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Some big sell orders going through, could that be Mr Ashley offloading. The share price rising would appear to suggest as much.

Well, we now know why the share price has been rooted to where it has been for the past few months. The exceptional costs are not pleasant reading and significant to say the least. Somebody knew and managing expectations comes to mind. With regards to the exceptionals, I can understand them relating to a warehouse move but..... ...the increase from £2m to £10m for future redress on an financial product dating back to 2006 £2m to £10m under our latest assumptions. This provision incorporates redress for another smaller product sold between 2005 and 2006 that management also identified. It is possible that work being currently undertaken could result in more information becoming available which could lead management to revise this estimate. My attention is drawn to the last sentence, which, put another way, could read 'we had no idea this was going on and we don't know how high it could go' I can only pray there aren't any more of these time bombs out there. This all smacks of getting as much bad news out in the open as possible given the majority of the remaining update is broadly positive, although the exceptional items are something any suitor would want to have a total understanding of and where possible, ring fence them, if, as I have suggested previously, there are parties running the slide rule under us. Now that the business consists of only two income streams, the board must focus on getting them firing on all 4 cylinders, which in fairness to them, appears to be the case. As far as suitors are concerned though, I think the long list of exceptional items could be interpreted as a poison pill to deter them from sniffing around, so I think the likelihood of immediate action may just have diminished. Notwithstanding that, if the share price drifts significantly lower, it may become a compelling buy, exceptionals or not. I continue to hold as on balance I believe the upside outweighs the downside.

Evening all. Mr Ashley definitely has his hands full elsewhere what with possibly being held in contempt of parliament -minor by his standards..... Issuing a profit warning through a national newspaper and breaking the strict corporate rules for a listed company -again minor as he has demonstrated on many occasions before when it comes to corporate governance..... Newcastle United facing relegation, now he is beginning to hurt a bit there as this involves financial loss and despite his thick skin, the Toon Army can be a vociferous bunch of ladies and gents I am led to believe when things are not going their way.....his recent comments that it was a mistake to have got involved in the first instance, won't have helped! A paper loss of c.£1.6bn over the past few months must really be hurting as someone with the size of his ego must not be enjoying the fall from grace he has had to endure and with no sign of it getting better......Ouch So, probably unlikely that he will be making a move in our direction but more he is hoping someone else will and he can make a profit on his investment.... For us humble shareholders at Findel, in the absence of anything immediate by way of news or interest from suitors, we just have to be patient for a trading update, indeed, this may well be what they are waiting for too.

I agree with your sentiment neilstalbans that this has stayed relatively stable given today's RNS. The mood music seems to be encouraging and our Chairman wouldn't have suggested we are in for a busy end to the financial year unless he knew how the past 3 months had been trading. I remain cautiously optimistic but mindful that this has been a jam tomorrow company for some time....however, I just sense things are coming together although talk of contracts worth 12m is unrealistic. News of some contract wins would clearly help move the share price in the right direction. It is time for the bulked up sales team to start to deliver.

Hello 1GW, I think you are spot on.

Something to look forward to then eh Skindle..... I just wonder if he does it to manage expectations around his own abilities which he in turn knows are limited hence realising he has to move on or let it be dealt with behind the scenes in a more immediate fashion....we are getting back to what we dont know but can only speculate on until an announcement is made. One thing is for sure, debt will be lower but it will be interesting to see by how much, excluding the Kitbag sale.

Good post Skindle, I tried responding but it appears my post was not allowed to make it onto the message board...I didnt think it was in breach of anything but I will reflect overnight....

Well dug out Skindle and it just puts in a broker's note, EXACTLY what we have been discussing/ advocating of late albeit we are a year on. With the financial year end rapidly approaching, I suspect no broker will put pen to paper until the numbers are out but if they are half decent Cantor may well dust of the report you have found, change the dates, remove Kitbag and raise the 'For Sale' sign to the top of the flagpole.

Welcome back Skindle!! No harm in entertaining us while the clock ticks on, so don't be put off supplying amusing acronyms.... Old Mutual will look at their investments on a regular basis but I think the break up will be more a company issue and recognition of how best to maximise the hidden value following their strategic review. This would have most likely been encouraged by its major shareholders prior to the new CEO being appointed having tired of it falling from c£2.40 to c£1.90 over the past year and now he is in place, seeking to get the share price up.....is this sounding familiar? Insert Findel for Old Mutual in the above........and gosh, look what happened to Old Mutual on the day it was in the press, their shares jumped up 7% The only glaring difference to me is our lack of CEO to drive this process forward -unless its underway already?) I know I am just being boring now and repeating myself but it just beggars belief that we appear happy to bumble along without a proper CEO in place making the essential decisions a business such as this requires.

