Sureserve Share Discussion Threads

[santangello] 08/12/2001 12:13

No haven't picked up any more.
Thought the lumpy buying had already been done....don't forget those 7 figure purchases of late, plus the Kintaro stake.
Me thinks the price may squeeze up a little from these levels.
Possible rumouring going on around the square mile regarding a bid, but unconfirmed.
Sunday papers may provide some catalyst...you never know.

Santangello

P.S : Was going to top-up my substantial recent investment in Thomas Potts, but cannot decide between them and Sig.

[santangello] 08/12/2001 11:10

Only thing I can think of is :

a) there is no rumour !
b) the big bys are in
c) the small increases this week may temp holders who are losing money after the split to get even and sell due to quietness on the Western Front (calm before the storm ?) therefore increasing availability of more stock.

I am unsure of numbers, but there may not be that much stock out there, and MMs don't want to get caught if/when announcment comes.

Only my thoughts though, anyone else concur/disagree ?

[akcampbell] 08/12/2001 10:49

If there's a rumour going round the City about a possible bid how come none of the papers have reported it and volume traded is tiny?

[simonevans] 08/12/2001 10:00

A demerger of Strada plus fund raising to take on Pizza Express would make sense to me. Whether it will happen or not is another thing!

[akcampbell] 08/12/2001 00:30

Not reading much into the 1p bid mark up. There is no volume as you say. Reckon it's just because they've narrowed the spread from 4p to 3p due to lower perceived trading risk as volume shrinks and interest wanes following the profit warning. If somebody was buying in 100,000 lumps at 36p I'd read more into the tiny price rise. Did you buy any more?

[santangello] 07/12/2001 09:17

Marked higher again, with no volume ?
MMs looking for stock perhaps, or getting a little defensive ?

[santangello] 06/12/2001 11:17

Interesting.............

Bid up at last this morning.
I may top-up today.

Santangello

[akcampbell] 06/12/2001 09:38

A Strada rastaurant manager told me Christmas bookings were ahead of last year and that Signature planned to open 44 more Strada's in London. The next opening will be Clapham. The Strada I was in last night was packed by 6:30PM. Food excellent as usual. Pizza Express, Ask, and Pizza Hut can't live with Strada for quality, atmosphere, authenticity or value for money. I reckon Strada alone will be worth 10 times more than Signature is now within 5 years.

[akcampbell] 30/11/2001 22:33

I'd like to increase my holding to 1% eventually but only if the price sticks in the low 30s. Problem is I can't see the price being low 30s by the time I have the funds to double up.

[santangello] 30/11/2001 19:25

Some chunky buys (including yourself) within the last two weeks.
Six figure purchases at that.

I detect a little caution in your tone, but you still topping up ?

.................your stratergy is ?

[akcampbell] 30/11/2001 17:25

There's been no disclosure following a 1.8% sell and a 1.2% buy 2 weeks ago. Anybody know the email address of the Company Secretary? They don't seem to have a PLC Web site with downloadable accounts and investor relations info. Is that correct? What's the point of the meeting with Kintaro? I thought Kintaro had already been revealed as a private investor who thought the Group was cheap (ie no intention to take it over). Any info would be appreciated. I bought another 15,000 this week to take my stake to 0.48%.

[santangello] 30/11/2001 11:21

Quiet board of late guys...
Calm before the storm perhaps.
Meeting with Kintaro imminent.
Large purchase seen again this week.

Dare I ask anyone for their thoughts or research info ????

Santangello

[akcampbell] 22/11/2001 20:42

Senor Santangello. The 32,700 didn't show up because I bought it in 3 slices. 25,000 and 2 smaller amounts adding up to 7,700. I bought another 140,000 at 32.5p when the market opened yesterday and topped up with another 9,031 at 33.6p just after lunch today. Now hold 181,731 or 0.44%. Can't see the price going anywhere in the short term. My target price within 18 months is 45p. I did this simple comparison between Signature & Ask Central on iii.

"Based on recent interims Ask Central will have about £75m revenue this year. That's about double Signature's forecast revenue. Ask Central is flying high. Signature is struggling. However, Ask Central's market capitalisation is £154m. Half of that is £77m. Signature's market capitalisation is £13m. So is £1 of Ask Central revenue worth 6 times £1 of Signature revenue?! Either Ask Central is overvalued or Signature is cheap. Ask Central has a historical P/E of 20. That's going to drop to about 15 if H2 performance is as strong as H1. That's not that demanding. Hence Signature must be undervalued. If Signature rallied to 45p it would still be dirt cheap compared to its peers even after factoring in underperformance."

