Spinnaker Opportunities Share Discussion Threads

[sreed] 11/10/2004 10:47

Will this be another disaster like your last ramp on Wiggins?

see WGT thread



I would also bewary as you are not regulated to advise the public

[mark watsonmitchell] 11/10/2004 10:46

On Thursday of last week (7th October) SQC Research published an 'initiating coverage' profile on Sports Network Group.

I have entered in below hoping that it might be of interest.

Regards

Mark



Principal activities: the Company's principal activity is the promotion of boxing matches and, to a lesser extent, the management of boxers.

FT Sector: AIM
EPIC Code: SOP
Price: 5.375p
52 Week Trading: High: 8.88p Low: 3.25p
Shares issued: 202,186,201 (ordinary shares of 5p each)
Market Cap: £10.86m
Net Assets: Shareholders' Funds total £12.19m
Gearing: Est net cash of £0.70m at bank as at 4th October 2004
Results: Finals - March Interims - September AGM - May
Marketability: 3 mrkt mkrs deal in up to 50,000 shares on a 1p spread
Brokers: Collins Stewart plc (020 7523 8300)
Company Contact: Frank Warren, CE (01992 505550) or Ed Simons, COO (01992 505550)

Yr to Dec T/o PTP EPS
2002 2,370 163 0.45p
2003 2,404 (426) (1.03p)
2004 Est 5,000 625 0.80p #
2005 Est 12,000 2,500 1.00p
* pre goodwill # allowing for acquisition weighting

CONCLUSION 'out of the corner and fighting for better value'

The acquisition of the remaining 74% of Frank Warren's business takes the Group's holding up to 100% control. Sports Network owns, manages and runs all of its boxing events, with all key elements controlled in-house, from event promotion, broadcast exploitation (both UK and worldwide), ticket distribution, marketing and even its internet operation.

It gives it high quality existing revenue streams, most of which are contracted, whilst increasing TV exposure will generate further revenues and commercial opportunities. The enlarged Group will enjoy stable gross margins and will be operating in a consistently profitable and cash generative business. In due course even more revenue streams can be developed, such as those from new forms of distribution (such as mobile telephony) and betting.

It is worth noting that when a 'superfight' is organised it could well drop an extra £1m to the bottom line. These shares are significantly undervalued.

We now set an easily achievable Target Price of 10p by the end of 2005.

COMPANY BACKGROUND

In May 2000 the ordinary share capital of Online Sports & Leisure was admitted to trading on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange and the Company successfully raised approximately £1.6m.

In the Prospectus, it was stated that the Company's objective was to exploit rights to major participation sports over the internet and to acquire rights to broadcast live and historic sporting events. At that time it was the commonly held belief that the showing of live video footage over the internet was just around the corner and would be able to be commercially exploited.

This proved not to be the case and the Board very quickly came to the opinion that any opportunities which were being presented were overvalued and had little chance of being profitable. It therefore took a decision that it was prudent to conserve the cash raised and to seek opportunities to acquire rights and/or events across a wider range, for example, ticket sales or sponsorship. The first investment was made in February 2001 by taking a share of a boxing promotion with Frank Warren's Sport Network. Subsequently the Company revised its strategy accordingly and worked with Sports Network on a number of boxing events, contributing to their financing.

In March 2002 the Company announced the acquisition of a 22% interest in Sports Network -the Boxing promotion and management business of Frank Warren - for an initial consideration of £2,795,000. For an extra £250,000 it also took out an option to acquire a further 28% interest for £7m. The Company then changed its name to Sports & Leisure Group plc.

Since April 2002, the Company has taken an active role in the management and financial control of Sports Network. Edward Simons has acted as Chief Executive Officer of Sports Network, and Gavin Simons has acted as its Chief Financial Officer. Working closely with Mr Warren and Sports Network, they succeeded in broadening and strengthening its management, improving its financial and operating systems and developing other forms of revenue, such as licensing and sponsorship.

The option was due to expire on 30th September 2003 and was subsequently extended on a number of occasions, ultimately until 19th December 2003. When the option was first extended on 30th September 2003 the Company acquired a further 4% interest in Sports Network for £1m paid in cash, taking its interest to 26%. On 19th December 2003, unable to find an acceptable basis for exercising the Option, the Company let it lapse.

