Proposed Directors of Tirupati Graphite explain why they have requisitioned an GM. Watch the video here.
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.
Is what is needed here.
Armistice come in through the backdoor ( acquire Oxford Finance) put together a recovery plan which the Adminstrators accept and get approval from Shareholders. Armistice ( American Hedge Fund) then decide their plan will not work. Seems Armistice did not undertake due diligence before putting forward the plan so are either totally incompetent or extremely devious.
Now Peyton and Stephenson have resigned, leaving 2 Americans and 2 Germans on the board.
Smell a Rat and enormouse Rat?
A Good Journalist should expose exactly what is/has gone on at 4D
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
Oh Dear SC, you cannot see the wood for the trees or are so under water in danger of .......
"Sales overtaking Loans", really, Sales are ok providing profit margins are good. Loans do'nt just disappear they are an obligation which Company's must meet otherwise Funders(Banks) will fore-close. The mood music here should alert any astute investor.
The prices in Supermarkets is just a reflection of Tesco's and co preserving market share by exerting pressure on Beverage producers. The margin on bottled/canned beers in supermarkets is miniscule after raw material costs, production, transportation, packaging and excise duty, the profit, if at all, is pence..
Look at the fundamentals. If sales have been so resilient why have loans payments been missed and now further reviews of loan conditions? Conditions yet to be fully publicised.
Keep topping up and hoping, but just remember the SP has been on a constant downward trend since March 2021 when at 130p.
The portents are not good.
Having fixed energy prices the company was unable to meet it's obligations on Loan agreements, consequently breached previously agreed waivers. Those waivers have recently been renegotiated. BNB Paribas are not so generous as the previous Bond Holder, HSBC, 2 new Banks have come in with Loan facilities. Not sure how these new banks can be regarded as a vote of confidence as infered here. More of a worry the existing Funders, having already approved previous waivers, did not feel comfortable with the liabilties Marstons have built. The company are yet to explain the additional £40m loan debt just agreed. We are yet to hear details of the revised Loan agreements in terms of interest rates. We know some are floating, this indicates others are fixed. Those rates are fundamental to the financial health of MARS and how debt will be reduced below £1Billion. The existing sales (61) if completed at values held within the accounts, will help although why many 1000's have just been spent on The Crooked House and now for sale, does raise questions. desparation???
Talk of buy-out, predators would have been circling along time ago. The SP may look cheap to some but lingers in the 30;s The Platinum opportunity (107p) was denied to Shareholders, we were not told until the 3rd offer and then as an after-thought, RF was busily agrreeing a deal with his mate at Brains, who were in dire trouble, almost bankrupt.
In so far as Goodwill value, forget it, it is an intangible asset where Brands have value, however Carlsberg will have a say in that.
Apart from the current asset sales, Marstons must retain at least 650 pubs as agreed in the JV with Carlsberg. This does not include the 100 or so Brains Pubs which are only Leased. Marstons room for maneuvre is limited. The 40% share of the Brewery may need to go.
If the current share price is so attractive PI's can pile in, but be aware of the risks.
The Independant report is better than Excellent and makes a complete mockery of the current SP.
Reserves valued at 81p/shares do not reflect the overnight agreement by OPEC, which should add further value.
Dividends can only increase on the back of this report.
Bubbles, what was yesterday's date?
On a serious note, floating terminals are highly dangerous hence gas extracted goes into secure facilities like Bacton and others on the eastern coast. This gas is then pumped into a pipe network that criss crosses the UK, and pressurised. The network of pipes are over 1 metre in diameter , the system was/is generally used as storage. The gas is contained under very high pressure and was initially used to cope with high demand, particularly in Winter. The Government decided/allowed pipeline operators (Nation Grid and others) to reduce volumes of gas stored which was the country's energy supply safety-net. The Governments decision was in effect a cost saving exercise for Companys involved.. Highly pressurised gas liquifies, which allows a considerable advantage to store massive quantities for eventual end use
( Boyles Law). Pressurising of gas is an expensive exercise.
Special shipping carriers transport LNG around the World. These ships are specially engineered to transport what is a highly volatile product. The UK has ports specifically designed too accomodate these ships, Milford Haven in particular is a port which is directly linked to the UK's pipe network.
