Member Info for HNS_77

Saw the RNS in my inbox had to chime in as this board evaporates into background radiation

This sadly looked inevitable from when I decided to leave but unlike others believe it was avoidable not that it matters a jot anymore

A short history lesson on this shows all the reasons given for bearish sentiment along the way was largely misplaced - streaming didn’t tank cinema , people were not stuck at home for the rest of eternity due to Covid and there is a universe where I believe that given enough breathing space to recover that Cine would be back to pre covid levels of box office - July for example is at 83% of 2019 with a weekend to go - so the investment gamble was correct in theory.

Where me and others went wrong was in believing a CEO who crowed at the AGM about great supportive relationships with lenders and how they were turning a corner on their gross margins per customer - all the while likely knowing that the lenders were lying on wait for the debt covenant to slip and there was no hope of a waiver or any flexibility around debt repayments - I know many will disagree with this analysis and given where we are and my lack of a position in this share I could not be less concerned

Truth is it was all there in black and white really and optimism got the better of me and the old adage of rose tinted glasses where sadly being worn throughout instead of cashing out when the share was up as many of us missed out on

Mountainous the rest you have said better then I can so I will end with this quote which is a good lesson for us all

You cannot be successful in the markets if you are betting with the consensus. You have to find out when the consensus is wrong and when you are doing that, there is a high probability that you also could be wrong

Ray Dalio

All the best !

@Retail -no offence to those perusing legals - if I thought it would help I would but in my opinion it’s a waste of time for all involved now - they gave it a good try anything now is a waste of energy

If they did I want to make something of it I would look to the minutes of the meeting - to me the statements in the AGM were disingenuous at best and not an accurate picture of how the business was actually faring

Thanks for your good wishes and same to you and anyone else that has been burnt on this one

@Retail yes I spoke to both him and his brother Israel, clearly they spun a yarn about lenders being on their side - perhaps they were but given how quickly things unravelled - AGM in April and C11 rumours begun in Augusts I can’t call that anything but barefaced lying - if they were honest would have been clear they were facing imminent ruin rather then talking about “no covid surprises” and cooing over how their takings per customer had gone up 30% if the situation was so dire

We live and learn

And just like that..Mookys reputation for being the biggest ‘hole in the cinema business is fully confirmed with that last statement - not even a mustering a reference to the plight of shareholders invested in the existing company will have experienced through this

I’m not nieve, of course they want to limit any liability through such statements but from reports I have read even the judge had the ‘nads to recognise even if he wanted something for shareholders it just wasn’t possible in the current process.

I agree with some that this has been engineered this way and could have been avoided if some additional forbearance had been shown during the recovery period- fool me once for believing mooky+co when they claimed that they had lenders in their corner and things are looking rosy at the AGM - when in actual fact they were always going to pick up Cine on the cheap now assured the movie business is heading to full recovery mode

Even more relieved I left here when I did - even if it was with a huge loss of which some to recoup through offsetting capital losses and invaluable lessons learned for the future

Sad it has ended this way, the reputation of Cine/Regal soured for many -

The only benefit I can see coming out of this - the workers there get to keep their jobs and remove the stress of knowing they will have a job to turn up to for the foreseeable future.

@BB you’re welcome, I was on discord but took myself off the platforms (including this one) as part of my focus and really only came back on here briefly to see the reaction to the recent cine developments

I hope you can make some use of the information I set out in that post, there isn’t much more I can add to it. If you are going to take action I’d suggest you speak to those agencies as a starter (you can usually find named recruiters for these agencies on their websites or linked in) and explain what you are looking to achieve. Bottom line is It’s easier for people to take you on when they know they can get rid of you after a couple of weeks and you can dip in and see how you like the type of work without committing

All the best!

@mountainous sounds like a very sensible strategy, goodness knows I am trying to play it relatively safe now given the losses incurred in Cine

@mountainous - no that isn’t one of mine. I am focused towards more early stage biotechs - some like to call them penny stocks which many are - I have a research background so I feel I am able to do decent DD on them - I’ve done well out of 2 so far but currently focused on a ticker called CYTH which has an Alzheimer’s/Rare disease drug in daily advanced stage P3/P2 - obviously these are very high risk investments as drug trials can go either way but It is showing a lot of promise and recently got a patent granted which is why you will a spike in the price of you check the stock

@BB The PM function seems like too much of a fuss so will just post here and others can ignore it

My advice is there are two options to go at

1. Use adjacent/ transferable skills from your IT role to get your foot in the door in the NHS eg project management/ admin and then build towards a more IT focused role

