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Started: Libero, 3 Mar 2022 15:36
Last post: Kapelomi, 22 Aug 2022 20:13
In case anybody hasn't heard:-Studio Retail Group Plc - In Administration (“the Company”)
Company Number: 00549034
Daniel James Mark Smith and Daniel Francis Butters were appointed Joint Administrators of the Company on 24 February 2022. Shortly after the appointment, the Company suspended the listing and trading of the Company’s ordinary shares.
Following application by the Company, the Financial Conduct Authority has cancelled the listing of the Company's ordinary shares on the premium segment of the Official List and the London Stock Exchange has cancelled the trading of the Company’s ordinary shares on the main market for listed securities maintained by the London Stock Exchange, in each case with effect from 08.00 am (GMT), 25 February 2022.
As such the shares have no value and there will be no distribution to the shareholders.
Details of the sale of the company’s shareholding in Studio Retail Ltd to and certain other assets to Fraser’s Group were published to the Companies House database on 9 March 2022.
?
Started: WEU01, 15 Feb 2022 16:32
Last post: Paulof2, 16 Feb 2022 14:21
I’m not sure it is very fair to compare studio to Debenhams, one is still forecasting to make near their record profits for the year and the other was a department store plagued with high lease costs as customers were moving away from physical stores.
I think people are jumping the gun here, the rns states they are intending to appoint administrators, but it is a few days on now and still no confirmation that they have actually entered into administration which should tell you that something is going on in the background.
I suspect there will be a resolution on this tomorrow, or if not by Friday at the latest. If a company is making £30m a year and realistically can be picked up for £100m or less even with short term cash flow issues there will be buyers rubbing their hands together and queueing up. All parties involved will be trying to avoid administration in this case.
This will either be sold as a going concern, or there will be some form of equity financing deal agreed. I don’t think it will even reach administration.
People see the term administration and think of high profile cases like Debenhams and think that means it is the end, but that’s not necessarily the case especially when a company is profit making and still has substantial net assets excluding intangibles.
I’ve no position here although I did consider it at times, If you are a shareholder you will no doubt end up having to take a hit, but if you are an employee worried about your pay check I wouldn’t be too concerned personally.
Debenhams was a disgrace. Refused any offer by Ashley and the brand was bought out by BOO. The employees lost their jobs and pensions and will go into the lifeboat scheme which pays out about 50% on average over the pension term (90% at start but no or very small yearly increase so it falls away quickly over time
He did try do exactly that with Debenhams (save the company for all shareholders). Often there are too many parties with diverging interests....Directors, Bond holders, banks etc. Quite often a pre-pack is already agreed and no competitive tender is held.
Ashley is astute. He may take the company into the Frasers Group fold, but he'll do it cheaply and certainly won't be bailing out existing shareholders imo.
This is a strong business, all it needs is one offer from PE and that will make Mike Ashley to act. If you sold parts of Studio now you will get a lot more then £100m. Just my thoughts.
Started: BubbaBubbaBubba, 14 Feb 2022 16:06
Last post: CHRI55, 15 Feb 2022 07:20
I cannot see this going broke over 25 M. I can see the shareholders being shafted as the company is sold for very little.
No holding but have been in this before....sold out on the last spike. Luck .....but it does show how smaller underfunded internet stocks have been hit. The banks said no. Interest rate rises?
Not invested but was on my watchlist probably gonna get bought by mike ashley at a significant discount unfortunately
2 questions though
Why on earth did it let its receivables grow so big?
Why wasn't it trying to chase down payments?
Started: hellyeah, 3 Feb 2022 07:55
Last post: CHRI55, 14 Feb 2022 12:27
If you sell Studio you should get a lot more than £100m mcap - it makes £30m a year profit and has 2.3m active customers and 1.3m of them are credit customers. Let's see.
Morning CHR155, I would hazard a guess that we will next hear from this board sometime in April with an update on funding as part of a financial year end post close trading statement. It is worth noting that the eight members of this board received a total combined remuneration of £3,207,000 up to 21st March 2021 but not one of them has bought a single share in the company since last April.
