Tandem Share Discussion Threads

[davidosh] 11/6/2010 14:34

Whoppy....I am sure greengiant and I will be pushing for as much use of the website as possible and a presentation to be on the website would be very useful but this is still work in progress.

The Agm next year is likely to be in London to attract more shareholders but do try to make it if you can.

[whoppy] 11/6/2010 14:25

I don't think many can make it to an out of the way industrial estate somewhere off a motorway. I guess an investor presentation in London would be good. I presume they have plans on getting the word out instead of just the once a year AGM. In fact a power point presentation given at the AGM could be posted on the website, or a webcast, indeed anything like that to show that Tandem are alive would be good, imo. I guess it will only happen when they have something worthwhile to report that can get the share price moving, so still waiting.

[greengiant] 11/6/2010 12:29

Thanks dd,

Come on people you can do a lot better than that!!! So many people where whinging about poor investor relations and management keeping investors in the dark - now you have your chance to meet up and show that YOU are interested in this company.

gg

[davidosh] 11/6/2010 12:12

I will keep a list of shareholders coming to the AGM....

Marben100 (who attended two years ago)
Skegbyhouse ((TMF)
Elwyn (TMF)
greengiant
davidosh
MrContrarian (TMF)
kramch

[greengiant] 11/6/2010 11:53

Sorry, should also have said that July 15th the EU will update its position on anti-dumping duties imposed on Chinese imports.

gg

[greengiant] 11/6/2010 11:18

Just out of interest

I have received confirmation today that the issue raised in the final accounts relating to the validity of manufacturing of Bangladesh and Indonesia and the preferential duty imposed thereon is a non issue. This is so long as the company actually did gain the relevant documentation from the countries involved - and we can only consider that they have after reading the rest of the accounts.

This has been confirmed by a law group and one of the big 4 Accounting Firms who are acting on behalf of a European Bicycle Manufacturer, an update from the board at the AGM would be helpful.

Also the other issue relating to the EU investigating the Cambodian imports and its relevant validity is not limited to bicycles but also relates to a whole host of consumables. Again, the EU workings are slow and I have been told that this has not progressed very far and is unlikely to have any impact. Again an update from the board would be welcome.

I hope that you will all take the time to join me in visiting Tandem for the AGM and question management about any issues that you may have. After all a frank conversation is what is needed at Tandem, especially for shareholders who need to gain an understanding of what management are trying to achieve.

gg

[greengiant] 10/6/2010 17:55

scburbs - they deal with halfords and toys r us

gg

[scburbs] 10/6/2010 07:29

Holders may be interested in this from Halfords. As well as the strong cycling market a key question is what are Halfords doing at the Childrens end of the market and is this an opportunity or a threat for TND. I thought MV Sports had the Ben 10 license so is Halfords stocking their product or is MV Sports license not exclusive.

"Cycling

Cycling is growing in popularity, powered by demand for a healthier lifestyle, environmental concerns and economic pressures. Our customers want to cycle during their leisure time, as part of everyday life and, supported by a government scheme providing tax relief on bike purchases, by cycling to work.

Halfords' success in the Cycling category, that delivered 15% like-for-like growth in the year, is underpinned by its market leading own brands, including Apollo and Carrera, with Apollo remaining as the biggest selling bike brand in the UK, strong before and after sales service proposition and direct sourcing capability from the Far East.

Halfords' cycle service proposition continues to be well received by customers, with more than 95% of the bikes we sell being built in-house. All new bikes purchased come with the offer of a free six-week check-up and we aim to develop an ongoing service and repair relationship through the sales of a Bike Care Plan, providing customers with the certainty of labour-free repairs. Sales of these plans increased by over 50% during the year and have contributed to a doubling of our service sales revenue.

Despite selling one in three bikes in the UK, this ratio has not been achieved in the areas of premium and children's cycles. These two categories have been the subject of management focus over the last two years and have generated significant uplifts in cycle sales.

The Boardman range, designed by Olympic Champion Chris Boardman, leads our premium bike offer through an exclusivity agreement in the UK. The Boardman range has been widely acclaimed for its leading designs, construction and price competitiveness, and is further endorsed through use by World champion riders including Olympian Nicole Cooke and by Alistair Brownlee, the reigning World Triathlon champion. Sales have grown significantly since the launch two and a half years ago, to 21,000 units over the past year, a level that we believe to be in line with some of the more established premium brands distributed via independents.

Halfords had its best ever Christmas for cycle sales, building and selling almost 250,000 bikes in this key trading period. Halfords continued to grow its share of the children's cycle market through an improved range of licensed character bikes including Ben 10, Power Rangers and Hello Kitty. Importantly, these cycles were complemented by full ranges of similarly branded accessories so children could personalise their bikes, thereby increasing overall transaction values."

[greengiant] 04/6/2010 13:19

Why? A lot of production has moved out of China.

gg

[nickcduk] 04/6/2010 13:02

A few worries about cost inflation from China beginning to appear. Foxcomm offering 30% increase in salaries. Could see that start to spread.

[greengiant] 03/6/2010 15:45

Don't know why - it is obvious that the $ rate will impact profits - but by how much? The company hedges and they have a natural hedge in that the MV business is all conducted in $'s. You can get details of how much in the accounts.

gg

[bozzy_s] 03/6/2010 14:50

Can't understand why. Business seems good. Maybe someone has been spooked by GBP/USD exchange rate and it's adverse effect on TND costs.

[supreme mo] 03/6/2010 13:58

Mm's just picked up 8k plus at 84p - nice business if you can get it. Someone must have been desparate to sell...

