The latest Investing Matters Podcast episode featuring financial educator and author Jared Dillian has been released. Listen here.
He is showing his confidence in a growing profitable company. Revised interims show That - Group revenue £9.19m (H1 16 £10.18m less £1.05m = £9.13m) so growth . The £1.05m is from Grove house publishing rev £0.50m (full year £1m ) & TenAlps Media publishing rev £0.65m (full year £1.3m) Both companies left the Zinc group in 2016 & so would not be included in 1st half interim results, so comparing the £9.19m with the £10.18m previously is misleading at first sight. So its certainly given David Galen the opportunity to buy at a good price, maybe he was not allowed to buy prior to the interims, as that may have been "insider dealing" but now the interims are out, They clearly show Zinc has turned around.
IN THE INTERIMS. Group revenues did well considering last years interims included considerable revenue from Grove House Publishing & Ten Alps Media publishing - So current Revenues are in reality much better. Also, the First payment to Reef of £1m was settled & Zinc still made an EBITDA profit. It must be quite confusing to those that had done absolutely no research, relied on tips & then panicked, I bet the market makers have had a good week. I had a look back at what was going on with the SP at the time of 2016 final results, The Sp fell for 11days after the finals were releasd in November, Then the uptrend resumed & the SP ROSE for the next 49days. The impact a new member on the board will have on the sp is going to be interesting. All the best & DYOR, Patience is often rewarded.
Based on the idea that markets will retrace a predictable portion of a move, after which they continue in the original direction, is pretty much spot on here & since the high, that Zinc reached it has now retraced about 62% which is a significant point in Fibonacci ratios ! "Basically - in an uptrend there will be a correction, at the end of correction the trend will continue" There are a lot of positives & Some points from the interims seem to have been overlooked & include - REEF EXCEEDING management expectations & targets for the period, Plus working on multiple projects & entering into new areas, several series airing shortly on both BBC & C4 Reef completed the first of a 3 year earnout after EXCEEDING TARGETS set out in the deal, & the first payment of £1m was settled. (without THAT cost in the first half the interims would have looked a lot better) At this point now with Reefs performance the current share price of Zinc is lower than, what Reef is worth !! There are ADVANCED DISCUSSIONS for a new non-executive director going on - who might that be ? There are some pretty high profile figures involved with Zinc, & who have held the position of Non- executive, including Bob Geldof & Luke Johnson, both also hold significant equity, Jonnie Goodwin has many contacts & co-founded The Founders Forumn with Brent Hoberman, Who has recently stepped down from the Guardian Media group ( is he a possibility ?) Who ever does join the board, they usually invest quite well So, for them now is quite a good time. So for fun has anyone else got any views on who may be the new board member. Now that Syndication (where there are no production costs ) is taking place, Penelope keith's & Paul Hollywoods productions, Selling well internationally, Revenues surely, will grow faster. For the First time in recent years Zinc is making a profit & it looks like it should be a good year Also a point to think about is - if you have any good ideas about a TV Production that you feel may be a winner why not air your views, you may have an excellent idea for the next, "most popular" tv show - many heads make ........ I guess that would be like participating in Zincs future, would anyone listen ? who knows ! All the best & think about it - Its going to be great.
Some good points there Nextlink, lots to be positive about - Also, there could be other issues that inspire investors. They could be - New board members Acquisitions Award wins Takeover talks The sale or buyout of the Macclesfield publishing division (a big possibility) New contracts for the communications division, (growing list of blue chip clients with good contracts) The first half year could also have included larger productions that did not get paid for in the first half - but could boost the second half, This often happens in business. & as you say the busier half of the year is in the second half. The new Reef show "Getting the Builders in" looks very promising, - The Bake off for the boys !! Its in production I think they started in January, (there's a crossover production from 1st half to 2nd half, costs in 1st half -payment in 2nd half) Further sales to International Broadcasters " Penelope Keith & Paul Hollywood's shows doing well - There's a few reasons to be positive that I can think of, off the top of my head. What is the term that Warren Buffet uses - Be Greedy when others are fearfull - is now that time ? Good luck all.
