should easily withstand the failures of the English football team.

[silverfern] 18/10/2007 13:08

As the results mentioned the uplift that Euro 2008 would bring to business and as all the home nations now more unlikely to qualify, this has become a gamble in my opinion - what odds Israel beating Russia, what odds Scotland beating Italy. I was watching anyway but will now delay a decision until those matches are played. Just MHO but sports retailers suffer when the England team suffers and this will be no different

[maddox] 15/10/2007 20:58

Cupasoup,

The treatment of depreciation under IFRS is different, I'm no expert but it seems to require a more considered approach rather than an arbitary straightline write-off. If the assets have been enhanced and the income generated from the pitches increased, as we are told, there should be little depreciation. This treatment is an improvement over GAAP where still productive assets are written down to zero; and the reported profitability more closely match the cash profits.

Regards, Maddox

[5dally] 15/10/2007 15:35

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Powerleague Group PLC moved up 1-3/4 pence to
98-3/4 after Altium Securities reiterated its 'buy' stance and upped its price
target on the stock to 120 pence from 110.

[wjccghcc] 09/10/2007 13:01

I suppose it depends over what period they depreciate them. Still net debt is level so the business is now self-funding, generating enough cash to support 3-5 new centres annually and those pitch/bar refurbishments.

[cupasoup2006] 09/10/2007 12:02

Good results tho large capex on new pitches and bars not giving corrsponding increase in depreciation charge. Strange!

[scudmurphy] 09/10/2007 08:47

Surely we should see some major movement northwards now!

[wjccghcc] 09/10/2007 08:43

Results look pretty good with LFL up 5% and EPS ahead of forecasts by 10% even after adjusting for a normalised tax rate. I like the link-up with schools.

Bought a few.

[5dally] 09/10/2007 08:39

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Powerleague Group PLC reported a 56 pct jump in
full-year pretax profit on higher turnover adding the company has continued to
trade in line with expectations since the year-end.
The commercial operator of five-a-side football centres in the UK posted a
pretax profit of 4.96 mln stg for the year to end June compared with 3.23 mln
stg previously. Total sales rose 12 pct to 23.03 mln stg.
The company has proposed a final dividend of 1.1 pence compared with 0.75
pence per share.
Looking ahead, the company said the current pipeline of sites within the
portfolio remains strong with new opportunities being targeted within
under-provided locations.

[e-mail]
kkb/kkb/lam

[5dally] 20/7/2007 13:01

Taken from their web site

The English FA has reported that the number of adults playing small-sided football in England has grown from 4.4 million players in 2002 to 6 million players in 2004. This rapid growth in player numbers has meant that small-sided football is now played by more adults than the 11-a-side game and has led to its formal recognition by the English Football Association.
Powerleague believes that there are a significant number of opportunities to develop further centres in the UK where either currently none exist or in areas where the size of population can accommodate more than one commercial operator. Consequently, Powerleague believes that there is scope for up to a further 100 sites to be developed by 5-a-side football operators across the UK, and that they are well positioned to take advantage of this opportunity due to its flexible approach to centre construction, which can be adapted to suit small and large centres alike.


Powerleague is the market-leading operator of outdoor 5-a-side football centres in the United Kingdom. The Group's 34 centres provide more than 350 floodlit pitches, in various geographical locations throughout the UK, which are used by an average of 90,000 players each week. Powerleague is focused on developing a national brand presence to meet local and regional demand but also the needs of an increasing number of blue chip companies and major brands looking to run local and national events, tournaments and leagues.

[andyh21] 20/7/2007 12:19

FWIW.....i run a 6 aside team in a league outside manchester, its an independent run operation but its ran superbly ( if thats how its spelt!) 3 leagues tueday & thursday running from 7 till 9.40. 4 pitches, 4 games per pitch at £30 team do the math! its also booked earlier at a higher price so i reckon around 1k revenue per night. its always busy no matter the weather people enjoy playing football at any level!

anyway the business is sound just wish i had thought of it first!

as long as the leagues and pitches are ran well and maintained its a great growth story imo! not in these (yet!)

andy

[farmers son] 20/7/2007 10:08

to be fair, i don't think birthday parties are forcing the share price up...
football is our no.1 sport, and 5-a-side is a hell of a lot more accessible, enjoyable and sociable than 11-a-side.
So much so, that players don't mind spending a fiver each for a 20 minute organised league match.
I personally find it expensive, but at least it means PWR is throwing off cash.

And no, up north at least, players don't cancel football when it rains.. :-)

[scburbs] 20/7/2007 10:02

Won't outdoor 5 a side providers like Powerleague have been effected by the recent bad weather? Or are the pitches all booked in advance and nonrefundable?

Obviously people still play 5 a side in the rain, but I would have expected some drop off in demand and cancellations.

[cupasoup2006] 20/7/2007 09:02

surprising - like you slapper been following this. PWR opened one site last year and also closed one!

[slapdash] 20/7/2007 09:00

I think the MMs saw the header and saw it was one of my tips and decided time to let it fly..

he says not very modestly.... slapper

[5dally] 20/7/2007 08:50

Up again, must be something happening here, I love talking to myself