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.

Someone asked a while ago about the licences for toys at 3i. For those that did not know, 3i owns chorion which owns major licences like Noddy and the Mr Men etc. The major plus as far as Character is concerned is that these licences churn out good profits year after year and if Character partnered 3i in the global branding of chorion licences then it would have a major impact on Characters re rating. For their part 3i would get all the wealth of experience that exists within Character. Character have proved that they have a nose for a winning toy year after year and are top rated when it comes to promoting those brands and getting them to the shops at the right time. You can see why the combination of 3i and Character would make a powerful combination on the global stage. Anyone interested in the Chorion licences should have a look at the following link:

http://www.chorion.co.uk/chorion/brand/

fido,thx for background info on 3i licences.Interesting.Provides more meat to bones Provides explanation with additional reasons for 3i investing so heavily in CCT & having a (3i) director on CCT board.Can see 3i adding shareholder value.

Lex,
Ask anyone that has anything to do with the toy industry and they will tell you that the hardest thing of all is spotting the next winner. Even as Toy Options Character had the knack of doing just that. Whether it was the Spice girl dolls or Buzz Lightyear or Teletubbies or a host of others, Character have always been amongst the must have toys. That sort of knack and experience can and does mean the difference between making millions and a flop. As I said if you combine this with the strengh and the contacts of 3i then you have a powerful combination.

http://www.chorion.co.uk/chorion/brand/
With reference to the above web page, I recommend that people have a good reed of all the licences. It is a tressure trove of marketing possibilities waiting to be explored. Who better to exploit this than the expertese of Character. To prove a point I was making about consistant profits year after year, if you read the section for Mr Men you will see they have been going for 30 years and there is a wealth of other possibilities just waiting to be exploited.

If you believe that this company is better and stronger than Toy Options then 2.40 and more is very possible in time. Toy Options went as high as 4.80. Character had a script issue that the PI`s were not invited to. It doubled the number of shares in issue with the extra shares going to the Italians. That makes 2.40 the new peak. However, there are other things to consider that would mean a price higher than 2.40 namely:

The large scale buybacks/future buybacks that are now taking a substantial number of shares out ot the equation.
The fact that Character are very much stronger than Toy Options.
The fact that we have 3i as an investor with a director on the Character board.
The huge potential of the 3i contacts and licenses.
The possible takeover of Character by 3i.
All these things mean that in time a price much higher than 2.40 is achievable.

fido,yes it was me who asked you question about 3i licences on advfn.Thanks for your informative posts.You make important points which fully illustrate the huge potential here.

holgerl - 13 Dec'06 - 07:05 - 1885 of 1892




Molly Watson, Western Mail


WE'VE had Tellytubbies, Tracy Island and Buzz Lightyear.

They are the must-have toys which parents scour the shops for in the run-up to Christmas, knowing if stocks run out, a stocking featuring anything less just will not do.

This year, anything related to the hit show Doctor Who is flying off the shelves, but the Cyberman voice-changing helmet is already threatening to become this year's must-find gift.

But not just any Cyber helmet, mind you, the limited edition featuring a glimpse of the brain inside is the real catch.

It is all part of the astonishing marketing drive that has seen Doctor Who prop up the toy market this year.



The BBC Wales hit show was yesterday revealed as one of 2007's top calendar pin-ups, pitting the show against popstars.


Figures released yesterday show the sci-fi drama came second in a chart of best-selling calendars, just one of a long list of charts which merchandise from the show is topping in the run-up to Christmas.


Earlier this month WH Smith and Waterstone's predicted The Official Doctor Who Annual would outsell The Beano, which has traditionally held the number one best seller spot each Christmas.


And the Toy Retailers Association's lists of top Christmas toys features a number of Doctor Who products, including the Doctor Who scale radio-controlled K-9 and the Doctor Who Tardis Electronic Playset.


Based on sales so far for Danilo, Europe's biggest official calendar company, Doctor Who lost out only to Robbie Williams, beating Kylie Minogue, Cliff Richard and the Simpsons in the popularity stakes.


With less than a month to go until Christmas, retailers yesterday said Doctor Who toys, which are manufactured by Character Options, are flying off the shelves, with Doctor Who Cyberman Voice Changer Helmet being one of the most sought-after products.


Ronnie Dungan, editor of trade magazine Toy News said merchandise related to the show is propping up the toy market this year.


He said, "We've spoken to a number of retailers and they're expecting the Cyberman mask to be one of their best selling toys. Of all those we spoke to, 32% said they thought Doctor Who toys would be their best selling product this Christmas."

To give you some idea of the huge potential of a 3i/Character link up, take a look at the following article and remember that this is just one licence in 3i`s treasure trove of licences:

'Famous Five' deal for Disney
By Matthew Garrahanin Los Angeles

Published: December 4 2006 02:00 | Last updated: December 4 2006 02:00

Walt Disney has struck a deal to develop an animated television series based on Enid Blyton's Famous Five stories, as part of the media group's new strategy for international growth.

The company will work with Chorion, a British company that owns the rights to several literary properties,to develop the series. It will be produced in the UK and broadcast on the UK Disney Channel.

If you take another look at my last post, you will see in relation to Chorion, the following sentence:
"part of the media group's new strategy for international growth".

We also have Character stating that they are also building up their international growth. It it very easy to see how they could be very useful to each others ambitions.

Have another look at the Chorion website. You will find that there are a number of licences that have yet to be exploited. Put yourself in 3i`s shoes. You have a treasure trove of licences that you want to exploit through branding on a global scale...What do you do?
In 3i`s case they take a large stake in Character Group and put a director on its board... Think about it!

