Smg Share Discussion Threads

[acornoptical] 10/11/2006 11:59

thank you papaduke

[papaduke] 09/11/2006 21:06

UTV got sick of SMG and frankyl their aroogance over their percieved mkt valuation and rightly went back to Dublin to have a pint of the black stuff.

Not before they gave SMG the finger .

imho,once SMG have some of that asset sale cash,the takeover will be more likely, in this market cash is king and in view of smg breaching banking covenants,i cant see any bid until they have filled up the coffers.

we shall see.

i will be watching smg closely over the next 2 months.

early 2007 will be imho a possible bid time.

we shall see.

its drifting down again,question is how far down this time.

i sold at 83p from 72p, and havent held since,i may well do if it hits 50p ish

[acornoptical] 09/11/2006 17:52

WHAT HAS HAPPEND TO THE IRISH MERGER PROPOSAL?

[acornoptical] 31/10/2006 11:09

if my memory is right fidelity got involved with elementis and over a short
period turned it around

[carlmba] 30/10/2006 09:11

If the takeover news is not substantiated soon, I expect a slip back to the 55-56p mark...people will buy on rumor, sell on fact, or lack thereof...

I expect the road back to the 80's will be a long bumpy one - hopefully with no more major pitfalls! Good luck any holders...

[handycam] 30/10/2006 08:12

That's a plant in the paper.

[suncanaria] 30/10/2006 08:08

LONDON (AFX) - Broadcaster ITV PLC is reportedly considering a takeover bid
for Scottish ITV franchise holder and Virgin Radio owner SMG PLC.
ITV, which has a 17 pct stake in SMG, is said to be most interested in SMG's
television operations, although its offer would be for the whole group, the
Financial Mail on Sunday reported.
SMG Television incorporates STV, SMG Productions, Ginger Productions and SMG
Solutions.
It also owns cinema advertising business Pearl & Dean and outdoor
advertising business Primesight, as well as pop and rock music radio station
Virgin.
Earlier this month, SMG said profits for the full year would fall
"materially" below previous expectations due to weaker broadcast markets and the
high operational gearing of its television and cinema businesses.
It said it was in talks with its banks over a potential breach of certain
financial covenants.

[suncanaria] 29/10/2006 13:53

The Independent
SMG board's threat bloodies Fidelity's nose

Fund manager forced to back down by non-execs
By Andrew Murray-Watson
Published: 29 October 2006

The board of SMG, the struggling media group that owns Virgin Radio, threatened to resign en masse after Fidelity, one of the most powerful UK fund managers, attempted to force the resignation of Dr Chris Masters, the company's chairman.

It is believed the non-executive directors at SMG promised to walk out of the company if Fidelity did not desist in its bid to replace Dr Masters with Richard Findlay, the former chief executive of Scottish Radio Holdings.

The prospect of mass resignations forced Fidelity to back down, but it is understood that the relationship between SMG and the institution, which holds a 15 per cent stake in the company, has broken down.

The threat of a boardroom walkout at a listed company is without recent precedent.

A banker close to SMG, said: "I have never seen a whole board threaten to resign before.

"It was a last-ditch attempt to win back the right to control its own destiny. Fidelity has been dealt a bloody nose."

The non-executive line-up at SMG includes David Dunn, the former chief executive of Scapa; Steve Maine, the former chief executive of Kingston Communications; M T Rainey, also a non-exec at WH Smith; Martyn Smith, the finance director of car hire group Avis Europe; and Tim Gardam, the former head of television at Channel 4.

Mr Findlay had teamed up with Rob Woodward, the former commercial director of Channel 4, to make a takeover bid for SMG with the backing of SVG, a 4.8 per cent shareholder in the media company. The pair's second approach, made about a month ago, was rebuffed by the SMG board.

It is believed that Fidelity joined the Findlay-Woodward camp last month in clamouring for boardroom change at SMG.

Mr Woodward would have been favourite to become chief executive had Fidelity succeeded in forcing through Mr Findlay's appointment as chairman. SMG is searching for a new chief after the resignation of Andrew Flanagan in the summer.

The company has also held abortive merger talks with UTV, its Belfast-based rival. But a profits warning this month has seen its share price plummet to Friday's close of just 56p.

It is believed shareholders in SMG have demanded the company choose an external candidate to replace Mr Flanagan. Fru Hazlitt, chief executive of Virgin Radio, who was tipped to take over, is no longer in the running.

[suncanaria] 25/10/2006 22:33

I am surprised ITV are not interested for a play on SMG, especially at this low price to complete the ITV Network on mainland Britain.

[carlmba] 22/10/2006 14:32

I think so...may not see the heghs of mid 90p again but 50p is too cheap. For the new investor there is upside, for the long term investor, maybe not so much for quite a while to come...Imagine how Chris Evans feels right now with the amount he has invested!

[papaduke] 22/10/2006 08:47

cheers carl,will post at some stage next week,i am keeping a close eye on smg.

must be upside over the next 6 months,no question.