Agreed, hell. I was shocked at the huge drop, but the fundamentals are still solid. This one's a keeper and I won't be selling.
Yes, long story short - Studio is in much better position than it was when 161p offer came out. I am planning to wait for a year or so for 300p - this is quite a strong online business so expect a strong sp bounce!
161 pence per share in March 19, unanimously rejected by all other shareholders.
Started: unhooked, 31 Jan 2022 17:31
Last post: CHRI55, 1 Feb 2022 09:00
Thanks. I am a surprised they need to borrow money to fund an increase in working capital simply because they need to hold a bit more stock.
Not worried about debt, this is an online business generating £30m-£40m profit year in year out. It has customer base of 2.3m with 1.2m credit customers. I cannot believe MM took the sp this low. I am confident of double the sp in a year. In FY20, profit was £28m and sp was 220p. FY22, profit is forecasted at £30m and SP is 99p. I mean WTF!
There was value in this yesterday, NOW there's even more value in it. @unhooked, think the paragraph you copied and pasted speaks for itself.
Can't believe this went down to circa 92p! wtf! Well oversold. Read the RNS carefully, there's nothing much in there wasn't already known. Will buy some more if I can in the morning, and just sit on it.
Nice one, hellyeah.
Anybody concerned about the debt? In the statement they say:
"We are exploring a range of options to meet the resultant working capital funding requirement, including discussing the current level of our working capital facilities with our long-standing UK lenders. Studio currently has a fully drawn revolving credit facility of £50m and, with a 12-month EBITDA of c.£50m, is well within its key gearing covenant of 1.75x."
World has gone mad, way oversold. Effectively c. £90m market cap for the business that is producing £30m profit. I doubled my holding and put this in the bottom drawer just like AO, Boohoo, Mitie, Revolution Bars etc. These stocks will be back in favour, until then back in the bunker.
Last post: Bladey, 31 Jan 2022 16:17
Todays drop unprecedented and will be taken advantage of. Expecting an opportunity for Directors to buy.
"The fundamentals of Studio's business model are solid, notwithstanding the market challenges that have been exacerbated by our over-commitment to stock in the near term. The trading performance over Christmas, with sales up 18% over two years, shows our offer is resonating with a customer base of 2.3m. We will continue to drive the long-term profitability and success of the group."
Covids over, expecting positives here moving forwards.
Hoping so Chr155, but I’m not sure even the most positive trading statement is going to turn this cruise ship of a share price around. Until Frasers issue an RNS confirming their current holding, (which would indicate a closing of a sell order) we will not see the share price move positively. I really hope I am wrong.
Frasers we’re compelled to make an offer for STU in March 2019 when they increased their holding from 29.9 per cent to 37.2 per cent. They made an offer of 161 pence per share which at that time was considered derisory and unanimously rejected by the other 63 per cent of shareholders. I’m hoping 161 pence is as low as it will go now.
Schroders along with Toscafund were the original funds that supported the rights issue back in 2011 so the Schroders average price is much lower. At one point Toscafund owned as much 29.9 per cent of shares before colluding with Schroders to each sell a lump of their respective holdings in 2015 to Sports Direct (now Frasers) as they were known then. I’m sure you know but Studio PLC were called Findel PLC until their name change in August 2019. With Mike Ashley due to step down in May this year and his son in law Michael Murray due to take control, it is difficult to predict how far Frasers will reduce their holding, if indeed this is the reason behind the flagging share price. Apologies for the vague response but with so little information available, we as retail shareholders can only guess as to what is really going on.
To the contrary CHR155, I’m currently holding 22,500 shares at a much higher average than the current price. Totally agree with your point concerning fundamentals but I’ve been invested here since 2012 and have been endlessly frustrated by Frasers efforts to acquire this business at rock bottom prices since their initial purchase in 2015. Our current board appear to be doing little or nothing to promote the company prospects to new investors.
