After a difficult trading year that has seen losses for CCT and the sp nose-dive to 25p at one point the solution to return to profits may come from the launch of electronic Sudoku games in time for Christmas. Character will launch two Carol Vorderman Sudoku products. For Sudoku fans on the move, there are two handy travel size products: a hand-held LCD game (19.99) with over 750 grids, and a touch screen version (29.99), with over 100,000 permutations of the game. A plug and play version, allowing addicts to play Sudoku on their home TV (29.99) will follow later this year. It won't take many sales to rack up good profits if these are anywhere near as addictive as the puzzle books have proved to be so far.
500,000 sold at guess 5 profit per item would rack up 2.5m, with less than 53m shares that is a healthy EPS of 4p on one item alone and my estimate is probably conservative? They also have licensing rights to Dr Who, Little Britain and Batman amongst others.
Also 70% of these shares are in the hands of Directors, Pension Trusts and Funds and as has been seen in recent weeks, moderate buying has pushed up the share price. It has all the hallmarks of a possible recovery stock as was IDS which I tipped last year at 81p and is now 382p. Not saying this will reach those heights but if Sudoku sells well this Christmas expect CCT to show a good start to their financial year. 2005 figures ending August 31st will not be good but we don't buy shares on the past, there is no gearing and 8m of shareholders funds available.
Take a look. The profits could be more pleasing than solving the puzzles.

New upgraded Web Site.

http://www.character-online.com/

Excellent update from CCT.

Trading Update and Board Changes
Statement by Richard King, Executive Chairman
I am delighted to announce that the Board now expects a very satisfactory finish
to the financial year ending 31 August 2006. Trading for the key month of August
has been particularly strong and is likely to result in the Group exceeding
market expectations.

http://moneyam.uk-wire.com/cgi-bin/articles/200608220700349317H.html

Great news. Well done to all at CCT. 1 before xmas?

From todays Independent:

Character Group

Our view: Buy

Share price: 75p (+2.5p)

Six months ago we tipped Character Group shares at 65.5p. Anyone tucking a few away is now sitting on a decent 15 per cent gain, but they are worth hanging on to and should continue to outperform the market.
Character Group owns licences on a number of popular children's characters and games, with most of the manufacturing outsourced to production facilities in south-east Asia. Yesterday's trading statement confirmed a very strong year-end, and with an exciting product pipeline, next year looks like it could be even better.

The fourth quarter of the calendar year is traditionally the strongest for toy groups, and Character is no exception. Given the current popularity of its Dr Who, Scooby Doo and Peppa Pig ranges, it ought to be a very merry Christmas. The last quarter normally counts for about 50 per cent of annual sales. A new toy, the Robosapien V2, part of the company's robotics range, was recently voted the No 1 toy for children in a survey conducted by battery manufacturer, Duracell.

The house broker, Charles Stanley, increased its full-year, pre-tax profits forecast to 5m, giving per-share earnings of 6.74p for 2006. If those numbers are hit, which now looks very likely, the shares still trade on an undemanding multiple of just 11 times, falling to just 8.3 times forecast 2007 earnings. With a healthy dividend yield of 4 per cent, that is too cheap, and the shares deserve a further re-rating.

Winners of Best Licensed Toys or Games Category and The Innovation Award

Character not only won the category of Best Licensed Toys or Games Range but it
was also presented with 'The Innovation Award', which was given in recognition of the
high standards of technical achievement attained in its Doctor Who Radio
Controlled Dalek. The award was presented by comedian and TV impressionist
Alistair McGowan.

http://moneyam.uk-wire.com/cgi-bin/articles/200609200700241831J.html

Two share buy backs today'


Character Group PLC
27 September 2006


The Character Group plc

27 September 2006


The Character Group plc (the 'Group' or 'Company')

Transaction in Own Shares

The Company advises that it has purchased in the market through Charles Stanley
Securities 404,322 ordinary shares in the Company, representing approximately
0.84% of the issued share capital of the Company (excluding shares held in
treasury), at a price of 75 pence per share. The shares repurchased will be held
in treasury.

Following these transactions the Company has 47,641,837 ordinary shares in issue
(excluding 1,529,322 ordinary shares in the Company held in treasury).

