DYOR
This is the Hamper Co that doesn't say "no" -
-but folks may be wary after the collapse of the rival(?) Farepack - for reasons that seemed a little surprising at the time ( anyone jailed, yet?).

Park Group is subject to new Rules to secure savers' cash - but PKG always delivered, is my understanding.

Current sp is a result of the general market doom and nothing to do with their business, which peaks about the end of the year ( ie about a month before XMAS ) - but I wonder if they have other Plans for folks whose "feast" is at another time of year -
Anyone?

I have a very minor holding in this, but would like to see them successful again. For some folk a Saving Club is the only way they can finance their Xmas, otherwise they'd spend it all! I suspect PKG gets a good deal with the Vouchers from M&S and others ( check this) - on account of the probability folk will forget to redeem a few % ( or lose them - yikes!).
Also they have nearly half the money for several months interest-free - - - now that has to be a good business model.
Their operation has been on TV ( during the Farepack scandle) and it looks pretty slick and rarely does one hear of anything untoward...although small mistakes are always possible....
AGM's are at Tranmere Rovers' Football Club - Birkenhead - anyone fancy a kick-about? All in good fun, etc. =late Sept08 I understand.

A buy in this weeks IC -
18 Dec interims - Better than expected christmas 2012 savings orders combined with a positive update on 'flexcash' prepaid card sales growth could trigger forecast upgrades. For the year to March 2013, Arden Partners forecasts a 10% advance in profits to £9.5m and near-11% earnings per share growthto 4.1p. Next year the house broker has shaded in £10.4 milllion profits and a further 10% EPS advance to 4.5p, though there is scope for the latter estimates to edge materially higher.

Half Yearly Report Key points: Financial



•
Customer billings rose 12 per cent to £54.6m (2011 - £48.6m)

•
Revenue increased 2 per cent to £46.9m (2011 - £46.0m). Billings are higher than revenue as a result of accounting treatment of our very successful flexecash® prepaid card

•
Pre-tax loss improved to £4.1m (2011 - loss £4.4m)

•
28 per cent uplift in finance income to £1.1m (2011 - £0.8m)

•
Interim dividend raised 5 per cent to 0.55p per share (2011 - 0.525p)

•
Total cash balances peaked at £170m (2011 - £152m)



Key points: Operations



•
Corporate and consumer businesses billings well ahead of last year. Corporate increased 11 per cent to £46.2m (2011 - £41.8m) while consumer rose 24 per cent to £8.5m (2011 - £6.8m)

•
flexecash® prepaid card maintaining rapid sales growth, over £140m of value loaded since its launch in 2010

•
Christmas savings agents increased to 122,000 (2011 - 114,000)

•
Average consumer order value well ahead of last year at £430 (2011 - £416)

•
New transactional websites launched to cater for increasing smart phone and tablet computer usage








http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=4505764

Sold my holding - up 6.5% today

LISTEN: Chris Houghton, CEO of Park Group, discusses the half yearly report

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Conviviality Retail

(AIM:CVR)

conviviality-retail-logoConviviality Retail PLC owns the UK’s largest franchised off-licence and convenience chain with 575 franchisee-operated stores. The stores are located throughout England and Wales and operate under six fascias including Bargain Booze, Bargain Booze Select Convenience and Thorougoods.



Speaker: To be confirmed
Park Group

(AIM:PKG)
parkgroupmasterlogo410x60Park Group is one of the UK’s leading multi-retailer voucher and prepaid gift card business, focused on the corporate gift and Christmas savings markets. Sales are generated through the internet, our direct sales force and agents. Park Group PLC is quoted on AIM and ISDX's Secondary Market.

Speaker: Chris Houghton, Chief Executive Officer
Rosslyn Analytics

(AIM:RDT)



ros logoDriven by its mission to bring dynamic data analysis and real-time decision making to business organizations and government entities around the world, Rosslyn Analytics is a SaaS BI vendor that develops and markets the award-winning RAPid data management and analytics platform.

Speaker: Charlie Clark, Chief Executive Officer




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DRESS CODE: Business attire

StockMarketWire.com
Park Group said the positive benefits to it of the UK economic rebound has been maintained and its order books are well ahead of this time last year.

"Consumer confidence is continuing to improve which is reflected in raised levels of activity in the retail sector," said non-executive chairman Peter Johnson in an AGM statement to be read later today.

"Our Corporate business, with its broad range of innovative, bespoke products currently serving almost 7,000 customers, is trading strongly with improving retention rates and higher levels of new business wins than at the same stage last year.

"The Consumer division, which enables customers to plan for Christmas in a controlled and structured way, has orders running some 10 per cent above last year.

"Our online business, highstreetvouchers.com, which gives customers the freedom to manage the order process entirely at their own convenience, has experienced further strong demand with orders up 26 per cent on last year's level.

"Cash balances, including monies held in trust, are also well ahead of last year. These funds reflect the value of orders booked, the majority of which are for delivery in the second half of the year. However, interest rates available in the money market remain very low which continues to affect Park's return on this cash.

"Park is a seasonal business, which is usually loss making in the first half, as over three quarters of our revenue is generated in the second half of the year.

"Nevertheless, the first half performance is very important as it lays the foundation for the full year's result. Orders are secured during the first half and dispatched and invoiced in the second half.

