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

And still lawsuits are flying
By Simon Watkins

Saville Row suit designer Ozwald Boateng has launched a fresh legal claim against fashion group Marchpole in an attempt to end a three-year battle over suits sold under his name.
Boatang's company,Bespoke Couture,is demanding compensation from Marchpole,alleging it has failed to pay up after previous High Court decision in 2004,which it says,entitles it to ounspecified damages.
The long-running and tangled dispute centres on a range of Boatang's suits that were marketed by marchpole under an agreement first signed in 2002.
The row is threatening to become on of the longest in fashion history.
Both Boateng and Marchpole,headed by Greg Tufnell,brother of cricketer Phil,have issued legal claims against each other during the course of the dispute.
Both have claimed victory at various points.

Simon Watkins, Mail on Sunday,Financial Mail,page 5.

MPH chart has been in downtrend from highs of 36p-37p.Slight bounce end of last week however reversal of downtrend yet to be confirmed.Interims due shortly, Financial Director,Company secretary recent have both gone which leaves questions about management board and what exactly is going on? Boateng case continues to rumble on. Negative news not going away.See post 529.

Marchpole Holdings PLC
01 December 2005


For Immediate Release 1 December 2005


MARCHPOLE HOLDINGS PLC

Marchpole announces that it has today received notification from Man Financial
Limited, a member of Man Group PLC, that it is now the beneficial holder of
9,765,000 ordinary shares of 1p each in the Company, representing approximately
7.31 per cent of the Company's issued share capital.





This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

THat 1m bought by Man.... Suoport if there ever was

That RNS has convinced me to buy in today. I've been waiting for a sign that this stock had bottomed out. It looks as though the buyers are returning. Good luck!

Up she goes!

The MMs are now buying!

I think most people missed this statement that appeared in the results published on 16 November 2005:

Marchpole Holdings PLC
16 November 2005

"Outlook

On the basis of our current order book, we expect the existing business to
generate profit before tax for the full year in excess of last year."

Hemscott's opinion on 1 November:

"We tipped the shares on 21 October at 17.75p. Its shares have eased back from around 35p over the past six months but, as we noted in original tip piece, there really is no bad news to justify this underperformance. The fundamentals continue to support the view that the stock is a buy. "

Only one post.Bought back last week.Watch marchpole recover.Still time to get in sub 20p.Merry Christmas.

aah second post to say put on monitors. Tick up 18.25p-19p.To me ticks all the boxes.

This maybe account for todays drop.

deanroberthunt - 6 Dec'05 - 14:59 - 427 of 434


anyone explain this from another thread, or is it B*ll*cks!

Told you so!
Hot off the press - law courts actually - MPH has lost its licence for Ozwald Boateng with immediate effect - STRONG SELL

Hemscott 7/12/2005
Marchpole - Hold at 16.5p
Marchpole's unfortunate squabble with Ozwald Boateng and his privately owned Bespoke Couture, which has dragged its way through the courts like an episode from Bleak House, is holding back what is potentially a great business and this remains an investment for the long term. While we would encourage existing shareholders to hold while the dust settles, we are no longer inclined to encourage new investors to come in, given the wide spread that shares with lowly rated prices suffer from, says Rodney Hobson.

Marchpole designs, produces and distributes designer clothing and its dispute with Ozwald Boateng and Bespoke Couture has been rumbling on virtually from the moment that a deal was struck in October 2002. Back in March, Marchpole thought it had settled the matter when it obtained a court ruling preventing Bespoke from selling Ozwald Boateng suits and other items, except for genuine old stock, through a discount outlet. At the same time, a separate issue relating to the removal of stock from Debenhams, where the Boateng lines were previously sold, was also concluded with Marchpole paying compensation. All in all, the result was probably a draw.


