Quarto Share Discussion Threads

[battlebus2] 05/8/2012 21:10

Yes John Lee has been a backer of Quarto for years. Not surprised that Mills has taken the opportunity to try and remove Orbach from the board again but can't see it getting anywhere near the level needed. I believe a change is forming at Quarto and we may see a break up or offer for the company at some point, heaven knows we could do with a boost in the shareprice. The market yet again failing to reward a soundly run dividend paying company with an excellent management team.

[grannyboy] 26/7/2012 08:10

Well its certainly nothing to do with the shares traded, because the MM's move these either up or down with very little or no trades..

[battlebus2] 26/7/2012 08:06

Has this special meeting got anything to do with the recent shareprice moves i wonder.

[ddahj] 14/7/2012 10:58

Quarto shares have been depressed since a few shares were sold before ex-div. Perhaps those sellers could not be bothered to complete the paper work for the USA certificate for withholding tax. A few small share purchases after payment of dividend haven't increased the share price , MMs perhaps have surplus stock.
For me these shares are way undervalued. From the balance sheet net assets are around £1.5 and if adjusted for internally generated backlist would be around £3.
Using EPS of 39cents= 25p the shares should be 8*25p = £2. That does not allow for cash flow being greater than profits at around £4m per year which is used to pay off short debt of $81m=£50m.
A simple solution for a large corporate investor would be to refinance the debt to 20 years and enjoy the £4m per year dividend.

[battlebus2] 06/6/2012 08:05

4.55p dividend x date today.

[battlebus2] 30/5/2012 16:24

Well no update with the AGM statement but all motions duly passed. Did anyone attend?

[battlebus2] 29/5/2012 09:25

AGM tomorrow may bring a trading statement with it.

[battlebus2] 25/5/2012 15:24

Harwood capital increased to 19.19% of the shares in issue.

[battlebus2] 26/4/2012 07:15

Another solid 5% ahead THE QUARTO GROUP, INC

Q1 INTERIM MANAGEMENT STATEMENT

Quarto (Full List: QRT.L), one of the largest international co-edition book publishers based in London, announces its Q1 Interim Management Statement which includes unaudited revenues and profits for the 3 months ended March 31, 2012. The Group is on track to meet expectations.

The first quarter of the year typically accounts for no more than about one sixth of annual revenues. The performance for the period continued to be solid. Overall, the operating profit was ahead by 35% at $666,000 (2011: $494,000). Bank debt was successfully refinanced, giving rise to a 5% increase in interest costs. EBITDA increased by 6% to $5.6 million.

The Book Publishing segment, based entirely in the English-language markets, helped by improved results in the US, and the UK, increased operating profit by 9%. Digital revenues increased threefold during the period, accounting for almost 3.5% of the segments revenue. The International Co-Edition segment continues to encounter some softness in major markets. Revenues grew by 1% and the normal seasonal operating loss was trimmed by 7%.

For the Trailing Twelve Months to March 31, 2012, revenues rose by 5% to $187.4 million and pretax profit was up by 4.6% at $12.2 million.

As part of its succession planning, the board welcomes Mr Marcus Leaver, 42, who joins the group in the second quarter as Chief Operating Officer. He is expected to take over as Chief Executive Officer next year, when Mr Laurence Orbach will relinquish the role. Mr Leaver, a British native, has extensive book publishing experience on both sides of the Atlantic, and was President of Sterling Publishing,in New York, the publishing arm of Barnes & Noble. He has relocated, with his family, to London.

A summarized trading statement to March 31, 2012 (before amortization of non-current intangibles and exceptional items) is set out below:

[battlebus2] 20/4/2012 19:33

Book deal opens new chapter in nation's cultural exchange
Updated: 2012-04-19 10:36

By Zhang Haizhou in London (China Daily)
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Book readers in China and the West will have a greater opportunity to experience each other's culture, after a key deal was signed between leading Chinese and British publishers.
Qingdao Publishing Group and Quarto Publishing agreed to co-edit and publish more books, as well as to collaborate on commissioning works on new subjects and ideas.
Following the deal, signed on Tuesday during this year's London Book Fair, Meng Mingfei, chairman of Qingdao Publishing Group, said his company also hoped to import some copyrights to China.
"Chinese publishers still have a lot to learn from their Western colleagues," said Meng, adding that more books were imported to China from the West than vice versa.
For the first time, China was the Market Focus country at the three-day fair, which ended on Wednesday. About 180 Chinese publishers had gathered in the middle of London's Earls Court Exhibition Center to showcase their range of books.
The deal between Qingdao and Quarto comes at a time when China is determined to make culture a key sector.
China's cultural sector will grow to become a pillar industry by 2015, Sun Zhijun, deputy minister of the publicity department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said earlier this year when releasing the Outline of China's Cultural Reform and Development in the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15).
Robert Morley, creative director of Quarto Publishing, said he believed China would become "a huge market" for his company.
Quarto publishes 600 to 700 illustrated books a year on a variety of subjects, including art, crafts, gardening and lifestyle.
According to Morley, the group, together with Qingdao, is considering expanding its "1,001" series with a book on top 1,001 places to visit in China.
Meng also singled out the 1,001 series as books that Qingdao was interested in taking to China.