Started: piworld, 9 Dec 2021 09:21
Last post: CHRI55, 20 Jan 2022 12:46
Good luck with your investment CHR155 but with Frasers and Schroders as our two largest shareholders, the value of this share is going nowhere fast. My guess is that Frasers currently have an open sell order which is killing any hope of progression, coupled with a board that are keeping their release of information to the market all too brief resulting in this ridiculous stalemate.
Andy Brough mentions Studio Retail #STU in the latest PIWORLD interview at 17m50s then again at 19m47s
Watch the video here: https://www.piworld.co.uk/education-videos/piworld-interview-with-andy-brough-markets-lessons-learned-in-2021/
Or listen to the Podcast here: https://piworld.podbean.com/e/piworld-interview-with-andy-brough-markets-lessons-learned-in-2021/
Started: Skindle, 25 Nov 2021 08:58
Last post: Skindle, 25 Nov 2021 08:58
Just in case anyone is assuming that the half year report is negative, these are the headlines
Adjusted PBT +36 per cent at £23.7m
PBT +67 per cent at £26.5m
Core net debt -53.98 per cent at £20.8m
Group revenue +3.2 per cent at £239.6m
Market cap now £162m.
Negative forecasting by the chief executive and the chief financial officer has successfully reduced the share price by 20 per cent. Well done gentlemen, despite stellar figures you have further destroyed value. Expect an offer from a group who knows how to create value.
Started: Skindle, 18 Nov 2021 07:41
Last post: Skindle, 18 Nov 2021 07:41
I thought that Mr Kendrick would be the new chief executive to take this company to the next level and finally realise the true value of the company. Unfortunately this has not proved to be the case. Communication with the stock market has been kept to the absolute minimum which has resulted in erosion of both company value and my investment. My hope now is that the half year results will help to push the share price closer to my break even and I will divest, never to invest again. This is an excellent company but is under performing because of poor management.
Started: philhaslam, 15 Oct 2021 10:42
Last post: Skindle, 15 Oct 2021 11:41
I would be pleased if that were to be the case philhaslam. Any update, good or bad would be welcomed, at least then we can make a reasoned decision as to whether these shares are still worth holding onto.
I am told we will have a trading update by the end of the month but I do agree with you that we are largely kept in the dark.
Started: Skindle, 5 Oct 2021 14:11
Last post: Skindle, 5 Oct 2021 14:11
Well, the last time I posted here in May 21, the share price was 306 pence. Four and a half months later the price is fifteen per cent lower despite zero core debt and forecast profit before tax this financial year to be around the £50m mark. The biggest disappointment for me is that the board of directors continue to treat the shareholders as growing mushrooms. Mr Kendrick clearly has no time for investors. I wish I had not reinvested in this company. Our board need to be reminded that they oversee a PUBLIC Limited Company. Poor communication with the stock market only leads to disillusioned investors. Wake up and provide us with a trading statement.
Started: Ejackson, 19 May 2021 19:41
Last post: Ejackson, 20 May 2021 10:38
Thank you. I will take a look.
Morning Ejackson, we are the only two investors left standing on LSE. You may be interested to read some of the posts on ADVFN, most notably from our friend 1GW_ and Inever, both of which make some very interesting and valid comments. Registration is free.
https://uk.advfn.com/p.php?pid=logout
We close above £3.00.
A quick look at the shares traded suggests a batch of sell orders going through and we have been rewarded with a 5% uplift.
Are we witnessing Frasers selling down and increasing liquidity? Who knows but if the market is sending a message to MA that if he does something meaningful then the SP will respond accordingly.
Not too long to wait to hear what the final numbers were for last year and of more importance, what is contained in the Capital Markets Day.
