Tandem Share Discussion Threads

[neverforget] 09/9/2011 07:47

Thank goodness I sold out when gg did. This company just cannot get it right. GG Was always telling the board o the need for delivering top line growth and the need to act swiftly to focus on developing one part o the business and today's trading statement backs this up.

[envirovision] 08/8/2011 13:46

I guess with the forecast recession/full blown depression in western economies, they are expecting bikes to become rather popular.

Seriously tho, dunno ?

[graham1ty] 08/8/2011 13:16

Everyone away ? Why the slight rise this morning ? Not seen any trade on LSE

[davidosh] 27/7/2011 12:26

CT...If you have a serious holding then you really should get up to speed. The agm was over a month ago in Birmingham and there were four non board shareholders there. If you mail me via TMF I can put you on our list of holders that keep in touch and there will probably be another company presentation in September as held last year.
Why do you feel you need to be a non exec ?

[graham1ty] 27/7/2011 06:28

CT, the AGM has been and gone. Think you missed it. Very positive it was too and good to get over an hour of feedback from the non-execs. TND has been a waiting game for all of us and one day we will get the share price to a level that reflectes the underlying value of the company. What is yr holding ?

[cwa1] 26/7/2011 17:49

Hi CT

Hope you don't mind me asking but what are your attributes re the job of non-exec at Tandem please? Please make your pitch now ;-)

Also, equally if you don't mind, what sort of holdong in TND do you have? I do understand that this may be an entirely private matter and you may not wish to disclose it-which is perfectly understandable.

[castleford tiger] 26/7/2011 17:45

Get yourself along to the AGM and vote against them.

I for one was happy with the share buy back.

The price in the market is false the shares are worth 8/10 times earnings. So 170/220p.

Getting the market to see that is more difficult. I just keep buying what i can knowing that this will come good.

Anyone fancy putting me up for a non-exc?

Tiger

[whoppy] 21/7/2011 22:40

Exactly, shows you how serious the board are on creating shareholder value. All very dubious and the only explanation is that we have a company that is less than transparent with a propensity to act in a questionable manner.

[envirovision] 21/7/2011 17:28

Was that not to help a certain majority shareholder out of the picture so as to take the pressure off of them ?

Seems now he has cashed in and been paid off, they are free to put their feet up.

Why should they be worrying about what to do next ?

[whoppy] 21/7/2011 17:16

They bought back over 800,000 shares at £1.40 not long ago. Then another 80,000 at £1.11 Now look at the price. Less than £1 what a waste of company money, best part of some £400,000 lost and no sign of the share price recovering. What are they going to do next?

[castleford tiger] 21/7/2011 17:08

They could start by paying a third of earnings in a divi. That would be about 7p a share. that would get the job moving.
After a good trading on bikes from halfords today i still think these are far too cheap

tiger

[whoppy] 21/7/2011 16:43

Anyone know what the BOD are doing to create shareholder value? All I see is a dwindling share price Where's the value creation. Are they unable to do anything..other than keep buying back shares in the hope of improving the eps. How backward is that.

[davidosh] 06/7/2011 23:03

The board has changed significantly over the last year including the addition of two new non execs and a new CEO in place who is driving the new strategy of delivering on the licences and improving the brands they already own.

I cannot disagree that AB did well to exit at a very substantial profit for the year (and probably much less if averaged out) that he held his shares but the company is still in a good position and I think the Board as a whole know exactly how shareholders feel about the past and that there are more of us beyond AB who are capable of changing things again if the wider shareholders support that view.

This year will be very interesting to see how the new Board perform and relate/communicate with their shareholders. Will they now go forwards or backwards ?

[envirovision] 06/7/2011 22:12

OK thanks guys, Have gone through the recent history here. Clearly seems to be a board full of self servers helping themselves to as much salary / benefits as they can and it seems they may have even gone so far as to remove burgess from the register to preserve said status quo at the expense of the other shareholders. Good for the board, good for the burgess, probably not very good for me at all.

Call me a sceptic, but the original value of the investment of mine back in 2000 has been pilfered and used by the company in order to bring itself to the position it enjoys today, this company has form and I can see no evidence of this likely to change any time soon.

[davidosh] 06/7/2011 13:56

I think it is also fairly safe to assume that the dividend will be progressive as promised at the AGM having restarted at a low base. If earnings are around 20p then there is no reason for a mature and serious dividend paying company not to be able to pay a third back to shareholders so aiming for say 7p within two years is not unreasonable from the current 3p.

That will be a very satisfactory yield and should see the share price at £1.50 plus... especially if the business is growing and new licences plus Olympic effect cycle sales go well.

That said if opportunities arise that deliver enhanced eps you cannot rule out investment of the cash but a nice position to be in compared with a few years ago.

[graham1ty] 06/7/2011 11:18

Enviro, this has been one of the problems: last year there was a broker's forecast but the Company put out a statement saying it was ahead of expectations and the forecast became redundant within weeks.

Is no forecast, but TND has been consistently profitable over the last few years. Afterthe buyback this year, proforma eps would have been 23-24p. Even though there are no forecasts, judging by the last few years, would be disappointed if cannot manage over 20p again

[envirovision] 05/7/2011 11:29

Are there no broker / analyst forecasts for 2012 at all here ?