The Company has had a long term intention of increasing its investment in Sports Network to 100%. Under the terms of the 2002 acquisition agreement, in the event that Sports & Leisure did not exercise the Option, Mr Warren had the right to buy-back Sports & Leisure's interest in Sports Network. He chose not to exercise this buy-back, and instead indicated a desire to enter into negotiations whereby Sports & Leisure's interest in Sports Network would be increased to 100% and the consideration would be satisfied substantially by the issue of Ordinary Shares. The Directors of Sports & Leisure considered this to be a much better proposition.

On 30th July 2004 the Company announced the proposed acquisition of an additional 74% interest in Sports Network and the proposed placing of 19.3m new shares at 5p per share. The consideration payable to Mr Warren, to be satisfied by the issue of 149m new ordinary shares with a value of £7.45m, the payment of £250,000 in cash and the issue of convertible loan notes which have a nominal value of £750,000.

At the same time it was also announced that a number of Board changes were being made, with the appointments of David Elstein as Non-Executive Chairman of the enlarged Group; Frank Warren as Chief Executive Officer; Edward Simons as Chief Operating Officer; and Adam Singer as Non-Executive Director. The Group would also change its name to Sports Network Group plc.

DIRECTORS

The recently enlarged Board of Directors of Sports Network Group includes:

David Elstein, Chairman
Former Chief Executive of Channel 5 Broadcasting
Former Head of Programming of BSkyB

Frank Warren, Chief Executive
Boxing Promoter since 1980
Promoted or co-promoted over 100 World Title Fights
Responsible for day-to-day management of Sports Network and relationships with BSkyB and Showtime

Ed Simons, FCA, Chief Operating Officer
25 years experience in media, broadcast and sports
Responsible for Group operations

Gavin Simons, FCA, Finance Director
Partner of Chartered Accountants MWS
Responsible for financial affairs of Sports Network

Adam Singer, Non-executive Director
Former Chairman and Chief Executive of Flextech
Former Group Chief Executive of Telewest

Simon Metcalf, FCA, Non-executive Director
Former Vice Chairman of Hawkpoint Partners

Sports Network's head office is situated in the picturesque town of Hertford with 15 members of staff administering the day to day running of the business which includes marketing, box office and press office.

The Group's key personnel includes: Frank Maloney - who joined Sports Network in September 2000, began his involvement in the boxing industry over thirty years ago as an amateur boxer and has progressed into management. Formerly he was the manager of Lennox Lewis, today he oversees the Group's sourcing of new talent; Andy Ayling - Events co-coordinator; Olga Brooks - Financial Controller; Stephen Heath - In-house legal counsel; Richard Maynard - Marketing; Dennis Gilmartin - Boxer Liaison manager; and Dean Powell - Match Maker.


SPORTS NETWORK

Founded in 1996 by Frank Warren, who is one of the leading boxing promoters in the world, Sports Network has become Europe's premier boxing promotions company. It has a 70% share of the UK market.

Warren has been a boxing promoter since 1980. Since then, he has promoted in excess of 100 World Championship fights, including those of Nigel Benn, Chris Eubank, Frank Bruno, Mike Tyson, Joe Calzaghe, Ricky Hatton and Prince Naseem Hamed.

Warren broke the BBC's stranglehold on domestic boxing in 1981 by getting ITV to cover his promotions. He left in April 1995 and even then his shows were in three of the top five sporting programmes for that year in terms of television viewers.

Among the most celebrated have been 'Judgement Night 1 & 2' with Benn and Hamed; 'The Empire Strikes Back' featuring Bruno vs. Oliver McCall, 'The Full Monty' with Hamed, Calzaghe and Eubank and 'Anarchy in the UK' with Hatton vs. Eamonn Magee.

In 1995, Warren put together the largest deal in European boxing with BSkyB, bringing to them the biggest names and promotions including the Bruno vs. McCall World Heavyweight Championship, which brought Sky its highest ever audience. BSkyB launched its first pay-per-view venture in March 1996 with the Frank Bruno vs. Mike Tyson Heavyweight clash. The event was a major success and launched the pay-per-view revolution in the UK.

In January 2000 Warren set new records in this country and Stateside. In early January, he promoted the first World title fight of the new millennium in Albuquerque, New Mexico between Johnny Tapia and Elicier Julio in front of a full house of 11,000 people. The show at 'The Pit' became the highest grossing sporting event in the history of New Mexico.

In mid-January, Warren staged Britain's first World title fight of the new millennium - the WBO World Super-Featherweight Championship - between the devastating Brazilian puncher Acelino Freitas and Wales' Barry Jones.

