United Carpets Share Discussion Threads

[loganair] 22/5/2015 21:29

SCS Upholstery was put into receivership by it's directors, then less than 2 hours later was bought from receivership by the very same directors for just 1 pound.

[my retirement fund] 22/5/2015 19:53

I think they were very different beasts though. All had endemic structural problems in their respective markets and they had other huge liabilities such as pension funds.Carpets, flooring and beds are in sector which is only at the start of a cyclic growth cycle once again, and there is likely to be considerable growth in these markwts as the feel good factor returns.

[loganair] 22/5/2015 19:40

What the BOD of UCG did, so could have, but did not the respective BOD's of ie HMV, Woolworths, SCS upholstery to name but a few.

[my retirement fund] 22/5/2015 19:13

Stay clear of the private equity stuff is the best advice I can give you in that case. A lot of that stuff is smash and grab. London is littered with them eg. Jessops take a look at some of the smash and grab in the last year alone such as BOO and AI are classic examples.

[loganair] 22/5/2015 19:00

Unlike virtually every other company I´ve invested in, in the stock market the directors of UCG have always stood by the share holders, doing what is in the best interest of the shareholders rather than making a 'fast buck' for themselves which they could easily have done.

[lbo] 22/5/2015 17:52

I think you will find a lot as changed since it was floated back in 2005 and not the just share price but also its size and plans. It was originally floated at 25p and a £20m valuation. It then had 50 stores with a plan to increase that to over a 100 three years after floating. Look where it is now and it's original plans are gone out the window as it would now rather return cash to shareholders then try to expand again. Thus it remaining listed as a tightly held and an undervalued microcap with no major growth ambitions that pays dividends is pointless and a waste of money on listing costs per annum.And yes I also agree he could have taken it private much cheaper during the restructuring and I am sure he had offers to but he quite rightly decided not to completely shaft the other shareholders and for this he must be commended. But fact remains the business plan due to mostly external economic factors over the last few years has now changed substantially and it no longer warrants being a listed entity if it's just only going to be such a low growth micro cap dividend payer. They could easily now take it private at 15p and hold theirs heads up high that although the listing and expansion plan failed due the recession the management did not when it had to be restructured and have rewarded old original listing shareholders with getting a lot of their money back and a few years of dividends in between.

[my retirement fund] 22/5/2015 17:13

I think if Mr Eyre was in it for a MOB. Firstly he wouldn't have floated it any way. Secondly if he wanted it back in private hands that would have been achieved during the restructuring. Lastly he would hardly be approving special dividends.I think the chances of another company making an offer as a tasy bolt on aquisition is possible.However given Eyres and certain other holdings, the chance of a low ball offer being accepted are between zero and not all.

[loganair] 22/5/2015 15:19

United Carpets, up 16.7%. The UK's second largest chain of floor covering retail outlets has declared a special dividend of a penny a share. That may not sound that big a deal, but with the shares trading at less than 10p before the announcement – they have risen 1.5p to 10.5p – that is a fairly handy yield.

[lbo] 22/5/2015 12:54

Cantors said back in December




BE
On United Carpets, Cantor’s keen.


United Carpets Group PLC (UCG:LSE): Last: 9.10, up 0.85 (+10.30%), Volume: 109.43k

BE
Results were better than our forecasts. Underlying pre-tax profits in the six months to end of September increased by 32% to £510k vs. CFE Research £430k, on sales, including LFL growth of 0.3%, to £9.1m. Results benefited from an improvement in gross margins, which rose by almost 250bps to 65.3% due to changes in the franchise and wholesale revenue mix. The company now has 47 franchise stores (FY14: 51) and 11 corporate stores (FY14: 9).

The company also announced it will be recommencing dividend pay-outs at the end of the year. In our forecasts, we have assumed a final dividend of 0.2p. Net cash was £1.8m at the year end and is forecast to be £2.3m at the end of March 2015, while current trade has encouragingly picked up further from Q2, during which assumes LFLs increased by c. 4.0%.

Following this update, we are raising our FY15 pre-tax profits by 10% to £1.1m from £1.0m (FY14: £884k) taking EPS up to 1.01p from 0.92p. Management has largely completed the restructuring of the store portfolio and has established a profitable base of stores, with the support of a relatively solid balance sheet (FY15 net cash = c.35% of market value). It is now well placed to benefit from positive momentum arising from a number of recent initiatives. It is currently testing a smaller store format, which is located in six ‘high street’ sites, supplying a broad section of sample carpets without carrying any stock and is seeing encouraging results from this new store format. It has also seen better results from its bed ranges after improving the ranges and restructuring the way that they are supplied to the franchisees. In addition, we believe the company will continue to be a beneficiary of the pick-up in the housing market in its northern heartlands and transactions. The stock is now rated at 8.2x our FY15 earnings forecasts and 3.7x FY15 EV/EBITDA. It is valued at a significant discount to peer, Carpetright which is rated at 37x our FY15 earnings forecasts. We reiterate our BUY recommendation and TP of 12p reflecting our greater confidence in the outlook, the company’s low valuation and the likely reinstatement of dividends from FY15 onwards.