[battlebus2] 03/4/2012 17:43

That's another positive that Edward Krawitt has bought another 10k.
Quarto announces that it received notice on 3 April 2012 that Mr. Edward Krawitt, Non-Executive Director, purchased 10,000 ordinary shares in Quarto at a price of 149.50 pence per share on the 3(rd) April 2012.

Following the share purchase Mr Krawitt holds 20,000 ordinary shares representing 0.1% of Quarto's issued share capital.

[battlebus2] 15/3/2012 19:25

Here's the new man----Marcus Leaver, 41, a British national, became President of Sterling Publishing, in January 2008, having joined in 2005 as Chief Operating Officer. Sterling is a wholly owned subsidiary of Barnes & Noble, the leading bricks-and-mortar bookseller in the US, and a rapidly growing presence in digital publishing. Prior to Sterling, Mr. Leaver served as CEO of the Chrysalis Books Group, in London, from 2002-2004, and Corporate Development Director of Chrysalis Group plc, a London Stock Exchange-listed media company, and in a number of different general management roles, from 1998-2002. Mr. Leaver graduated from the University of East Anglia with a degree in Art History, and received his MBA from London Business School.

[battlebus2] 12/3/2012 13:38

All very positive imv.

[windass] 12/3/2012 12:16

GE&CR note out too

[battlebus2] 09/3/2012 18:06

Edison note out today--

[battlebus2] 01/3/2012 20:02

The MM'S are listening spread now 8p lol.

[battlebus2] 29/2/2012 21:18

Still only 153 to buy so a decent spread given the near 8p dividend.

[battlebus2] 25/2/2012 13:40

Also Quarto is rated as a buy in this weeks I.C. citing the repeat business like 3 titles in last years top ten are back in this years. And that debt is on a easily managed multiple of 2.2 times earnings. The low valuation and high yield make the shares a buy. Don't have the link yet.

[battlebus2] 25/2/2012 13:35

Nice little article in the F.T. No Quarto given
The chairman of little Quarto Group doesn't go in for standard corporate-speak. He doesn't go for standard corporate governance either, since he's also the chief executive. Laurence Orbach is my kind of guy. Here he is, reporting the 2011 results this week:

"Given the shifting sands underpinning the book publishing business, do shareholders need to be sceptical about the solidity of the entire industry? This is a reasonable question. Even those uninvolved in book publishing might find it difficult to ignore the apocalyptic tone of many reports about the industry, and the evidence that it is facing profound challenges that must be addressed."
Over a very long statement, he tries to answer the question, deciding that Quarto's self-help, long-life books don't yet lend themselves to digital media.

"Why is Quarto waiting for the dust to settle? We shall continue to make available our titles in e-book format, but we cannot ignore the evidence that it has been extremely rare for firms entrenched successfully in one line of production to transfer their prominence into a newer area of production. How many railroad businesses went into making automobiles successfully? How many manufacturers of carbon paper (remember it?) moved into making copying machines? The list can be extended endlessly, easily swamping the exceptions.

"Firms successful in one line of business will experiment with moving into an area that poses challenges and offers opportunities but, inevitably, do so from a defensive standpoint, i.e. trying to extend their reach. In our view, that's what is happening now in the book publishing business. The notion that supplying digital versions of narrative titles represents a major economic opportunity for publishers is largely window-dressing and hokum."
All this philosophy and plain speaking has not been rewarded with a decent rating for Quarto shares. There's almost no turnover, the spread is punitive, and I'm showing a loss on the small parcel I managed to buy last year. Still, at 152p the yield is 5.2% on an increased dividend, so I'm happy to wait and read Orbach's prose. He's threatening to retire next year, if the newly-appointed COO is a success. I'd certainly miss him.

[battlebus2] 25/2/2012 00:25

That was a dummy purchase by myself to see what price i could get and the shares where not marked down as they had been marked up on a u trade at close the day before for a trade of 2 shares. The 10,000 trade today was also a buy as a mm was willing to sell but you'll have to pay 154 for the next as the shares at that price have gone for now.
150/155 is still the quote same as yesterday hope that explains it, we're still heading to £2 imv.

[huttonr] 24/2/2012 08:40

today's transaction - sell 169 shares - share price down 5p!

[battlebus2] 23/2/2012 16:55

Agree Tomrob but just look how every trade pushes these up, can't see it being too long before £2.

[tomrob] 22/2/2012 09:40

bb2,

I don't think we're too divergent in our views of the actual company. I agree that they'll be in business for the forseeable future and that they are likely to be able to continue to provide dividend flows but I don't believe that the rating that they are on will be significantly improved because of the perception of their business held by the wider market.

Then again the new guy will find a way to change that perception.

[battlebus2] 21/2/2012 22:39

Got to disagree with you there Tomrob this is on such a low rating theres plenty of upside. Quarto will be in business and continue steady profit streams and dividend increases for the foreseeable future.