Since the demerger from Chorion the shares have not done well ..... despite a clutch of director buys last June the price has halved .... mostly on market worries and the idea that peeps wil stay away from the City centres as talk of a war and possible terrorist action grows ..... not so IMHO - my children are still out clubbing and soon forget about talk of war - after the first drink or so.

The format is for the 20/40 age group who like to spend and have a good time but the main bars and restaurants are open most of the day to catch lunch time trade etc.

last broker comment - about 5 weeks ago - Numis Securities sees no reason why Urbium should not trade at a similar multiple to rival Inventive Leisure. Accordingly it has set a 15p target price.


Trading

after an encouraging statement on Christmas and New Year trading. The group, which owns the 'Tiger Tiger' bars and the 'Sugar Reef' and 'Zoo' outlets in London's West End, said like-for-like sales over the four week period to Dec 31 rose by 3.4%. Total sales for the period were up by 37% to 9.8m. Within these figures, the flagship 'Tiger Tiger' brand increased its like-for-like sales by 11.7 pct, with the West End outlet recording a 7% increase on the same period last year.

"In 'Tiger Tiger' we've got a different product from the rest of the high street operators," group managing director Robert Cohen told AFX News. "We've never seen London and the West End as a weakness and 'Tiger Tiger' is a well-known brand that punches well above its weight," he added. Based on today's trading update, Cohen said the group had reversed a first half 1.1% decline in like-for-like sales with the second six months producing a gain of 1.0%.

Total bar nightclub sales were up by 32% to 34.8m in the second half of 2002. "There was a much stronger performance in the second half and this leaves the group well placed to meet current market forecasts for the year to Dec 2002," Cohen added. Analysts presently anticipate pretax profits of between 8.8m and 9.2m for 2002.

House broker Old Mutual Securities this morning reiterated its 'strong buy' for the shares. It reckons full year sales will be around 60m with profits of 9.15m. "This is a very commendable performance given the downgrades which have recently been required for other leading operators in the sector," the house said in an investment note this morning. Based on forecast earnings per share of 1.54 pence for the current year to Dec 2003, the stock currently trades on a "ridiculously low" multiple of 3.6 times, OMS says. "Based on this reassuring update, there must surely be some re-rating of the shares," it added.


ains


shares on 20/02 mid 5.12p - currently 6.25p mid 24/02

This is good news for Urbium




Troubled bars and nightclubs operator Po Na Na looked terminally sick today as it revealed it was in talks with its banks over funding facilities.


The shares (POA) slumped 3.5p to 4.25p, a reminder to investors that the worst may not be over for others in the sector, although opportunities are knocking.

Po Na Na's core business is trading profitably but some peripheral clubs are having a tough time. Planned disposals have also been delayed due to further declines in the commercial property market (something the board of club-operator Urbium (URM)has also been expecting).

The delay in the disposal programme has put Po Na Na under financial pressure and hence the need for extended finance facilities and a restructuring of loan repayment commitments.

A further statement, including an update on trading, is expected at the end of the banking discussions but investors should expect disappointing numbers and another blow for the group which, quite frankly, has failed to regain confidence after hitting troubled times a few years ago.

Po Na Na is not alone in its struggles, with larger group's such as SFI, Wetherspoon, Luminar and Urbium, feeling the heat.

The recent full year figures from Urbium for example, were very good but there was a definite note of caution in the management's outlook statement with expansion plans going on hold for 4-6 months in order to pick up assets at a better rate.

Urbium told us only a few weeks ago that some businesses are struggling more than others, which will provide opportunities for those with the fire power and ability to capitalise on them. Its assets are some of the best but heavily exposed to the fortunes of the West End of London which has turned very quiet of late. Caution is still warranted but further weakness in share prices could lead to corporate activity and possible management buy outs at both Urbium and Luminar (LMR)).

The bars and clubs sector is attractive for its cash flows and simple financial model, but needs to be tracked in line with consumers (young and old) and their purse strings.

We have already seen increased corporate activity on the high street including some of the big retailers and supermarket chains. The bars and clubs sector is a different kettle of fish and investors should avoid 'themed' operators (including Po Na Na) but Urbium and Luminar are looking increasingly attractive, particularly on the back of one more profit warning. Keep a very close eye on things.

2003 Citywire

Clearly not a surprise and can see we may be interested in buying some cheaply ......


9:44am (UK)
Po Na Na Shares Suspended

By Ben Griffiths, City Staff, PA News


Investors were today braced for more bad news from late-night bars and clubs operator Po Na Na after the company suspended trading in its shares.

In a statement to the London Stock Exchange, Po Na Na said the move was pending clarification of its financial position.

Last Friday, the firm saw its shares plummet 40% after warning it may be forced to sell more under-performing sites as it entered talks with its bankers over a financial restructuring.

Shares were suspended at 3.75p, compared with 172p when the company floated in 2000.

