Quarto Share Discussion Threads

[red army] 22/3/2021 10:50

I agree about staff treatment BUT the results are very good and I like the debt levels coming down nicely. They can always address the cultural issues. Making money in the past year has not been easy unless you are a supermarket.

[wigwammer] 22/3/2021 10:20

I agree thirty and red.. QRT showing good results and great to see it filter down into free cash flow and degearing. Some nice growth avenues to focus on too. Looks mightily undervalued. ATB :)

[stocktastic] 22/3/2021 10:15

Thirtyfiftytwenty

Be wary of short-term 'profit' uplift when generated more by cutting investment, vs real, sustainable growth

[thirty fifty twenty] 22/3/2021 08:52

hi Red Army

i think these are stunning results!
in a pandemic year debt reduced by 13m from operations and 17m from the rights.
they have made the business more profitable eps of 17c (c.12p)

the most notable for me was them saying that they expect internet sales to continue to grow and they will benefit from the opening up of retail and gift shops etc...

their recent books titles have been incredible popular and it seem to me that profits likely to be higher next year with the likely higher revenue.

i got on board when i saw the directors buying shares at 100p when the market price was only 55p!!

not for everyone as hard to deal in etc..

All IMHO, DYOR BoL
QRT is in my portfolio

[red army] 22/3/2021 08:41

A good set of results with debt levels coming down nicely and future outlook quite good. The current fundamentals would suggest a much higher share price.

[red army] 27/1/2021 19:34

Wait and see.

[bonzo] 27/1/2021 17:35

Nothing good has happened here for years, literally!

[red army] 27/1/2021 17:32

I bought in this am as chart suggesting a long way to go . One could argue that a takeover has a real chance.

[scepticalinvestor] 27/1/2021 17:20

mkt waking up? Have been holding since mid Nov so its taken long enough

[bonzo] 27/1/2021 14:48

What's going on?

[scepticalinvestor] 15/11/2020 09:52

further bid pre 21?

[stocktastic] 23/4/2020 07:52

Many low paid employees here are having wages cut or being furloughed. I gather this is being managed and communicated very poorly.
At other publishers, the board is doing the right thing and also reducing their own pay.

Is the Quarto board and senior management helping by reducing their pay too? It is these chunkier salaries that will make a difference.
Something for staff to ask CEO Polly Powell

[dangersimpson2] 29/1/2020 15:38

I doubt Lau's intention is to sell out for 100p to Hurowitz, I think he has longer term and greater rewards in mind.

Lau has had plenty of opportunities to disadvantage smaller holders if he wanted to. After the boardroom coup, the change of control clauses gave the bankers significant leverage, and it was Lau willing to put his own money in at the debt level, presumably subordinated to the banks, that kept the company going, made it able to implement the turnaround actions and recap from a position of relative strength. So far Lau has been very fair to minority shareholders so I don't think this is going to change following the recap.

I think any leak now is probably more likely to come from someone disappointed by the recap & wanting to limit the controlling shareholding that management will have post recap. Just my guesswork tho.

[stocktastic] 29/1/2020 15:23

'The timing of the leak is interesting too'

indeed, yes, rather convenient

What I find somewhat off, is that the board, including CK Lau, were the only ones to get to know about an offer for the company of 100p per share
Armed with this information, CK Lau has continued to acquire more shares and also stands to get more in this ongoing rights issue.
Nice to be able to buy up more of the company at lower prices, then potentially make a nice, guaranteed profit by selling to Hurowitz
Smaller holders haven't of course had that 'inside' information to be able to make such gains and unlike CK Lau, are not in a position to also allow such an acquisition to go ahead.

[dangersimpson2] 28/1/2020 22:17

In late August, Mr Hurowitz proposed to acquire Quarto for 100p per share, a premium on its market value at the time of about 50 per cent. As part of the offer, the US investor proposed to acquire the 34 per cent stake owned by Quarto’s chief executive, CK Lau, and to repay part of its $65m debt load.

The offer was rejected early in October in a letter from Andy Cumming, Quarto’s chairman, to Mr Hurowitz.

The US investor subsequently wrote back on October 28 to clarify that he planned to extend the offer made to Mr Lau to all shareholders and he also added that he was willing to set up a structure to maintain the company’s public listing. The offer was rejected again by Mr Cumming on November 18.

I reckon Lau calculates that this will be worth a lot more than 100p once recapitalised and sufficient costs have been taken out of the business to be profitable again. The timing of the leak is interesting too, since it encourages minority holders to take up their rights and reduce the amount that Lau and Giunti Editori control post recap.

[stocktastic] 27/7/2018 07:46

So there goes Laurence again

What a farce

(I dont hold, never have)

[joepublic1] 18/5/2018 11:49

hxxp://www.cityam.com/285988/hanged-drawn-and-quarto-shareholder-revolt-publisher-sees

I might have thought it would be best to get that debt paid down in the face of rising interest rates. Better to take all the big hits now to get the business back onto a path of growing profits. The main drag on the share price is going to be the debt.

[battlebus2] 18/5/2018 07:15

Always thought Laurence would be back.

[ny boy] 18/5/2018 07:04

Sounds like one to avoid here!

[theflyingbookmaker] 17/5/2018 23:11

Sorry, some 4 million shares (14% of the issued share capital).

[theflyingbookmaker] 17/5/2018 23:03

My understanding is that the company's decision to suspend the dividend, hard on the heels of awarding the CEO some $3.6m in salary, bonus and shares, rather stuck in Orbach's craw. He, after all, had held on to some 14m shares after his rude ejection. So I think an early resumption of the dividend is nailed on. How that is to be afforded has yet to be revealed, but I am greatly reassured by the return of Mick Mousley, long-serving CFO under Orbach, to the board, albeit in a non-exec role.

[joepublic1] 17/5/2018 20:54

Oops. OK I now see further RNS’s released after close of business. I guess we can expect more especially with regards to the debt.