Tandem Share Discussion Threads

[davidosh] 13/2/2020 01:20

MRF.....Very sorry to hear your £1000 turned into £80 but I do think that there is hope here as we have a shareholder with 12% and lots more with significant holdings.

From what we can see they all want changes and a board that is much more shareholder friendly, providing regular presentations,and certainly paying out much higher dividends to shareholders.

Lets see how this looks in about four months time after the next Agm.

[my retirement fund] 12/2/2020 22:20

Indeed. I can confirm that had you have purchased £1000 worth of shares 20 years ago, they would now be worth just £80. I know this because thats what my holding fetched when I sold them yesterday after costs. I suspect you remaining keyboard warriors with have an up hill struggle unless you can all organise yourselves with a sizable group holding shareholdings into double digits, and call some EGMs to stop the directors salaries, perks and golden pension sharing gravy train. Good luck with that one !

[rhomboid] 12/2/2020 19:58

I don’t hold shares here but am intrigued by the % of the pension fund relating to the directorate...given their remuneration & length of service it must be considerable...definitely potential for a conflict of interest vs shareholders when it comes to any dividend v pension discussion

Declaration ...I think the last RNS was a new low in IR

[castleford tiger] 12/2/2020 19:44

Agree performance has not been good enough.
This year we should have made 40 p plus a share but trade on 5 x earnings.
For an asset backed company that’s not good enough.
I still feel a new dividend policy should be the way.
We could double the dividend and still be below the pension figure.
I have a feeling there maybe further developments before the AGM and the board may have a struggle getting through this without some rewards to holders.
Views? Warriors 😂

[davidosh] 12/2/2020 16:24

I think we need a correction RNS showing the performance from £7.50 down to errrr £2.00 and an apology to the keyboard warriors !

To be honest only shareholders who have bought in recently can claim any influence over the share price having created a buzz and interest in investing here and clearly Jupiter who held their 11% for nearly 20 years must have made a huge loss having sold out at £1.75.

[maddox] 12/2/2020 15:34

davidosh,

....and were one to factor in inflation over the period of that performance comparison....

[bozzy_s] 12/2/2020 15:30

I'm surprised TND hasn't been taken over. Throw out the overpaid directors, and it would've been a cash cow for an entrepreneur.

[davidosh] 12/2/2020 14:48

Additionally as Mervyn by his own words was giving it high fives for the fact the share price was almost double the level from when he became chairman then I wonder if he could provide the same data showing how well the share price has performed since he first became a director

'Bigging up' the performance over a set period may not be a clever idea as loyal shareholders who have been invested since MK became a director, whether 'keyboard warriors' or not, have seen little benefit and are probably down on their investment compared to putting it in a bank account or premium bonds let alone comparing it with the AIM market.

Happy to be corrected but there was a 1 for 10 consolidation in Feb 2003
and there was an effective 1 for 6.25 consolidation in September 2009 so it would now be a low single digit penny stock if not for those actions

[18bt] 12/2/2020 14:17

Most companies have independent NEDs to add some rigour to the process ...

[davidosh] 12/2/2020 13:37

Just thinking aloud.....Most companies have interviews and nomination committees with a selection process to include external applicants when looking for the right candidates to become CEO. Why does this not happen at Tandem?

[indonews] 12/2/2020 10:34

Agreed Maddox, I seriously doubt with the cost savings over the years that there is anything other than a shoestring staff teetering on the brink behind the scenes.
Reading through Mervyn's recent rant in my mind they must be stretched, how in the current market can such a lean company not be smashing sales in e mobility and electric bikes? looking over the past year were they not out of stock of electric bikes for most of the year? DISGRACEFUL lack of ability to exploit a growth market- i would bet they have no experienced staff left to develop these ranges or maybe no sourcing or buying expertise? who knows?

[maddox] 12/2/2020 10:15

hi bozzy,

Whilst the Directors play musical chairs and richly reward themselves for what has been mediocre performance over ten years and more - I'm more concerned about the managers below. I suspect that it won't just be TND's shareholders that are inadequately remunerated. There are probably some talented hardworking managers that are not being adequately incentivised and rewarded. Some of the new product lines and initiatives are clearly working - so there are signs of retailing talent in TND. I'd like to better understand that this talent is being encouraged and nurtured and not likely to walk out the door.

Regards Maddox (keyboard warrior with 20+ of commercial experience - CV on application)

[velocytongo] 10/2/2020 22:38

So, one question I have is, why have character group done so well, while tend has bumped along doing v little ? Perhaps Mr Keene would like to address that in another rambling, comedic missive !?

[my retirement fund] 10/2/2020 22:12

I think there is a 100% consensus here They hold us in contempt!

[bozzy_s] 10/2/2020 21:52

I've read every post on this BB, and the departing chairman is simply wrong. There's no gripe on here for how profitable / successful TND has been through turbulent retail times. I don't recall anyone suggesting they'd make TND more successful.

The two issues have been over-payment of board members, and under-payment of dividends.

