Manganese Bronze, one of the main manufacturers of London black cabs, has signed an agreement with electric vehicle maker Tanfield to make battery powered taxis that should hit the streets by mid 2009.

you must be joking.

The TX4E will contain all the conventional features of the TX4, but will be
powered by Tanfield's advanced electric drive train and Iron Phosphate
lithium-ion battery pack. Based on current electricity prices, it is estimated
the TX4E will cost less than 4p per mile to run, therefore providing significant
whole life cost savings over an equivalent diesel vehicle. The initial cost of
the TX4E is however likely to be higher than the diesel powered TX4. The target
date for the launch of the TX4E is mid 2009 following engineering assessment and
customer testing.

DIESEL NOW 130p

Interim results out on Thursday 31 July 2008.

BEWARE!
MNGS is collapsing with TAN.

All capital projects are suffering - folk can delay the purchase of a vehicle ( or Taxi-cab), and can stay with the one they have...for a bit longer - partly because it buys them a "better" vehicle.... like Digital Cameras...the delay is worth the wait!

I suspect that TAN's electric-vehicles will become a far greater % of their business ( past estimates 20%), since "green" issues are comparativly cheap....a vehicle is very visible and can be included in company presentations, adverts etc. etc. and there is a chance there will be savings over diesel. ( Also for TAN, their cherry-pickers may well be in decline for 2-years ++ as existing stock waers out.)

MNGS is attempting a rear-guard action - I understand Mercedes now has an approved vehicle ( complete with rear-wheel steer to achieve the necessary turning-circle demanded for London's streets). The question Taxi-drivers want to know the relative price of these vehicles....and the running cost.

I don't think TAN makes a "taxi" although it has some connection with Ford - for delivery-van bodies. . . ( possible electric Focus-max?)... so the link with MNGS is quite logical.
In London, I'm unaware of any "charging places" for taxis (or other electrics) - so this may be a downer on short-term sales.

I don't hold MNGS,
-but do have TAN, bought about twice current.

STILL GOING DOWN. I SEE 130p

"..In London, I'm unaware of any "charging places" for taxis (or other electrics).."

There are now 60 EV charging points in London, and nationwide there will shortly be 250 within shopping malls in various cities, rising to a thousand or so by the start of next year. These are mostly suited to private cars not taxis (taxis need a faster charge - thes mostly take an hour or more to provide a useful top-up. Useful to someone shopping for an hour or going for lunch).

pretty good news announced tonite, sp trashed all week yet the banks have granted a five year $35million facility to one of the groups divisions - one in the eye for the shorters and the doomsters who have been saying the business is terminal. sold to oblivion this week , monday should be interesting...

The recession is the Key when MNGS stop going down it will signal the beinging of the end of the recession.

Evil Knieval is shorting MNGS...Sell at 296p

good start to week.

nice day.

I AM SO HAPPY.

Blimey, that's a chart!

it has stopped going down.

my best day ever.

IT STILL GOING DOWN

What a chart!

Bad statement...


Interim Management Statement

22nd October 2008


Manganese Bronze Holdings PLC (''Manganese Bronze'' or the ''Group''), the leading manufacturer of the distinctive London taxi, today announces its interim management statement for the period 1 July to 21 October 2008.

Current Trading

Trading in the UK continues to be impacted by the uncertain macro economic conditions, as we previously flagged in our interim results in July. As reported then, the Board believes that demand for new vehicles in the second half of the year will follow the normal seasonal pattern and be below that of the first half. UK business conditions continue to be uncertain, which makes forecasting the level of demand for new vehicles more challenging. Overall vehicles sales for the nine months to the end of September are down 37.5%, to 1,628 vehicles versus 2,604 vehicles in the comparable period last year. This is due to a combination of uncertain economic conditions and the fact that the comparative period saw a near record sales volume following the successful launch of the TX4.

Earnings continue to be negatively impacted by three factors: the strength of the Euro increasing the cost of engines purchased from Italy; the costs of supporting the joint venture set up with engineers; and the cost of the international sales and marketing team.

