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The company is in deep trouble. Printing money is not as profitable as it used to be. Less and less money needs to be printed surely as less and less people use it in the digital age. With ink prices going up and paper prices too can it be profitable any more? Will they make enough money to pay of debt and pension hole? Is it possible this could go under and need to be rescued? Things look dire. Certainly they will want more money. So another funding? Who it going to put more money in?
Any idea what the results will bring?
The boardroom has become more like a game of musical chairs with four departures now this year. CEO surely now just going through the motions, he must realise countdown on his own tenure has started. I would be amazed if he was still in post in a year's time.
Well, investors are not waiting for the exec team to act, they are taking action themselves and bailing out for, presumably, substantial losses. In a high interest environment, market is increasingly pricing DLAR as a zombie company.
Its not a great look when every week brings news of another NED's departure with Catherine Ashton last week and Margaret Rice-Jones this week. Is this Clive Whiley recognising he needs new blood on the board or the NEDs trying to distance themselves from the inevitable collapse that is surely on the cards? How long will Clive Whiley hang onto the exec team, it is surely time to act as this current lot clearly can't run a company.
Yes, true. If these positions need to be unwound quickly it could be problematic (see Oxford Biodynamics, as has been noted on the other board).
Odey also had/has an additional 5% via CFD. Bit of a shocker that the company's own major shareholder page hasn't been updated for 4 years, I suppose we should expect nothing less.
I smell a prepack in the air.
Ok, an RNS of 24/03/23 says Odey increased their holding from 1.46% to 1.89%, so that's one question answered.
An RNS of 11/03/22 confirms that Schroders does own 15%, but I'm still trying to find where they hold these shares amongst their huge range of funds...
Would anyone happen to know how much Odey Asset Management owns of DLAR? A list of top 10 holders which I've seen has Royal London Asset Management in 10th place at 2.64%. Odey is not on that list, so presume their holding is below 2.64%..?
Secondly, I see Schroders are the largest shareholder, owning (a considerable) 15% of the company. However, try as I might, I can't find which Schroders Trust(s) or Fund(s) holds the shares. Would anyone happen to know? My plan was to read Schroder's view on their investment in the various Reports and Accounts, but I can't find the fund. I remember veteran investor Andy Brough (who manages the UK mid-cap fund) was a fan of DLAR's turnaround plan, but the company is not held in his fund, per the Sept 2022 accounts.
True there is massive pressure on management here, today's exec departure has appearance of trying to get ahead of the carnage. Results are make or break. Odey being a big holder here won't be helping with selling pressure.
With the banking covenant torpedo heading towards this damaged ship, even the NEDs are leaving (and who can blame them). When will the execs face up to their responsibility and make way for new leadership - in just the last five days the shares are down 8.6% on a flat FTSE all share, there has to be a limit to how far a bunch of execs can erode shareholder value and keep their jobs (but apparently its not 54% in six months). Surely the FY results pres can't be another Turnaround Plan with the same people in charge?
Thanks for not much!
Time for DLAR to move on and focus on what can be done to save this business now!!
It will be very interesting to see what happens when they finally announce results -- new board chairman took Mothercare through a CVA so I wonder if there is something similar in DLR's future? Guess it will depend on whether the banks agree to relief on the covenants. And will new chairman want a new CEO?
Thank you. What an awful day for my portfolio - I'm almost glad they delayed it!
They pushed back from today to 29th June (reason given was banking covenants/chair appointment, 9th May RNS)
I was expecting DLAR to release Final Results today. Anyone know why it didn't happen?
Mmmmm.
He'll have to roll his sleeves up with this one - that's for sure.
From Mothercare?
Surely they could have done better?
Yeah, past jobs at Dignity (now ceased as an independent entity) and Mothercare (now in refinancing talks). That track record is unlikely to instil confidence.
On the other chat board someone suggested this was done to spite CRS. They may have a point.
The new chairman comes from the funeral business? Apt.
I used to have shares in here. When the price was around £5. I took the 10% Dividend at that time then sold.
I'm sorry but this company has been run into the ground since then..
It feels like a positive step that Kevin Loosemore is departing. Crystal Amber will hopefully take actions to improve the SP. This was an interesting read, Crystal Amber's interim report, page 7-8: chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://storage.googleapis.com/crystalamber-com.appspot.com/_downloads/Crystal_Amber_Interim_Report-No-Sigs-31-12-2022.pdf
??? The whole private equity model is about borrowing money to buy equity… Do you think if DLAR wasn’t leveraged it would be trading at a market cap of £80m? So of course a bid could come in and the debt absorbed, that’s what PE is all about!
This thing is now effectively owned by the banks.
The shares are pretty much valueless.
No buyer is going to come in with this level of bank debt - added to which is the pension fund mess.
This company could have been architected out of the mess - it has an extraordinary brand and history.
But it has shown no signs of changing strategy and no sane buyer will want to come in to basically rescue the banks - because that is all that this mess is now, in cold reality.
It has been a totally squandered opportunity.