Warren finished his trailblazing promotional month with Tyson's European debut in Manchester at the end of January. The event was a phenomenal success that saw 22,000 tickets being sold within 48 hours of going on sale, setting a British record for the fastest selling boxing event ever.

He is now the top promoter in Europe and increasing force in the US, where the two major television networks, Showtime (a subsidiary of Viacom Paramount) - with whom Warren currently has a TV deal with payments made on a per fight basis with 'named' boxers - and HBO, have broadcast his shows.


KEY ASPECTS TO SPORTS NETWORK

The business of Sports Network is the promotion of boxing matches and, to a lesser extent, the management of boxers. There are five key aspects to Sports Network:

 Contracts with television broadcasters around the world (Sky in the UK and arrangements with Showtime in the US and Mckenzie Corporation in Russia, as well as other overseas broadcasters) who in return pay Sports Network for the right to broadcast boxing matches;

 Boxing promotion agreements with over 60 boxers (as at 30th July 2004), whereby Mr Warren contracts with boxers to promote their careers through the organisation of their matches;

 Boxing management and co-management agreements with over 50 boxers (as at 30th July 2004), whereby Mr Warren and/or Frank Maloney contract with boxers to manage their careers; the same person can both promote and manage boxers;

 Relationships with regulatory and sanctioning bodies; and

 Sponsorship agreements.


REVENUE GENERATION

Sports Network has a broadcast contract with Sky in the UK and broadcast arrangements with Showtime in the US which, in the year ended 31st December 2003, together accounted for more than 70% of Sports Network's revenue.

Mr Warren has had commercial relationships with Sky and Showtime for eight years and five years respectively, which have given Sports Network's boxers an audience across the UK, the Republic of Ireland, North America and parts of the Caribbean.


REVENUE BREAKDOWN ( % of total )

Year Television Broadcast Income Ticket Sales Ancillary
#
2001 85% 7% 8%
2002 80% 14% 6%
2003 74% 21% 5%

# ancillary revenue covers radio broadcast, sponsorship and back catalogue

The Sky Agreement

The current agreement is for two years from June 2003 to June 2005. There is a long-standing working relationship and regular dialogue between Sky and Sports Network in order to maximise the benefit of the contract to both parties.

The Sky Agreement requires Sports Network to promote 28 bouts per annum, which Sky has the right to broadcast in the UK and the Republic of Ireland, in return for fixed monthly payments, together with further payments in respect of matches involving certain named boxers (typically in title fights) promoted by Sports Network.

Sports Network retains the television rights for the rest of the world and all other media rights, including the internet (subject to a delay in transmission). The television rights for the UK and the Republic of Ireland revert to Sports Network at the end of the term, subject to Sky having a non-exclusive right to exploit those rights in perpetuity in the UK and the Republic of Ireland. Each party has the right to terminate the contract in certain circumstances.

Sky pays a consultancy fee to Mr Warren for his services as a consultant in addition to the fees for boxing matches. This fee is paid to Mr Warren personally and does not currently and will not in future form part of Sports Network's income. Under the terms of the Sky Agreement, Sports Network, rather than Mr. Warren, is required to refund to Sky a pro rata proportion of this fee on termination of the Sky Agreement. Under the terms of the Acquisition
Agreement, Mr Warren has agreed to indemnify the Company in respect of any amount of the fee refunded by the Company on termination of the Sky Agreement.

Sports Network has enjoyed ten years of exclusive agreements with BSkyB, this is its fifth consecutive contract. It has shown an increase in revenue year on year, with the current contract for 55 live promotions over the two-year period, showing revenue up 23% to date.

Sports Network continues to add content, such as Fight Skool, and delivers strong TV ratings. It has separate arrangements for its Pay Per View events.

Overseas television sales

The Company enjoys revenue from the global distribution of Sports Network shows and acquired promotions when they are broadcast live or are tape-delayed to over 40 countries worldwide.

Radio broadcast

In early April 2003 Sports Network announced the most significant boxing output deal for radio ever signed in the UK. The deal with BBC Radio 5 Live enables boxing fans to hear the most exciting boxing promotions, featuring the UK's worldwide superstars live from ringside.
The deal, which covered an eighteen-month period, is in the process of being extended. It features a minimum of ten Sports Network events featuring World Champions such as Joe Calzaghe, Ricky Hatton and Scott Harrison, with revenue for the Company being generated on a per fight basis.

