smilingmickey1
08 Apr 2016
Share purchases by the Company I note that Fullers have recently announced a series of share purchases for "its Treasury." From time to time there are also announcement about Directors who take up their share options being provided with said shares sourced from "Treasury."This seems good thing for shareholder as their holdings are not being diluted by the issue of new shares required to meet the needs of Directors share options. It would also mean over time that (assuming Directors do not subsequently sell shares) that the overall holding of Directors in the business is increasing over time. No bad thing!
gamesinvestor
11 Feb 2016
Resilient little buxxger this one!Mr Market's heading some way south and this one doesn't want to get on the same train. Come on Mr Market, I'm looking for an entry.Why -- I like the product -- "London Pride" -- the pubs are timeless, but the price - mon dieu!Games -- Everything comes at a price
ToraV
15 Jan 2016
FST! Available in local Coop, One stop mini market and pub in small Notts town, Heathrow, airport,and Birmingham !Not a local brew any more but a national if not international brew Gave it to dustmen, milkman and passenger at kings cross for fun
LK Hyman
05 Jan 2016
Re: GNK Jose,"I thought I would gleefully mention his post on this board way back on 23 September 2014."Yup, I gotta put my hand up and admit that I was a tad overcautious with regard to Spirit. Certainly GNK has been doing very well of late.I think I still prefer Fullers to GNK though. The average Fullers boozer is in a better location than the average GNK one (in my humble). There are an awful lot of pretty average Greene King pubs and, let's face it, apart from Treatt, Bury St Edmunds isn't exactly at the cutting edge ... of anything ... compared to that wonderful chunk of real estate that houses Fullers' Griffin brewery in Chiswick.But you get the much sought after accolade of a bluey for your post fromLKH at the LK Wash & Valet GNK's Loch Fyne restaurants aren't bad
gamesinvestor
05 Jan 2016
Re: GNK "no worries about inerest rates."Interesting surety in that statement Jose, have you seen what the Saudi's have just done?I wouldn't be surprised if all hexx lets loose in the in the Middle East and particularly in the Shia region where all the oil pipelines merge.Games
JoseFrio
04 Dec 2015
GNK I'm got a man to bear grudges, but LKH did recently criticise my grammar on another board (as it happens he was spot on, but that's beside my point as it's a matter of (London) pride) so I thought I would gleefully mention his post on this board way back on 23 September 2014. "So, Greene King may bid for Spirit Pub Co. They must have lost all control over their senses, as Spirit's pubs are pretty poor quality in general and in the wrong parts of the country. In addition it's laden with debt and interest rates are gonna go up ere long, which will make the acquisition a disaster in my humble."Err - have you seen how much money GNK is making from the acquisition? True, the debt looks quite scary, but no worries about inerest rates.
LK Hyman
20 Nov 2015
Re: Excellent results CashQuack,"the shares are very illiquid with huge movements on very small daily turnover"That never troubles me, m8. I'm a long term holder, so, if there are any sickening downwards lurches, they merely provide an opportunity to top up, though the spread tends to be greater than I usually like.Enjoy your London Pride .... then have a Frontier on me and tell me what it's like. The sales of this new craft lager (whatever "craft" means) are going like gangbusters.LKH on the flybridge tracking steadily south east
CashQuack
20 Nov 2015
Re: Excellent results Hi LKHyman,We are of one mind with FST: It is one of the surest things on the stock market. That said, the shares are very illiquid with huge movements on very small daily turnover. Perhaps more widespread recognition would do more for the share price. In the mean time I am sitting in a Fuller's pub enjoying London Pride...