We have responded to lower sales and higher working capital by reducing vehicle output to lower inventory levels, implementing an aggressive reduction in operating costs, and headcount reductions. The result of these actions is a 15% reduction of the manufacturing break-even level to approximately 2,000 vehicles per annum.

Taxi cab sales weaken - MoneyAM


Manganese Bronze said trading in the UK continues to be depressed by the weak economic conditions.

The manufacturer of the iconic black London taxi cab said that demand for new vehicles in the second half of 2008 will be below those of the first six months.

The company said vehicles sales for the nine months to end of September were down 37.5% to 1,628 vehicles, compared to 2,604 vehicles in the same period last year.

It added that earnings continue to be negatively impacted by the strength of the euro which increased the cost of engines purchased from Italy.

In response, the group proposes to reduce output to lower inventory levels, implementing an aggressive reduction in operating costs and making job cuts. This will result in a 15% reduction of the manufacturing break-even level to around 2,000 vehicles per annum.

'The UK market place remains challenging and the board does not expect that UK sales will exceed the manufacturing break-even point in 2008,' the group said in a statement.

BAYLIS - 03 Jul 2008 21:25 - 9 of 24
STILL GOING DOWN. I SEE 130p
The recession is the Key when MNGS stop going down it will signal the beinging of the end of the recession.

I seem to remember there was a comapny called 'Carbodies' who used to make black cabs. Are they still going or are MNGS the only manufacturer now?

Harrycat, Carbodies was taken over by the BSA group which in turn was bought by MNGS.

Incidentally, MNGS is comprised of Mann & Overton, repairs & servicing and LTI (London Taxis International), manufacturing.

A bit of good news for MNGS holders amidst the gloom and doom.


RNS Number : 6314G
Manganese Bronze Hldgs PLC
27 October 2008



27 October, 2008

New Order for 200 Taxis for Bahrain

Manganese Bronze Holdings PLC, the leading manufacturer of the distinctive London taxi, is pleased to announce its largest international order to date, with the middle eastern state of Bahrain signing a contract for 200 taxis.

The Bahrain Economic Development Board (BEDB) has chosen the London taxi because of its strong brand values and global reputation. The first 50 taxis, which are white in colour with a chequered flag roof, will be delivered to the Arabian Taxi Company in December of this year. The remaining 150 will be delivered by March 2009 and operating as taxis at the time of the Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix in April. The vehicles will be manufactured by LTI in Coventry. The BEDB established the Arabian Taxi Company to re-issue 300 of Bahrain's 900 taxi licences in an attempt to regenerate licences held by retired taxi drivers and their families.

John Russell, Chief Executive of Manganese Bronze plc, said:

'This deal highlights the move by an increasing number of international governments, businesses and operators to look for a viable transport solution to their current public transport problems. It demonstrates the very real international appeal of the London taxi even before we have begun commercial production at our new joint venture in China. We hope to supply Bahrain with more taxis and look forward to working with their middle eastern neighbours in the near future.'

'The London taxi will provide Bahrain with a premier taxi service and passengers will benefit from a safe, secure and comfortable mode of transport. Bahrain's old and unreliable taxi fleet will be replaced with a professional service that closely resembles London's unrivalled transport network.'


For further information, please contact:



Manganese Bronze Holdings PLC

John Russell, Group Chief Executive
02476 572108
Mark Fryer, Group Finance and Business Development Director
02476 572223


Financial Dynamics

Jon Simmons
020 7831 3113

So they weren't put off by the recent spate of under-bonnet fires & subsequent recalls then? The sales team must have really earned their money!

If the sales team are worth their salt, they would have sold fire extinguishers with the cabs!

84.5p and still weakening.

and still dropping like a brick...50p now.

MY GOD NOW. BELOW 50P

MY TIP FOR 2009.

RESULTS 5 MAR 09.www.manganese.com

TIMETOBY.

ITS ON THE MOVE.

100p is on its way.

OVER 100p NOW.

OVER 115p

over 125p

OVER 150p.

