GAW - A personal view28 Jul 2014 14:17
Hi OGB,
It was all good with these shares (I have been holding since Jan 12) they held up well during the recession (due to consumer loyalty) and paid a cracking dividend (which is the main driver of the good share price). The recent knock was becuase share holders through that due to poor operating performance the divi would be at risk which was then swiftly dealt with by the 20p divi announcement.
If operating issues can be stabalised then the share price will continue to grow back to +20% from the current position. The main worry for me is the strategic direction of the business. They do not appear to be moving quickly enough with modern times and modern consumers:
- Their books are not on kindle (or any other e-reader)
- They are not proactively managing the worries around 3d printing replacing their products
- They are not interacting with their consumers in the right way e.g. focusing on video clips to build characters, , films, facebook, twitter, etc.....
Their products are only going to seem more expensive without the advertising support.
Imagine 3D printing a Space Marine commander with your head and printing him up ready for battle.
So not a conclusing 'buy' recommendation but I am still going to hold for a while longer.