2. Apply straight for IT roles so things like working on hospital Cerner/EPR or IT support/ Business Information Analyst posts

I would recommend option 1 as it will likely be easier to get in and as you start to earn you can fund some training around Cerner/EPR to build up skills for hospital focused systems but no harm to try both and see how you get on

Some agencies that specialise in health care roles to try are

Venn Group

Real Staffing

Boston Hale

Allen Lane

They usually want a CV and an initial chat to figure out what you are after - if you are upfront in a cover email eg 30+ years on telecoms/ IT and you want to focus into the NHS demonstrate you have transferable skills etc - I’ve known many that have done this

For example option 1 this is a flavour of the type of role - could easily mould your experience to fit this type of project admin post - they normally clock in at around £200 per day Option 2 roles are in the 300-400+ range

Most are now remote with a couple of days in the office so even London based may be viable for you

https://www.venngroup.com/job/senior-programme-officer?source=google.com

https://www.realstaffing.com/en-gb/job/epr-change-agent/RE-34113152/

If you google these or go via linked in you will find the names of recruiter contacts who deal specifically with NHS roles

All the best and if you do decide to give it a try hope something comes of this - stay positive

@BB I got out slightly north of 2p so still a massive loss. Personally I will never set foot in a Cineworld again - there are many options and certainly paying to attend a Cine will remind me of the foolish decisions made and can’t imagine sitting through a film there.

With the little you have described I would make one suggestion (please take it in the spirit it is intended) that you look at potentially contracting in an NHS role on a day rate - bizzarely it’s the one industry that actually values those at the older age group -so you may stand a good chance to get a foot in the door if you are interested let me know and I can connect you with some agencies that specialise in this type of work - will take it offline so not broadcasting this to an audience given the lack of relevance to others here!

Thanks mountainous - since we are both ex Cine holders I will not overstay my welcome although judging by the state of things I expect there won’t be a forum for much longer!

Good to hear you have come out of this the other end with a degree of sanity, I tend to play US biotech stocks which are not discussed here but on other forums like stocktwits but if I see you around on any of the other boards will be sure to say hello

Hello mountainous and BB, I haven’t been back to these forums for a few months now but thought I would check in to see the reaction as i read the news about Cine management team in line to pocket a combined $35m

Obviously it’s salt on the wounds but as I wrote in my leaving post when I sold - it became ever clear to me that there was no alignment left of shareholder interests with Cine management which was the driving factor for me

As it was back then a bitter pill to swallow and now and again comes back but as I said to myself and a message to others, the energy we use up thinking and regretting a past decision is energy we cannot use in getting back on track.

BB I don’t know your circumstances in full and I am not here to provide advice which would likely come off somewhat patronising and presumptuous- you sound like a good, intelligent and capable person - we all need to mount a recovery strategy in the best way we can using the skills and resources at our disposal - I have been using my time away from this board to execute on that

Mountainous I agree wholeheartedly with the points you have made, wish we would have all had the good sense to have seen this earlier and sold out when the share price showed some recovery but alas we had put too much stock (literally) in Mookys assurances and have paid the price.

Thanks WoW but I wasn’t looking to hertz as a comparison unless there is a very late stage bidding war for Cine which seems unlikely

My question was around the judges ability to interrogate the RSA and what powers he has to support equity holders - from what I have ready he has in the past ordered an equity committee to be set up where RSAs have sought to obliterate holders of common stock - just wondered if anyone knew what that playbook of options looks like

The closest answer I could find to my own question was in relation to EXXI C11 where Isgur disagrees with the wipeout proposed and ordered the debtors to set up an equity security holders committee which was a lifeline for those shareholders, I can’t see how it panned out but in some ways it’s irrelevant as the principle of him intervening to ensure equity holders are treated fairly seems to be on the record

@kioto perhaps I am wrong but Hertz bounce back was based on being bought out after a bidding war for the business

My thought process was focusing on the RSA and there is a legal basis for the judge to order parties to provide some small relief for common equity holders

@BB yes that’s correct although it’s not something I’m contemplating right now

However I am curious as to why it is even relevant for a judge to be referred to in that way if it means nothing - how does being sympathetic manifest - does he bat his eyelids at the lawyers and ask them to go easy or does he actually have some leverage to do anything about it?

Most people who follow this board may know my history in this share and that I recently sold out completely.