[my retirement fund] 22/5/2015 12:46

Agree worth 14 to 15p all day long.

[silkywhite] 22/5/2015 12:36

current trading must be strong

[eezymunny] 22/5/2015 12:27

The whole capital reduction thing was to facilitate divis. This big fat one, and if trading stays OK a 2 x covered ongoing divi of about .5p for a c. 5% yield here and then there's still plenty of cash on b/s + cash flow to fund expansion, if they see fit.

There was obviously (to me) excess cash on the b/s so the special makes total sense.

Illiquid share etc and possibility of an MBO/delisting/poor trading is there but every company has a fair price. Suspect well north of here.

[lbo] 22/5/2015 12:14

If no MBO plan they why not just pay an ordinary dividend now and going forward? Why the need for a large special dividend? Surely the point of being listed is to grow the business and not just be a below the radar undervalued micro cap throwing off cash to shareholders? If that's what they now see the business as then it makes a lot more sense to take it private and take away the listing costs and immediately add a couple hundred thousand pa to the bottom line. They originally floated at 20p so makes a lot of sense to now take it private at 15p and make a lot more cash for themselves as a private entity.

[eezymunny] 22/5/2015 11:38

Indeed LBO. Don't think they'd be paying a special divi if they were planning an MBO (tho accept the possibility!). They should still have £1-1.5m cash on the b/s if trading is going OK. A stream of juicy divis is certainly possible...

Feel a fairer price is 13-14p based on an 8% free cash flow yield and the strength of the balance sheet...all dependent on trading of course! With some growth maybe could end up being well north of that ;)

[lbo] 22/5/2015 11:24

Trading must be continuing to be good if they still happy to do the special dividend. I wonder is this dividend a way to give the major shareholders money to try to take it private on the cheap!? Leaving it on the balance sheet left them open to a private equity bid. I wonder have they had takeover approaches? Taking it private would reduce all the listing costs and immediately add a couple of hundred thousand to the bottom line and if the not looking to invest in the business and expand its Market Cap then what's the point of it being listed? At the moment it's a small profitable dividend paying business that attracts little attention and I suspect it's a target to be taken private.

[eezymunny] 22/5/2015 11:03

As I thought





Suspect UCG too cheap but dependent on trading of course.

[envirovision] 05/5/2015 23:46

I think an email to the company is in order to clarify this asset.

[my retirement fund] 05/5/2015 13:07

See

section 2.2 page 7

The company bought itself out of admin in 2012 and seems to show property valued at £400K on the books on that day....

4. Acquisition

The trade, assets and certain liabilities of United Carpets (Northern) Limited were acquired by United Carpets (Franchisor) Limited on 4 October 2012.


Book values Fair value
pre-acquisition adjustments Fair value
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000

Goodwill 183 (183) -
Property, plant and equipment 400 0

[bisiboy] 03/5/2015 19:44

dont think ucg own this but maybe wrong.

[hibberts] 30/4/2015 14:41

Been buying a few over the last couple of weeks, getting in before full year results,could be interesting.

[my retirement fund] 29/4/2015 12:59

I assume this is part of United Carpets PLC:

Historic art-deco building in Long Eaton could become flats, application submitted by Robert Whiteley of UC Holdings, a property company owned by the chairman of United Carpets.

Read more:

Group Structure:
Ultimate parent company UNITED CARPETS GROUP PUBLIC LIMITED COMPANY 05301665

Subsidiary companies:
NOTTINGHAM CARPET WAREHOUSE LIMITED 01724937
WEAVERS CARPETS LIMITED 02291907
UNITED CARPETS (COMMERCIAL) LIMITED 08053659
UNITED CARPETS (PROPERTY) LIMITED 08053813
DEBRIK INVESTMENTS LIMITED 04003138
UNITED CARPETS (CENTRAL) LIMITED 04643654
UNITED CARPETS (FRANCHISOR) LIMITED 05265615

Read more at: hxxp://companycheck.co.uk/company/05301665/UNITED-CARPETS-GROUP-PUBLIC-LIMITED-COMPANY/group-structure

[envirovision] 21/4/2015 14:31

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