The London-based company, which also has School Disco branded clubs, has earmarked some poorly-performing clubs for disposal and is planning to offload 15 by the end of this financial year. It has 44 bars and clubs in total.

The moves are designed to combat the effect of tougher market conditions but the depressed property market has delayed the process.

Directors are said to be considering all practical options for the refinancing and have been locked in discussions with bankers about trying to negotiate a temporary extension of financing and a restructuring of loan repayments.

Last week the company said it would release another statement once discussions with its bankers were completed.
s

currently 6.25p mid 24/02
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$



MID PRICE 5.25p, the war is over and still another KDC disaSter zone, she just cannot seem to get it right

DOWN -16%

Spotlight on Po Na Na in sale moves
By Rosie Murray-West, City Correspondent (Filed: 12/05/2003)


Po Na Na, the nightclub business that went into administration 10 days ago, has received a number of expressions of interest in the operation.

Administrators Grant Thornton will officially hoist a "For Sale" sign over the company's assets tomorrow. Malcolm Shierson, at Grant Thornton, said that he was attempting to sell the core estate together.

Many of Britain's large nightclub operators, such as Luminar, First Leisure and Springwood, are expected to look at the units, but specialists believe that few are in a position to buy them.

"I think only 10 to 15 of the clubs are really viable, anyway," said analyst Nigel Popham at Teather & Greenwood. "Many of them are ultimately going to close." It is anticipated that Christian Arden, Po Na Na's chief executive, may try to buy a number of the clubs.

Po Na Na owned over 40 Moroccan-themed clubs and bars and ran the famous School Disco night at the Hammersmith Palais. Mr Shierson said clubs in Aberdeen, Newcastle and Salisbury had been closed, but he anticipates the bulk of the estate will remain open.

"Takings exceeded our expectations last week," he said.

Urbium Plc (the "Company") announces that Robert Cohen and Steven Palmer,
directors of the Company, have today each been granted options over 5,000,000
ordinary shares of 1 pence each in the Company at a price of 5.38 pence per
ordinary share pursuant to the Urbium Unapproved Share Option Scheme.

is this the season for granting options at the lowest possible price

Jesus

where is the incentive in that?

Just another part of the endless gravy train in corporate UK .... guess the incentive is to make sure this is the bottom .......... currently 5.38p mid

Imagine if a company actually issued some whereby they had to increase the market cap to make money

there's a thought

sounds rather revolutionary to me dick ..... next you will be wanting them to make profits before awarding themselves big bonus's and salary increases

one step at a time ains

wassup?

don't know .... guess it's the US stepping up terror alert

hi ains

hope you are well

haven't been out in the west end for a while so can't really comment what the market is like there

having said that I would have thought that the current price has factored in 10 tonnes of debt already

anyhow still watching

ho hum ho hum

inclined to agree dick .... my eldest is there all the time and there doesn't seem to be any shortfall in customers ... tracking to add a few


ains

ains - fyi

Gerry usually posts with his brain

gerrystewart - 21 May'03 - 08:29 - 1033 of 1037


Have to 'confess' to having got out (final tranche - 200k on Monday). The reason is, as I have reported on a number of occasions on this BB, that I go to the Leeds Tiger Tiger regularly (once a week on average). In recent weeks, the numbers have been a bit dissapointing and considerably below that of the first 3 months or so of the year and this despite the re-introduction of the '2 main courses for 10' deal (they took it off for 2 weeks, hardly anybody was going and they re-introduced it!). I notice, as awell, from the Urbium web site that they are introducing even more promo's in London suggesting that things are getting worse rather than better (though Portsmouth must be having a 'bonanza' with the port being used as a 'staging post' for returning US troops and the Ark Royal returning). However, the final straw was the week-end scare stories about terrorist activities. I suspect it vastly exaggerated (the media cannot report anything without sensationalising it) but the local (Yourkshire)media here was full of headlines suggesting that Leeds is a major target. Hence, I suspect that we might see a continuation of a trend which I have been noticing for a little while now and that is, that whilst travelling through the Leeds suburbs (particularly Moortown and Chapel Allerton) en route to my weekly trips to TT, I had noticed that the many suburban resturaunts were actually quite busy. What might be happening, therfore, is that TT's target market (the 25-40 somethings) are still going to eat out but they are simply not venturing into the City. I fear the media coverage of terrorist activities will simply exacerbate this trend and make matters worse.

This, is, of course, merely my observations. It might be a very localised phenomenon and, beyond this, I have no evidence whatsoever of whether trade is bouyant or not. For all continuing holders, I wish you luck.

Thanks dick .... interesting and honest post. I have to say my own experiences are based on London only - where people tend to stay after work rather than return after dinner. I suspect peeps in the northern cities live closer to where they work and a trip back into town might be less attractivee if local clubs/restaurants offer is attractive.



ains