I wonder if anyone would have time to look at TND's profits before director's emoluments for the previous 10 years. How much of that money has gone to the directors, and how much to the owners? I'd reckon somewhere around 97% / 3% split.

[castleford tiger] 10/2/2020 17:48

I have little to add but I do find the statement upsetting.

Despite this, it is disappointing that internet posters, who often hide behind
absurd pseudonyms, continue to type inaccurate statements and offensive remarks. There are an irritating few of these keyboard warriors who have no commercial experience but think that they could run the Group better.

I have no idea if the above is targeted at me or who in particular.
I certainly cannot remember seeing offensive remarks.

The much discussed dividend issue both at the AGM and on here is a healthy debate.

Most posters do have a business background.
We take a day out of our business to attend an AGM.
We also have hard cash in the company. In my case almost £300k.

We are entitled to look and discuss and to give ideas to the BOD.
It is almost 10 years since we suggested direct selling via an e platform.

It is fair and equitable that shareholders who take the bad times also get to share in the profits.
The return over 20/10/5 years has been poor IN MY OPINION.

The share price has only just kicked on and I guess that's partly due to the buying of the Jupiter stake.

Directors need to remember they are employed by the company and the company is owned by shareholders.

If time was spent via the NOMAD discussing the MM and getting to grips with the trading of the shares we would all gain.
Often a 10% spread puts off buyers.

Todays opening mark down was another example. It was not caused by sellers.

Whilst I also see the continuity plan with Jim stepping up I am unsure its the right move.
Why replace the good FD rather than bring in someone with some new ideas with contacts in the business?

Anyway the numbers were good and I don't doubt the team are good at their jobs.

However I hear little about a 5 year plan?
Where are we going and do we have a strategic plan?

tiger
and for the record they know who I am and have done for many years.

[bozzy_s] 10/2/2020 15:32

This has been on my monitor for 15+ years. I was a shareholder many years ago. Still follow the results, trading updates etc, as it remains so incredibly undervalued (i.e the market sees TND's management as liabilities).

Today's RNS was one of the worst I've ever seen. Why did the NOMAD sign it off? The former chairman comes across as a laughing stock. This is one of the best bulletin boards on ADVFN. Chocked full of successful entrepreneurs / investors. He should try reading BBs of other AIM listed microcaps. That's where he'll find 'keyboard warriors'!

If shareholders asking for a fair dividend is his definition of trolls / keyboard warriors, it's just as well he's going. He'd be thrown out. What an utterly clueless prat. What a ridiculous RNS!!

Hopefully for you guys this is the start of better management, fairer dividends, and therefore a much, much higher share price.

[graham1ty] 10/2/2020 15:24

Not sure Merv really cares. I have only got accounts back to 2004, but in the eight years 2004-2011 he earned £1,507,000 ( £154k; £149k; £147k; £133k; £206k; £207k; £276k; then £116k in 2011 when he was non Exec for 7 months).

Since then has been £50,000 per annum as non Exec Chairman, so another c£450,000.

Let us call it a round £2,000,000 since 2004

[davidosh] 10/2/2020 15:12

I do not think any long term shareholders (and I have been here since 2006) will be crowing about how successful their investment in Tandem has been. There will be very few who think the dividend income has been sufficient either.

Moaning about 'keyboard warriors' affecting the company. Really !!

The vast majority have been long term investors and very patient from my knowledge of this board.

There has been a very detailed write up on Stockopedia today

[graham1ty] 10/2/2020 14:04

David, it is really difficult back then as there have been share splits, then share consolidations. And not all the data providers make the necessary adjustments.

The Stocko chart shows the price hitting 500p in 2000. You can work out some values from share Placings. In Jan 2000 they raised £580,000 through the issue of new shares, being 8.6% of the then share capital. However, the issue was done at a 10% discount, so if done at par, 8.6% would have been £644,000. Gross that up, and the entire share capital would have been worth £7.5m. Which is only just below where it is today.

Using my logic in an earlier post, that prior to the Jupiter take out, the price was 175p, then the market cap a month ago was £8.75m.

That is growth of 16% ( ie £8.75m/£7.5m) over 20 years.

[maddox] 10/2/2020 13:46

Our Chairman clearly has a personality disorder - why on earth would he put his own feelings of resentment into a Trading Update. Completely detracts from the positive results. Sad.

He should have thanked the 'keyboard warriors' for resurrecting the share price such that he can bow-out with a better share price record than would otherwise have been the case.

Question in my mind is - did he jump or was he pushed?

[davidosh] 10/2/2020 13:44

Graham1TY.....I think you track most things about Tandem.

What was the share price when Mervyn became a director at Tandem? What has been the effective share price growth rate since then?

All the aquisitions overseen by Mervyn have not really delivered shareholder value or if they have the value does not seem to have gone to shareholders !

[graham1ty] 10/2/2020 13:08

He also fails to mention that the share price was stuck between 110p -150p for all of calendar 2016, 2017 and 2018. Then he would not have been crowing