The Company enters a close period tomorrow, pending the announcement of its
results for the year ended 31 August 2006 (which it is anticipated will be made
on 28 November 2006), and is not permitted to make further purchases of its
shares during this time. However, as part of the Group's stated objective to
enhance shareholder value through the repurchase of its own shares, the
Directors will continue to monitor the position and will, if appropriate
following the preliminary announcement of its results, make further purchases of
the Company's own shares.

Character Group PLC
27 September 2006


The Character Group plc

27 September 2006


The Character Group plc (the 'Group' or 'Company')

Transaction in Own Shares


The Company advises that it has today purchased in the market through Charles
Stanley Securities an additional 225,000 ordinary shares in the Company,
representing approximately 0.47% of the issued share capital of the Company
(excluding shares held in treasury), at a price of 75 pence per share. The
shares repurchased will be held in treasury.

This follows on from the buy-back of 404,322 ordinary shares disclosed earlier
today and brings the total number of shares purchased by the Company in the last
24 hours to 629,322, representing approximately 1.3% of the current issued share
capital (excluding shares held in treasury). Since June 2006, the Company has
bought back in total 5,819,322 shares representing approximately 12.27% of the
current issued share capital (excluding shares held in treasury).

Following these transactions the Company has 47,416,837 ordinary shares in issue
(excluding 1,754,322 ordinary shares in the Company held in treasury).

The Company enters a close period tomorrow, pending the announcement of its
results for the year ended 31 August 2006 (which it is anticipated will be made
on 28 November 2006), and is not permitted to make further purchases of its
shares during this time. However, as part of the Group's stated objective to
enhance shareholder value through the repurchase of its own shares, the
Directors will continue to monitor the position and will, if appropriate
following the preliminary announcement of its results, make further purchases of
the Company's own shares.

Good post on another board.

http://boards.fool.co.uk/Message.asp?mid=10249199

About time CCT has finally woke up 9% up.

An example of whats being said on advfn at the moment:



fido - 3 Nov'06 - 20:51 - 775 of 779 edit


When this was Toy Options it went on to 4.80.
They had a script issue to bring on the Italian investors which doubled the amount of shares in issue, so effectivley the top SP was 2.40.
However, if you compare the Character Group of today with the Toy Options of yesterday then I think you will agree that we have a much stronger company than then. Therefore, unless we get taken out by a bid I see no reason why in time we cannot surpase those previous levels.

friars2 - 3 Nov'06 - 20:55 - 776 of 779


In Smyth toy shops the robots are flying out the doors, they can't keep the shelves full.

Cr4zyness - 3 Nov'06 - 21:03 - 777 of 779


CCT boats come in, LOL

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23372625-details/World's%20biggest%20ship,%20SS%20Santa,%20on%20way%20to%20Britain%20with%20Christmas%20presents/article.do


http://www.guardian.co.uk/china/story/0,,1934774,00.html

Christmas is coming - and it's coming from China


John Vidal
Monday October 30, 2006
The Guardian


The biggest ship afloat is due to arrive in Felixstowe, Suffolk, this week on its maiden voyage from China with nearly 45,000 tonnes of Christmas presents and fare for the holiday season.
The Emma Maersk, which is 400 metres long (1,300 ft), 56 metres wide and 60 metres tall, and dubbed the SS Santa, will unload more than 3,000 containers for supermarkets and stores before heading to mainland Europe.

But the ship and its cargo of crackers, DVD players, toys, puzzles and clothes was the subject of an intense row yesterday over the increasing number of imports from China.

Caroline Lucas, Green MEP for south-east England, said it was a "microcosm of globalisation gone mad".
"All these goods could have been made in Europe. Whole sectors of global trade are now being dominated by China," she said. "The real cost of the goods that the Emma Maersk is bringing in should include the environment, the markets destroyed in developing countries and the millions of jobs lost."

Britain exported more than 2.8bn of goods to China last year but imported nearly 16bn, a 30-fold increase on 1980. The UK is Europe's third biggest trading partner with China but in global terms represents less than 2% of China's trade.