This afternoon looked in at a few stores.Waterstones down to the last several Dr Who products,no Cyberman and heading for sell out.Argos sold out of Cyberman,checked other Dr Who, from last 1 up to 23 available.Small kid looking to side my shoulder to save himself the bother as flipped over pages to find Dr Who.He confirmed that him and his mates into Dr Who.Pages with Star wars which assume still come under Character? M & S selling a Dr Who pack and small metal Dalecks,same packaging as Character but marked m&s.com and not character online.com.Can someone confirm that Character supplying M & S stores?

lex1000
Doesn't look like it this is all they seem to have.

http://www.marksandspencer.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Merchant_Id=1&Product_Id=2143832&portal=locayta

http://www.marksandspencer.com/Search/MNSSearchESP.process?query=Dr+Who+&SearchAction=Basic&var=stemming&stemming=true&var=num_rows&num_rows=50&var=query.message&error_query=Go+back+and+enter+some+words+to+search+for.&RowsPerPage=50&prod_attrib=1&RestartFlow=t&x=27&y=11

Suddenly this board has sprung to life but there is much more to come.
How many retailers are having a good Christmas? CCT is loving it, everywhere you go you can see their products selling well. Dr Who licences was a master-stroke even though I can't stand the programme myself and thank God CCT got rid of digital business and concentrated on what they are good at and Fido's posts are bang on with the possibilities for CCT. The stake that 3i took initially (higher now after buy-backs) was significant as was putting one of their directors on the board and this would not have been done without seeing not only the potential but also the deliverance of this excellent company.

andysmith,
Take a step back and look at what 31 do. They take a stake in a company and through their wealth of connections they add value to it. That would be good for Character because 3i would have been looking to add a substantial profit from their investment. However the fact that they decided to put a director on Characters board means that their is more to this than that. 3i have through Chorion a wealth of untapped character licences that they intend to exploit throughout the world. They can do this because they actually own the licences. Character are renowned in their ability to exploit a marketing opportunity and the fact that 3i have teamed up with Character is of HUGE significance. Their success with Dr Who is testiment to that. Talking of Dr Who, the BBC have made a fortune out of the hugely successful series. It will not have been lost in the halls of power at the BBC what a money spinner Dr Who has been for them and you can bet your bottom dollar that they will be looking at other projects to repeat the success using Character.
The point is that if this goes the way I think its going then Character could become a highly successful and profitable company which is exactly the reason that I think that 3i are going to take them out, they would want to keep their hugely successful merchandiser and distributer in house.

When 3i took their stake in Character a long time ago and the SP was a fraction of what it is now, I said that the camera division would be sold off and that 3i would make a bid foe Character at 2.20. So far I have been right about the cameras but I am starting to think that a take out price of 2.20 is looking a bit mean. A lot depends on how far Character are ALLOWED to develope. We have already had bid interest that was shown the door because they undervalued Character. Now that Character is seen to have such a fantastic future, any bid is going to have to reflect that and be much higher than it is today. Thinking of other possibles, how is this one. 3i link up with the BBC to exploit Chorions licences and Character reap the benefits of the merchandising. It doen`t take a lot to see how this could go very much higher does it.

I agree 3i are one of the best in the business as far as maximising an opportunity. As I said though, 3i have a large number of investments and some very powerful connections so the fact that they have chosen to take a large stake and put a director on the board can only mean that they have very definate plans for Character.
On your second point, I said ALLOWED to develope because if Character are allowed to develope licences with 3i and the BBC and put them on a global stage then the resulting revenue would be huge. An example of this would be the Mr Men characters. They have been going for 30 years and are recognised throughout the world. With such obvious potential I cannot believe that a company with the pedigree of 3i are going to let that opportunity slip. The good news for shareholders is that the Character directors know the value in Character and if 3i want to take them out then they are going to have to keep the likes of Mr King happy if they want the benefit of his experience and that means a full take out price.

Breaking out above 120p. Peeps yet to catch on with CCT.

advfn bbs unobtainable therefore cannot copy and paste some number crunch.Conservative 2007 estimate sp 132p plus 16p for cash assuming 7m.This does not include 4m CCT should receive in February.At least 3 profit upgrades expected 2007.Stanley Charles maintain strong buy with initial short term 130p with update next month.CCT record sales double digit growth across all major brands.

Worth scroll back and read Fido's posts on potential here combined with 3i literally on board.

Can see where 150p becomes realistic 2007 target & potentially higher.Note shares attract 1.65p divi qualify and payment dates in january.

CCT excites me and lights my fire! lol.

On Amazon website, Character has 10 items in top 100. What a bumper Christmas, the trading update in the New Year should make good reading.

Glasshalfull - 28 Dec'06 - 00:47 - 2127 of 2127


Scotland's top selling tabloid - Daily Record - produced the following article on 27/12/06 (nice headline!)
Hopefully the same was replicated throughout the UK.



WHO'S THE TOP TOY?

TV Doctor is kids' favourite

By Kevan Christie

DR WHO proved the biggest hit with the kids this Christmas as merchandise from the show continued to fly off the shelves.

The popularity of the BBC1 show saw supplies of Daleks, Cyberman Voice Changers and Sonic Screwdrivers outstrip demand, according to the UK's biggest toy store chain.

Toys R Us said stores were forced to source Doctor Who merchandise from across the world to keep up with demand.

And in-store displays were being replenished up to five times a day in November and December.

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/tm_headline=who-s-the-top-toy-&method=full&objectid=18332771&siteid=66633-name_page.html




Regards,
GHF

anyone know the date of the trading update or if anyone has any other tongue twisters please post