At the time Edward Simons, Chief Executive of Sports & Leisure Plc, stated that:

"Sports Network has exclusive television contracts with both BSkyB in the UK and Showtime in the US, and we are delighted to have secured a further contract with the UK's leading sports radio, BBC Radio 5 Live. In addition to this, the thousands of users that access the www.frankwarren.tv internet site will be able to listen to the BBC live commentary while viewing images from the Sports Network webcams which will be broadcasting every eight seconds from the corner posts. This is a first for boxing fans and will enable the best fight promotions to be broadcast not only in the UK, but worldwide."

Boxing promotion agreements and boxing management agreements

Mr Warren has promoted or co-promoted high profile boxing matches on both sides of the Atlantic including fights involving Mike Tyson, Nigel Benn, Chris Eubank, Prince Naseem Hamed, Frank Bruno and Steve Collins. He has won several awards in the industry and in 2000 was awarded the title 'Promoter of the Year' by the World Boxing Organisation. Given his standing in the industry he is able to attract high quality boxers. This, in turn, enables Mr Warren to attract broadcasters.

As at 30th July 2004, Sports Network promoted over 60 boxers, of whom 7 were world title holders and 10 held other titles including:

• Joe Calzaghe, aged 31, currently WBO World Super-Middleweight Champion;

• Ricky Hatton, aged 25, currently WBU World Light-Welterweight Champion;

• Danny Williams, aged 31, former British and Commonwealth Heavyweight Champion, he recently defeated Mike Tyson;

• Scott Harrison, aged 26, currently WBO World Featherweight Champion;

• Matt Skelton, aged 37, currently British and Commonwealth Heavyweight Champion;

• Michael Gomez, aged 27, currently WBU World Super-Featherweight Champion;

• Enzo Maccarinelli, aged, 23, currently WBC World Cruiserweight Champion;

• Dennis Bakhtov, aged, 26 currently WBC International Heavyweight Champion;

• Johnny Nelson, aged, 37, currently WBO World Cruiserweight Champion; and

• David Barnes, aged 23, currently British Welterweight Champion.

Sports Network promoted 24 boxing matches in the twelve months ended 31st December 2003, all of which were broadcast by Sky. The promotion agreements are mostly multi-fight agreements and allow Sports Network to terminate the agreement in the event that the boxer loses. Where possible, Sports Network will, prior to the fight, obtain the opponent's agreement to Sports Network promoting the opponent's next fight should he win. Sports Network has reached agreement in principle with Joe Calzaghe on the terms of his new promotion contract which is now awaiting signature.

Frank Maloney oversees a scouting operation which seeks out promising boxers at an amateur level. Given his and Mr Warren's reputation, Sports Network is regularly approached by other boxers, trainers and their managers, both from the UK and abroad, with a view to signing promotion and, in some cases, management agreements with Sports Network.
A professional boxer's career can last up to fifteen years or even more in exceptional cases. Sports Network continually seeks to sign new boxers to try and ensure that future titleholders are contracted to the business.


Other income

Other income is derived from:

 ticket sales - Sports Network sells tickets for the majority of the events it promotes, the Group has enjoyed significant growth in ticket sales as a result of its policy to stage fights throughout the UK;

 sponsorship - Sports Network can also generate revenue from both national and international companies, for either the sponsorship of an event or of a specific boxer; and

 internet - a website, www.frankwarren.tv , has been set up by Sports Network with a view to promoting Sports Network and exploiting its archive material via the internet. It now enjoys 1m hits per month, with sometimes 100,000 on fight nights when a radio broadcast is streamed together with live images from the fight.

 exploitation of back catalogue – this currently has a nil value in the Sports Network balance sheet, however it offers potential for significant exploitation.


AN ILLUSTRATIVE BOXING PROMOTION

Income Expenses
• BSkyB / Showtime contracted broadcast income /Pay Per View
• main purse
• ticket sales • opponents' purse
• overseas TV rights • undercard purses
• radio rights • venue costs
• sponsorship/ancillary • promotion and production costs
• site fee • licence and sanction fees


FINANCIAL INFORMATION ON SPORTS NETWORK

The following information has been extracted, without adjustment, from the audited accounts on Sports Network for the three years ended 31st December 2003.

Year ended 31st Dec Turnover £'000 Gross profit £'000 Operating profit £'000 #
2001 10,996 4,124 2,581
2002 13,153 5,207 3,889
2003 9,867 2,789 1,614
# before interest, drawings and taxation

Sports Network's results for 2003 were lower than 2002 which was almost entirely due to depressed revenues from Showtime Inc. in the US.