The ship's owners, Maersk, are building another seven giant container ships like the Emma Maersk. A spokesman for the company said yesterday that "there are an awful lot of containers full of toys and games aboard. This is the busy season for importing goods for the high street shops for Christmas and the content of the containers reflect this. From MPS players to socks, to Christmas gift boxes, decorations and crackers, all our gifts are arriving from China and some of our Christmas fare too".



fido - 3 Nov'06 - 21:57 - 778 of 779 edit


Caroline Lucas as an MEP should have the sence to realise that it is those very Chinese imports that have kept inflation low in this country for so many years. How many of us paid 40 for a drill that we can now buy for 9.75.
Of more relevance to CCT is the fact that CCT would be worth bidding for just for its distribution network alone. CCT have won praise from retailers for their ability to get their goods to market. The result has been a higher profile in stores like Toys R Us. That distribution expertise would be worth a tidy sum to a bidder wanting a distribution network for its goods. Also keep in mind that CCT continue to build up their distribution network in Europe.
One further point is that these robots are far from cheap, and if they are indeed flying off the shelves then I think all expectations of turnover and profits are going to be beaten.
Anyone who remembers Hornby of old will remember that it was the outsourcing of its goods to China that was the making of it.
In CCT we have what is increasingly being seen by the market as being a master in sourcing and distributing the goods that people want to buy. As I said before that will be rewarded intime by the market with a PE similar to hornby and any company that can see that now is going to want to take them out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pygMqfBj26o&mode=related&search=

Strong start to this financial year. CCT has 4 items in top ten toy products on Amazon and 8 in top 50 items. 2005/2006 results due in December will be above expectations with a good dividend and I expect trading update for start of 2006/7 to be very good. This share should get a serious re-rating and could again becone a take-over target in the New Year on the back of its performance. Good licences (Dr Who has been a blinder), costs under control, good marketing, well done CCT, great recovery in a difficult retail climate.

Character Group sees FY profit for ongoing business above market expectations
AFX

LONDON (AFX) - Character Group PLC said strong sales in the last days of the financial year mean that it expects profits for its ongoing business of toys, games and gifts to be significantly above market expectations.

The company added that it incurred some additional exceptional costs during the second half of the year related to the sale of its digital business but said they will have no material effect on the continuing business results.

It added that its products continue to perform well at retail and will give a further update when in announced results on November 28.

newsdesk@afxnews.com

tc

Looking good, doubled my money on this now, more to come me thinks.

hoorah- 1 at last. 1.50 is a very real prospect if earnings are as good as expected a strong PE ration should be on the cards, especially considering the money already sitting in the bank

elmfield - 26 Nov'06 - 15:29 - 1277 of 1281


A BLUE WEEK AHEAD:
Read this,
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2471991.html


The Sunday Times - Britain





The Sunday Times November 26, 2006


A Cyberman isnt just for Christmas...
Maurice Chittenden



NOT even a race of evil robotic Santas can stop it being a Doctor Who Christmas. A toy linked to the time lord tops most boys gift lists and a seasonal special in which the Doctor teams up with a new companion is expected to win the television ratings war.
The toy, a Cyberman mask that changes the voice of the wearer into alienspeak, is in such demand that many toyshops have long sold out and it is being bartered for almost double its retail price on websites such as eBay.



Some enterprising parents who recognised it would be a hit bought dozens of the toy and now expect to pay for their own Christmas from the profits of selling it for a mark-up of almost 100% on eBay.

The BBC will tomorrow announce the peak-time viewing slot chosen for its Doctor Who Christmas special.

Comedian Catherine Tate plays Donna, a bride who is late for her wedding, and the Tardis has to turn into a taxi to get her to the ceremony. But she is being chased by a mysterious empress and it emerges that she is the key to an alien plan to destroy Earth involving the robotic Santas.

The programme shows little signs of losing its magic touch, despite the loss of Billie Piper, who played the Doctors companion Rose.

Last month it scooped three prizes at the National Television Awards. David Tennant, the latest time lord, and Piper won the best actor and actress awards. The show was also voted most popular drama.

Next months one-off special will be a precursor to a new series that will begin in the new year and in which Freema Agyeman, who plays medical student Martha Jones, becomes the Doctors new assistant.

Russell T Davies, the shows writer and executive producer, said: We were delighted and honoured by the second series success and we can promise new thrills, new laughs and some terrifying new aliens.

The Doctor and Martha are destined to meet William Shakespeare, a bloodsucking alien named Plasmavores, an army of galactic stormtroopers called the Judoon and a sinister intelligence at work in 1930s New York.

