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I only have a small holding here, its going to be a long term turnaround and lots of factors can upset things,we need inflation down, energy costs down, economy turned around, people need to feel better off before splashing out on expensive pints and meals and nights out, baby steps here will take time MARS needs to achieve what they said they would debt below 1b asap and increase margins/lower costs, i accept could be 2-3 yrs before this looks good again , but i have time and the patience, good luck all
larry quite right. Pleased someelse has picked it up. I did not want to keep harping on about debt, which does get ignored.
It is all very well rampers, who are basically Traders, trying to influence genuine Long term Investors.
not sure those maths quite adds up without including the 1.6b debt :(
Marston owns 40% of the Carlsberg Marstons partnership, and owns over £1B worth of property estate.
Currently for less than £300m you can now buy Marstons and asset strip the whole lot to make mega £££££ of profit.
Hopefully we see another take over bid soon, the last one was for 100, so would be 194% profit from here!
Especially as they have now secured through their partnership the rights to distribute and manufacture Kronenbourg 1664 in the UK -one of the Uk's most popular Lagers.
Would be nice to order some warmer weather too, ha.ha! Fingers crossed!
There was a massive Broker upgrade today for Whitbread. I'm expecting this to roll over here.
Have not lost it. But nor have Marston's seen they have won more wards :-
www.marstonspubs.co.uk/news/midas-menu-awards.aspx
Maybe Whitbread are seeing an opportunity for our premium team winning Gold? Anyway looking forward to upgrade in sales figs very soon which will bring in more corporate investors.
Dinoken/FD
Why is it that Super discharger has been so silent recently ?
He did once claim to be very close to management at MARS, was that before the Tesla ?
I do know, of course, that he claims never to lose cash in the LSE, only ever spends time looking at his gains, maybe he has been distracted recently with his calculator ?
DYOR as usual
Dinoken are you serious? Pubs with no beer, many here have made great play of Marstons link with Carlsberg.
Whitbread, cherry-picking Marstons prime sites is very possible. WHB does have a significant War-chest. The only problem for MARS would be being left with a bunch of un-profitable beer-houses. On balance, unless a bid was extraordinary hard to see the BOD going for such a deal. Stranger things have happened, especially, looking back, when MARS leased a load of badly maintained pubs in Wales
Down the pub, where else, which has no beer (no kidding, mast and rigging) and spoke to an oracle who foresees Whitbread getting back into pubs. Name being bandied around was MARS, who have many sites ideal for redevelopment with proposed new Premier Inns. Sounds sensible but only if pub has no beer, which sadly is the case with several Marston's pubs round here, where closest you can get is Guiness. IMO laughable, or is it ?
Hi fellas. Yes, all is well. Sorry to hear I have been missed, but although I'm not invested here, I'll pop in from time to time to share my ditties & humour.
I've always liked this company, I still do to be fair, that's why I've not been bad mouthing it. I invested, it didn't work out the way I wanted it to, but $hit happens, and you have to take it on the chin don't you? Stocks & shares are not piggy banks/ savings accounts and that's that.
I've only got 3 going at the moment, SAV as a long term play, PFD as a safe bet & FUL. Apparently though FUL is subject to a takeover bid atm for pretty much what my buy in was, so I'm scratching my head wondering what to do with that one, but other than that all is good.
Hope you are both well.
Fire sale, Fire sale !! By divesting themselves of basically assets that may be hard to turn a profit on , the BOD have taken the only real option open to them, Debt must be bought under control and obviously any monies raised will go towards this fulfilment. The nagging worry for me is the real possibility that the valuations might not be achieved either in the short term ,or the medium term ,if this comes to fruition the pressures upon cash flow stay apparent ! The precept that another owner would have the ability to turn that elusive profit is speculative at best , considering the state of the economy and the reduced footfall into public houses . One last thought, If I were able to purchase a modest public house in this sale for say £300,000, then I would need to work 10 - 12 hours a day , probably six days a week to try and make a modest living wage - say £25000 p.a. whereas £300,000 can return, at 4.5 % £13,500 whilst I am lying in bed ( and I still retain control of my capital ) Best of luck all, we are going to need it with this share !!