The two other main strands of the Sports Network revenue continued to grow, particularly revenue from ticket sales, and in July 2003, Sports Network announced the renewal of its exclusive contract with Sky for a further two year period.
The Sports Network internet operation, www.frank.warren.tv , is now approaching 1m hits per month and is fast becoming one of the main sources of Sports Network's ticket revenue.

Sports Network is trading well in 2004 and, with the promotions that have already taken place and those now scheduled, the Directors confident about Sports Network's prospects for the current year.


LATEST RESULTS – INTERIMS (announced 8th September 2004)

The Interim Results for the six months ended 30th June 2004 showed that turnover had increased to £1,573,000 (six months to June 2003: £1,135,000). Whilst pre-tax profits were £94,000 (six months to June 2003: loss £60,000) prior to amortisation of goodwill £222,000.

The Company's results, that include the Group's 26% stake in Sports Network
(2003: 22%), show a continuing improvement reflecting an increase in the number of promotions arranged during the first half of the year, compared with the first half of 2003.

The positive result demonstrates the strength of the Sports Network stable of boxers, which includes Ricky Hatton, Joe Calzaghe and Danny Williams, the heavyweight who recently defeated Mike Tyson.

On 23rd August 2004, the Company completed its acquisition of the remaining 74% interest in Sports Network and changed its name to Sports Network Group Plc to reflect this.

Chairman David Elstein commented that

"The new Company structure streamlines the Company's activities and gives me
every confidence for future growth."


FINANCES

As at 4th October 2004 SQC Research estimates that the Group had a net cash balance of £0.70m and Shareholders' Funds of £12.00m


STATEMENTS RE. DANNY WILLIAMS

On 3rd August 2004 Frank Warren stated that he was delighted with the outstanding performance of Danny Williams in defeating Mike Tyson by a fourth round knockout.

"I always believed in Danny Williams which is why I was prepared to make the match against Mike Tyson. We now have the luxury of considering a number of lucrative offers for Danny's next fight. This win puts Danny Williams at the forefront of the world heavyweight championship scene."

Sports Network has an exclusive multi-fight promotional contract with Danny Williams.

On 13th September 2004 the Company announced that agreements have been signed for Danny Williams to challenge Vitali Klitschko for the WBC World Heavyweight Championship. The fight is scheduled to take place in the USA in December 2004.

Danny Williams, who is managed and promoted by Sports Network, recently defeated Mike Tyson to set up this opportunity. Sports Network will not promote this fight but will share in the broadcasting revenues for the UK and USA.

SHAREHOLDERS

The Company has some 400 shareholders. There are 202,186,201 ordinary shares of 5p each in issue.

Major Shareholders (as at 4th October 2004): HSBC Global Custody Nominee (UK) holds 3% of the enlarged equity; Frank Warren (Dir) and his family interests hold 149,250,000 shares (73.82% of the equity); Edward Simons (Dir) holds 1,537,500 shares (0.76%); David Elstein (Dir), holds 1,100,000 shares (0.54%); and Gavin Simons (Dir) holds 440,000 shares (0.22%). Corporate Synergy and Halliwells LLP (Nominated Adviser and Solicitor respectively to the Company) subscribed in the recent Placing for an aggregate of 1,900,000 Ordinary Shares.


CONVERTIBLE LOAN NOTES

Pursuant to the Acquisition, Mr Warren has been issued with four Convertible Loan Notes of £187,500 each. Mr Warren will have the option, at the end of the second, third and fourth quarters, to convert or redeem £62,500 of each Loan Note.

If he elects to convert at the end of the second quarter the conversion price will be 6p per Ordinary Share and if converts at the end of the third or fourth quarter the conversion price will be 7p per Ordinary Share.

The Company will pay interest to the note holder at a rate of 6% per annum, payable quarterly in arrears. The Company has the right to postpone any redemption of Convertible Loan Notes if Sports Network does not achieve specified profit targets.


RELATIONSHIP DEED

Mr Warren was a director of certain companies which were the subject of winding up petitions between 1990 and 1991. The circumstances of those petitions (involving a total of 29 companies) were investigated by the Department of Trade and Industry and, according to the statement of facts agreed between the Official Receiver and the parties, including Mr Warren, the records kept by various companies of which Mr Warren was at the time a director were inadequate and filings of accounts and company returns were either late or never made at all, although there were no findings of dishonest conduct against him.

It should therefore be noted that Ed Simons is in operational control of the Company, whilst in total there are three FCA's on the Group's Board of Directors. Undoubtedly this control enables Mr Warren to be as entrepreneurial as his experience shows and his ability requires.