Last post: Skindle, 11 May 2021 21:11
20.615 per cent was the declared Schroders holding on the 9th December 2020. 19.206 per cent is the new holding declared today, an approximate difference of 1,223,964 shares. This does not constitute adding in my opinion, merely buying back. If Schroders are so convinced of the positive intentions of Frasers, why did they sell nearly 1.5 million shares in the last five months ? The performance of the business has only improved in those five months. Just saying.........
So, AB must have liked his telcon with MA enough to top up.
My sense is that we will know more after the presentation and results at the end of June. Disappointing that we have to wait so long but it could herald a new dawn.
I am looking for guidance on dividends as we are now cash generative and given the projections on revenue (PK repeatedly has referenced £1bn as his target) and what we could reasonably expect this to translate to earnings, we could be looking at a very low future single digit P/E at today’s valuation.
It appears to me that this very basic assumption is not lost on AB / Schroders and given the level of contact he will have had with senior management of late, he has turned buyer again.
I am pleased my hunch to top up a month or so ago when the SP was a bit lower has been endorsed and notwithstanding the above, we could still see MA make a move per my previous view. If I had his resources, I would definitely be looking to take control, give the management some ‘skin’ to reward them further down the line and reap the reward on a significant multiple when the company realists. MA doesn’t like to sit on the share register without an exit strategy normally because it’s a distressed asset. , He always ultimately wants control and the only thing that seems to have worked against him here is that STU has actually turned the business around and become very profitable albeit with the assistance of COVID.
An interesting conundrum for him to have but I can only see it ultimately working to our advantage.
Schroders only backed the board in March 19 because the offer that Frasers made was at an audaciously low level. You will remember that Schroders along with Toscafund were jointly responsible for selling part of their respective holdings to Sports Direct in the first place. Prior to Sports Direct becoming a shareholder, our share price was as high as 330 pence. To their credit Schroders did take up a holding at the rights issue which is one of the reasons why it succeeded but since then quite frankly their involvement has only been negative. I’m sorry to disappoint you Ejackson but I just don’t trust the intentions of Mr Brough because I believe that were Schroders, Frasers and the board working collectively then our share price would be well above its current level. I believe that Frasers want Studio PLC as part of their portfolio for something under 300 pence a share and currently Schroders appear to be supporting this plan. We have a new chief executive, could it be that Messrs Brough and Kendrick disagree on the future direction of the business ?
Come on Skindle, you know better than that.
If Schroders are so much in Frasers/ MA’s pocket, he would have backed his previous mandatory takeover.
I am cross at how things are currently but we need to keep some perspective until we know the next development which is likely to be either an offer from MA per my previous viewpoint or following the presentation from the Board in June.
Either Mr Brough is powerless to act or more likely he is supportive of Frasers plan. Whatever it is, he is no friend of other shareholders.
Looking at how a Director purchase of 6,500 reduces our SP by approaching 2%, can you imagine what would happen if MA sold down to below 30%.
AB make the call please.....!
Started: Ejackson, 4 May 2021 16:16
Last post: Ejackson, 4 May 2021 16:16
Good to see another Director buying today.
When will the market agree with the confidence being shown by the people in the know and move the share price accordingly.
Perversely, every time a Director has bought recently, the share price has fallen.
This has developed into a game of chess between Schroders, Frasers and the board. Currently the board are in check. It is therefore incumbent upon the board to make the next move.
Once again, good to see the buying activity today and the SP going south accordingly.
Started: Ejackson, 22 Apr 2021 17:55
Last post: Ejackson, 22 Apr 2021 17:55
Good to see some topping up from the two Directors that know the most.
Equally good to see some reasonable buy trades go through notably outweighing the sells and that the market responded positively......you couldn’t make it up.
I don't know about Stifel, but I think we have similar concerns about Frasers motivations and what might happen next, Ejackson. I put a couple of posts on the advf n board to that effect. Note also Fraser's niggling sales of shares during the strategic process, as evidenced by the 8.3's. Just the sort of activity that might fit with trying to stop the shareprice popping up and making an ultimate bid more expensive.