[davidosh] 04/7/2011 00:48

envirovision....No problem and I thought that must be the case. This could be a good point at which to add to your investment and a number of us are certainly more optimistic now but a good group of serious shareholders is needed rather than the thousands of tiny holdings that sadly herald back to the MV Sports days.

The historic p/e here is just over five times earnings and the company does pay a reasonable dividend now. Olympic year ahead and cycling will probably be our strongest sporting event.

[envirovision] 03/7/2011 22:48

David yes I guess it may seem a little unfair as most involved back when it was MV Sports have long gone Fair point, from memory one of the guilty back then for wealth destruction of the business would have been David Lloyd but back in those days I used to work full time so never really would have had the time or motivation to challenge management. These days its a little different. I don't remember the exact number I had originally but im fairly sure it was tens of thousands and possibly more.

[puffin tickler] 02/7/2011 16:15

Well at least you got one.

[davidosh] 01/7/2011 18:48

envirovision...that is a wee bit harsh. If you received just 80p then that suggests you have just 40 shares (x2p dividend) How much did you pay for them and at what point did you lose the majority of your value to end with just a holding worth £40.

I first invested here about four years ago and immediately engaged with management. I cannot say I am 100% happy but things are certainly going in the right direction. Maybe you should have added at some point but anyone buying now gets a 3% dividend which should increase over the next year.

At what point did you challenge management if you feel they were so bad ?

I do totally agree regarding the small shareholdings being inefficient and not cost effective to manage on the register. I did raise the question of a further share consolidation being required at the AGM and I do think we will see another in the near future. Tandem still has thousands of shareholders whilst a company of this size should only really have a couple of hundred at most and ideally more small cap funds involved.

Why are Jupiter the only one and they have not changed their position for yonks ?

[envirovision] 01/7/2011 16:40

Received my dividend cheque today, 80 pence.

Cost them 46p to post it and probably 60p in bank charges to issue it.

I may stick it on the wall next to my genuine one hundred trillion dollar bank of Zimbabwe bank note just to remind me what happens when total w@nkers are entrusted with your hard earned cash.

[campbed] 27/6/2011 22:36

I attended the AGM today at 11am - usual micro cap format of dispensing formal business quickly, followed by informal Q&A with all 5 directors participating though the chairman (the former FD) said most and current FD least with CEO and 2 NEDs (Andy Beswick and Simon Morris) batting 2,3,4 (so to speak).

The message from the Board was that the progress on delivering the commercial strategy communicated last September was broadly on target. But the market places in which the company operates vary: -- as the AGM statement above says the leisure and toys national accounts -e.g. Argos- are softening whereas the market for bicycles - especially parts and accessories- is relatively a better one. Personally I came away feeling agnostic to slightly believing in this broad message.

The various "interfaces" between the company and stock market/investors of interest to shareholders were also covered: e.g. such issues as the current share price of about £1 vs last share back (from Andrew Burgess) at £1.40 (see February RNSs), current mkt cap of only about £5m (too low to be of interest to most fund managers/institutions ) vs net assets of £8.6m (though the differences in pension fund liability valuation methodology impact materially on this number), no guidance given to market in a (house) broker's note, date of next investor presentation etc. Personally I came away feeling mostly atheistic in this area, including the leadership given to the board by Chairman.

PS By way of comparison, after I'd posted above I saw a post about another company in which I am a shareholder (with a very much bigger holding in value than in TND) which also issued a RNS today. That company is Immunodiagnostic Systems (IDH) -- it's got many attractive features most of which TND lacks: -- market, margins and board/investor interfaces to name just three.

[strollingmolby] 27/6/2011 11:38

Usual 'glass half empty' update:

AGM Statement

Chairman, Mervyn Keene, will make the following statement at today's AGM:

"Revenue for the 21 weeks to 24 June 2011 was 5% behind the comparative period last year.

Sales of bicycles and accessories increased by 5% following the initiatives that we identified during last year's strategic review. The initial introduction of a Claud Butler branded parts and accessories range, new national retailer listings and a positive response to the launch of the 2011 year cycle models have helped grow turnover in difficult trading conditions.

Revenue from our sports, leisure and toys business was 21% behind the same period last year. Many of our high profile national accounts continue to report higher stock holdings and weak consumer demand, which affects our sales. Despite these factors, we have signed a number of exciting new licences for 2012 and beyond and we expect to bring some of these to market later this year. We believe that we are well placed to take advantage when consumer confidence returns.

Reductions in shipping costs, coupled with a comparatively weaker US dollar have helped maintain profitability. Overheads remain under tight control.

Notwithstanding the increased levels of stock currently held and the impact this has on working capital and cash, the Group continues to strengthen the balance sheet.

In accordance with our announcement on 3 May 2011, a dividend of 2 pence per ordinary share will be paid on 1 July 2011 to shareholders on the register on 3 June 2011."

[puffin tickler] 25/6/2011 10:03

David

Bit too far for me to go considering my smallish current stake but I await any news with interest.