Even so the Company and Mr Warren have entered into a 'Relationship Deed'. Under the provisions of this document, Mr Warren has given a number of undertakings to the Company. Among these undertakings, Mr Warren has agreed that:

 he will not seek to appoint or remove a majority of directors to the board of directors of Sports Network Group or to interfere with the independent operation of the Board;

 all dealings between Mr Warren, persons connected to Mr Warren and Sports Network Group will be conducted on a normal commercial basis and on arms' length terms;

 in the event of a conflict of interest arising between the interests of Mr Warren or any person connected to him and the interests of Sports Network Group, Mr Warren will not exercise any votes he may have as a shareholder or as a director of Sports Network Group in relation to the matter of conflict or potential conflict;

 in the event of a conflict of interest arising between the interests of Mr Warren or any person connected to him and the interests of Sports Network Group, Mr Warren will use all reasonable endeavours to procure that no person connected to him, will exercise any votes they have as a shareholder or as a director of Sports Network Group in relation to the matter of conflict;

 he will not vote in favour of any resolution to apply for trading in the Company's Ordinary Shares on AIM to cease unless the resolution follows a successful offer for the Company from Mr Warren (or persons connected with him) and such offer has been accepted by the holders of 75% of the Ordinary Shares excluding any Ordinary Shares owned by him and his connected parties; and

 the Company will comply with Rule 12 of the AIM Rules in relation to any transaction with a related party (as defined in the AIM Rules) notwithstanding the size of the transaction. Thus, any such transaction will require the independent directors to state that, having consulted with the Company's nominated adviser, they consider the terms of the transaction to be fair and reasonable insofar as shareholders are concerned.

The provisions of the Relationship Deed will cease and determine upon Mr Warren and any person connected to him no longer holding 30% of the voting rights (in aggregate) attaching to the issued share capital of Sports Network Group.


FUTURE STRATEGY

Boxing is a worldwide sport, driven by broadcast distribution. It has been traditionally broadcast on television and now, with the growth of the internet and mobile telephony, there is the opportunity to provide programming for a worldwide audience in any one or both of these formats. This in turn is attractive to sponsors who wish to market their brands worldwide, across a variety of media.

The Directors believe that, with key broadcasting contract in place with Sky and a stable of current world champions and up-and-coming potential champions, Sports Network is positioned to continue its growth organically, and to maintain its predominant position in the UK. It will remain focused on its core business of boxing promotions but will continue to look at ways of creating ancillary income, in addition to the mainstream income of the boxing promotions. Sports Network's growth should come from a combination of the following:

 signing up new boxers from the UK and internationally, thus improving the quality and increasing the number of boxers promoted by Sports Network; Sports Network has in recent years significantly expanded its network so as to identify new talent through, for example, working with Frank Maloney;

 promoting promising young boxers via Shobox (on Showtime) and Fight Skool (on Sky);


 building on the existing relationships between Sports Network and broadcasters, so as to increase broadcasting revenues; and

 the generation of other income streams through exploitation of the Sports Network brand, its archive material, sponsorship and merchandising.


CURRENT TRADING AND PROSPECTS

The Company is trading well in 2004 and, with the promotions that have already taken place and those now scheduled, the Directors are confident about current year prospects.

[kantona] 10/10/2004 23:10

p.s any techies out there who may wish to start a new thread, with the graphs etc, under the new name of Sports Network.. as this thread may be ignored new interested readers due to the co's old name

[kantona] 10/10/2004 23:07

tipped in the sunday express today .. they state sports network is to make £1m alone from the Williams fight ...just backs up everything else that is being said in the press

[dell314] 10/10/2004 21:53

hirschnathan - where have you got your PE figure from??
Looks like pure fantasy to me...

Rgds
dell

[hirschnathan] 10/10/2004 21:16

we are trading at a pe 5.

The uphill is huge. a pe of 15-20 makes more sense ie 15p-20p.

Looking forward to the next week

[kd42] 10/10/2004 00:49

Overall the signs from Sports Network are that UK boxing is in good shape and with some of the potential fights for 2005 in the horizon it promises to be a purple period for the sport in the UK. Frank Warren is undoubtedly aiming to deliver some big fights for his stable in 2005 which promises to be a pivitol year for Hatton, Calzaghe and Harrison with Danny Williams leading the charge on December 11 in New York.