[jeff h] 22/11/2001 12:07

Interesting observation Schruh... but wide of the mark I'm
afraid...... Santa and myself are 2 different people but know
each other and both hold Signature.

I have held several stocks that Hugh Osmond has had an interest
in such as Liberfabrica (taken over... Johnson also had a stake
in) and Inn Business bought by Osmonds Punch Group (Santa held
this as well).

I think Signature will eventually go the same way.... when is the
question but also when will trade recover ?..... a dividend whilst
awaiting action would have been nice but this has been removed....
maybe to lower its attractions ?

[schruh] 21/11/2001 19:58

Santangello - interesting comments and interesting little company but I sold out and will not buy back in as my horizons are shorter. Must commend you on a nice little double-act with 'Jeff' - me thinks that you are the same person as your writing style is so similar. You're not an unemployed ventriloquist by any chance are you, spending your time investing and talking up this stock ???

[santangello] 20/11/2001 23:19

Well senor Campell, your 32,700 didn't show on the trades for yesterday.....

Your figures are good and you sound positive.

I can see them treading water for a while at these levels, perhaps for a couple of weeks.

My suggestion, buy on a heavy volume day.......It's probably the informed buying through their friends and family !!!

Welcome to the thread...good luck out there,

Santangello

[akcampbell] 20/11/2001 13:39

Excellent thread. I bought 32,700 at 32p yesterday. Hope to add more at this level. Forward P/E of 6.5. Historical P/E of 4. Valued at less than twice net cash inflow from operating activities for last year.

[jeff h] 19/11/2001 20:07

Good article in Sat's Indy if anyone caught it

... news fuelled speculation....the group could be taken over
and possibly delisted.

Co. aims to take on PizzaExpress as its pizzas are 30% bigger

Analyst quoted as saying ;-

' the bottom line is that both men want to make money out of it
(Johnson & Osmond).... if your time horizon is more than 18 months
then the business is probably very cheap.

Me... I'll sit and hold... The Ivy,Caprice and Sheekey's plus the Strada
chain mean that the business is making money.... 40m shares @ 31p gives
a market cap of £12.4m.... Clerkenwell Belgo has been disposed of... I
might even add some more at an opportune moment

[santangello] 19/11/2001 13:46

I hope (and I can see by Fridays/todays trades) not many of you bailed out.
Fundamentals are still good.
£3m profit against £16m market cap is still robust.

As Jeff H and myself have discussed privately, the reasons for staying on board are more in the accendancy than reasons to sell.

Seems plenty of people agree, large buys going through today, price unmoved.
Kinarto to meet with Sig management next month.
MMs still like the stock and are not inducing panic, allowing 500,000 purchases within the spread looks very promising.

Was Fridays announcement aimed at helping a management buyout at a cheaper price, that is a little mischievious, but cannot be ruled out.

Loss making resteraunts have now gone, and you try and get a table at Strada or Caprice........even though you cannot use your discount card.........you will be told to wait for weeks to sit down with your nose bag on !

The management team are not there to lose money, and with background activity about to accelerate, me thinks it would be prudent to stay on board certainly for the interim period anyway.

If a bid does not materialise, the company is still profit making and being geared to weed out the chaff and maintain good growth.

Let's face it guys...who visits wet and windy London in November anyway ?
Not me, not Jeff H and me thinks not many others too.

Bring on Christmas, an announcement from the Kinarto meeting and easing of Middle east tensions and things will come back into focus.

Do not panic, and make your own informed decisions...

Regards,
Santangello

[bloolee] 16/11/2001 09:27

Oh Dear!

LONDON (AFX) - Signature Restaurants PLC said it is behind budget and
accordingly, if the difficult trading conditions continue, it is likely that the
group's profits will be significantly below current market expectations.
The group indicated at the preliminary results in September that trading
conditions remained difficult into the new financial year and warned of the
potential downturn as a result of the events of Sept 11. Since then the group
said trading has continued to be difficult. The group said it has been
particularly affected in the mid-priced restaurants which are also those with
the greater dependency on overseas visitors.
The Caprice Holdings restaurants have been largely unaffected and remain
stable. Strada is also proving to be resilient, it said.
The board is taking decisive action and has disposed of the Clerkenwell
site, which was under-performing, and is continuing to rationalise the group's
cost base.

Profit warnings tend to come in packs! I'm out. Good luck if you stay with them.

[nutsyboy] 13/11/2001 17:27

So much for making the shares easier to trade : 33p bid 43p offer !!!!

Where's this "Bid" then???