Roundtable Discussion; The Future of Mineral Sands. Watch the video here.
At jontaylor - it could also be that GLA is (if not powerless) slightly muted in ability to act precisely because of MM Golden share. One surmises but the Chair may not show a hand until one is able to play it : that point is yet to come but is on its way. In the meantime the Board has changed. We should also remember recent results were shockingly poor and there was no forward guidance for such … Chair will have consented to this and that has concern for me.
If anyone’s at a THG pub or airport concession this w/e please may you share how busy it is (or not) and what service is like? Tah
It’s interesting how with nutrition focus can be on recent expansion in product and channels (and broader move toward sport/ health foods) and a brand and model it gives a buyer a big head start in this space. For Beauty - how many more products / brands decide to onboard - and whether there’s an easy fit with Boots / similar. Ingenuity - who knows lol - but there must be some IP / functionality that’s transferable. Yet no one seems to be able to untangle all this or THG strategy. As that unfolds my hope is value is seen and priced into SP. Sadly I don’t think MM has the objectively to unfold and communicate that value to either markets / PE and increasingly average Joe. Bring on September
UK mid-market dining chains fight for survival after Covid and cost of living woes (Can’t get link to work)
Maybe the airports aren’t going to help out this year… always messing it up. // separately hoping RTN are being particularly punching with LL’s on renewals / rent frees etc. Summer trading update will be interesting
On the board. A bit of a protest vote at AGM. Hope Board/Exec take heed. Separately small retrace - I topped up today. Hoping this gets bought out. And expecting concessions (airport) to absolutely smash it this Summer
On same page Manc. The joke is even if THG was a Ponzi scheme … the circus is so in flow at times we wouldn’t even know. I’m being unkind (obvs) but some basic governance and mature communication (not via LinkedIn) would be welcome and not much of an ask. Also MM shouldn’t be rubbishing potential purchasers that is not good for all Shareholders. And GLA should be impressing that upon him.
Agree with OxfordBull. We’ve had a series of poor results. But what’s made them worse is a failure to own them well and instead run the MM circus on blaming everyone else. When THG grows up so will the SP. I hope for both soon
Is probably what most of LTH on (inc me) on Board may need to get comfortable with for more material information / actions. I’m smarting a little (and recent events where revealing for me). At 200p and me selling out I’d have got a foot on housing ladder. All here for different reasons. Very keen THG moves past this limbo.
Resolving that GS must go. And that role of Chair is to ensure such - having sanctioned guidance. Concern is there is no hard req. to give up GS. MM could just change his mind. I hope lord Allen intervenes here as Chair on behalf of all shareholders and forces this. Sadly I think (a) MM won’t give it up and (b) TGLA won’t force it.
It’s probably quiet on deal front too. As in Apollo and THG staring each other out each waiting for other to blink. Or simply put the weekend was a down tools moment given Coronation or as respite ahead of frenetic activity. I’d like to think even if Apollo bid is dismissed offer price will be publicised and that it begins with a 2 : if it began with a 3 some Qs on why it was dismissed warranted
In danger of feeding my own view… however… Apollo will not be preparing a hostile offer … they already know business and GS KO’s a hostile. Meaning there’s no reason to update market until (a) it becomes clear a deal isn’t possible at this point in time or (b) a deal
Is possible and is recommended as such by board. Accordingly no need to update until all in place or last day. It maybe both are one and the same.
I wonder where Oasis sit on this now? Update positive and other than leisure all streams appear to do well. In my head we’ll retrace a little - but - there is a bit of me that believes this either belongs in the 30’s or somewhere north of 100…. not where it is. There writher is or is not latent value - it’s kind of binary. Very nice to be back in surplus - just.
Appreciate this is tenuous : but if QIA bought ManU - do you think approach to THG would change? As would QIA pursue or not release it too? Use both as a form of growing soft power as well as income. I can see why QIA would need to sell out - so they probably won’t.
Happily exit around 100p (money off table) tho sense it could be worth much more with potential priced in.
April 26, 2023, 8:00 AM EDT
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Irenic Capital Management LP (together with its affiliates, “Irenic” or “we”), a substantial shareholder of The Restaurant Group plc (LON: RTN) (“The Restaurant Group” or the “Company”), today issued the following statement in response to inquiries:
“Irenic intends to vote against the Remuneration Policy. We have already communicated this privately to Non-Executive Chairman Ken Hanna and Chief Executive Officer Andy Hornby. In place of the current compensation scheme, we have suggested the Board adopt a new plan that more closely links compensation to shareholder returns.
We believe Mr. Hornby is capable of unlocking the substantial value that exists at The Restaurant Group. But unfortunately, the current remuneration plan provides little incentive to do so. In fact, it does the opposite. Under the current remuneration plan, the only direct financial incentive for Mr. Hornby is to increase overall profits at the enterprise – irrespective of the capital employed to do so. This encourages ill-advised acquisitions (Barburrito) and provides a disincentive to make the hard but necessary decision to sell non-core assets – and use the proceeds to de-lever.
Ultimately, The Restaurant Group should own just Wagamama and focus its efforts on growing that business. We have urged Mr. Hanna and the Board to design a Remuneration Policy that encourages Mr. Hornby to get to this end-state as quickly as possible. Should the Remuneration Committee adopt such a policy in the future, we would support it.
The path forward at The Restaurant Group should be clear. Dispose non-core assets, de-lever, and grow Wagamama – a brand that has excellent unit economics and a substantial global runway. Performance of The Restaurant Group’s non-core assets has rebounded from the depths of COVID-19 and financing markets are open. There is no reason for further delay in an asset sale program. It is time to get on with it.”