[supreme mo] 01/6/2010 22:44

Will endeavour to get there.... not sure whether to bring the bmw though!

[marben100] 01/6/2010 22:05

I'll do my best to attend and will be driving from Luton - not too difficult a journey for me. If anyone can get to Luton easily, I'm happy to offer a lift from there.

Cheers,

Mark

[greengiant] 30/5/2010 17:31

David, I agree with you, let us hope these issues will change shortly. Is there any date that you cannot make for an Investor presentation?

I do believe that any shareholder who does not make an effort to attend the AGM, really forfeits their position to whinge about the management and company (obviously there will be some people who genuinely cannot make it.)

gg

gg

[davidosh] 30/5/2010 13:31

gg...I could not agree more and if anything the lack of interest from shareholders until we got actively involved a few months ago has probably been a large part of the problem and when there is a disconnect between management and owners this can happen.

The chairman who is actually leaving the company following the AGM said to me (about nine months ago when I complained about the remuneration last year) that he felt they had done everything they needed at Tandem to safeguard and reward everyone EXCEPT shareholders. He seemed proud that the suppliers and customers were very happy, employees well rewarded and just said eventually we will get round to paying a dividend and communicating with shareholders.... 'We have too many of them you know' was his reason for not doing much about it.

I have no problem with rewarding the management and they do work hard BUT there needs to be a balance and that is why shareholders and especially the longer term sufferers are somewhat perplexed to see management take four years of very high rewards before the delivery of any increased value or dividend to shareholders.

A number of us from the south intend to go to the AGM although in fairness I did ask for it to be held in London for the first time this year to encourage attendance and alternate after that. I am still waiting to hear the date for the London investor presentation which will hopefully start to resolve some of the communication issues as we all know that hitherto there have been NO broker notes, NO forecasts, NO trading updates, NO contract announcements, NO presentations, NO meetings with investors and NO interest in attracting wider interest to this unknown little company whilst thousands do actually know the products.

Now if remuneration was based wholly on meeting the KPIs and one of those was satisfactory investor communication then the last four years payments would have looked rather different but that is history now and we ALL need to work together. We need clarity and communication on how these incentives and bonuses are to be paid going forward. We have two new non execs and this will need to be one of the first jobs for the new remuneration committee.

[jumpin_jackflasher] 30/5/2010 11:31

The 2010 Annual General Meeting will be held at 11.00 am on Monday 21 June 2010
at 35 Tameside Drive, Castle Bromwich, Birmingham B35 7AG

10 minutes by car for some. fancy that! Is that where Tandem are? Never realised that. Passed there a few hours ago, went to the local tip which is next door, as is the traveller's site. Prestigious it ain't imo. It's a busy industrial estate. Athough not a shareholder, I do read this board and am looking for the right time to buy. Might go. Hope there is plenty of parking available, the local road does get clogged by lorries and it's a long and unfriendly walk if having to park off the estate. Beware, junction 5 of the M6 offers no exit coming from the north, nor does it offer access to the M6 for going north.

Be careful entering and exiting the industrial estate from the A452, it can be a busy and dangerous junction. When exiting the industrial estate, you must turn left, and if necessary go all the way round the big roundabout. But take care.

[puffin tickler] 29/5/2010 17:43

Train, gravy

Rearrange these words into a well-known phrase

[supreme mo] 29/5/2010 17:28

Nice work if you can get it.

Those salaries are mad...

[davidosh] 29/5/2010 12:07

The full details are here....



For those who were not previously aware of the remuneration at Tandem because in previous years it was not disclosed this year there is full disclosure and the comparative individual director total remuneration for last year too.

The 2009/10 totals with 2008/9 in brackets are..

G.Waldron £50k (50k)

M.Keene £276k (270k)

S.Grant £242k (237k)

They were of course even higher in 2007 !!

I am afraid that over a two year period where shareholders have received no dividends and the only change in the share price has been very minimal and would have been significantly weaker were it not for shareholder activism I find these levels of remuneration wholly unacceptable and I hope the outgoing chairman will fully explain himself at the AGM as he is the only person responsible as the only one on the remuneration committee of one !!


Incidentally PWC did a review of remuneration of executive directors in AIM listed companies released two months ago titled 'AIM - The state of Pay' and their findings reveal that the average (median) level of pay for a CEO for a company below a market cap of 15m was £157k. Upper quartile performers achieved £191k and lower quartile £113k.

The levels achieved by FDs was much lower at £137k, £104k and £83k respectively.

The report places the levels of remuneration at Tandem on a company with a market cap between 100m and 200m and it has been going on for four years now if we include this year just started. I am all for fair reward and the directors need to be incentivised but what has honestly been achieved for shareholders in those four years that is so tangible that the market has given a significant re rating to the share price ??

Without a doubt the chairman needs to give a proper explanation and as Mr Keene received a bonus that was 115% higher than his base salary we need to know what the measure is that suggests such huge outperformance. Why is the market not aware of this significant event ? Even more important where was the trading update that told shareholders about it too ??

[supreme mo] 29/5/2010 10:00

Wish the target was based on increasing the market cap.

Supposedly one of their main objectives was 'enhancing shareholder value' - without gg buying blocks of shares, where would the share price be?

[greengiant] 28/5/2010 19:17

I did, like the way that basic only forms around 50% of total salary. Bonus accounts for the rest. The next question to get the Board to answer is exactly how the bonus is constructed and who sets the targets.

gg

[davidosh] 28/5/2010 17:18

Did any of you spot that the salaries and overall remuneration packages are broken down in this years AR ?