The recent energy supply issues have, with out doubt, been exaserbated by the Government's decision stated above.
Deltic/Shell need to get the gas discovered out of the ground post-haste to eliminate LNG imports and provide complete energy security for the UK.
barchid, so agree....rag tag collection and low hanging fruit.
Carlsberg's long term strategy, imo, has always been to have 100% control of the brewery.
The Beer-houses are like the Curates Egg, good in parts. The Brain's estate, which has NO asset value towards MARS, indeed a liabilty, will drag Marstons down as it did under the Brain's Family management. That was another terrible decision of RF.
Just a rebound from yesterday's dramatic fall (JOG). Was a holder, got out when Equinor walked away, now LTH's are being persuaded to be more patient until end April. Good for Traders who will have made a bomb over night.
The facilty may be sorted, for now,remember previous Loan agreements were made at miniscule rates. Interest rates have moved significantly since the original agreements were breached. For any Borrower to breach agreements set at such a low level, allows Funding Providers to hold the whip-hand. We will see what New rates have been imposed.
Suspect the BOD is anticipating a big increase of income within the hospitality sector of which MARS will get a slice. This could be wishful thinking ( as history proves no one knows what is around the corner), however MARS fall-back position is, sale of further assets, even the 40% brewery share.
Today's announcement will calm markets for the moment. It is still a stock for gamblers.
GLA.
A short RNS. As warned debt facilties were under review, even though New Facilities have been agreed until 2025, details of funding costs will be in the small print( to be researched).
The fact 2 new Funders ( Banks) are involved signifies, imo, existing providers were/are nervious.
Achieving debt under a Billion will be harder especially when 4% of assets are being sold.
Common courtesy and decency tells me the Administrators, who have been payed £4m, should at least inform exactly how assets are/have been sold. I guess they will say shares have been cancelled and therefore no need to inform. However the assets, both tangible and intangible, are under someone's control. Should the Regulator be involved???
As I understand the options are exercisable after 3 years from now and then in 3 tranches once the SP has achieved, and held a pre-determined price, 55p, 62.5p and 70p.
Surely that gives Execs and incentive with the SP currently at 45p. Whats not too like?
The points made are extremely valid, plus as I have stated many times, Bondholders are likely to have become very nervous, loan repayments have been missed, even though previously agreed waivers have been breached. Waiver extensions end on 31st March, it is reasonable to assume another agreement is or almost inplace, if not more assets will be liquidated. The present tranche of Pubs for sale may not satisfy Lenders. If Sales do not complete, there could be a "fire Sale". It all depends on how "generous" or otherwise, Bondholders have become. With current Financial turmoil, do'nt hold your breathe. If the SP gets into the 20's, that will be an enormous Red Flag and ONLY for Gamblers
AIMO DYOR
Exploration,
Without seeing or knowing the fine print of Deltic's agreement with Cairn, there is much supposition.
Cairn could just sit on the Licence agreements, they could also sell them on or as you suggest just walk away.
Then there is the NSTA who will have views regarding progression of Licences? It could be messy
""Looks today like a safer bet here than the banks""
SC you cannot seriously believe that!! Cart and Horse comes to mind. Businesses need Banks who Lend funds against collateral. Banks who face liquidity issues call in Loans when company's are not performing and worse not meeting repayment conditions.
Can you qualify the Wetherspoons comment? It seems the market puts a greater value on Wetherspoons than Marstons, maybe the £2.10 a pint promotion is influencing Spoons SP??
Oilriches you are right B&B ceased sometime ago, however buying back later ( risky) can keep an investor in . It all depends on how certain a PI is that the SP will not move, so risky. I guess it depends how much gains you want to mitigate. As you say ISA's are not so useful in that regard.
Oilriches, losses here can be used against Gains elsewhere
Gasatapeep, apart from panic due to the overall market fall, it is likely investors sitting on Capital Gains are mitigating liability before 5th April. Otherwise just hold tight, the Gas is'nt going anywhere.
Market do not appear to agree.
The NAV stated , one would think shrewd investors would be clammering for stock priced at almost a 300% discount. Something is wrong. The result of Lenders waiver agreements extended to 31st March may soon reveal what is really going on. If however any investor is certain to double even treble their money, pile in, but always remember never invest more than you are prepared to lose.
AIMO Dyor