Dear oh dear Skindle, I think its time to reach for the vapours!!

In the absence of any news, I am sorry to say that we will have to content ourselves with idle speculation based on what we know already. What is refreshing is that we can maintain a sensible dialogue and share thoughts in a stimulating way unlike other postings for other shares where the vacuum of no news is filled with complete tosh. Its very boring Skindle, but all we can do is be patient and wait for breaking news or an Rns that will shed light on our hoped for uplift in value. Waiting is never easy but for me, Findel will deliver and as much as I would like it all to happen tomorrow, I am just going to have to watch bored market makers piddling around with the thrupence hapney trading range we are locked into.....your comments made me smile though!

It looks like the terms of the options were set back in 2006, Skindle, so they were likely to have been somewhat generous with a 10 year horizon in mind at the time. That said, if I were in their shoes I would take them up, possible takeover or not, so I dont think we can read anything of any substance into it. It does, however, stick in the craw that they are being gifted a substanial reward for basic longevity of service and not much else. perhaps if we give them a bell they might like to gift us some too for the same reasons....!? I think the board are aligned to us but this will be done through our major shareholders who won't be sitting quietly on the sidelines and will no doubt be asking the relevant questions to make sure their (and our) interests are being looked after. As for my Sunday musings on welcoming back Roger Siddle, we can but hope but until we hear anything by way of City gossip or a leaked word or two, sadly everything is just speculation at the moment and nothing more

Note to self, hit the refresh button to see if an RNS has come out before sending a post.....!! Well, there are some big numbers attached to the options granted today, so my comments on their thoughts being aligned to ours have just taken on a more meaningful reward to these two gentlemen at the time they finally do choose to exit.

Who knows Skindle, he may well still be holding onto them. You are right to look at the average /break even points of our board members shareholdings, I was guilty of looking at some of their purchases in isolation when I previously commented on their motives being aligned with ours. Notwithstanding that, I would like to believe they are motivated to get the share price up from current levels and make greater profits come the time they wish to sell or accept an offer for the company.

I don't think the reference to 'opaque' was to our detriment Skindle. Imagine the conversation with Mr Sugden....'Hello Mr Mack, yes, we would like to hear what your bid is as SPD have told us where they are and we are now serious about selling. I don't need to tell you that they will clearly thwart your expansion into the UK and Europe if they succeed in buying Kitbag'......reality was..... Mike Ashley is a nasty man who, by buying a shareholding in Findel thought he could we a bully and stop the bid going through, asset strip Kitbag and probably Findel at the same time down to its bones, oh, and by the way.....his offer was £11.5m divided by x.... I have no doubt previous management would liked to have invested more and given the interest Mr Mack showed a few years ago, it would not have been lost on Roger Siddle that it was potentially a really good division, which is probably why he held back from selling at the time, however, as a deeply indebted company we weren't and are not in a postion to provide the working capital it requires to go from loss making to profit in a timeframe that would be acceptable. For a loss making division, employing 500 and chewing up working capital, I think we have done well all things considered. Taking your sentiments towards Kitbag, Skindle, I would like to extrapolate this to Express Gifts and believe we can obtain a very good offer for what is a profitable business, cash generitive and for reasons I have alluded to before, just needs good reatiling management to drive it forward. Heres a thought.....'Hello Roger, its David here, look, I know we had a difference of opinion over where Findel should go when you left but I have seen off Mike and wondered if are you bored playing golf and fancy talking to your private equity mates about taking Findel private, grab some stub equity and stick it back on the market in 2 years time making yourself some serious money and retire properly? Something to mull over but probably just hope over reality.... good fun nonetheless on a Sunday evening!!

Here is the link to the interview with Mr Mack Mackhttp://www.sportspromedia.com/notes_and_insights/shifting_gear_kitbag_and_the_fanatics_global_strategy

