Vianet Share Discussion Threads

[its the oxman] 24/12/2020 00:04

Or perhaps im just missing something. Last added myself at 68p. Co seems well positioned to survive so will wait and see what happens now.

[its the oxman] 23/12/2020 23:45

Seems crazy Wetherspoons , marstons and many other leisure type plays are recovering while this gets evermore sold down , could prove a great opportunity for the brave buyer at this level.

[illiswilgig] 09/12/2020 13:55

As you rightly point out the future of Vianet is not with pubs, sadly especially not with village pubs.

It seems that Vianet also spotted this some time ago. If I understand it rightly their future model is based upon growth in what they are calling the 'unattended retail sector' which used to be the kitkat machine to me. Or the one where all the popular bars had sold out and only the curly wurlys were left? And if you hit it right it gave you the product instead of swallowing your money. My how things change?

I expect unattended retailing to grow rapidly post covid and not just for kitkats and coffee machines. Pharmacies and many other retail operations are looking towards 24hour unattended operation based upon near real-time data management, analytics and contactless payment.

The company is in transition from a manufacturer, installer and maintainer of electronic flowing monitoring and telemetry boxes (now outsourced) to a cloud based provider of software as a service in unattended retail services.

None of that means that they will succeed - one of the biggest risks to this is that the profits from the i-draught disappear before they can grow the unattended retail services - but if they do. and in my view they have a fair chance - it will not be resting on the future of the village pub, more a Robot Bar? Ugh! what a horrible thought.

cheers

[mystericon] 09/12/2020 11:38

My concern is that essentially there are unfavourable structural changes in Vianet's marketplace that Covid has just dramatically accelerated. In my village, for example, there were 4 pubs in 2012. One closed, as part of the familiar shrinkage of this sector as customer demand contracts, four years ago. Of the remaining three at the start of this year one has seen its already-struggling tenant walk away so is currently empty and a second is still occupied but has been closed since March because the tenants apparently have just "given up": in both cases the brewery has been trying to attract new managers but with no success (even before Covid it's become ever harder to persuade new people to enter this troubled sector, while planning law sadly encourages owners/brewers to go through the motions of unsuccessfully trying to recruit in order to keep pubs going as this helps get change-of-use consent for the property's redevelopment or sale, so no-one locally really expects either place to re-open as a hostelry). The four and final pub, a free house, we hope will survive in the business. But where on earth but in difficulty does this place Vianet's model? Sure, you can theoretically make a higher percentage profit in a much smaller sector but revenues are surely going to be permanently far down for anyone supplying pubs.

[energeticbacker] 09/12/2020 10:17

Operating cash flow was a positive £1.19m but free cash flow a negative £155k. Having secured £3.5m of funding through the government’s CBIL’s scheme period end net debt was £1.15m.

Investor's Champion comments that when its markets re-open Vianet's products could see strong demand.

[this_is_me] 08/12/2020 08:26

Long term the prospects look better than they did this time last year. Short term it is going to continue to be a struggle. I can't see the company going bust so we have a good investment at current share price levels.

[its the oxman] 08/12/2020 08:03

A good business, just need pubs to reopen. Could then move quickly. Till then patience.

[mystericon] 02/12/2020 18:14

The new post-lockdown tier system is a real blow not just to the pub sector but also to any business umbilically linked to it. And Vianet is in the latter category. I hear of all sorts of workarounds and dodges being dreamed up by landlords desperate to be able to welcome customers into their pubs: Tier 3 still looks completely impossible in that regard but in Tier 2 I gather some are considering a menu saying "Soup of the Day: Carling" or suddenly offering pasties or pies for the first time or even in one case re-naming a particular beer "Substantial Meal". It's hard, however, to see Vianet's revenues being anything but depressed for quite some time, and with a shrunken pub sector afterwards perhaps permanently lower than in 2019.

[its the oxman] 02/12/2020 12:16

Bit of a market laggard this one. Well off the pace at the moment. Next update will be interesting.

[babbler] 23/10/2020 06:33

Boom. Hope you closed your damn short

[this_is_me] 23/10/2020 06:30

News much better than expected with a profit last month. Long term there has been no change in prospects "... the Group is in a robust financial and operating position to navigate FY2021 and continue the solid momentum that was building prior to C-19 and deliver on the exciting growth opportunities that we see ahead of us."

[ottovb] 16/10/2020 19:46

Yes but we have been staring at these headlights in the tunnel since well before the drop. Come the trading announcement, I expect the news will be much worse than the market had priced in.

[jeffian] 15/10/2020 15:06

I imagine edpick has identified the problem. Pub closures - temporary or even permanent if the Covid restrictions last much longer - are no good for the beer monitoring business. Although the contactless/vending machines side of the business theoretically should not be affected, the numbers of people staying at home in 'lockdown' must impact on that activity in the short term as well.

[ottovb] 15/10/2020 14:48

I have a feeling it's a case of buy the rumour, sell the news - except in reverse. So what's the rumour, anyone?

[edpick] 13/10/2020 12:33

I'm guessing the decline in the share price is due to the bleak outlook for pubs. Have they extended the discount on brulines?

[jeffian] 30/6/2020 11:39

Good AGM update this morning and good market response.

[alan@bj] 30/6/2020 08:32

I bought in (again) last Wednesday. Maybe I've timed it right for once. I was a holder for 5 years between 2013 and 2018 and made a decent profit, especially when dividends were included.

[bouleversee] 30/6/2020 08:01

Nice rise today. Hope it stays that way. I have hung on for the ride.

[this_is_me] 30/6/2020 07:30

Very promising long term prospects despite the likely poor results for the current year.

[andywillz] 08/6/2020 12:46

@jeffian

I actually bought in because i really liked the cashless technology side of the business. however i sold because i think my money can grow better in the medium term elsewhere. VNET will be on my watchlist because if the price keeps dropping, as i suspect it will, I can buy back in at a bargain price and hold for the long :)

[smackeraim] 08/6/2020 11:35

I'd expect the smart machines/cashless technology side to continue to grow, considering what we have just been going through.

[jeffian] 08/6/2020 09:39

#762,

" results were pretty basic and growth almost non existant "

Results, of course, are always historic. It depends where you think the business will go from here. Probably repetition, but this is a company whose core business (beer monitoring) is declining whilst its new business (smart machines/cashless technology) is growing fast. During the transition, the decline in one has offset the growth in the other, which has limited overall growth. If you don't see the potential in the cashless bit, you may be right about non-existent growth. I suspect those of us who continue to hold see it differently.

[smackeraim] 08/6/2020 09:37

Ministers target June 22 for reopening of England’s pubs and restaurants

[smackeraim] 06/6/2020 12:54

From the very outset of the pandemic, our goal has been to preserve cash to ensure both business continuity and to enable ongoing investment in the business, with the aim of being strongly positioned for the COVID-19 exit phase. Whilst these are still early days, we are encouraged that April's trading performance was well ahead of our revised forecasts, and that the measures we have taken to protect the business have been successful, giving us confidence that we are well positioned to exit from the COVID-19 phase with momentum to accelerate our growth plans.