CASTLEFORD TIGER
08 Mar 2016
delay I suspect someone is playing hard ball.tiger
Clued-in
02 Mar 2016
Re: yesterdays drop Some large buys by institutions recently could suggest an attempt to take SGI private ? Surely they have a good reason to increase their stakes ?
Dingledangle
01 Mar 2016
Re: yesterdays drop A grossly mismanaged company. There are no philatelists on the board. Only bankers and who trusts them these days?Vastly overpaid for the acquisitions, sitting on a stock overhang listed at £50 million but outside of the investment bubble might be worth £10 million. I can only see the various businesses being split up and sold off. SG may survive, but its the shareholders taking the beating.
CASTLEFORD TIGER
01 Mar 2016
yesterdays drop tells you the larger part of the fundraising will be well below what market price was.I thought 40p but feel 30p may be nearer.Announcement this week ( those involved clearly know now so it may have leaked)My concern is the lack of headroom.debt 22.5 end jan probably 23.5 now.raise 10 net 9 means reduce debt 14.5 with only 5 million headroom.That's not enough for an orderly market in selling stock.Likewise out at a big loss.tiger
Ripley94
24 Feb 2016
Re: TOM WINNIFRITH Claimed he was going to hold yesterday.Think there must be some payment from the company as they offer a discount to TW contacts.
Contrariwise
23 Feb 2016
Get out while you can I have today sold all my shares in SGI at a whopping loss. I can't see any good news here, and it is a huge red flag when the auditor resigns. The balance sheet looks strained and £10m does not look enough to transform the prospects of the group. Number 1 rule: don't hold on in hope. For those who haven't seen it here is Paul Scott's take on the news from SGI today:Stanley Gibbons (LON:SGI)Share price: 43.5p (down 32% today)No. shares: 47.1mMarket cap: £20.5mFunding & trading update - I last looked at Stanley Gibbons on 13 Jan 2016, when the company said it needed more funding, but was looking at alternatives to a "relatively unattractive" equity fundraising (given the discount to NAV).Today's update indicates that they've changed their mind;However, having considered the various alternatives, the Board is now confident that an equity raise is the most expedient and efficient method by which to raise the capital necessary. Accordingly, the Group is in the process of raising approximately £10.0 million of new equity (the "Fundraising"
. The Board intends that the Fundraising will be executed in a manner that recognises the pre-emption rights of existing shareholders insofar as is possible and will make a further announcement regarding the Fundraising next week.So a £10m fundraising, with the mkt cap now at £20.5m (at 8:12 on 23 Feb 2016 - the price may move about a fair bit today) means quite a bit of dilution, especially if investors injecting the new funds play hard ball on price - they might demand a deep discount, who knows?The "insofar as is possible" comment regarding pre-emption rights suggests possibly an Open Offer attached to a Placing, perhaps? I doubt whether they would go to all the costs, and time, of doing a Rights Issue - a much more involved process, since it requires publishing a detailed prospectus. It sounds as if the fundraising process is well advanced, with another update next week.Cost-cutting is underway (better late than never);The Board has already initiated a review of the business, particularly its cost base and effective utilisation of properties and other resources. The Board has identified and begun to implement cost savings which will amount to at least £5.0 million on an annualised basisIt's rather concerning that the company mentions that it is using a consultant to manage this process, who will become a Director in due course. That suggests question marks over the competence of existing management (not that that's really in any doubt, given the catalogue of failure in recent years).Bank debt - this is particularly worrying, as the £10m in fresh equity being raised is only really enough to make a dent in the bank debt, in particular repaying a £6m overdraft extension that is due at the end of next month. So there is a lot of bank debt remaining - this fundraising is not a proper sort-out, it's just a stop-gap measure by the looks of it;In addition, the proceeds of the Fundraising will be used to repay approximately £6.0 million that has been made available to the Group by way of an additional overdraft facility repayable by 31 March 2016 and which is expected to be substantially drawn before completion of the Fundraising. The Group's total gross indebtedness at 31 January 2016 was £22.6 million and it is expected that following completion of the Fundraising, the total bank facilities available to the Group will amount to £19.5 million. These facilities will not be due for review until 31 May 2017.Current trading - not great, but a £1-2m loss is hardly a disaster either;The Group has continued to experience lower revenues throughout the business, with sales of rare collectibles to high net worth clients being at a lower level than expected and trading being particularly difficult in the interiors division. Additionally, the integration of recent acquisitions has still not achieved the level of cost savings that is required and there has been
TX2
23 Feb 2016
Re: Shocking news I presume the problem regarding the auditor is stock valuation.How in particular do you value stamp rarities which form a sizeable part of SGIs £55m inventory when the market seems to have all but collapsed & it is a market in which there are few collectors(seemingly SGI had about a dozen major big ticket customers)?It is about China to the extent that SGI was reliant for its profits on a very small number of China based collectors and much of its stock was tied up in servicing them.I suspect that the high value coin sales were also made to China & SE Asian collectors.Although expensive antique furniture & decorative items of the type that Mallett sell have a wider market;this market has been very difficult for some years.I was a shareholder in Mallett for around 15 years prior to SGIs purchase.Mallett survived because it was asset rich with no borrowings & valuable property.The bulk of the property was sold in the years proceeding the sale to SGI & cash returned to shareholders.SGI borrowed the money,around £10m, to buy Malletts stock & trading assets.Not a good move.Particularly if the management has sub zero knowledge of the market.The wider problem is in the rest of business SGI seems to make little profit even in good years after overheads are taken into account.Only the smallish auction business seems to show promise & at least ties up only modest capital.
