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.

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

Based around previous January trading updates, the Trading update is likely to be due Tues 9th Jan.

What the toy industry has found is that branded toys produce not only higher sales but command longer loyalty and can also be extended like we are now seeing with the NEW RANGE of Dr Who toys. This is opposed to one off toys like the Spice Girl dolls.
The incredible success of the Dr Who range is testiment to the ablity of Character to create a brand and then market it.
As I keep saying 3i have a wealth of licences that they wish to exploit. Some of the licences have never been marketed at all. 3i have stated that they now wish to exploit these licences through branding on a global scale and their near 30% stake in Character together with a 3i director on Characters board can only mean one thing in my opinion.Likwise as I said before, the BBC have seen huge revenue from Dr Who. They also have seen the benifit of branding and are seeking to replicate the success on other projects which must surely include Character. Other companies will also be watching with interest. It does not take much to see that this could become are very much larger and profitable company. The move north in the SP is never going to be a straight line and there will be days when the SP will fall back, but the forces that are propelling the potential of Character have never been stronger and I have never felt more certain about the direction of a share. If my thoughts about propects are proven then this share will not only match Hornby`s PE but it will beat it.

Bought back in today in anticipation of barnstorming trading update, and also coverage in this weekends SCSW.

has a date for trading update been announced?

haracter Group says four-month sales to end-Dec up 35 pct on last year
AFX


LONDON (AFX) - Character Group PLC, which designs, develops and distributes toys, games and gifts, said sales from continuing operations for the first four months to Dec 31 were up 35 pct on last year.

In a trading update, the company said it has received a 'strong' response to its 2007 Christmas product range, which would lead to further growth throughout the year.

Given its Christmas 2006 sales and the positive reaction to its current product portfolio, chairman Richard King said the company remains on target to maintain its growth throughout 2007.


http://moneyam.uk-wire.com/cgi-bin/articles/200701170700256252P.html

the good news is now out, so have taken a sweet little profit, which was always my aim ...... dare say a good term hold, as momentum currently behind it and golden cross possibly just formed

cynic
A bit slow but looking at 200p+

not saying you are wrong ..... no a sector i really follow and took this position solely as a trade over the Christmas period ..... nowt wrong in taking profit!

will have another look at CSR when I get a mo ..... in SF at the moment, but will try to within next hour

Character Group
Share price: 126p +0.5p
Questor says Buy

The return of Dr Who to our television screens in 2005 did not just resurrect the career of Billie Piper - it also helped toymaker Character Group return to a healthy profit. The company makes toys and games under licence, to tie in with television programmes such as Dr Who, Scooby Doo and Little Britain. It is also the company behind the popular Robosapien robot.

In the first half of 2005 the company was making a loss but thanks to a strong product line-up - due at least in part to the popularity of Dr Who and Little Britain - it returned to profit at the end of that year and it has remained in the black ever since.

Character has also sold its digital division, which produces Polaroid cameras - no longer a must-have item due to the advent of digital cameras. It is now focused on toys and games and has been developing more of its own products alongside those it produces under licence. It is also expected to unveil a new line of girls' dolls - described as somewhere between Bratz and Barbie - at the next week's Toy Show in London.

Character Group said yesterday that sales from its continuing operations rose 35pc in the four months to December 31 and analysts believe the future pipeline of products is strong. The company also plans to continue its share buyback which will improve earnings per share.

The Aim-listed company's share price has more than doubled over the past year and Questor tipped the stock at 71p last August. It now trades at 10.5 times forecast 2008 earnings - a considerable discount to closest quoted rival Hornby - with a prospective yield of 3.2pc.

Even if you're not a fan of the revived Doctor Who, it will be a while before this lucrative revenue line is exterminated and, even then, Character Group has a good portfolio of toys and games which should help growth to continue.

james.quinn@telegraph.co.uk

Great news today. 150p should be reached in the near future.

lex1000 - 31 Jan 2007 23:36 - 11 of 11
31/01/07 - 14:59 Sale of Treasury Shares RNS
31/01/07 - 09:20 Character Group sees current year exceed market AFX
31/01/07 - 07:00 Trading Update RNS

The news gets better & better.Good year of growth,increasing dividends,profit upgrades and chart breakouts continue.

Bullish chart confirmed chart breakout should take sp to 150p.Charles Stanley upgraded from 145p to 160p.Strong buy methinks now another Institution on Board @ bargain price.Hence explanable reason sp held back.aimvho,dyor

Don't forget the share buys backs, increasing the EPS regardless of increasing profits!