does tanfield have 2 good businesses ( smith electrics and upright)which are good value for the medium to long term hold ?

If GM and Chrysler are stuggling I reckon Ford are going to be slow and cautious.
Your bottom line is sooo SEO, is your old name E.W.Robson by any chance?? lol

Lol! No :o)

Tan, will wobble for a few months while GM looks at its books and slashes executive perks and bonuses. Before being bailed out.

I can't see Obam, allowing them to go to the wall.

In the meantime, don't forget that TAN's core business at the moment is it's lift business; this latest newsletter seems to indicate that all is going well enough:-
http://www.tanfieldgroup.co.uk/Newsletter_Upright_Issue137.html

The latest news from Enova is:-

"In the first quarter of 2009, Enova received an order from Smith Electric Vehicles U.S. Corporation (SEVUS Corp.) to deliver at least forty-five (45) P120 systems per quarter, starting in the second quarter of 2009. Enova and Smith have worked closely over the past year to re-align our sell through expectations, both in the UK with Smith Electric Vehicles, and here in the U.S. with SEVUS Corp. We are excited to see the results of these efforts have resulted in additional traction for both Enova and Smith"

So signs of life there then! and note the "at least" statement. Don't be put off by "(45) P120", I know it looks it a bit too close to being "P45" for comfort!!

I still recommend caution however; until the trucks are rolling quietly over the roads in the USA it is too early to make a big commitment: keep watching though, the sp will move very quickly on confirmation of firm orders and is unlikely to retract at that point.

Results better than I had expected, especially Net Cash. At the moment the market seems to have looked upon them favourably and is looking to the future. If Gordon Brown really means what he says about ev's, then the future may well be very rosy.


8 April 2009
Tanfield Group plc
Preliminary Results

Tanfield Group plc ('the Group') announces it's Preliminary Results for the year ending 31 December 2008.

Financial Highlights
Turnover: 146m, +18% (2007: 123m)

Profit before exceptional items: 1.7m (2007: 12.8m)

Net cash at year end 11.1m

Impairment of goodwill, intangibles, inventory and receivables of 89.6m

Loss after impairment 88.5m

Corporate Highlights

30% cost base reduction in 2008

Further 27% cost base reduction in 2009

Strong balance sheet remains after impairments

US joint venture and customers

Roy Stanley, Chairman, said: 'This has been a challenging year for the Group. However, we are a business that is lean, nimble and focused, with a highly experienced management team, which reacted promptly and decisively to the adverse market conditions. Tanfield is well placed to trade through the downturn and to move rapidly when its end markets improve'.

Im sorry but I thought the results were awful. They have no debt which is a plus but cash pile is well down and how a big loss can be deemed any good is open to great debate. I sold out at 13p and made a nice profit (got in at 10p) and I feel the MM's are simply trying to catch a few more people before the sp drops down to 7p or thereabouts. Hope I'm wrong for those who hold but ...

Dealer, the loss was due to a write down in Snorkel's goodwill etc.; admittedly the 1.7m operating profit is not sensational but it is a profit at least! Financially TAN is better placed than most industrials at this point and commercially they are at the forefront of a new push to a future, like it or not, dominated by ev's. I was wary that the cash at year end would be lower than the forecast 11m, don't forget that it increased in January to over 13m.

I am content, for now!

Good luck, I hope it does well for you. I'm just happy to day trade it as and when appropriate until I see a real improvement in market conditions then it may well be a long term hold.

Can't blame you Dealer, I do day trade it myself, as well as being in long term. I hope it's not too long ;o)

Good coverage on electric vehicles Channel 4 News last night and the World at 1 (radio 4), as I write.

Also promoting ev's ,Gordon Brown was speaking with Jeremy Vine on R2 this afternoon.

kim does that improve TAN's prospects?

Not one bit as such Halifax! But it does start to lay the foundations for a sustained growth in all ev's. Which pollutes more, a car or a truck? If the world leaders are truly intent in cutting down emissions then trucks are possibly more important than cars. I had to make a short journey down the A55 this afternoon and out of interest I counted the number of lorries (oh yes Mr Policeman, I was being driven!!) in ratio to cars and it was a staggering 1 lorry to every 3 cars. At least a third of the lorries were belching black smoke into the atmosphere. Cut that lot out with Smith Electric stuff and the Green party will be grinning obscenely for a very long time ;O)

kim TAN doesn't make lorries it makes vans.

Kimold puff and chuff..... were the lorries you looked at made in 1965???? or did you have your shades on. the black smoke belchers went a long time ago, very fuel efficient cumfy cadilacs now. lol

tan is not asking for money but what it needs is orders not talk from the govt ... meantime "PM" is busy arranging loans for overseas [foreign] coys to design and develope ev's which could be delivered by tan today.

The impairment was anticipated but given the materiality of this and other factors we were anticipating a little more detail in the preliminary announcement - the strange segmental breakdown with the bulk of net assets allocated to Other is also surprising!

Note at www.investorschampion.com

Tanfield falls to 88.8m loss on 'cherry pickers'


Tanfield was once praised by former Prime Minister Tony Blair as an example of "UK manufacturing innovation at its best" but suffered a pre-tax loss of 88.8m in the year to the end of December, compared with a profit of 10.4m a year earlier.

The company said the loss was caused by the "global collapse in demand" for high level access vehicles, or cherry pickers, forcing it to write down the value of its division which makes cherry pickers by 89.6m.

Darren Kell, the chief executive, said sales of cherry pickers "fell away precipitously" in the second half of last year as the financial crisis gripped the construction sector. He warned that he expects the market to "contract further" in 2009.

The shares, which lost nearly 90pc of their value in one week last summer after a string of profit warnings from the company and its competitors, yesterday closed up 10pc to 10p.

Keith Ashworth-Lord, analyst at WH Ireland, said: "With no free cash flow to value, little accounting earnings and no prospect of a dividend for years to come, the shares are little more than a speculative recovery play."

Mr Kell said the Aim-listed company has cut about 300 staff, including 100 in the UK, in an attempt to reduce costs.

Amid the gloom Mr Kell said he hopes Prime Minister Gordon Brown's plan to encourage commuters to switch to electric cars as part of a "green revolution" will propel the company back to prosperity in the future.

"There is clearly a desire for more electric vehicles in the UK and Europe," he said. "While it will not be a panacea it will have an important impact on our company and the transport sector."

halifax
Of course tanfield sell lorries as well as vans - see www.smithselectricvehicles.com
for more info.