Cheers BringMyReward for your comment, I had a busy weekend & just catching up. It looks like there was some interesting debate. Its always a bit frustrating at this point in the cycle, its a bit like winter, we had the autumn/fall & the clearing out of the loss making divisions & before spring & the flowers arrive there's a bit of winter (hopefully a short onel). I had a look back recently at how Ten Alps revenues grew (In Ten Alps early years). 2003 -£13.06m 2004-£17.73m 2005-£34.75m 2006-£42.21m 2007-£69.04m Ten Alps grew quite rapidly when it launched it had revenues of under £2m & 10 staff - the company branched out in various directions & into communications & publishing & was doing quite well By 2007 share price was hitting 70p, Turnover was £69m & profit before tax was £2.26m Ten Alps got involved with the government & Teachers TV, Ten Alps owned 75% of TEACHERS TV together with ITN who had 25% , Then Ed Balls axed funding for TEACHERS TV in 2010. Consequently Ten Alps took a hit & suffered for it. Then 2015 saw a big shake up & BOB GELDOF stepped down from the board , (but still remained a shareholder) It now really feels like Zinc Media are in that growth mode again & have learned the lessons from the past. I agree with Shenners , Those that have patience will be rewarded. All The Best & good luck to everyone.
continued. Jonathan Goodwin has also quite a considerable holding in Zinc & now that Zinc is operating efficiently, his expertise as a deal maker will I am sure be the focus for the Board. Just some thoughts & as Bring My Reward suggests an acquisition or some sort of deal could be in the pipeline, I am sure that Jonathan Goodwin will now have a busy year - he does have quite a credible history & very good contacts. So I am very optimistic & have a good feeling that we are in safe hands. All the Best, & as ever DYOR,
Sbuild, I would say a bit of profit taking took place, it doesn't seem to take much trading to move the SP which had taken a bit of a hit last year when the loss making publishing divisions were being closed & sold. By this time last year certain parts of the group were still loss making & trading was behind target, the group was being totally shaken up & the board were busy making some tough decisions, the TV & communications divisions were being centralised onto one site together with the offices. The company changed its name from Ten Alps to Zinc Media, it was involved in acquisitions, the publishing division was being sorted out (ten alps had gone off in tangents), there was a lot going on & the board had a busy year & did a good job. Zinc Media is now running more efficiently, each division is self managing & profitable with profitability expected to accelerate. It now looks like the turnaround is complete & the companies within Zinc Media are all operating efficiently which will require less time from the board, hence the board can now concentrate on growth. Regarding the Board of directors, Its been a busy year for the turnaround specialist - "Luke Johnson" - his expertise is in looking at how a business operates, (read his Sunday times column), he probably spent a considerable amount of time going through every aspect of Zinc Media & found areas where efficiency could be created, he has had an extremely busy year. Luke did what he set out to do & the shareholders should be very pleased with what he has done. I would say that his work is done, that does not mean he has left Zinc Media - He is still one of the largest shareholders 50 million shares, for which he paid 2p a share. so although he has stepped down from the board he is still involved, he is a very busy person with an immense energy & I would say the board will still be involving his expertise. We have not really heard much about JONATHAN (JONNIE) GOODWIN, one of the founding partners of LEPE PARTNERS, an international merchant bank focused on the media, internet and technology sector. Along with Internet entrepreneur and investor Brent Hoberman, he also co-founded FOUNDERS FORUM. Jonnie Goodwin HAS ADVISED ON MORE THAN 100 MEDIA DEALS over the last 10 years, worth over $20billion.They include Chris Evans' purchase of Virgin Radio, the sale of Friends Reunited to ITV, the sale of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire and more recently the merger of property websites findaproperty.com, primelocation.com and Zoopla . Jonathan Goodwin was also CEO and Co-founder of LongAcre Partners, where he built the company into Europe's leading mid-market media and corporate finance house prior to selling it to Jeffries in 2007. ( Ten Alps engaged Lepe Partners in June 2014 to assist it with its acquisition strategy.) Jonathan Goodwin has also quite a considerable holding & now that Zinc is operating efficiently, his
Its all good news, Shenners was right the directors are confident & with the busy half of the year ahead (which we are nearly half way through already) & considering 77% of forecasted TV revenues were achieved in first half, the second half should be very good if another 77% is achieved. Its all good news & a good buying opportunity.
