Silverdell Share Discussion Threads

[pyemckay] 02/7/2013 10:30

looks like we treat this as a write off now, very unlikely SID will continue trading.

small loss for me of 1.5% of total portfolio but still very unhappy.

pye

[davidosh] 02/7/2013 10:26

The winding up order at Kitsons has triggered the banks into action...

[caradog] 02/7/2013 10:20

I used to have a lot of shares in SID but sold half in Jan and the rest in March. The hit taken on the Pembroke contract for Shaw was the event that made me exit completely and I never had the courage to buy back in despite the reassuring trading statement and repeated buy rec from Investor's Chronicle. SID is a small company going for big contracts with large industrial concerns. Unless they can get staged payments, they are vulnerable to disputes and delays re final payments, and just one big contract going wrong could see them running out of cash. Being profitable is no protection against going bust. Unless the customer pays, and pays on time, small profitable companies like SID can hit the financial buffers very quickly if they don't have the financial clout to absorb a temporary loss of revenue.

[pj 1] 02/7/2013 10:01

Rumours its HMRC after Tax owed from Kitsons

Stress, just rumour!!

[techno20] 02/7/2013 09:45

Posted by Paul Scott. Lets see if he gets a response...

Good morning. The big news this morning in the small caps world is the suspension of trading in Silverdell (LON:SID) shares, which is said to be pending an announcement. One of the two announcements this morning says that the suspension is "pending clarification of the Group's financial position".

I don't want to pre-judge it, but a pending clarification statement is usually very bad news. I've put a call into the company, so hopefully might get some additional colour on the nature of the suspension of Silverdell shares. I don't hold myself, although a lot of my friends do. It's a company we've met several times, and seem shareholder friendly, although I felt unease about the potential need for a fund-raising to finance growth, and slightly ambiguous comments from the CEO, so sold my shares a few weeks ago. If something doesn't feel right, then it's always best to play it safe, sell up and ponder why it doesn't feel right.

Let's hope the situation is clarified soon.

- See more at:

[phowdo] 02/7/2013 09:42

Think it was only a petition for winding up at Kitsons - usually come from unpaid debts. That sort of thing should have been RNSed though if it wasnt dealt with immediately.

[hippo] 02/7/2013 09:36

Has anyone contacted the Company and had a response ?

[adamb1978] 02/7/2013 09:31

Carmensfella post on TMF points out that a subsidiary of Silverdell was wound up on 13 June....maybe the debt facilities which SID have were secured specifically against assets of that company or there was a provision in those facilities that they were due for repayments if a group company was wound up

[cestnous] 02/7/2013 09:27

Exactly my opinion dasv

[nurdin] 02/7/2013 09:27

eck...not a nice news to wake upto....oh eck again

[dasv] 02/7/2013 09:25

slight disconnect between claiming they don't need funding to grow at 15% and requesting a suspension of shares on the basis of the company's financial position. It's either lying or incompetence or both. (I hold). Bought back after taking profit at 20p.

[adamb1978] 02/7/2013 09:21

PJ1 - I hope they are handling it professionally as I have enough invested in them!

However the annoying thing is that even if the end result is ok and the company continues to trade well, markets dont like surprises and this sort of thing can only lead to a company trading on a lower multiple that it should do. Hence why the CFO should carry the can (assuming it is a financial issue) given he should be 100% all over all financial items

[hippo] 02/7/2013 09:19

Yes I think best to fear the worst, then we will be happy if somehow we get something from this mess.

As shareholders we own the business, but don't have a clue what the issue is, surely we deserve more than that, it is going to come out anyway, so why not be upfront.

I fear that damage from this move (unless resolved very quickly), will be beyond repair, supplier and customer relationships will take a big knock.

Lets be honest, it must be a dire situation to have taken such action, especially in light of recent news (results, contracts and director buys).

[cestnous] 02/7/2013 09:19

Davros
From pst experience, it can take a long time,

[pj 1] 02/7/2013 09:16

Adam
We have, at this stage, to believe the Company are handling it professionally.Obviously something has crawled out of the woodwork which was unknown to most I suspect

[davr0s] 02/7/2013 09:12

I am still in shock like many on this board. I sold out on the way down but have had my finger on the buy button in last few days as thought it was oversold given lack of any bad news and all the positive comments, news articles etcTell me from those who have experienced this before, how long can it take to update the market on what is happening?Hope those doesn't go down for those that hold and something positive comes of this, but management credibility could be holed given what has happened.

[hastings] 02/7/2013 09:12

Not a holder, but certainly feel for those that are.You can only go on what news is released and the form it takes. While the share price may have been saying one thing the company was presenting a different picture.

[ir35] 02/7/2013 09:06

In contrast to those that sold out in the last few days , I topped up a couple of weeks ago :(. I cant remember any company coming back to market after such an announcement - the "clarification of financial position" almost always means the end from what I remember so I am not hopeful of seeing any more of my SID investment.

[adamb1978] 02/7/2013 08:48

hippo - I ignore people who post things like that. Generally just attention seekers

My guess is that the recent contract wins have meant more working cap is needed and therefore, whilst they recently said they were fine for capital, they now need some more

Even if it is that though, its been appalling handled and the CFO should resign

[m1das_touch] 02/7/2013 08:47

'Clarification of the Group's financial position' is a catch-all phrase, which can include accounting irregularities, fraud, unexpected bad debts etc. etc.

It's usually city code for 'Everything is not quite as it seems', or 'We're running out of money and haven't been able to raise funds', or 'Our Finance Director has been cooking the books' that kind of thing.

[hippo] 02/7/2013 08:45

Yes my guess is a black hole in the accounts of some description has been found. Now it is evident survival rests on a fund raising, but that is obviously dependent on what has been found.

I am another one, who banked profits, but opened a new position just last week on recent lows - sorry but I don't have a lot of time, for people coming on here, announcing they sold just yesterday - why not tell us yesterday.

You can only do so much research and if figures published are factually incorrect, then nothing anyone can do about that, we are sitting ducks in that respect.

[cestnous] 02/7/2013 08:44

Cosistently said that they were certain that their current financial position was sound enough to carry their current growthy plans. That now sounds like deception. to me,

[tdpix] 02/7/2013 08:43

I bought most at 9p, bought some more at 16p, then recently sold all at 17-18p due to external reasons - I thought this share would be heading beyond 20p. Am quite surprised at today's announcement.

Would be awful if it is bad news... especially with all the recent positivity coming out of this share.

[adamb1978] 02/7/2013 08:42

Its highly unlikely to be something with the accounts - remember the RNS said 'financial position'.

Has to be an equity raising - not sure what else would fall under 'financial position'.....its not as if they're massively levered

[m1das_touch] 02/7/2013 08:39

I'm sure Marwyn Investment will not be happy, they've been long-term holders with over 18% of the stock. Plus quite a few other institutional holders too, wonder if they've been quietly reducing their holdings recently...although not seen any announcements stating that any percentages crossed.

Perhaps it's all to do with the EDS acquisition...i.e. something discovered in the accounts? Remember one of the EDS vendors sold nearly 9m shares in Silverdell back in March, after being released from his tie-in obligations 'to satisfy institutional demand.'