coolcharm
23 Feb 2016
Re: Shocking news Absolutely horrific. Even their auditor didn't want to have anything to do with them, think Arthur Andersen and Enron. From a statement in Sept that they were on track to meet earning forecast, to a profit warning 2 weeks later and now 4 months later, the whole mess is unraveling. Management have no clue of what is going on. Don't blame the bank or China, a lot of this down to bad management and hubris. And they are promoting stamps as a stable investment, a refuge from the storm when their share price is being decimated? What irony!
TX2
23 Feb 2016
Re: Shocking news Speculation but I expect the fund raising could be in the form of an open offer underwritten by by a group bought in by Clive Whiley they may also have rights to a part of the share issue as well.It is possible that it could be a Chinese group; maybe the one that has been involved in Camper & Nicholson with Whiley?
Ripley94
23 Feb 2016
Re: TOM WINNIFRITH Interesting on his site @ 10.15 amhe has slagged off some other stock , but no mention of this one .
CASTLEFORD TIGER
23 Feb 2016
Shocking news banks running this now.could go much lower.expect rights at 40p?maybe lower.tiger
barnowl01
21 Jan 2016
A few quid Could be that they have found someone to lend them a few million !
TX2
18 Jan 2016
Re: Telegraph- Questor Yes I agree the recent acquisitions were unwise;however SGIs immediate problems stem from a huge fall in stamp trading turnover,mainly in high value items and its apparent "feeding frenzy" in buying large quantities of expensive stock which it cannot presently sell.Looking at the balance sheet what seriously worries me is the very high level of receivables & payables,the latter excluding bank overdrafts which each seem to amount to around five months turnover.On reading,one view which perhaps may not be correct is that the company could be both selling & buying on extended credit.SGI seems to have a cash flow problem.Is it being paid in a timely manner for contracted sales,perhaps high value sales to enable it to pay for agreed purchases and other on going costs?Are as a consequence previously booked sales likely to unravel?Is this why it needs to raise fresh capital?
casey5521
18 Jan 2016
Re: Telegraph- Questor I have seen SG fall from >300p recently (we all have)I think it is a case of too many acquisitions too quicklyIn 2008, it was a solid bet in troubled times, but the writing has been on the wall - pityI'm just glad I got out at 120pGLAKC
nk1999
17 Jan 2016
Telegraph- Questor "The Questor Column:Stanley Gibbons shares hit 11-year low as it reviews funding options: After another 17% drop in the shares on Wednesday, the company was forced to admit it was looking at ways of raising cash to pay down its debts. The group’s problem, like many things these days, has its roots in China. Asian buyers could usually be relied on for steady sales of high-value, rare stamps, but the economic slowdown in emerging markets has seen buyers evaporate. The company said on 23 September that, while trading was slow, it was still confident there would be buyers. But a little over three months and two profit warnings later, things have got worse. Net debt levels jumped to £17 million at the end of September, from £12 million just six months earlier. The interim dividend was slashed in November, as profits for the half year fell 90pc. Stanley Gibbons reported net assets of £82 million, or 175p per share, at the end of September, of which about 115p was collectibles. Stanley Gibbons at 61p +1½p. Questor says “Sell”."
