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

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."

Cynic - sounds like you may have lost some money on tan ?.
Youre talking about last year but it here and now and priced at only 10p with 12 million in the bank and no debt. Sev us (see www.sev-us.com - tanfield has 49% share ) is developing strongly in the states . Americans support their own industries and many large us companies are showing fleet interest.
Some talk of benefits for electric vehicles in pending budget.
imho

i made money and i lost money but both points are totally irrelevant ...... wake up and smell the coffee, or more precisely, smell the rotting flesh of a once promising company ..... and yes, i know Lazarus came back from the dead

re hyieo post 153 above. I think this came from the daily telegraph.
Negative reporting - conveniently fails to mention following significant points:-
1 Over 11 million pounds in bank - no debts
2 recent link up with ford in usa to assemble electric ford transit vehicles
3 link up with sev us (tanfield own 49%) to produce electric vehicles in us
See rns - final results - tanfield released 0700 08/04/08

al all we can say is there were electric powered milk floats 50 years ago so what's new that is going to make TAN a fortune?

nowt!

Manganese Bronze, one of the main manufacturers of London black cabs, has signed an agreement with electric vehicle maker Tanfield to make battery powered taxis that should hit the streets by mid 2009.

Nothing to do with this, but oil is down $3 on not much demand....so looks like the oilies will be pulled both ways tomorrow morning as they were having a bit of a bull run the last couple of weeks (thought I'd post here as everybody seems here tonight !).

i took a flyer at 6 and a bit no stop loss. i think maybe one or two others did the same.
i dont often do such things, in fact very rarely. anyway i've now put in a stop loss.
dont ask. Lol. good luck to all us holders.
regards
jkd

Cynic "and yes, i know Lazarus came back from the dead" Lol!! I quite understand your doubts about TAN but I think they would object to being likened to Lazarus, they are nowhere near the tomb yet! I would say that they will rise from the ashes of a once over hyped company that crashed and nearly burnt out but who are now firmly in control of their outgoings etc. I don't think for one minute that a company like Ford, at this stage in their fight for survival, would get involved with a company which will not be here next year. I feel that should TAN show signs of beginning to crack up again, Ford would probably take them over rather than lose the technology. But that's just my personal view. One thing is for sure, Smith Electric Vehicles is becoming a popular name in the US. They seem to be getting involved in a few states, Ohio being one:-

http://www.earthdaycoalition.org/cleantransport/events/ohio-electric-drive-event

"..The other duplcated vehicle is not tanfield.." (Almoore, post 150)

Yes it is. The (Avia-based) Newton is avialable not just in van form, but as a chassis model that can be fitted out as a flatbed/dropside/tipper/whatever. The one in this picture is in use in Westminster. See this from the Case Studies page at the Smith website Case Studies - Newton tipper





Halifax - the Newton is available in sizes up to 18 tonnes. I don't think you can dismiss that as a mere milk float ;o)

halifax - 13 Apr 2009 19:43 - 157 of 163
al all we can say is there were electric powered milk floats 50 years ago so what's new that is going to make TAN a fortune?

cynic - 13 Apr 2009 19:54 - 158 of 163
nowt!


Errrm.. what's new is the entire political and environmental climate. And associated legislation.
What's new is we've moved into the 21st century. You should come and join us ;o)

The internal combustion engine has served us well for a hundred years and will continue to do so for a while yet - but it is SO last century, dontcha know. It's gradually on the way out, and electric power is on the way in. Every mainstream vehicle maker worldwide has now taken a stake in electric as the future for road transport. So has Warren Buffett with his $230m stake in BYD. The only difference between them is in timeframes. I reckon that 7 years from now, even the sneerers on this thread will be driving one. The EV tide is inexorable.

Juzzle has it not occurred to you that the electricity required to power evs has to be generated mainly by burning fossil fuels. Perhaps we should go back to sailing ships to reduce polution?

Yes Halifax - as a member of various green campaign groups for over 40 years I know all about electricity generation. I campaign for progress at both ends of the chain - I don't use delays at one end as an excuse to ask for delays at the other end ;o)

On any well-to-wheel comparison, switching to EVs is environmentally beneficial even when allowing for coal-fired electricity generation. Progressively moving towards renewables makes the benefits greater still ;o)




And where do you get the idea that "the electricity required to power evs has to be generated mainly by burning fossil fuels.." ?

No it doesn't. It can come from at least ten sources. Coal is dominant in some countries - renewables are already dominant in others - and the tide is moving one way.



You can scowl and throw up as many obstructive excuses as you like - but stand in the way and you might get run over by an almost silent truck someday soon ;o)
There are lessons to be learned from the story of King Canute!

juzzle
sorry - thanks for correction - electric vehicles ARE the future and tanfield is the world leader in evs (not cars yet)

but how far into the future, and does one really need to tie up funds here for the next decade? ...... oh OK then the next 3/5 years

Smith's US website at sev-us.com has a Press Room page which features numerous videos. Several have been added in the past few days. All are available at youtube.com including this one which is well worth watching. It runs for 6:49 minutes and involves input from Ford www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTBOtAeKYow

juzzle
excellent find - video well worth watching - indicates progress sevus is making stateside and confirms link up with ford and future fleet deal prospects.

Another step closer to all ev's for the future?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/apr/16/green-cars-transport-incentives-emissions

Delivery firm DHL already had 3 Smith Newtons, and have recently ordered ten more. That's a nice endorsement.