18p. 29 apr 9.7p

In Shares magazine today :-
Domestic bliss at Uniq.
A binding 51 million offer for the last remaining French business of chilled foods group Uniq continues the firms recovery and could increase its attractions to a predator. Trade sources believe the firm will shortly announce the disposal of its other European businesses. Although these are a mixed bag their sale will convert Uniq into a purely domestic business, which willl make it a much more attractive partner for another food group such as Northern Foods. (NDFS)
Shares says :- + Speculative BUY.

Does'nt UNIQ still have businesses in Germany, Netherlands and Poland?

the Uniq website. (uniq.com)
We are a European chilled convenience food group enjoying many market-leading positions, selling our products in 12 countries.

We manufacture in the UK, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Poland and employ 6,600 people.

Uniq, the European convenience foods group, announces that it has received a binding offer for the sale of its French business, Marie SAS (Marie), from Groupe L.D.C (LDC), the leading French poultry and delicatessen group ("the Proposed Disposal").

Cant see them doing anything else but pay down the pension deficit with monies recd from the disposals.

uniq now 31p

35p NOW

Rainmaker on advfn is predicting a profit tomorrow......

The remaining UK business is an interesting proposition.In 2007 after a poor first half it made 5.9mln and in 2008, largely thanks to a 15mln rise in commodity input prices lost 3.3mln. However if you adjust the performance of the UK business for subsequent cost savings announced by the Company taking into account the following-

Restructuring-ie the closure of the Paighton factory, saving 11mln a year from 1 January 2010.

Sale of loss making business-Pinneys which was sold March this year lost 2.2mln in 2008(and 1mln in 2007) from 1 April 2009.

Streamlining-annual saving of 2mln a year through a 15% reduction in the wage bill at Minsterly from 1 July 2008

Commodity Input Price inflation-an extra 15mln added to operating expenses in 2008

So for current year 2009 take profit or loss in previous year,2007 or 2008 + 3/4 of annual Pinneys loss+ 1/2 of Minsterly annual saving for 2008/all of Minsterly saving for 2007+15mln for 2008.

in the current year 2009 using adjusted 2008 figures-
3.3mln loss + 15mln+1.65mln+1mln=14.35mln or 12.5 eps........... ENDS

again.........14.35mln or 12.5 eps...........

and......

Rainmaker - 17 Jul'09 - 01:03 - 5490 of 5490


Hi .., excellent stuff. I would be amazed if Uniq reported a loss at the interims-see post 5489 as I've said before I believe it's going to be reality check time for Brokers covering this stock and I believe NM has the right idea ie a profit. I shouldn't say that as two Brokers are predicting losses for the current year of 12mln and 14mln.But see my previous post, 5489............ENDS

"He'd be amazed if they reported a loss tomorrow."


So hes looking for a profit...... interesting.

gf
i dont really understand fundys but can see the logic in the explanations offered in your above post. my concern would be that having pruned back hard, ie disposals or closures of loss makers plus maybe cut backs in costs over many other areas then the resultant effect on bottom line will show up fairly quickly (relative). but what are we left with? a lean mean machine/ company? stripping out lossmakers and making overhead cutbacks all at the same time will produce that (relative) quick fix. but will it be just that or will it hinder future growth potential? what of the parts that are left? can they and do they now have the ability to increase that top line? or is it likely to slowly shrink long term whilst that bottom line has been quickly shored up short/ medium term? maybe all the savings have now been made and will show themselves?
but what of next year?
btw i dont understand fully that Commodity Input Price Inflation figure of 15 mil added to operating expenses for 2008 but recovered back or at least not added to so it seems to year 2009. are they a company susceptible to commodity price changes? but what of next year? will it be required to deduct it once again if commodity prices rise? please excuse my ignorance on these matters. thank you.
as you say .... interesting.
regards
jkd

A very poor result and a lot less than investors were looking for although i note management have dressed it up the best they can, wouldnt mind but the best part of the results as come from the business they are selling!!!!.

NO PROFIT then.....(Loss)/profit before tax
(12.5)

DEBT now 36.5 million

PENSION DEFICIT getting worse and worse.

