Marchpole is one of those stocks which have had a really bad time. Boardroom battles, losses, price collapse, profit warnings up the ying yang.

Now all of those things seem to be sorted out, new management are getting to grips, new contracts and the price is on the up. So much so that Monday ought to see a 50/200 day MA golden cross.

DYOR of course, but I think I will be putting a few of these away at the open.

Socco

Boateng is only a tiny part of the business.

Boateng

Since the launch of the first collection for Boateng for Autumn Winter 2003,
significant progress has been made to define the offering and understand our
target customers' requirements. The collection for Autumn Winter 2004 builds on
the identity of the Boateng brand and shows its strengths in the tailoring
offer. The Autumn Winter 2004 order book currently stands at 0.7 million, an
increase of over 34% on the same time last year for the Autumn Winter 2003
collection.

Marchpole first half profit trebles
Date: 09 November 2004

LONDON (ShareCast) - Shares in Marchpole Holdings, which makes and distributes designer clothes rose over 5% after it said first half pre-tax profit increased three fold while sales more than doubled.

The group, which makes Yves Saint Laurent and Boateng ranges, said pre-tax profit surged to 2.5m from 804,000 for the six months to Oct 2 on turnover of 15,668 from 7,963 before. Operating profit climbed 194% to 2.6m.

"We are very pleased with Marchpole's performance and expect this continuing success to be reflected in the full year results," said chief executive Greg Tufnell.

Looking ahead the Autumn Winter 2004 order book currently stands at over 16.6m of which 86% has already been delivered to customers to date.

The board also declared an interim dividend of 0.25p, compared with nil
a year earlier.

Look at the buyers flooding back in!

Thanks grevis2, it is a small part.

P

Thanks, your welcome!

I suppose it is a good sign of strong management that they want to protect each and every deal hopefully for the benefit of shareholders?

P

Parsonsmead: Boateng will climb down. He won't let this get to court. He went bust once, that will be enough to unnerve him. Besides, MPH manufacture and distribute the product and that will continue. I would suggest that Boateng has tried to do a deal with someone else for another product line that is in breach of the agreement signed with MPH.

We also need to recognise that turnover is set to increase further thanks to the new licence agreement signed with Emanuel Ungaro in September:

"With these results, including the first season of JCC, and the new licence with Emanuel Ungaro in September the group is fulfilling its strategy of developing new brands and expanding the business -- a strategy which it intends to continue."

I think he will too as (and I am guessing) new designers need the distribution power of companies like MPH and if, allegedly, he is in breach then others won't do business with them any more. Let's hope investors see it this way and the price keeps moving up. The MM's could even be treating this as an unplanned tree shake?

P

Really could have done without this news today. Just hope that it can be sorted out sooner rather than later. Also would have liked to see more detail in the RNS. Still holding.

From Bloomberg today:

"Marchpole Holdings Plc (MPH LN) lost 3.5 pence, or 12 percent, to 27.75 pence, its steepest drop in 22 months. The designer and seller of menswear for Yves-Saint Laurent said it began legal action against designer Ozwald Boateng for allegedly breaching a contract to make a range of clothing."

Hi gavdfc: Are you still holding PCI?

gavdfc: Thanks for posting that article. It seems to back up what most have been saying on ADVFN. The trouble with dealing with 'artists' is that they run with their emotions rather than their heads.

So it's business as usual as is implied in the RNS.

"Marchpole, which continues to sell the Boateng diffusion ranges, said it does not expect the legal proceedings to have 'any material effect' on current market expectations for the company."

Hi Grevis. Yep still holding them, so as you could imagine, this has not been the best of days for me! Still, take the good with the bad and all that! Are you still holding PCI? Learned to switch off and not watch PCI too closely, just waiting for drill results.

gavdfc: I sold out of PCI after the confusion over their rig. Got 17p at that time and am happy with my decision. First wells tend to be exploratory and usually run into trouble. I was always taught not to be too greedy so I'm happy with my profit.

Well done on your profit Grevis. I too was taught not to be greedy, but some lessons arn't always learned properly! Still, I have tight stops in place so will see what the results throw up. Also bought a good holding in Soco in anticipation of next years Vietnam drilling.

Apologies to all for going a bit o/t.

I think someone has helped to nail the problem. It would seem that Boateng may be devoting his time to Givenchy and ignoring his responsibilities to MPH.

Just posted on ADVFN:

Remember Boateng is designing for Givenchy now, part of LVMH.

It could be his activities under contract to them which are causing annoyance / discomfort to Marchpole.

I remain long bullish but am wary that the real problem may not be Boateng ego, but the Givenchy head of design deal. In the circs Marchpole can still only sue Boateng.

gavdfc: I wish you luck with PCI. I'm still watching events with interest.

Just hope that this Boateng stuff will be sorted out soon. Didn't know he was designing for Givenchy now. Will be keeping a very close eye on thsi situation.

Cheers for wishing me luck on PCI. Will be interesting either way once the RNS comes out. Fun days ahead there! If you want something else to watch, take a look at SIA. Big drill program in Vietnam early next year.

gavdfc: Thanks, I've added them to my watchlist.

From another BB:

Boateng has just designed the pret-a-porter (ready to wear) menswear collection for Givenchy, part of LVMH.

Funnily enough this sounds very similar to what he should be doing for Marchpole, via the diffusion brand Boateng in UK and Ireland.

His haute-couture stuff is a different matter but I would suggest Mr Boateng is operating potentially conflicting contracts with LVMH / Marchpole. He has delivered for LVMH (see www.givenchy.com), possibly not for MPH.

It is possible LVMH could get tied up in things but really its primarily for Boateng to sort out his contractual positions.

Quite possible MPH could do design in-house, but that would mean a cut in Mr Boateng's take.

Able to sell 250k with Comdirect at 27.31 and buy 75k at 27.41.