The above taken from an interview with frank warren on 27/9/04,I think hirschnathan may have allready posted the full script.I think the "purple period" will be directly reflected on sop`s share price We have at least 4 big fights to come,and with that the revenue newsflow and further fights will surely increase.

As SQC says....significantly undervalued

regards kd42

[kd42] 10/10/2004 00:16

Article in broker buy`s section

SQC Research says buy at 5 3/8p (now 5 5/8p) significantly undervalued..

thats all it say`s

regards kd42

[hirschnathan] 09/10/2004 23:42

can you put the article here. casnt seem to find it

[rcktmn] 09/10/2004 08:51

Awesome ! Again, What's gonna happen next ? Gets better & better !

[goooba769] 09/10/2004 07:23

The Daily Mail has tipped this as a buy saying well under valued

[rcktmn] 05/10/2004 21:14

Awesome !
What's gonna happen next ?

[rwcarlos] 05/10/2004 18:34

another big buy after time

[rcktmn] 05/10/2004 08:42

Excellent stuff ! All bodes well for the near future.This should do well, might even top up again at these levels ! :)

[hirschnathan] 04/10/2004 18:14

well once again over 500,000 buys. and no sells. its benn like this for the last 2 weeks

[hirschnathan] 04/10/2004 12:17

last week hansard (sop pr company) bought 2million shares. Some road shows are due some time as well.

the share is ticking up slowly.

[hirschnathan] 04/10/2004 11:43

another tick up

We are currently trading on a pe of 4/5, it is dirt cheap.

The correct price should be 15p

[kantona] 04/10/2004 09:45

..good win for hatton at the MEN arena ... young Amir Khan also paraded to the crowd.. talks to be held this week with Frank Warren re possible deal for him to sign up with FW... All in all good commercial progress being by sports network

[hirschnathan] 25/9/2004 22:47

another 930,000 buy.

someone is definitley building a stake

[hirschnathan] 23/9/2004 23:28

that explains it a 710,000 buy. I wander if another director has bought?

[rcktmn] 23/9/2004 16:56

probably means that when there is trading it'll go down !
Seriously though..... I don't know why but I think it all looks quite promising ! :)

[hirschnathan] 23/9/2004 11:15

a tick up yesterday, a tick up today, on virtually zero trading

[hirschnathan] 22/9/2004 18:44

Khan may turn pro
(Filed: 22/09/2004)



Olympic boxing silver-medallist Amir Khan is considering turning professional in the near future.

Khan is due to meet next week with promoter Frank Warren who represented Frank Bruno and Naseem Hamed, his agent has confirmed.


Amir Khan: starred at the Athens Olympics
Asif Vali said: "We've got an opportunity to meet the promoters so we're going to listen to what they have to offer."

The move comes as Vali has grown frustrated at the Amateur Boxing Association's delays in offering Khan a financial package which would allow the 17-year-old to stay amateur through to the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

Vali added: "It's got to be the right thing for Amir, the right path for Amir to go down and with a team which needs to be on his side.

"We've been waiting for the ABA to come back with offers for Amir Khan and it's taking such a long time we have to think about Amir Khan's long-term security."

Meanwhile, Frank Warren has warned that Khan must not make the same mistakes as Audley Harrison if he secures a professional contract.

Warren hit out at Harrison who has yet to turn his Sydney gold medal into a successful professional career.

He said: "Whoever heard of an unbeaten fighter being dumped by television? Harrison has done a Pop Idol in reverse.".

He added: "Amir can look at those mistakes and learn from that. If he is handled properly then he can do some exceptional things in boxing."

Khan became a household name on the back of his Athens performances so might be tempted to capitalise on his fame now rather than wait four years and the ABA's development director Paul King sympathised with Khan's dilemma.

King said: "We understand people are going to be queuing up to sign Amir Khan but we're in the position to say that we've put some money aside for his elite scholarship, the first time that's ever been done by an amateur body.

"We want to protect him from turning professional too early and give him an opportunity to develop and flourish."

A final figure is yet to be agreed with UK Sport, which uses lottery funding to support elite athletes competing in Olympic sports, but the ABA believe they can offer an annual grant of around £40,000, far less than Khan could earn professionally.

[hirschnathan] 22/9/2004 18:42

Photo: Mike Cleary
Q&A: Joe Calzaghe!

September 22, 2004

By Craig Watt

On October 22nd, WBO 168 pound champion Joe Calzaghe makes the 15th defense of his title against rugged Kabary Salem in Edinburgh in a fight that will equal the greatest number of world title defenses by a UK fighter. The 31-year-old unbeaten Welshman will match the achievements of Chris Eubank in the late 1990’s as he looks to extend his unbeaten 37-0 record.

