Member Info for Skindle

You two can send each other private messages you know, particularly as your comments are not Findel specific.

MM's buying any unwanted shares again in readiness for the next re valuation which will hopefully take place upon the release of the half yearly report. I am certain you are absolutely right Columbo about the honest intentions of the board of directors but you must appreciate the power of Sports Direct, Tosca and Schroders as a combined force. These three working together will over power all other interests and intentions. Let's hope those three have the same ultimate hopes as we have.

Trying to guess what Sports Direct will do next is a mugs game. While that is mildly concerning for us as shareholders, just think what the board of directors of Findel are thinking. Now might be a good moment for the board to announce the appointment of a new young aggressive CEO, after all they are going to need all the fire power they can muster to fend off this attack. I think Sports Direct are interested in more than just Kitbag. Their 18.93% investment cost £2 a share which will prove to be a very shrewd investment indeed. Whether they end up with Kitbag or not probably doesn't matter, there is a strong chance that they could double their money if all goes to plan.

Make no mistake, as shareholders we owe Messrs Sugden, Kowalski, Maudesley and Tracy a huge debt of gratitude for saving this business from administration but there is no doubt the board needs additional well informed new members to help move the company on. I hope this proposal by Sports Direct is for the right reasons and that their nominee is the right person for the job. I suspect the board will view this candidate with much understandable scepticism but will not allow this scepticism to cloud their judgement and they remain impartial in making their decision.

You don't spend £32m and leave that interest in the hands of others, so it is no surprise to me to read this RNS. Sports Direct are seen as an aggressive no nonsence business who don't play by the established city rules but are nonetheless extremely successful deploying their own methods. The current board of directors can take great credit for saving the business back in 2010 and overseeing a rights issue, a share consolidation and the sale of parts of the business to reduce debt. Findel is still trading today because of these people. Having said that, it would appear that in more recent times that have just run out of ideas. We have seen no sustainable growth in value since December 2013. I think now would be a good moment to hand the reigns over to someone like Sports Direct who will take it to the next level. I find it disappointing that the share price is still sub £2.50 despite the value of the parts in theory being well over £3. It is up to the board of directors to realise this true value and grow it from there as opposed to this roller coaster ride that we have endured for the last two years. I really do think that with Sports Direct involvement we have a chance of sustained value growth. Remember, the board decided way back in June to seek a replacement CEO, that position remains in the hands of the executive chairman, maybe Sports Direct would like their candidate to assume this role. Only time will tell, let's hope that the right decisions are made in the interests of all shareholders, great and small.

It would appear that our current incumbent does not like to tell his shareholders anymore than he absolutely has to, and even then any release is tempered with negative caution. Indeed, he could make a £4 a share cash offer sound like a bad move. The reason for the radio silence I think is because our second largest shareholder is in position to throw a spanner in the works of a Kitbag sale at the merest opportunity.

I am hoping that we will receive the half yearly report on Wednesday 25th November as usual regardless of whether a conclusion has been reached over the future of Kitbag. When Findel sold Nottingham Rehabilitation Services (NRS), it first received an expression of interest (much like the recent Kitbag announcement) from its eventual buyer on the 7th November 2012. A conditional contract of sale was signed on the 19th March 2013 and completion of the sale took place on the 19th April 2013. Based upon this timetable we should not expect to hear any more news about Kitbag until at least the end of January 2016.

It is pleasing to see the share price back up again at this level but would remind investors that we are only re tracing old ground as the price climbed to these heady levels in March of this year and October of last year only to fall back on negative RNS releases. Another point that I would like to make is that should Kitbag be sold, which is looking more likely, I believe most if not all sale proceeds will be tax free as losses accumulated in previous years can be used to offset any gains. I stand to be corrected on this if anyone has further factual information.

Provided year end legacy debt falls below £60m and the group pre tax profit margin remains in excess of seven per cent then I stand by my recent valuation of £360m or £4.16 per share. Cantor Fitzgerald currently have a price target of £3.35 but I feel confident that this will be revised up following the half year result release at the end of November.

Assuming that the sale of Kitbag proceeds to a satisfactory conclusion, my thoughts have turned to the value of the group post Kitbag sale. If trading is in line with expectation and the proceeds of the Kitbag sale are used to reduce debt then I think that despite the recent spike in the share price, we are still significantly short of realising true value. In conclusion, I was delighted to observe the rise in share price this week to £2.45 but a two brand business producing in excess of £33m profit this year crystallises how low that share price value still is.

Very interesting information Columbo, well done. I think we can deduce from this information that Sports Direct are planning to market their product range through The Express Gifts catalogue. I still don't think Sports Direct have my plans to buy the whole business.