OVER 165p

OVER 170p

UPDATE OVER 200p

Proposed placing of up to 5,347,593 new ordinary shares at 187 pence per share.MNGS.LN said it might be forced to leave the London Stock Exchange because it expects more of its business to come from its Chinese joint venture. So why the placing.?

Hello ????

As far as the Electric taxis are concerned, I recently spoke to a representative of Manganeze Bronze who told me that "this project is ongoing and I believe we are still trying to obtain funding".
"thanks to kimoldfield."

Just for you Steff ;o)


RNS Number : 3923U
Tanfield Group PLC
24 June 2009



Tanfield Group plc ('Tanfield' or the 'Company')

24 June 2009


Electric Passenger Vehicle Development & Trial

Tanfield is pleased to announce that it is part of a successful consortium bid to develop electric passenger vehicles.

The Company will be eligible to receive 1.6m in Government funding towards a total project cost of 3.2m to develop and trial a total of 16 vehicles as part of the Ultra Low Carbon Vehicle Demonstrator Programme - a scheme funded and administered by the Government's Technology Strategy Board.

Building on its Ford relationship, Tanfield will develop five people carriers, based on the Ford Connect Tourneo platform, (as shown in conceptual form on Ford's stand at the 2009 Geneva motor show), and one executive minibus, based on the already established Ford Transit chassis. In addition Tanfield will deliver 10 electric taxis, through its collaboration with Manganese Bronze Holdings PLC.

Darren Kell, CEO of Tanfield, said: 'This funding will support our plans to transfer leading edge electric vehicle technology from our vans and trucks into passenger vehicles.

'This project opens up a raft of exciting possibilities for us. Tanfield is already acknowledged as the leader in electric vehicles that move goods; this enables us to address the market for electric vehicles that move people.'

Manganese Bronze runs into deeper losses


Manganese Bronze, maker of the classic London taxi, warned of widening losses as it began consultations with workers over further job cuts.

The Coventry-based company, which extended traditional summer shutdowns in response to falling demand, saw sales continue to stall and predicted that full-year losses would be steeper than previously forecast.

Sales in July and August edged up slightly from 159 to 172 units but total sales in the eight months to August fell 9 per cent from 1,328 to 1,207.

John Russell, chief executive, said the expected run-rate of sales suggested the company would not achieve its break-even target of selling 2,000 vehicles a year.

Manganese Bronze moved from a profit of 1.5m to a loss of 636,000 at the interim stage, but the company reported a pre-tax loss of 13m for 2008 after it absorbed 8m of exceptional charges resulting from property and stock writedowns and a product recall. It raised 10m through a share placing in June to strengthen its balance sheet.

An average of broker forecasts had pointed to a full-year loss of 2.5m in 2009.

The company, which has begun production of a cheaper version of its TX4 model in Shanghai in a joint venture with Chinese carmaker Geely, hopes to reduce UK production costs through sourcing cheaper components in the country.

However, it said on Wednesday that the benefits of securing lower-cost Chinese parts had not yet been sufficient to reduce the breakeven level of production, as price increases from UK suppliers and sales discounting has more than offset this benefit.

Manganese Bronze, which has cut headcount by 20 per cent from 470 to 390 since last year after a slowdown in sales, also imposed a 10 per cent salary cut on employees in February and cut the wage bill of hourly paid staff by adding 28 further lay-off days to the traditional summer shutdown.

A good example of fast tracking on the ski slope.

Profit warning again...


Shares in London black cabs maker Manganese Bronze crashed today as it warned profits would miss City forecasts because it has to repair so many leaky radiators on its newest TX4 model.

Manganese shares, which hit a peak of 238p last year, slumped 20 per cent, falling 21p to 86p.

The firm said it had spent more on warranty repairs in 2008 than it expected dealing with the leaky radiators. The previous year it was hit by having to recall TX4s after several of them burst into flames.

Manganese's British sales have also been affected by the recession, down from well over 2,000 in 2007 and 1,951 in 2008 to 1,724 last year. It is also almost 12 months since Manganese faced its first competitor on London's streets in the shape of the Mercedes Vito.