LK Hyman
20 Nov 2015
Excellent results The half year results were extremely encouraging. Two comments:Net debt is up £30 million odd, but the balance sheet remains strong.Interesting that FSTA thought it worthwhile to lash out £29.9 million to buy the freeholds of three pubs where they already hold a lease. One of these was the Barrowboy and Banker on London Bridge, which is clearly a nice slice of real estate, but £10 million average per pub .... wow!I've previously banged on about the tremendous asset backing which underlies FSTA, but these three freehold purchases really underline that point. Obviously I don't know how these three pubs compare, value-wise, with their average estate - I suspect that one or all three of them is much higher value than the average, so it may not be possible to infer much about the whole from this small part. However this reinforces my opinion about the extremely high quality and value of the Fuller's estate.Since it is a family-controlled company we are never going to see the value of the estate crystallised into cold hard wonga, but if one likes, as I do, to have strong asset backing for an investment then, boy, Fuller's provides that asset backing in spades.LKH on the flybridge 2.5% of wad in FSTA
II Editor
12 Nov 2015
NEW ARTICLE: It's fun to drink at the YNGA "Despite being rather pricey, the London-heavy pub chain LSE:YNGA:Young & Co has been widely tipped for its long-term growth potential as Brits eat out more often. Investment in its estate has driven double-digit profit growth in the first half, ..."[link]
gamesinvestor
25 Sep 2015
Re: Expansion "There is not a market value for "Soul" but the Lygon Arms Hotel in Broadway, for example, is a shadow of its former self since being sold out of family ownership to the Savoy Group."Cash, I stayed at the Lygon about 10 years ago, has it really gone down the pan so much? If so, it's a shame as I rememberd getting trollied on my birthday there, it was great fun.I also love Youngs' beer and I see it a lot now in Bedfordshire were I happen to reside.Charles Wells is the brewer that bought Youngs' brewing business and I'd be chuffed if London Pride was added, but I don't see that happening unless the cost of the brewing in London gets a bit toppy.LK - I agree re the total return aspect and have quite a few stocks that don't pay a divi at all, ebay, PayPal - and Skyworks only has a 1% payout.Games - Oh and a few Glencore - not by design mind (how stupid of me not to have sold, how stupid of me to have bought in the first place he adds).
CashQuack
25 Sep 2015
Re: Expansion This company first came to my notice as a medical student in London and was more than happy to get pleasantly sloshed on its excellent beers. I also enjoyed the same indulgence with Young's. I entirely agree that family ownership is a good thing. I also agree that total return needs to be considered when looking at the dividend. I do not have shares in Young's for practical reasons, but I have always regretted their sale of their Wandsworth site and the removal of brewing to Bedfordshire. They lost their soul by doing so as well as thier key marketing strategy, even though there were sound financial reasons for doing so. There is not a market value for "Soul" but the Lygon Arms Hotel in Broadway, for example, is a shadow of its former self since being sold out of family ownership to the Savoy Group. A good product + sound management = good investment. I have no issues here.
LK Hyman
25 Sep 2015
Re: Expansion Games,"The divi is pretty measly on FSTA"I used to set a lot of store by a chunky divi but now all I care about is total return (share price appreciation plus divis). The divi is anyway taxed more heavily (outside a tax wrapper like ISAs or Sipps) than a capital gain, so anyone wanting or needing some spending money can just supplement the meagre divi by selling a few shares every year. So long as the share price keeps rising there is no reason why the value of one's holding should not keep rising even with a few shares sold every year.LKH on the flybridge
gamesinvestor
25 Sep 2015
Re: Expansion "Anyhoo, I think that this is a great company. I do like family companies ... they can think for the long term." Certainly puts a decent slant on it with the numbers you suggest. What we need now is some huge negative story on pubs to get an entry point (he howls selfishly), appreciating that wouldn't necessarily be to your liking (although you could add more).The divi is pretty measly on FSTA and it's risen a huge amount in 5 years.Games -- still no point looking over the shoulder as they say.
LK Hyman
25 Sep 2015
Re: Expansion Games,"what do you estimate the market cap+net debt to be and how FAR above do you you reckon is a sensible (conservative) estimate?"The market cap is £612 million (A, B and C shares), net debt £163 million, so enterprise value is £775 million. They have some 392 pubs (including a handful of medium-sized well located London hotels). So, if you ignore the value of the brewery and their beer brands as such, each of their pubs (most of which are freehold or long leasehold) can be bought on the stock market for just under £2 million each.Wander around their estate and ask yourself - how many of their pubs could I actually buy for £2 million if they were each for sale? I suggest that the answer is "precious few". Most of 'em are in really prime locations as can be seen if you scroll down the various pubs' individual mini websites on the main FSTA website.Then there is the value of the brewery and the brands on top. Hard to say what they would go for on a standalone basis, but I'd expect a number well in excess of £100 million based on the Beer Company's profitability alone, ignoring the fact that it's sat on an absolutely prime chunk of Chiswick riverside real estate."I think they are too late for coffee shops"Yes, that is an arguably oversupplied market, though FSTA sells a lot of coffee already, and apparently has one coffee shop as such, where it trains its baristas.Anyhoo, I think that this is a great company. I do like family companies ... they can think for the long term.LKH on the flybridge a fan of Fullers