In Kabary Salem, he faces a rugged and tough opponent who has never been stopped in his 23-3 record. He lost a disputed decision in May in Germany to Mario Veit for the WBO interim title where the deduction of two points for use of the head in the fifth round was critical in the judges' scorecards. He is known as the “Egyptian Magician” and although born in Cairo, the 36-year-old now fights out of Brooklyn, NY. His only other losses have come by the scoring route against Antwun Echols and Eric Harding. Calzaghe anticipates a tough battle and given Salem has never been stopped before this is a benchmark Calzaghe wants to use to prove his status at 168 pounds.

Calzaghe spoke to Fightnews.com this evening about his upcoming fight and his desire for a “Super Fight” in 2005.

Joe, firstly how did you see the Hopkins-De La Hoya fight at the weekend?
I think Bernard Hopkins showed what an excellent fighter he is and his speed and power were the deciding factor. I was actually surprised with Hopkins speed for a fighter near 40 years but it was an excellent performance. There were people who thought De La Hoya was on the slide but he proved also what a tremendous fighter he has been. The fight was a great ambassador for boxing and Hopkins proved he is the best Middleweight in the world. In reality in was a Jr-Middleweight versus a Middleweight and I think the extra power told in the end although the left hook to the body would have hurt most fighters in the world.

Would you be confident if Hopkins stepped upto 168 pounds?
These are the fights I crave now in my career and after 7 years as world champion I think I am the longest reigning champion after Hopkins. About 3 years ago a fight fell through that was due to be held at the Millenium Stadium in Cardiff that would have held 60,000 people. I would love to fight Hopkins and I am confident I could win with my southpaw boxing skills and extra speed and power at 168 pounds. Every fighter who calls out Hopkins will say they can beat him but I do respect his ability as one of the best fighters pound-for-pound on the planet. It would be great for the two longest serving world champions to square off to find the winner.

What do you know about Kabary Salem?
When my fight was announced for October 22nd this was the opponent I wanted because he has never been stopped and has mixed with good fighters such as Eric Harding and Antwun Echols. To stop a fighter who has never been stopped before would be a good benchmark of my position as the number one at 168 pounds. I saw a tape of the fight against Mario Veit and it was a poor decision. He lost the fight on a split decision but even the German crowd were booing the result. He is a rugged fighter who likes to fight on the inside and he does seem to use hid head a lot. My plan would be to use my boxing skills and box him from the outside rather than get into a war.

Is this your last fight at super-middleweight?
I have been saying that for my last 3 fights now but honestly I can make the weight but I am hoping to become Wales' first two-weight world champion. I was going to fight Glen Johnson for the IBF title at 175 pounds but that fell through twice now due to injury. Now I just want to keep busy and defend my WBO title against the best available contender. If Frank Warren can arrange a title fight at 175 pounds then I will go after that challenger and my desire to be a two-weight world champion.

Who has been your toughest defense in your long reign as WBO Champion?
I have the utmost respect for Charles Brewer who gave me my toughest fight and I hope he gets a chance to win a world title again. He was very tough and when we fought toe-to-toe it was probably against my plan but nevertheless made for an exciting fight.

There is some dispute as to whether the WBO will sanction the fight against Salem. What are your thoughts?
I know there is a preference for me to fight German Mario Veit who is the mandatory challenger but I blew him out inside one minute some 3 years ago in Cardiff. He has done little since and customers would struggle to justify the match. I will leave the politics to the politicians and as far as I am concerned until told otherwise by Frank Warren I am defending my WBO Title on October 22nd against Salem.

Frank Warren recently spend time in the US trying to secure fights for his top UK attractions and had initial discussions with the management of Antonio Tarver. Is this your desired option moving forward?
Yes. Tarver would be my number one target for early in 2005 but I am not sure whether he prefers a Jones-Tarver III match which I can understand. Frank did make some initial discussions and we would like to make that fight and I would even travel to the US to his own backyard to meet him. This is the type of fight I want in 2005 and I aim to close out 2004 with a good performance against Salem and then hopefully Frank Warren can deliver me the “Super-fights” in 2005.

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The match-up against the “Egyptian Magician” certainly provides a creditable test for the unbeaten Calzaghe and 2005 remains the year when the unbeaten Welshman can achieve his dream of winning world titles at two separate weights.



Questions? Comments? Email Craig Watt