Trent
Good to hear from you, we've missed your pithy comments that made us chuckle.
I bet you are pleased you cut MARS when you did, rather than listening to the puff puff puff of some commenters here who always seem to have an agenda ?
I trust you & family are well, going to your favourite Greek island again perhaps ?
Trent, Good too hear from you. Hope you and the family are well and your investments are profitable?
MARS still in the doldrums, Pubs being sold, debt stubbornly high and, your favourite, NO Dividends.
I just thought I'd pop in to see how everyone was doing. Hope all is well.
All pubs were reviewed based on their performance over the past 5 years and worse performing pubs put up for sale.
I know for a fact some of the pubs up for sale were or had started to turn things around I.e. new management etc but as the performance was based over a 5 year period there up for sale.
Barchid, social media has changed the way the younger generation socialise in my view. Gone are the days when you used to pop down to the pub to catch up with friends, it’s all posted over Facebook etc these days.
Quickdip
A very interesting link you posted and is certainly something I have mentioned many times on this board, living in London it is truly astonishing how few pubs are really busy and also how many have closed for good.
One thing Skynews probably deliberately avoided mentioning is how so few younger people go to pubs these days so why is this ?
My guess is that with recreational drugs affording that age group the opportunity of getting hammered for much less than putting down a large number of pints would cost them is very likely the reason.
A culture change which can only hurt pubs long term.
In March 20 the SP fell off a cliff to low 20's as did all stocks when the Covid Lockdown had impact. The SP gradually recovered to stand at a high in March 21. The began a slow consistent decline to where it is now. The factors you mention have had an effect as for most stocks. The remaining issue for MARS, is and will remain for a good time, Debt.
Sales are up when compared against lockdown and not forgetting the inclusion of sales from the Brain's estate which only had it first years inclusion in the accounts to 30th September last. So Brain's figures have inflated overall sales .
Sales must be judged against the net profit they produce.
Selling anything under duress is never good, but lets take your view. justaquickone, the pubs are not performing. OK, that being the case in the current climate, who will wish to buy at the values suggested?
Not sure all the 61 pubs are not performing, for instance the Mitre Oak at Stourport, is in good location have a reputation, well patronised and so on.
When your back is against the wall you liquidate assets that should readily sell, profitability and location can only help the sale.
Any bottom fishers have the opportunity now, to take a gamble, but always remember never invest more than you are prepared to lose.
AIMO
Meant to say -
Sales are up, non performing pubs are being sold, strategy to reduce debt and assuming WW3 doesnt kick off I see Mars as a good recovery play.
'Keep topping up and hoping, but just remember the SP has been on a constant downward trend since March 2021 when at 130p'
With respect the share price wasnt £1.30 March 21, maybe 2020 and the reason for the decline in SP is due to fact pubs were shut , closely followed by russia / Ukraine war, increased overheads and looming fear of a recession.
Sales are up, non performing pubs are being sold, strategy ito reduce and assuming WW3 doesnt kick off I see Mars as a good recovery play.
You can't argue with the delusional...........your only weapons are facts, reason and logic!
Understand the firm are expecting a very good weekend for family get togethers, the next sales figures will be very good. We have seen the sector recovering strongly now post pandemic. Seen Wetherspoon and Whitbread figs and we should be near the top of the tree, as the last release showed more sales profit per share here than even M&B.
We can see the small town shorts starting to panic here now, who appear to write a lot, no doubt becoming even more negative with every post, it is nice for them to think of me, but I do not need their help and to be honest they are quite boring. They obviously are starting to lose bad money -I don't even bother to read their comments which are at complete odds with the CEO and BOD of Marston's. Maybe they are on the wrong Company page? GLA with good not bad money lets make the shorts pay! Although the govt is also giving us incentives on draft ale now which will help boost home sales than ever before on reduced prices!