The BBC confirmed that plans are in place for a fourth series. Even the spin-off series Torchwood has been a huge success, attracting 2.4m viewers to BBC3 when it was launched.

Three Doctor Who toys are in the Christmas Top 20 compiled from the bestselling toys in Woolworths, Toys R Us and Argos. The Cyberman Voice Changer, a radio-controlled Dalek and a K-9 dog are all in high demand with only the Bratz Forever Diamondz range of dolls proving more popular than the Cyberman mask for top spot in the 1 billion festive toy-buying spree.

Shares have jumped more than 12p in Character Group, which makes the toys, after it said annual profits would be significantly above market forecasts.

Waterstones, the bookseller, predicts that the 2007 Doctor Who annual will knock The Beano off its traditional perch as the bestselling childrens annual. Amazon, the internet retailer, is selling the time lords annual for 4.54, a reduction of 2.45 on the retail price. A Sunday Times survey has shown that consumers can save up to 40% by buying their Christmas presents on the internet rather than shopping in the high street.

The Doctor Who toys buck this trend. Glitches in China, the worlds leading manufacturer, is causing trouble in toyland. Factories in southern China have been hit by rolling electricity blackouts and labour shortages caused by workers deserting to better-paid jobs in high-tech factories. Officials in Guangdong province have demanded that manufacturers suspend operations for two or three days a week to avoid overtaxing electricity suppliers.

At the same time many of the store chains have underestimated the demand, perhaps thinking that the departure of the shows two original stars from its present run, Piper and Christopher Eccleston, would lessen interest in the travels of the Tardis.
It means those who spotted the demand for Doctor Who early can make a killing. Last week the Cyberman mask, which can retail as low as 29.99 in Argos, was selling for 55 on eBay.



One eBay seller who uses the trading name of littlemonstersmum turned out to be mother-of-two Sophie Pearson from Rugby, Warwickshire. She has sold the mask for as much as 42. Her husband Chris, 35, who runs his own website selling home and garden gifts, bought 15 of them for just over 30 each a month ago.

I paid almost the retail price but when my supplier said Dont mention the cybermask I knew it would be popular, he said. Whatever they push on television will be a sell-out. Its like a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Another eBay trader, Andini Dunn from Shropshire, said: I was asked to get one for a present and told they were hard to get hold of, so I bought a few. They are surplus to my requirements.

CockneyRebel - 26 Nov'06 - 18:29 - 1281 of 1282


Go through the previous high and these are off to the races imo.

Don't know whether that's Monday or Tuesday but I'm sure it's not far off.

CR

23wizard - 26 Nov'06 - 19:16 - 1282 of 1282


Nice article in mail on sat. basically saying toys in short supply, tescos etc online still advertising stock at rrp although they have no more stock !
Amazon usually sell below rrp if they have stock but they have little left, they then direct customers to Amazon marketplace where third parties sell new items without price control. Cyberman helmet rrp 29.99 for sale 59.99, Dalek
39.99 for sale 64.95. Supply and demand eh! If cct can get more to the market place in time(which I'm sure they'll be working on) I think they will be able to sell the lot increasing their profits again. Happy days!

Results on Tuesday.Significantly ahead.CCT pays dividends.

Excellent results! In the Telegraph today CCT mentioned as a possible takeover target.

The Daily Telegraph

The Business Comment Column:
*Will Wal-Mart's new Indian romance stand the heat?
*As MG Rover probe goes on, Phoenix Four make money.
*Piling on nuclear waste in search for energy security.

The Questor Column:
*First Choice - Not cheap, but worth buying.
*Buy - Homeserve (LSE: HSV.L - news) .
*Buy - Mitie Group .

Further news:
*Phoenix Four to reap tax millions.
*CBI chief attacks free trade hypocrisy.
*Underwriters face a storm of protest over hurricane premiums.
*Speculation that Pearson (LSE: PSON.L - news) 's Les Echos could have attracted attention of private equity players.
*Investors suggest Character Group (LSE: CCT.L - news) ( .L) could be a takeover target

I agree an excellent set of results as expected today, onwards and upwards for CCT in 2007

Excellent results, backed by good divi and strong cash position. CCT doing very well in difficult retail sector, 2007 could see these shares up 50% again if not more although I also suspect there will be further approaches that push the sp higher.