You need to read the RNS more carefully. The company have only received an approach to purchase Kitbag, this may or may not lead to the sale of the brand. When Kleeneze was sold the RNS stated that it had entered into a binding agreement with Trillium Pond AG to sell the brand. Even from this point it still took six weeks to progress to completion. I think we will not receive any news until closer to the date that the half year figures are normally released, around the 25/26th November. There will probably be an EGM within the next month or so where the buyer of Kitbag will ultimately be decided. Then we will receive news of the result of the EGM.

Some interesting figures 1GW. If JD Sports is our buyer of Kitbag then I can see Sports Direct doing all it can to block the transaction. This will not be a simple process. Prepare for a turbulent few weeks.

Can't help thinking that the buyer of Kitbag is JD Sports as their largest shareholder is Aberforth Partners at 9.44%. Aberforth also own 5.44% of Findel. Shares in JD Sports have more than doubled in the last year and their market cap is now a cool £1.82b and a pre tax profit of £84.5m. Very impressive.

Had a quick look at the British Bulls website for its current view of Findel. I discovered that the current recommendation is to SELL so I promptly bought another 5000 shares. Thank you to British Bulls for consistently getting it wrong.

Motley Fool posted this opinion on the 29th September. Elsewhere, Findel (LSE:FDL) rose over 15% in early trade today as it emerged that Sports Direct had acquired a stake of almost 19% in the retailer. Strategically, I am not sure this is a great deal for the buyer, although the valuation of Findel is attractive based on earnings and cash flow multiples. Findel also said that since completing the strategic review of its sports retailing business, Kitbag, it had "subsequently received an approach for the business from a third party and has agreed terms subject to contract," adding "However, there can be no certainty that a deal will be reached." Its shares look fully priced to me right now. Today's rise to 230p appears obvious, as investors bet on deeper ties between Sports Direct and Findel from now on, but aside from that single element, I really struggle to be bullish about a business that is not expected to grow at a particularly fast pace, whose underlying core margins could come under more pressure and whose balance sheet is not particularly strong, to put it mildly. Today Motley Fool released this. Similarly, Findel (LSE:FDL) is a company on the up. It is gradually returning to full health following a very challenging period, with a restructuring set to help it grow net profit by 18% this year and by a further 15% next year. Despite this positive outlook, shares in Findel are flat in the last year and, as such, it now trades on a price to earnings growth (PEG) ratio of only 0.5, which indicates considerable upside. A potential catalyst for Findel's shares could be the commencement of dividend payments. Although it is not forecast to commence them next year, shareholder payouts could highlight to the market that Findel is becoming financially stronger and also provide evidence that the company's management team is confident regarding its longer term financial performance. While Motley Fool claim to allow each individual analyst free reign at expressing opinion, this sort of conflicting reporting only serves to illustrate that their opinions are really not worth reading.

The outcome of the Kitbag saga will no doubt be settled within the next six weeks or so. In the meantime though I am more interested to know how the group has performed during the first six months of trading. We are now well into the closed period and unusually for this company we have had no trading statement. I can't see why either Sports Directs involvement or the ongoing interest in Kitbag should prevent the company from issuing its usual half year update.

Do remember 1GW that there are only seven board members at Findel and three of those are non executive directors. I would imagine that the last week or so has been a very busy time for them. That said, it is not that difficult to prepare the trading statement as they must know virtually to the minute the levels of income that each brand is bringing in. As I said in an earlier post I am hoping for a figure of around £230m with a pre tax profit of about £5m. While we have enjoyed a significant rise in the past two weeks, we are still nowhere near the true value of the business so let's hope that this rise continues.

Very interesting points of view 1GW_. I had read your post on iii but am not registered there to make a reply. The board will now be struggling with a conflict of interest. Their job is to represent its shareholders in the best way possible, so obtaining the highest price for Kitbag has to be their priority. The problem with that is they have a shareholder with a large stake who wants Kitbag for nothing. Their job now is to weigh up what is better for the company (and therefore us as shareholders) in deciding who to sell to. Unnamed buyer at say £20m or Sports Direct at say zero premium. As a near 19% shareholder, Sports Direct could cause untold and irreparable damage to Findel should it not end up acquiring Kitbag. I know who I would like to see Kitbag going to. On the upside Sports Direct could begin selling its products via Express Gifts and even Findel Education, so potentially both companies could benefit from the Sports Direct involvement. In the short term we have the pre close trading statement to consider which I hope will be released tomorrow. Provided there are no more impairments or re valuations of assets we should be in for some good news. Keep posting 1GW_, I am interested to read your thoughts.

Not sure a full takeover is what Sports Direct have in mind. The Guardian analyst yesterday reported that it is rare for Sports Direct to takeover a business completely. Beyond Kitbag, I can't see what their interest is. What baffles though is why Sports Direct paid £32m for their 18.93% stake when they could have paid around £20m earlier in the year and got what they wanted in the form of Kitbag. Interesting times. I can only see positive news feed for the next month or so.