Member Info for HedgeHogarth

Bridgedogg

Agree 100%

Personally - success for me lies in agreeing a buy-out by a third party

Refreshing that the board have taken a pay-cut - this is a good business and the leadership team are not only invested financially - i genunely believe they care and beleive in the business

I see no reason why the but-out won't happen - talks have been ongoing for a while now. It would not surpirse me if we wake up to the news at anytime now.

It is all relative Bamboozle

There are not plenty of shares to purchase - most are with major holders.

It depend though how you define ' plenty'

I am sure you will be handsomely rewarded with a little patience. This is a good business, performing well, growing quickly in a growing market.

This will either re-rate when the market for small caps picks up or get bought out at a decent premium this year IMO.

It's great value at 14p; ofcourse there is a chance it may drift lower, but equally we could wake up day and find this compnay in an offer period.

Nothing new here….

Just some short term volatility in share price. Very few shares in circulation so MMs maybe shaking it up to fill order

I'm buying all day long sub 10p - I have more than enough already. But can't miss opportunities to add if / when these drfit any lower.

I'm 100% confident the market value of this business is significantly higher than the current MCAP - simple as that

Until that changes - I will continue to add. Any movemnets to the share price will not spook me in the slightest. Hardly any volume being traded at these levels. Directors not allowed to buy due to offer period and most shares remain in the same hands that they were in a year ago.

Good things come to those who wait :-)

Broomtree - I do not remember lambasting anyone, let alone you.

There was lots of deramping and a number of posters fabricating doomsday stories.

The reality is that the company are still trading, still in conversations regarding change of ownership,still compliant with Bank covenants and have implemented cost savings.

Ofcourse the business has its challenges - but I remain adamant that the impact on the share price has way exceeded the genuine impact on its market value.

I'm a contented shareholders, staying patient and look forward to an update on the ownership structure

All good thank RedOliv :-)

Added a few more at sub 7p yesterday too

Cheapest I can buy is 14.44p

Have a fab weekend Tilly

And you Newboy

I see that we swa 5.5m shares traded in three big lumps today - that equates to c3% of the business so we could see an RNS next week regarding a change in major holding

It is the volume we have seen in a day since Jun 2022 - which is pretty significant in my book.

A seller needs a buyer and vice-versa - so seeing a such large volume going through at 14p is a good thing .This traded at 32p 2 years ago (with a mCAP) of £55m-£60m - since then the company have acheived everything it said it would in terms of venues, top line growth and EBITDA.

I genuinely think we've seen the bottom and this is only going one direction now.

GLA

Because of his holding - he would have to notify the market if he was selling or buying - no RNS

Big trade gone through today!

Something is happening behind the scens - I am 100% convinced. and 95% it is something that will prove good for shareholders

Thanks Josey

I agree - 4mths in offer period is a long time. I did contact the Takeover Panel a few months ago to try and understand the process in respect of offer periods as it is hard to sift through the legal text of thir code. My understanding from that interaction was that there is no set limit on how long it can stay in. It is pretty clear as well that the Takeover panel are not passive in this process and I they would allow a company to stay in an offer period this long if it was BAU and no other parties were involved.

The best i can find when looking online is the following:

As defined in the Takeover Code, the offer period will commence when the first announcement is made of an offer or possible offer for a company, or when certain other announcements are made, such as an announcement that a purchaser is being sought for an interest in shares carrying 30% or more of the voting rights of the company or that the board of the company is seeking potential bidders.

An offer period will end when an announcement is made that an offer has become or has been declared unconditional, that a scheme of arrangement has become effective, that all announced offers have been withdrawn or have lapsed or following certain other announcements having been made.

As for the point about their comment on performance in line with expectation. I think this is a bit harsh - Its not any different to what I see most companies share in their final results - it would be different if the RNS was a proper trading update.

My view remains the same here - I still expect to see a change of ownership. I still expect that this will involve a third party and I expect the price to be at a significant premium to the current SP. Your term ' relatively low ball acquisition' is subjective - and I would not disagree with the term. But 'low ball' for me is anything between 15p and 40p. I still expect a third party to be involved becasue I do not readily see how an MBO would help the company thrive.