I agree with your thoughts Skindle on the likelihood of our board discouraging SPD, especially having effectively issued a 'Put up or shut up' notice to them over the Kitbag sale and given Fanatics came out on top, it appears they opted for the latter. The interview with Mr Mack of Fanatics in Sportspro media yesterday is quite fascinating in that he reveals how they had approached Findel several years ago, pulled back when Findel withdrew from a sale for 'unpublicised reasons' but finally won through despite an 'opaque bidding process'. He goes on to say how 'few etailers there are out there with a market cap of $100m.....its a finite group' it does make you apreciate just what, as shareholders, we are sitting on when someone of his calibre and position in such a forward thinking, billion dollar company (US.... Skindle!) comes out with such comments. He goes beyond this and talks of Alibaba and their ambitions which is thought provoking stuff. I don't beleive we have undersold Kitbag which is the obvious follow up question to ask. I am sure there were alternatives, SPD being the obvious one and whom have gone on record as expressing interest but we could never have given it the sort of investment Mr Mack is talking of or progressed as proactively as his company with its financial clout and reach clearly has....good luck to him and the 500 brits now employed by Fanatics, I do believe you are well set for an exciting future. The big question is why didnt Mike Ashley get more aggressive given the nature of the man and what he stands to lose. The takeout price is loose change to him and he must now be smarting over not having got more sensible about a proper bid as these chaps at Fanatics have serious ambitions and a very, very clear business plan. In my experience of our American cousins, they will give the likes of Mike Ashley a proper run for their money whatever his reputation as a great retailer. Let the fun Begin!! Back at Findel, I agree with you 100% Skindle, in that there is no expectation to suggest an imminent sale in the share price. I will not comment on market manipulation as I got sick and tired of reading about it on other share chat rooms.... But I am convinced it does go on (your references completely back this up in my opinion) and I cannot believe anything other than we are in the grip of our market making friends... It is what it is but when our patience is rewarded, it won't matter, which is why I remain invested. We appear to share common thoughts, Skindle, but are not in a position to influence a company of this size with our humble shareholdings and musings! It is left to us to use this forum to have an exhange of thoughts and opinions and come to a conclusion as best as posible drawing on knowledge, research and experience. Mr Mack's Quotes/ interview only reinforce my opinion that behind the scenes there is much going on but only with the passage of time will all be revealed.

An interesting RNS over at SPD today. Putting aside the way the company has previously borrowed, I found the two comments that the Revolving Credit Facilty had recently increased to £788m and that they expected to be borrowing significantly over the £263m trigger point in the coming months of interest. Everyone seemed to be focused on the corporate governance side and not so much on the fact that Mike Ashley seems to be gearing up for a spending spree as he had been encouraged to do around Christmas time by the City.Findel may just be on his list of companies to consider after all.

Skindle, I dont believe there will be any action to remove Mr Sugden before his replacement is found. This would be most unsettling and our major shareholders know it. Furthermore, the most recent appointment of Greg Ball would not have happened if he had an inkling the Executive Chairman was about to be ousted following his public statement that he will be standing down in an orderly fashion. Tick tock goes the clock but with Mr Sugden turning from being confident of growth in his previous financial year end statement for this financial year, to guidance of a profit warning and basic retail errors more recently, it is not a surprise that he is stepping aside. The timing of this will be fudged (updates on headhunters still going through an exhuative process etc etc) in my opinion to allow the conversations to take place behind the scenes and assess the interest from would be suitors. If SPD are interested, only Mr Ashley will know and decide when he wants to pounce, however reducing his shareholding to c17% suggests this is unlikely. What is more likely is that he will try to be awkward over an outright sale.....he has lost the recent battle but may well try to win the war by scuppering a decent offer and playing the long game in an attempted asset stripping excercise. This is one thought but on the flip side, given his most recent problems with SPD's shareprice, maybe he might welcome a relatively immediate return on his investment to help fund taking it private. Two very different theories but entirely plausible as he is such an impossible individual to try and second guess when it comes to understanding his future business strategy. As for value, I appreciate the figures you have found Skndle but I am waiting to hear how we have performed at financial year end, if indeed we get to that stage. These are all speculation at the moment although we can apply some basic valuations for example applying p/e ratios but I find it intriguing that no brokers have updated their recommendations recently. At the risk of repetition, my concern lies in Mr Sugden being so bullish and then having to give negative guidance, all within a few short months. Maybe he can reverse this trend but I sense its unlikely which makes a valuation of the business somewhat hypothetical at the moment. As for a dividend, well that would be lovely but at the moment, with debt where it is, I think an unlikely prospect unless the educational business was sold and debt was paid down to a much lower level, gosh...I seem to be revisiting previous thoughts again all of which come back to what a good business this could/ should be. As to a takeover price I would personaly feel a figure in excess of £3 realistic, beyond that will probably be down to competitive bidding.

An interesting appointment indeed. Will we see more non execs coming to support the 'to be appointed' replacement for Mr Sugden? To me this appears to be a low cost, short term fix to tide us over until a takeover surfaces. Why aren't we seeking a proper CEO to run our business? I cant help but come to the conclusion that all the good candidates know that they would be only in the job for a few months....not exactly the juiciest of carrots to entice them away from whichever post they currently hold. I am afraid as frustrating as all this is, we just have to bide our time and let the market makers pinch 5p to give back 3p each week although the one thing I am sure of and have alluded to before, is that our major shareholders won't allow the indifference to erode the shareprice for much longer as 23% below where we were last year with seemingly a retail board that is not capable of supplying the demand created during our critical trading period, is completely unacceptable and will not be lost on them or allowed to continue. .