The stock is now way overvalued IMHO.

http://www.moneyam.com/InvestorsRoom/posts.php?tid=14307&from=1&to=500

Rather than polluting unrelated threads with you ramping - why not play here.

From Motley Fool.....



Published in Company Comment on 30 July 2009

This former turkey has ten-bagged since Christmas.

One of the biggest movers on Thursday was UNIQ (LSE: UNIQ), maker of snacks, salads, sauces and deserts. Increased losses at the company prompted a 20% drop in the share price at the start of the day, although half of this ground was re-gained as trading progressed.

This fall from 36p to 29p will have little impact on stoic shareholders, who have seen the price collapse from over 250p two years ago to a mere 2.4p last December, securing the company a not-so-coveted place in the 99% Club.

Pension problems

So what went wrong? Unlike many of the horror stories over the past couple of years, debt was not a problem -- the main concern at UNIQ was, and is, the pension deficit. Spawned from the giant Unigate dairy operation, the company's pension fund covers 21,000 member, while the business now employs less than a third of that number.

On this morning's figures, the group pension deficit increased from 170.9m to 215.7m (on an IAS 19 basis) over the past six months, which is roughly equivalent to six times last years gross profit.

Competition

And it's a competitive business, as the company is up against rivals such as Northern Foods (LSE: NFDS) and Iceland's Bakkavor. Selling into strong customers like Tesco (LSE: TSCO), Sainsbury (LSE: SBRY) and Marks & Spencer (LSE: MKS) can't really be fun at the moment either.

While people stubbornly continue to eat, they're cutting back on supermarket sandwiches and other discretionary spending.

The plan

But the company has a plan: It's selling off non-core businesses, particularly in its Northern European territories of France, Germany, and Poland, and slimming down to focus on the British market. This will free up cash to plug the hole in the pension fund, and let the company get on with the business of making money.

Losses in UK were lower than previously, and as part of the slimming process the French business is being sold for 73m, pending approval by the shareholders in a couple of weeks.

Would you buy it?

Putting a value on this business is a huge challenge. The market hasn't been able to do it with any consistency, when we consider the 99% fall in share prices, followed by a fifteen-fold increase since Christmas.

It involves not just taking a view on public's appetite for prepared foods, but also on the value of UNIQ's assets in the current market, and on future fluctuations in the value of that pension fund. It may still be amazing value, but that's too many variables for me, so in Dragons' Den terms, I'm out.

The sums were just as hard back in the December, when an intrepid denizen of our discussion boards bought a chunk of the business close to the bottom, and doubtless has done rather well out of it.

At the time, the company was valued at just 3.5m, with sales approaching 800m, so on a price-to-sales ratio (PSR) alone it was pretty extreme value, but the possibility of the company collapsing entirely was very real. On that occasion at least, fortune favoured the brave.

Numis Securities
31st July 2009
UNIQ
Retain Price Buy Target - 56p

Mid price finished at 30.125p today - Sale of North Eastern European businesses pending ? IMHO

Goldfinger/fast investor and all other aliases

How's the short? LOL
Was it around 25p you were calling this short?

Do the mam investors not realise how you are regarded as a joke on the other side?

Buy now at 36.5p !

gf
z's post is in my opinion to be taken with a pinch of salt, which i see you have done. i, and most likely all others on here make our own minds up. personally i find your posts most informative and welcome. i've done my own research and followed you into several, although not all. so thanks!
regards
jkd

Just go direct to the source and cut out the lapdog - CR thread

z
i have no idea what you are talking about! maybe i'm just too daft to understand.
whats CR thread? please advise, thank you.
regards
jkd

Wouldnt bother with him jkd.

This came to light this weekend.

Only showed up late friday and too late for the UK B/Boards to react to the news.

Obviously the Broker fed the analysis to their clients before release for general market observation. Now we know why the SP as fallen for the last 3 days.

FinnCap
12-08-09 SELL -12.90 -14.20 1.90 -0.30

So they are predicting 1.9 million pre tax and negative EPS of -0.30 for 2010.

With a SELL recommendation and more importantly this is post results and assets sale news............. not very bullish it would seem.

Mind dont know how they get negative earnings i thought Uniq had tax losses to offset.