"We are very pleased with the strength of our order books and we are experiencing higher demand across the Company as a whole compared with the same period last year. This progress reflects improved market conditions coupled with the impact of new products and our ongoing innovation in customer service and interaction.

"The three months leading up to the festive season are particularly important for Park and we look forward to this period with confidence and optimism."

StockMarketWire.com
Park Group has advised that strong trading has continued and its expects another good performance across the group in the current year.

Chairman Peter Johnson said in a statement prepared for the company's AGM:

"The Corporate business, supplying an extensive range of gift cards and vouchers to some 7,500 customers, principally in the incentive and reward sector, is maintaining last year's progress.

"The Consumer division, which enables customers to plan for Christmas in a controlled and structured way, is also performing well running some 8 per cent higher than last year at this stage.

"The Online business, highstreetvouchers.com, is one of the most important and fastest developing components of Park. This business is currently achieving sales some 15 per cent ahead of the same period last year. This dynamic performance demonstrates customers' preference for the flexibility offered by self-service web sites.

"Cash balances, including monies held in trust, are £23 million ahead of last year at £184 million. This figure is significant as it highlights the growth in our order books.

"Principally, this growth is in the consumer business, where orders are booked in the first half of the year for dispatch and invoice in the second half, in time for the festive season. Park's interest receipts are higher than a year ago reflecting the expansion in our cash balances, even though rates available in the money market continue to be very low.

"Our order books are strong with good levels of customer demand and consumer confidence remains high. We look forward with optimism and excitement as Park enters its busiest period of the year."

StockMarketWire.com
Park Group has improved its FY pretax profit to £11.9m, from £10.9m, and hiked its total dividend to 2.75p a share, from 2.40p.

"Early indications for the current year are encouraging. Park's financial position remains solid, with cash balances well ahead of the equivalent period last year," said chair Laura Carstensen.

"We have a consistent and sustainable strategy executed by experienced, highly capable management and a sound business that meets our customers' needs," she said.

"We look forward with confidence and remain focussed on delivering yet another year of progress."

HIGHLIGHTS FOR FY 2016:
" Operating profit increased by 7.3 per cent to £10.4m (2015 - £9.7m)

" Billings increased 3.3 per cent to £385.0m (2015 - £372.9m)

" Earnings per share increased 13.3 per cent to 5.28p

" Proposed raising of final dividend by 18.8 per cent to 1.90p per share (2015 - 1.60p), making a total dividend for the year of 2.75p per share (2015 - 2.40p per share)

" Total cash balances peaked at £206m (2015 - £189m). Year end cash balance was £28.8m (2015 - £23.2m) with a further £75.2m (2015 - £65.7m) of monies held in trust

" Maintained the growth of the strong first half, delivering another impressive trading performance

" Corporate business made sound progress, increasing billings by approximately £14m to £170m, excluding sales to the consumer credit sector

" Consumer business delivered another year of growth, with billings increasing 7.5 per cent to £212m; the order book for Christmas 2016 is ahead of last year

" Ongoing investment and development in e-commerce - the majority of orders are now received via a smartphone or tablet

" Relationship with MasterCard, initiated last year, has made excellent progress, as has our innovative 'Combi' offering to the consumer market

" Everyday Benefits, our employee voluntary benefit product, achieved another strong performance, with billings up more than 36 per cent compared with the previous year

" Love2shop Business Services and Love2shop Holidays divisions both won industry awards, recognising excellence and creativity

StockMarketWire.com
Park Group expects to report results for the year to 31 March 2017 in line with market expectations.

The multi-retailer said its overall financial position remained extremely sound with cash balances ahead of last year.

"The first half ended well, with order books ahead of the same period last year, as the company entered the very busy trading period running up to Christmas," it said in a statement.

The company added that H2 trading, including the important Christmas period, maintained the momentum of H1 and delivered further good progress.

It said completed orders for the Consumer business were more than 4% ahead of last year.

The Corporate business saw increased traction in part due to Park Group's 'Evolve' digital corporate rewards and incentivisation platform, which now has attracted 162 corporate customers following its launch in June last year.

"This platform allows customer organisations to cost effectively create and control their own web or smart device based reward programmes."

StockMarketWire.com
Park Group has improved its FY pretax profit to £12.4m, up from £11.9m.

Total dividend for the year was 2.9p a share, up from 2.75p.

"The current year has started well as we have, again, maintained the progress of the previous period," said chairman Laura Carstensen.

"The outlook for our corporate and consumer businesses is positive, with order books ahead of their position at the same time last year.

"We will continue to deliver against our strategy, focusing on excellent customer service and product innovation, to grow our customer bases and broaden the range of products and services we can offer to them."

StockMarketWire.com
Gift voucher supplier Park Group said it had signed collaboration contracts with retail businesses Arcadia Group, Courtesy Shoes, Office Outlet, DJM Music and Fat Face.

Arcadia, which owned high street brands such Topshop, Topman and Miss Selfridge, would now accept Park's 'Love2shop' vouchers, the company said.

As of July 2018, Wynsors World of Shoes, office and home suppliers Office Outlet, and online musical instrument specialists DJM Music, would also accept the vouchers.

Fat Face would gain accreditation for Park's e-money prepaid flexecash card by the end of Summer 2018.

The new retail additions meant Park's gift vouchers were now accepted by more than 175 national brands and over 20,000 high street stores across the UK, and almost 100 brands were now flexecash accredited, the company said.