A slightly worrying scenario Ejackson and where Frasers are involved, nothing is beyond the realms of possibility. I think the board under Mr Kendrick are committed to taking Studio PLC to the next level but so much depends on Schroders. If they back the board in their vision, we should be safe but if they decide to work with Frasers then we could be in trouble. Frankly 345 pence is looking quite attractive at the moment although I accept this still significantly under values the business.
A thought.
We’re Stifel brought on board at Frasers request?
Are we being played by Frasers? They make sure all expressions of interest are dismissed but then understand where the highest bid is pitched. Let the SR run its course, dispose of Education as they publicly called upon STU to do and now paves the way to table a bid which will net down to cheap price as they accumulated their shares at vastly lower prices. Let management continue to perform as they have done, reach sales of £1bn and refloat in 3 years time at a significant multiple higher than today and cash in again.
As a strategy this would reward Frasers hugely and beats MA’s usual strategy of buying a company when it’s in pre pack administration and having the headache of reinventing it.
If this is the strategy, he will probably need to get on with it as despite the SP, the Board is building turnover and profits quickly which would only mean having to pay a higher price to gain Schroders etc approval.
Started: Skindle, 21 Apr 2021 10:34
Last post: Ejackson, 21 Apr 2021 11:35
Thank you Skindle but that has to be worrying when you consider the latest TU and they were joint broker in the formal sale process.
If the best they can arrive at is £3.45, then I am lost for words.
Morning, the powers that be are listening to us Ejackson. Stifel has resumed coverage of STU with a price target of 345 pence.
Started: Skindle, 21 Apr 2021 09:30
Last post: Skindle, 21 Apr 2021 09:30
Morning, further to our recent comment on broker coverage, I have found this hiding away in a long list of broker notes -
* Studio Retail Group Plc STUS.L : Stifel resumes coverage with buy rating and 345p PT
Started: 1GW_, 20 Apr 2021 11:44
Last post: Ejackson, 21 Apr 2021 07:22
Interesting 1GW, thank you.
Your figure for Frasers rings true to me as I recall them selling a bit at the beginning of the 8.3 RNS being released which caught my attention.
Not sure why they did so but it would be nice to see them carry on as they have almost doubled their money on the shareholding they bought that triggered the mandatory bid.
Yesterday’s fall in the SP is mirroring what Skindle alluded to following the previous TU being issued. You can’t help but feel we are being completely played and with virtually no free float my sense is this isn’t going to get any better unless Frasers show their intention to sell down and improve liquidity.
Great post 1GW_. Thanks for your research.
One of the interesting things about Studio is the very full disclosed shareholder list. Thanks to the recent offer period, all holders down to 1% have declared, and on face value their ownership comes to more than 100%, so presumably someone like perhaps Norges Bank is the legal owner of one of the other declared beneficial owners. There is no significant short interest it appears, with Euroclear reporting only 90,500 shares (0.1%) on loan on average in March.
That means there's virtually no free float for retail investors to play in, and only any liquidity to the extent one of the existing declared holders wants to sell.
According to a trawl through the 8.3's, the last declared positions are as follows:
35.6% Frasers
20.6% Schroders
10.0% FIL
6.0% AIB
5.0% Janus Henderson
4.8% Lombard Odier
4.3% Hargreave Hale
3.0% Ennismore
2.6% Premier Miton
2.2% Norges Bank
1.4% Blackrock
1.3% Legal & General
1.2% Teviot Partners
1.1% M&G
1.1% Keith Chapman
0.6% Trustee of Fine Art Developments Employee Trust (Studio opening decl)
0.3% Phil Maudsley (director)
101.3% Total
Started: Skindle, 19 Apr 2021 18:13
Last post: Ejackson, 20 Apr 2021 08:22
I feel your pain Skindle and my patience has worn thin too.
I am looking at it two ways. Firstly, the company appears to be in rude health after many years of problems. Secondly there is a disconnect between this and the SP.
Having got to the first stage, which excercised much patience to see it delivered, I am minded to give PK 6 months and see what he can do to deliver shareholder value.