Its distributor Eco City Vehicles announced its 500th sale in December and claims to have captured 30 per cent of the new taxis market. Manganese also said that a consultation process which is expected to see major redundancies at its Coventry plant is nearing its completion.

It expects to sell 1,000 black cabs from its Shanghai factory this year.

The firm told investors: The impact of the higher-than-expected warranty spend and lower-than-expected sales means that the outcome for the year is now expected to be below current market expectations.

Manganese said it discovered the warranty overspend as it was preparing its results for the 12 months to the end of December.

Once this was everones darling and now look at it.

I will have a look at 50p.

Hmm struggling aren't they?

Taxi!

It will be the Shanghai cabs soon...



China set to take control of London black cabs.


China's largest independent carmaker is poised to take control of Manganese Bronze, maker of London's black taxi, as another slice of Britain's car making heritage looks set to fall into the arms of a foreign owner.

Sluggish sales of the world's most recognised taxi have prompted Manganese Bronze to consider offering more shares to the Geely Group, the Chinese company which already owns a 23 per cent stake.

The company, which reported its results for the year ending December 31, said that a placing to Geely to fund vehicle assembly, development and distribution would be priced at 70p per share and would give the group a controlling stake in Manganese.

The placing has been agreed with two of the company's biggest shareholders but the company is adamant that ceding control to Geely will not mean the end of manufacturing at the company's works in Coventry.

Shares in Manganese Bronze have traded in the range of 80 to 90p in recent weeks, but hit a high of 238p last summer.

An equity placing to Geely will fully cement our relationship, enhance the groups capital base and see the potential for the group to expand into the assembly and distribution of Geely vehicles, John Russell, the Manganese chief executive, said.

Manganese is already a 48 per cent shareholder in a joint venture with Geely in China called Shanghai LTI, which makes cabs for the international market.

Geely has shown an interest in Western carmakers, having agreed in December to buy Volvo from Ford.

The placing is dependent upon agreements being finalised with Geely for the distribution of taxis in Europe and the sale of a Geely saloon car in the UK.

Manganese said that it had sold only 1,724 London taxis in the key UK market last year, down from 1,951 in 2008.

It said that it was moving body panels and chassis production from Coventry to Shanghai this year, after its UK coating supplier announced plans to shut down in August.

The move would further the companys ties with China and lead to the loss of 60 jobs, leaving Manganese with 300 employees - down from a pre-recession peak of about 500.

Seven weeks after issuing a profits warning which sent its shares down 20 per cent, the taxi maker said that the recession had particularly affected its core London market. Shares in the company fell 0.5p to 85p in early trading today.

Total revenue for 2009 was 73.1 million, down from 77.2 million in 2008. The company posted pre-tax losses of 7.3 million, an improvement on the previous years loss of 14.2 million, although that included a 4 million impairment charge relating to the recall of taxis with radiator problems. The forecast was for a pre-tax loss of 6.8 million.

2009 was a difficult year for our UK taxi operation with significant discount and sales incentivescombined with price pressure from fragile UK suppliers, Mr Russell, the chief executive, said.

Current trading continues to be adversely impacted by the wider economic environment.

Increased warranties, which rose after Manganese recalled a number of taxis, had dented operating profits, the company said. The lack of availability of finance was a major issue for the company, restricting international sales to 212 vehicles. Manganese now had higher levels of inventory than would be ideal.

No dividend will be paid for 2009 and will not be paid until the company returns to profitability, it said.

The company confirmed that it planned to transfer its listing to the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) to meeting UK Listing Authority requirements over the control of assets.

77p now...keep shorting.

65p now...great

47p as expected...20p on the way.

45p for me and I will BUY

This taxi is going downhill... no brakes included!

looks like a one way trip.,.

Frank Zhao and Lawrence Ang, non-executive directors of the Company, have resigned with immediate effect.

BAYLIS - 14 Jun 2010 18:26 - 63 of 66
45p for me and I will BUY


And did you? They closed at 45p two days ago. And at 41.25p yesterday.

