broomfielder
07 Jun 2018
Re: AGM This really is a Co run for the benefit of its 'Executive Management/Shareholders' whom I have no doubt will have all the internal Management Accounting information at their fingertips. So s** the rest of us it seems.After all, a people business which specialises in the recruitment of true Business leaders as its core activity, surely have the acumen to recognise the benefits of a properly managed and structured PR process for their own Corporate activities (and SP).Or perhaps as you say B, its simply that the story isn't as good as its should be at this stage..........in which case, lets bury the news etc. or, better still, don't issue any.Either way, it strikes me that NBB don't possess the Executive honesty I would look for were I (still) looking to recruit Senior Management etc. as I did many times in the past.B
BOWOOD
06 Jun 2018
Re: AGM A further lack of news. Nearly half way into the new year you would think they would give an indication of how things were going. So no news is not a positive message IMO
BOWOOD
06 Jun 2018
Re: AGM No news then on current trading. It always feels better when a company can be upbeat if it is on the recovery. Any recovery here is very much WIP I think.
BOWOOD
30 May 2018
Re: AGM It will be interesting to see if we get an indication of current trading ahead of the AGM
broomfielder
28 May 2018
Re: AGM I have said before that AIM is populated by many Companies who conduct their Investor relations like a Private Ltd Co rather than the PUBLIC companies they are. Unfortunately IMO, NBB is among this Group.Simply not good enough.B
BOWOOD
26 May 2018
AGM Bit dissapointed that the AGM is as early as it is notwithstanding that MB welcomes investor contact. If you have to travel into London once a year to meet the BOD you need to leave at about 7am and pay premium rates for travel- not very thoughtful IMO. It may be convenient for his cosey friends but for those of us who have supported the company for the last 100 years not very investor friendly.
broomfielder
25 May 2018
Re: Options Totally agree B.Quite surprised however, the vesting date/event for the first Tranche of Options equates to a Share Price of 22p - 70p and the Second tranche dependant upon EBITDA reaching £0.6m and £2m.The RNS doesn't expand on the sliding scale within each quantum band but its ckear they are not giving these Options too freely...........now an SP of c70p!! Wouldn't that be nice.B
BOWOOD
25 May 2018
Options I don't agree with cheap options. The best incentive for Directors is when they put their hand in their pocket - then they have to put their back into the business. If options are granted I also feel that when exerercised by a Director the shares have to be retained for at least a year - no quick capitalising on a share spike or only short term progress by the company.
broomfielder
14 May 2018
Re: 2017 Full Year Results Given the route chosen by the Exec Team post restructure to pursue growth by organic means rather than by acquisition (augmented by in-house growth), the pay-back time was always going to be longer as we observed at the time.Perhaps then, on reflection, the turnaround of a people driven business whose market (ie UK) has been beset by Brexit uncertainties/headwinds, was certainly never going to happen overnight as most of its peer group competitors have looked to Europe and Overseas for growth against a stale UK market.And indeed that is the case, because on closer inspection,IMO, they are actually poorer than they first appear. Sure, there is that great blanket called 'restructure' whose costs are not sufficiently transparent to be 100% accurate, but on some key areas, we seem to have lost ground from the H1 stage. In saying that, I acknowledge many key appointments were made during 2017, so gelling far less driving the business forward was always going to be hard.However the Gross Profit margin has deteriorated from 78.9% at H1 to 77.2% with losses accelerating from £0.7m to £1.6m and while much comment has been made by NBB to the cross referred business now evident, it may have abeen at the expense of margin and also more generous Credit terms conceded (Debtor days now 78 v. 43 at H1).The 1 profitable Division is NBB Leadership Consulting but these figures may have been distorted by the major client win (originally a FTSE 100 Co now a FTSE 250 - poss Provident). However profirs here are lower at the FY end v. H1.All in all, we can only hope Q4 (of 2017) and Q1 of 2018 are, as we have told, performing much better and ahead of expectations because H2 has looked to be disappointing.B
BOWOOD
14 May 2018
Re: 2017 Full Year Results Morning B. I have seen the headline numbers but will need to have a better look this evening.I had been looking for a reduction on the half year figure so a little disappointed.
broomfielder
14 May 2018
2017 Full Year Results I will take time to go through these figures in more detail, but my initial thoughts rather confirm my earlier suspicions expressed previously.On the positive side, there are now clear signs of turnaround at Group level we had rather optimistically hoped for at the H1 stage. That said, it is equally clear the Group's restructure is lagging forecast/expectations in terms of time and cost. The position of the core NBES division is troubling with the need for clear evidence of recovery not being seen yet.We are really left to ponder the more positive remarks on the Q4 and early 2018 performance but in the absence of any detail it could be little more than 'jam tomorrow'.In conclusion, there is some encouragement but for me not enough at this stage. There is also every possibility they will raise more capital even if progress is maintained simply to repay their rising borrowings as losses wont simply be turned off instantly.I think the Group are heading in the right direction but I'm not sure how long I can wait. The acid test is how quickly NBES moves forward not only to stem its losses but start making some money. That doesn't look like tomorrow to me.B
broomfielder
10 May 2018
Re: Awaited Full Year Accounts Yes, agree with your observations B.I would hope that in the Chairmans/MD's comments that more coverage than is normal (for NBB) would be given to 'Post Year End events/trading'.This would provide further 'colour' to the Audited Accounts and hopefully illustrate certain positive trends etc which we hope are evident in the H1 performance to date. After all, they will already have 4 months internal Management Accounts with which to gauge progress in the current financial period which we hope continues to build on last year's figures.B
BOWOOD
09 May 2018
Re: Awaited Full Year Accounts You are absolutely right B, there can be few excuses going forward if positive progress is not being made. IMO the year to the end of December last should post the last losses but I still feel that the loss at the half year will not have been eliminated. It's going to be all about the positive start to the current year that will determine the reaction of the market. The half year to June will be pivotal.
broomfielder
09 May 2018
Awaited Full Year Accounts Within a few weeks, we should see production of the full year Audited Accounts.This, in my view, is where the talking stops and clear evidence of 'delivery' in the form of demonstrative evidence of the Group's turnaround should be clear to see.After all, we should now be well into the 'growth' phase (aka Phase 2) of the Group's radical restructure which itself seems to have grown out of all proportion to its original concept. This is the hard bit - delivering profitable growth on the back of stabilised costs as we move forward.The relatively easy bits have been done - redundancies, closures and then head-hunted recruitment of key players - all of which are extremely costly in the first instance.We should now be at the threshold of a real and very positive story with clear evidence in monetary terms to support the exciting journey we are now (hopefully) on.So in my view, this is it. No more excuses or fudged explanations.B
broomfielder
23 Mar 2018
Re: RNS Hi BAs far as Kln is concerned I exited over a year ago, more than a bit frustrated with the lack of info etc.Hopefully, you will see some real progress in their latest figures.Rgds.B