As a new CEO, he will be keen to make his mark and opinion will be driven by addressing the second point I have made.
Totally agree with your sentiments Ejackson. You have advocated patience but I’m at a point now where I’m not now sure what we are waiting for next now that the convertible share condition has expired and the year end trading statement has been released. Yes the final results will be published in June but we now know the basic details so what is there left to wait for. If the trading statement today couldn’t lift the share price to a new high, nothing will.
And thereby hangs the problem Skindle. His mere presence deters any rational investment.
I am at a complete loss as to why we are looking at an SP of £2.99 today. It just makes no sense.
You are also right to point out that today's pattern has mirrored the last TU. I hope the next month or so doesn't do the same.
The Board need to provide a credible explanation as to why we are where we are and the difference in today's SP and the expressions of interest that led them to determine these weren't worth pursuing.
Was it the main Board or MA's decision?
Something smells and it's time for some straight talking.
PK is planning an investor presentation so it would be sensible to start with why the SP is totally disconnected from what the numbers are telling us otherwise there is no point in doing a presentation and trying to convince us of the strategy he has for delivering in the medium term.
To the best of my knowledge, we have no broker coverage with the exception of Edison, who we pay for. I am happy to be corrected on this but where are Numis? I haven't seen any guidance from them.
New CEO, record figures, ambitious growth for the future....why aren't they screaming from the rooftops.
Again, it smells.
That trading statement was as positive as one could hope for and yet our early morning share price rally has again fizzled out. My concern is where does the share price go from here ? Will this be sub 250 pence in the days and weeks ahead ? Gone are the days of active broker coverage from the likes of Cantor Fitzgerald. One can only hope that we find ourselves a brave new investor with very deep pockets who is happy to invest despite the presence of Frasers.
Started: Ejackson, 19 Apr 2021 14:37
Last post: Ejackson, 19 Apr 2021 14:37
‘Integrated communications provider Adare SEC has signed a three-year contract extension with online value retailer Studio Retail’
Who owns Adare? Endless, the new owner of Education. Couldn’t help but notice this link. Not suggesting anything but the tightness of parties involved is interesting. Does Endless know a bit more than most about Studio?
Elsewhere, it is annoying me why we didn’t get more binding offers given the level of initial interest. I cannot get away from MA being our nemesis in a number of ways and would value the opinion of Schroders as to what their input on value was.
Final thought, Pre tax profit of c.50m, market value today c.£260m. Go figure.
I don’t think Frasers would be vocal unless they were entirely happy with the SR to date Skindle.
They called for it in the first instance to maximise shareholder value as they didn’t like the suppressed SP and it was backed fully by Schroders.
They have a seat at the top table so will be privy to almost everything that is going on. Their silence is deafening but I believe it’s all because they are content with where it is heading and the fact that any info, leaked or otherwise, has been zero gives me confidence that we should all collectively benefit.
We will find out shortly.
I am disappointed that the trading statement has still not been released but I take comfort from the fact that our most vociferous shareholder, Frasers has not issued a public statement of complaint. I take that as a good sign.
.....and it looks like you have got your wish 1GW.
I partly agree 1GW. I have previously said that it feels to me like they are putting the finishing touches to something before making an announcement.
The TU is being used as a bit of a smoke screen. The numbers are known to them and they could easily have released an RNS per the original timings. In the meantime, with PK getting his A team in place, in particular Le Brocque committing full time and being so bullish about the future, I believe the current health of STU isn’t in question.
I am not as sceptical as you re: Fridays for RNS release.....I just want to know the facts and am not bothered which day they choose!
I would be very surprised if they slip out a TU late on a Friday - that is normally only for trying to bury bad news isn't it?
I am hoping that they have convinced themselves that "the middle of April" runs from 10th to 20th April and therefore they can leave it until Monday or Tuesday. It does feel rather as though they might be waiting for something to happen in the hope they can put it in the TU release when it comes.