Hey Juzz - How you keeping? Not seen you around for a while.

Hi Gausie. Been doing other things. Like ebaying house contents ahead of a likely move to Herefordshire next Spring. And tootling around in a campervan. Done very little share trading - just dabbling now and then.

man after my own heart, campervaning's great, only draw back, got to wait for school hols to get away. lol Weekends down on Exmouth sea front fun though.,.

Juzzle - hope you've done the Alfa engine conversion - those old VW's take on a fabulous new persona when they get the Alfa boxer engine.

Surely for a camper van, you want VW Van with a GT3 Engine

Gausie - no such luxury. Currently using a 28 year old VW with a 1.6 engine. Got a bigger slightly newer VW van (a Compass Navigator 310RL), but old Rosie is favourite. She's for sale on webbo.weebly.com but quite likely to keep it. Both vans owned by my partner not me.

Apologies to other viewers for the off-topic diversion. Maybe I should launch a campervan thread ;o)

EDIT: And no sooner said than done. Epic is CVAN

Meanwhile no respite for MNGS. I see one highly respected trader on Robbie Burns's thread across the way considers it could go bust.

Still heading down... great short.

31p now... keep heading downwards.

Looks like sneeky buying going on here and has been for a couple of weeks.

Very risky but taken a punt.

dyor.

On a roll here.

Going like the clappers on a bad day.

Shorters closing out quickly....

gogo goldfinger

could be worth a tickle despite china deal??

So what do punters think of Financial chief leaving? (recent RNS)
Was he entirely happy with the terms he was getting (for the equity placing I hear), or was it personal, being offered a larger office and secretary at some (as yet unknown) where else....
I'm not sure about the "electric taxi" - TAN connection - but then I'm not too clear why MNGS is falling like a stone. Can it be taxi-drivers are not buying new? Surely that's nothing unusual, they keep them for some years.
Mindyou, if there is a new electric vehicle proposed and it's free of Congestion charge that would make life easier for taxis - so they might "put off" buying until they see it, judge value etc.

Any other views ? . . Seems to me this has further to fall...... oh deary.

In the pass this stock is the first to come out of a recession ? a big but.

hangon -- their total sales figures for taxis is not alot and has been dropping. Many of the cabbies who previously bought them had no real choice. They are expensive - and short of luggage space. They are a relic of a bygone era. It's all very well when newspapers and magazines quote foreigners romantically pointing to London's black cabs as a great tradition, but that's not enough to win more than a few sales.

Juzzle, I agree but I thought in London "Black Cabs" were a protected species...still they are hoping to introduce a "saloon-car" taxi so that probably spells the end for the Black cab. Pity for tourists.
Now they have moved to AIM, still no likely dividend and had some other woes...it's all rather messy.
In their recent statement there was still hope of a placing (now fallen), but no mention of TAN or electric vehicles etc. - so I conclude it was Tanfield that wanted the deal, with MNGS rather more occupied closer to home.
+ I get the impression "electric vehicles" only work at two levels: 1) very small short-journey, so the weight is mostly the passenger. and 2) somewhat larger, so the batteries are a small part of the total load. This is the "transit" style that TAN has limited sales of to date.
+However, the London cab is quite tall inside, so passengers can keep their hats on...
EDIT (20/8/10)- sp up 8%, yet Sells are 18x buys...oh deary, is this rise MM-games, or is there a large buyer lurking?

Black cab is history.

I thought of picking some of these up a few days ago....but was uncertain....rocketed up on no news....

21 October 2010

Manganese Bronze Holdings PLC ("Manganese Bronze" or the "Group"), the leading manufacturer of the distinctive London taxi, today announces its interim management statement for the period 1 July to 20 October 2010.

Current Trading

Trading in the UK continues to be impacted by the uncertain macro economic conditions, as previously reported. Despite this, UK sales for the third quarter were up 11.0% on Q3 2009 at 466 vehicles (Q3 2009: 420 vehicles). This is particularly encouraging as 2009 sales were boosted by the favourable impact of the now discontinued Government funded scrappage scheme. This quarter's performance was broadly in line with our expectations.