I have question for those who appear to be knowledgeable of the C11 process :

I googled Judge Isgurs to look at historical coverage of other C11 cases he has presided over. I noted in one of the media reports he was referred to as being “sympathetic to the small guy” in reference to his judgements in relation to common equity holders in C11 cases

So without starting any fires , is anyone able to humour me with an answer to this hypothetical.

The recent published document states that even if all eligible voters vote the plan through by the May deadline it could still be rejected. So my question is:

a) Does the judge have a legal basis does to reject the plan assuming a majority acceptance on the grounds of inequity to parties eg those impaired ?
b) assuming his “sympathetic nature” is there a legal mechanism for the judge to signal to the colluding parties that they need to go back to the drawing board and make an allowance or carve out for the equity holders of Cine parent?

I look forward to sensible answers on these points

@Tegop that’s an interest shift in communication -could this be this Mookys emergency life raft for himself and shareholders after all?

Applaud the efforts to get that docket on the record, if anything it will serve to give Mooky some uncomfortable nights seeing the names of those who have supported the company to be dragged into this

I am not nieve enough to think he will care much overall. In hindsight it was his assurance of the strength of support from lenders I took on face value rather then seeing the truth which was they were hostages with fingers crossed they could get to 2019 numbers in 2022 and meet the leverage covenants which when looked at objectively was impossible - not raising new equity when it was at £1 again really dumb move and have now handed a great business to lenders at a cut down price

Then again it’s not like anyone else wanted to buy it despite industry players having healthy cash balances not a nibble

I hope using the movie analogy there is one final act that can turn this around for those still holding and beyond all odds can make a recovery of some description

From institutional investors

As I balance that against what looks like objective facts staring me in the face I could not justify continuing on.

To that end I have made a commitment to myself of the following

This failure is now in my past and I will not define my future
I learnt to accept and commit to the pain of losing and commit to coming back from it
I cannot get back the money or time I have lost thinking about Cineworld but I can lose more time and money regretting the bad choices I made
The money I lost on Cine was created by wealth I made in the past so I know I possess the skills and time to create it again

Those going the legal route - I don’t judge anyone for their choices and each person can assess the relative merits of their actions , truth be told as I reflect I think the biggest problem was from Mooky and his “no covid surprises” speech at the AGM which imho seemed to mask how much worse the position was in relation to relations with lenders etc and how precarious the financial position was

I didn’t write this message with an agenda or to sway anyone either way but just because I thought I owed it to the board to provide a reason behind my actions.

Old habits die hard having been on this forum for years. I thought I would return a finto give a fuller explanation as to why I took my decision last week.

My position has been steadfast throughout and I always maintained I would stay the course to the bitter end. As others have said since C11 we were being warned all along about the potential for no recovery. With each notice those warnings got more and more stark and that creditors would not stomach a recovery for equity holders - so what changed and why did I sell?

As I read the RSA bleary eyed in the early hours of its release a few things started to fall into place that had been unclear.

Here was a document that seemed designed to provide something for every party with the exception of shareholders - it seemed we were being painted into a corner and made an exception - divide and conquer. This was designed to make it easier for the judge to agree - after all , this preserves the jobs of the staff at Cine, creditors secured and unsecured get something and the future of the overall business is secured.

Many of us felt that “Mookys 20%” provided some alignment of interests but as I read the RSA it became clear to me that alignment was no longer in play and that what we thought might be an advocate for shareholders was as expected someone keen to salvage what they could even at the expense of the wider shareholder community

I don’t believe whatever he has been offered is going to make him whole - as I have mentioned previously I know someone who has worked with Mooky (who btw consistently warned me and advised me to sell numerous times through this ) that he and his brother had sunk everything into Cine and while he will still be a millionaire with his golden parachute this will be a massive loss to their generational wealth.

The mystery around RoW also became clearer in that there is no intention for us to have any benefit from that transaction

I accept that this plan could still be rejected by the judge and he could take a different view or perhaps a multitude of other things could still happen. But for me having invested 120k (that’s pounds not shares) into this to leave with 10% of that which given my faith in the project finally unravelled was too much to just go up in smoke and ashes.

It would be an insult and a vanity and would have showed no growth or learning from all the other times I left money on the table when clearly I should have and could have sold - so I did

I am a natural born optimist and in the deepest parts of my mind I do still wonder if all this is still Mooky is battling to save his legacy, or that RoW will not be sold and continue to be allowed to trade as the much reduced legacy Cineworld plc or that even more far out that between now and July one of those buyers realises they are about to loose a buy of a lifetime and comes in with a much improved bid

Furthermore I have seen very few sell offs from the still sizeable stake th