[carlmba] 21/10/2006 11:59

Thanks for the overview of GAS Papa, may consider it as a punt if things within my portfolio change...

As far as SMG is concerned im not too bothered...I took out a chunk of money a little while ago at a bit of a loss but reinvested and did quite well...I closed my position and banked that money so all money still invested in SMG is "profit" if you like...would of course have preferred it to not lose 20% in a day but i'll see what happens...if I need the cash one rainy day, hopefully there will still be more than a 10er in there!

More important things in life than shares - family being one of them! Enjoy playing in the park with your son...precious times!

C

[papaduke] 21/10/2006 10:21

thanks carl,sorry about smg,but as you and i know you will get youre money back.

have patience,i am sure now the PE bids will be coming soon enough.

re GAS.

yes a wee punt, but plenty of positives.

essentially a cash shell with circs £7 million , half of that raised at 15p,shares are currently about 9.7p to buy.

If you read the last RNS,the CEO says there will be significant short to medium term value from the African lng 20% stake and the Afren alliance.

the fact is,GAS is simply a cashshell being used to fund the exciting potential of african lng ( working on 4 LNG projects just now).

Mr lukman is the founder of african lng,BUT he is also a director of afren!!.

Afren now have a non exec on the board of GAS, and AFR hold 7% of GAS shares!!.

All a bit in house,but my basic point is,by investing in GAS you are essentially getting coverage in Afrens and african lng projects and just as important their excellent management in the area, all for circa 10p.

Investors paid 15p recently ( afren had options at 5p!).

anyway imho a reasonable punt, my target on good news could be as much as 20p.

Gas have the option to purchase the further 80% of African lng within 1 year.

African lng is not listed,so really GAS is the cashshell funding and investing in them with Afrens mgt in control.

all in all a nice thought imho.

Fidelity reduced by 1% last week, but if you look at the trades on the 13th,they were hoovered up happily by someone.

good luck and dont worry about smg,it will come back up on its asset sales and by being oversold at some point.

glad i sold!!,may go back in at some point.

must be a 30% upside on smg from these levels,but it may drift a bit lower yet, some sells at 50p!! last thing on friday.

cheers,

papa.

off to the park with my son,wife at work today!!.

[carlmba] 20/10/2006 19:38

not sure about shorters with this one...but to be honest, I have forgotten about the money I still have here, if I break even good, if I dont then i've recouped the money elswhere anyway...

I had a look at GAS a little while ago, good luck...

[handycam] 20/10/2006 16:28

Did Burns have this? More fool him.

This company is effectively up for sale now and funds will have to view whatever loss as a write-off. Traditional media really has changed, as distinct from the last time that view was held in 99-00.

[carlmba] 20/10/2006 11:23

over sold imo - will make some ground back but it will take a while...Definate profit here for the new investor

[handycam] 20/10/2006 09:30

Well that can't be good.

[carlmba] 18/10/2006 17:10

Noticed you on the GGG board papa, what did you think?

LGEN come through with a 2.5% rise, im holding in there a bit longer, more to come methinks...again, massive buys at 1p over the offer suggest another good start tomorrow...happy hunting!

[carlmba] 17/10/2006 22:01

Sorry for off topic, no one seems to use this though so i doubt anyone will mind...

Papa - Don't know much of PANR but does look a risky time to be involved...

SMG moving too slow for me, once I break even i'll probably settle up, not bothered how long it takes since my holding is now so small...

GGG is an excellent prospect over the next 12 months, im very excited about it but it takes a while to get through the required research, well worth it though, im sure you will find they are substancially undervalued...

Also, look at Bright Things (BGT) a toy/game company. They are releasing a new Tomb Raider game that is breaking new ground (release date 6th Nov) - its an interactive DVD playable on a DVD player with the remote (no need for a games console) and aimed at the non-gamer for x mas...however, the sweetener is that from the research i've done, it looks as though the hard core gamers are lapping it up, should be an absolute smash! They've also signed a distribution deal with Radica who have now been bought by Mattel - good news for BGT since their Mkt cap is just 1.7Mln!! Amazingly low cap considering...I've done quite a bit of research on them which i'm happy to share if you're interested...

Last from me is Legal and General (lgen) - nothing special but I am expecting a positive update tomorrow - may be too late now to enjoy the rise that I hope to see but keep an eye on them...probably going to tell the market that sales are up 35% and that mortgage protection related insurances are up following the strong recovery in the housing market...massive buys closed of the days trades in anticipation no doubt.

Just friendly chat, no advice intended

C

[papaduke] 17/10/2006 21:28

carl,been away,out of panr breakeven,didnt fancy it,risky!!,will look at ggg.

watching to maybe get back into smg on any further falls.

cheers,

papa

[carlmba] 05/10/2006 22:20

Papa - have a look at GGG, been in for a while; my largest holding and one for the longer term.