Interesting....perhaps a good recovery stock....

Blast it....shot up on nothing....missed this....too late..now...damn, and I spotted this at 46p....

aggggghhhhhlllll....

rf, it's on the way down again.

Are MNGS still going 'Electric' ?
Sorry, i've been out of these for a while.

patshare, late reply: Ho Ho No! if they are, thery've got Tanfield to thank, like they need a hole in the head.
Strangely, I thought I saw on TV that "black cabs" (London-style) were to be exported/built abroad because their distinctive style protected the Public from crooks (although they could steal one, I guess). I'm not aware the cab is short of "luggage space" - I thought the "front seat" space was for that.(=Juzzle's ref.).

The issue I guess is that with limited sales the LBC is expensive to build. I don't wonder that "cabbies" resent mini-cabs with a F-Focus can be in business at a fraction of the investment - also, SatNav means they don't need "the knowledge" either. Maybe exclusive-elec would do the trick, but cabbies will have to increase fares - although "free fuel" will off-set the Capital Cost, until Gov taxes that, as well.

Still it's up to MB to meet the needs of their customers; although I, for one, would prefer my wife/daughter to be entering a Black Cab, rather than .....

4 mil blackhole over last 4 yrs.

Manganese Bronze loses third of value after revealing hole in accounts


The maker of London’s black cabs, Manganese Bronze, saw a third of its value wiped out after discovering errors in its accounts that mean it will have to restate financial results.

Manganese, which was founded 113 years ago, finds itself in turmoil after the company admitted it has overstated stock and understated liabilities in financial statements.

The misstatements have been blamed on a “combination of system and procedural errors” during the introduction of a new IT system in August 2010.

A number of transactions in 2010 and 2011, and residual balances from the previous system were not transferred on to the new system, Manganese said in a stock market statement.

The errors mean at least £3.9m will have to be cut from Manganese’s profits over the last few years.

However, the company, whose taxis were used by the Spice Girls at the Closing Ceremony of the Olympics, warned the work to calculate the losses is not complete and delayed its interim results until late September.

The scale of the potential loss is significant given Manganese reported a pre-tax loss of £2.6m in 2011 and £6.3m in 2010. Its market capitalisation is now just £5m.

The Coventry-based company has already been struggling in the UK due to economic uncertainty and growing competition to its traditional TX4 taxi from manufacturers such as Nissan.

John Russell, chief executive, is in China holding talks with the company’s backers and he declined to give further comment on the future of Manganese last night.

However, in it stock market statement, the company said it “continues to enjoy the ongoing support of its bankers and Geely”. Geely is the Chinese car maker that owns 20pc of Manganese and its backing is pivotal.

Manganese has £2.8m of headroom on its banking facilities and a company spokesman said the accounting losses will not lead to a covenant breach.

However, trading remains “difficult” for Manganese and it is still trading at a loss this year.

The company said: “As announced on 17 May 2012, sales for the first half were lower than in the comparative period in 2011 and the group currently expects to report net losses for the first half that are substantially higher than reported last year.

"The group is expecting higher sales in the second half but does not know at this stage if results for the full year will be in accordance with market expectations."

Shares in Manganese fell 8.5, or 34pc, to 16.50p.

StockMarketWire.com
Shares in taxi manufacturer Manganese Bronze Holdings (LON:MNGS) were suspended after the group announced the recall of approximately 400 of its TX4 London taxis and suspension of sales of new TX4 models as a result of the discovery of a defect in the steering box.

The company says steering box is a new design from a new supplier that was introduced in production at the Group's Coventry factory in late February 2012.

Adding that discussions are being held with Geely to put in place a robust technical solution for the steering box faults.

The suspension of sales is expected have a very material and detrimental impact on the group's cash flows and the board explains it working to establish the options available to the business given the impact on working capital. Until such time that a technical solution is developed to rectify the fault, the financial position of the group remains unclear and trading in the company's shares will remain suspended.