Shenners, Hopefully those costs are well & truly now out of the way & the publishing division is now making a profit. £0.9m half year revenue gives it a full year revenue of about £1.8m, Its got a good contract with Local Authority Building Control LABC, "nationwide exclusive", has good Management - Annette Clowes, former Managing Director of LOOT, & is being prepared for being a standalone business - Possible sale or Management buyout on the way . Zincs current share price is well & truly undervalued & I wouldn't be surprised if zinc now becomes a Takeover target !
For the first time in recent years - which is good news - the turnaround has happened, it has taken time & patience for the Management to lay a solid foundation for growth which is happening & these results prove that Zinc are certainly heading in the right direction. Question -The value of the assets ie Reef etc seem to be marked down within the accounts due to the total company share price at that time,(the accounts written up) so this has an effect on the profits (amortisations) which then, because this value is then included in the interims - has another effect on the share price, which has another effect on the asset values, & so on, even though the certain assets are in fact worth more than the company as a whole, Is that right? LOL Looking undervalued
Broadcasters in Canada & USA also take Penelope Keith's Hidden Villages http://realscreen.com/2016/09/14/looking-for-mike-hidden-villages-land-in-canada/
9. The MACCLESFIELD PUBLISHING DIVISION is managed in partnership with the local authority building control under a five year contract renewed in October 2014 . THERE IS A PROJECT UNDERWAY TO ENSURE THAT THE UNIT BECOMES A SELF-SUFFICIENT STANDALONE BUSINESS”. (that makes sense, its profitable, has a good long contract & may well be ideal for another publisher to ACQUIRE or management buy out - ) I think we should expect to hear more about this soon. 10. COSTS BROUGHT DOWN by The Board , including their own fees & salaries, plus the departures of Mark Wood & Nitil Patel make a saving of £478,000 for 2017 accounts. 11. THE 20 NEW EDIT SUITES & the integration of the offices means TV & Digital comms now all on one site. All easier to manage, Which will help to build business & create one of the UK’s leading independent TV Production companies. 12. Plus the new REEF production ”Getting the Builders in” – should it be as popular as “The Great British Bake Off” that would generate some massive revenue. Excited ? "The best fun you can have with your clothes on"
Swedish broadcaster Axess TV has picked up 12 x 48mins of Penelope Keith's Hidden Villages - http://tvfinternational.com/tvf-scores-nordic-sales/
Good point, Luke Johnson is on both boards plus Zinc were housing & supporting Chrysalis, they didn't just give up their stake - is that business. Luke Johnson & Johnnie Goodwin are dealmakers, it sure is going to be interesting to learn the outcome.
Flamemaker, it sure makes you wonder, did the market makers get caught out here with Zinc & did they supply what they didn't have to the brokers. Hence the recent push down to try & balance out. market maker speaks out here http://www.angelfire.com/wv/VCSYDD/MMInfo/MM2.htm Just a thought, who knows.
There is an interesting articleThe Changing face of Doumentary TV - Pippa Considine’s Blog on Televisual.com , some points she makes – BBC, ITV, Channels 4 & 5 are increasing what they spend on Factual , they are looking for more Factual formats – Audiences are desperate for people to present things differently. Also Big opportunities for UK producers to make documentaries for US broadcasters, the market is 10 times the size of the UK’s & with Pound/dollar rate - British companies can be both better & cheaper – Netflix & Amazon hopeing to commission Factual more regularly. Chinese Broadcasters are developing relationships with UK producers, “Best in the World” says Summer Zheng, Formats director at Zhejiang Satelite – 4th biggest TV network in China. Zinc Media already working with US broadcaster Scripps through Food Network Channel & National Geographic for documentary about 1st emperor of China. The BBC has started to open up its hold on its TV PRODUCTION & is to offer external companies the chance to tender for production of content as part of its “compete & compare” strategy – Songs of Praise, Question of sport, Holby city & HORIZON are the first shows the BBC is putting out to tender to independent producers. The BBC plans to open up competition for 40% of the network Drama, Comedy, Entertainment & FACTUAL programmes currently made In-House over next 2 years & up to 100% by the end of the 11 year charter It may be quiet but silence is Golden
The Skiers have been looking for the next chairlift station to travel further up the mountain, they had to ski down to the lift station & are now wondering which lift to take, - will it be the cable car to the top or will they take the scenic route?