Another 100k goes through around the mid price .

I'm not sure how to see all the traders over the last few months but I reckon I have seen at least 20 big trades go through around the mid price.

Either someone is accumlating through a broker - or these are relating to spread bets

We know that John Story has almost 5% of the compnay in spread bets - I wonder if related?

What should the management be doing then josey?

It is blatently obvious that you are not invested.

And your challenge was anything but constructive - the RNS said that it was a positive start to the year. Whether they use the word pleased or 'in line' is irrelevent - you are simply spliiting hairs by argueing one over the other.

Why be so concerned Mike Pickle - you clearly are not invested

Just doing the classic deramper thing and tring to cheery pick words or make mountains out of molehills

Josey - I dont have rose tinted glasses on.

I am well aware that the company continues to be in a tough spot.

My argument though is that even factoring in all the challenges - IMHO a share price of 7p is just ridiculous and doe not reflect even th ethreshold level at which this business could get bought for.

And there are signs of light...

(1) They do not have a debt issue - they are simply using debt to bridge the gap between 'money out' and 'money in' on their rental proposition. I anticipate that we'll see a lower rental base in the next update - so net debt should improve.

(2) They will not require the same amount of bank funding as they start to manage down the rental base - reducing their exposure and interest payments. We are getting close to an interest rate reduction - so that will help MM

(3) They traded well in Q1, and started well in Q1. This is encouraging

In some shape or form - there is a good business here that will live on as a going concern and thrive if it had owners with deeper pockets IMO.

As for Robswire - he has not had ONE good thing to say about MM. We can argue abour how influential this foum is and what impact it can or cant have an effect on the share price - but regardless, he is clearly here to suppress any positive nnarative or optimism. He may be short, he may be heloing facilitate a party get cheap shares. Who knows - but he is not invested in MM, only seems to post on this board and nbody is here for no reason

Strong update from the CFO and CEO - they shared a compelling update on how the copnay is performing.

Nice waterfall showing the coponents of thier 98% revenue growth in FY23.; many opportunities to maintain the growth were discussed (Further optimisation of current venues, Create additional capacity in existing venues, New Venues, Price Increases, Further International expansion). They also talked about a 6mth payback on most investments they make into existing venues.

So many smart moves that will continue to benefit the compnay or start to benefit in 2024.

1. When they convert a franchise into an owner operated, not only are they materially increasing the ongoing profitability - they strike a very compelling deal which usually means its cash neutral. (They pay for it from ongoing cashflows and explains the small amount of debt they have)

2. ROI and Payback is strong on new venues (dur to landlord contributions) but they are also seeing the same ROI and payback on other investment opportunities - so they have lots of options

3. They absorbed the utilities costs in 2023 - they expect a significant benefit in 2024

4. They absorbed wage increases in 2023 - without having to put prices up. At the same time they also increased the profitability at the same time.

5. The upcoming increase in National wage increase will work out to be less than 3% Gross Margin. They are confident though that the work they have done to negotiate rates and the utlities savings will still allow them to absorb the wage increase AND still grow margin % WITHOUT having to increase prices.

These guys are highly professional and doing a fantastic job - a very exciting time to be invested and will add more this year when i can

(Nice to hear that they firmly believe their stock price is MATERIALLY undervalueing the business - they would consier buy backs, but with the strong ROI they beleive (as do I) that more long term value created from grwoing the business withtheir cash)

You missed an important point about haveing "negative working capital"

Most customer pay upfront, they carry very little stock (2-3 days of drink)

Yet they may most of their bills in arrears (cleaning)

So as the grow - the negative working capital will increase in line and generate additioanl cash

HT, not for the first time you clearly missed the point here.

Here is a clue, it was followed by a wink

Boring! Same old rubbish from the de-rampers

Adding nothing to this forum

According to Robswire this company was going to be taken down by the banks 3 months ago…yawn