Unfortunately, Bespoke has chosen to launch a new action which Marchpole chief executive Greg Tufnell tells us is highly complicated and technical. This week Bespoke won a court ruling that an inquiry should be held to consider whether, and how much, Marchpole should pay it in damages. Tufnell is now discussing matters with his lawyers and may have some clarification to offer to shareholders soon. There could be an appeal.

We are starting to get the feeling that Boateng simply wants out and that more issues will be raised until the two sides decide to part company. That is a pity from Marchpole's point of view, since it has invested heavily in building the brand as well as on legal fees. The immediate impact of saying goodbye would not be serious, because new licenses lose money in the early years, and that is what has happened at Boateng so far.

Marchpole has five other world class licences and can live without Boateng. While that would mean losing out on the future benefits of the earlier investment, it would be better than dragging out an embarrassing public spat with an unwilling partner. As Bleak House demonstrates, only the lawyers benefit from this kind of thing.

The company has gone through a difficult time recently. Interim results in November were disappointing although Tufnell reassured shareholders that full year results to next March would beat the previous year. Marchpole also lost its finance director Justin Hampshire in October and non-executive John Harrison, who has experience as finance director of another quoted company, is holding the fort.

We believe, though, that once the Boateng issue is put into the past Marchpole can get on with its business. Shareholders should hold for the long term......wbj

Marchpole - HOLD
Companies: MPH
09/01/2006

Shares in Marchpole, the designer, producer and seller of clothing across six world class luxury fashion brands, have not performed as we would have liked, but this well-run business continues to boast great growth prospects.

Focused on global luxury brands such as Yves Saint Laurent, Emanuel Ungaro, and Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, Marchpole has laid the foundations for growth under chief executive Greg Tufnell. That said, a legal spat with designer Ozwald Boateng, and a profits drop at the interim stage, have spooked the market.

Half-time figures to September revealed turnover of 14.9m (15.7m). There was also a drop in pre-tax profits from 2.6m to 1m. However, this fall reflected one-off brand development costs, and analysts expect strong year-on-year profits growth for the second half. Recent acquisition Moda America, a US venture that licenses the Emanuel Ungaro diffusion label for the US, provides expansion opportunities in the American market and will help compensate for any future loss of YSL revenues (Marchpole's UK YSL distribution deal comes to an end this year). Marchpole has also boosted JCC brand exposure through the opening of new stores in Japan and South Korea.

Based on order books and revenue projections, Marchpole should beat last years 4.9m pre-tax profit for the current year to March. House broker Shore Capital suggests pre-tax profits of 5m on sales of 35.7m, giving earnings of 2.5p and a budget forward multiple of 6.7. If you bought on our advice at 24.5p last July, stay in for a long-overdue re-rating. Hold.

Tick up! Good sign in a falling market. Is this the start of the long expected recovery?

Up again! News on its way perhaps?

The bid has now ticked up!

Markets sometimes move in mysterious ways. MPH seems to have moved off the radar screens for the moment but whether this will continue for much longer is in the lap of the management. I cannot believe they are oblivious to the slow decline in the value of their company, especially as Michael Morris, either directly or indirectly, owns 26.4% of the equity. There is also the matter of institutional and other large holders who must be anxious to see the price moving forward once again.

Analysts all agree that MPH is a well-managed company and have projected strong growth running through to 2007, but levelling off in 2008.

We all accept that an RNS is due and its lack seems to have unsettled a few holders. The reason(s) for this delay is open to conjecture and as we all know, the City hates uncertainty. Its possibly down to Moda America and whether they are ready to make an announcement one way or another. If discussions have reached an impasse, then it's as well for them to let us know.

Whatever, its time for a trading update, the last one of which was issued on 16 November 2005 and which was optimistic for the remainder of the year:

On the basis of our current order book, we expect the existing business to generate profit before tax for the full year in excess of last year.

The following was extracted from Barclays Stock brokers website.

Forecasts
Year Ending Sales (m) Pre-tax (m) EPS P/E PEG EPS Grth. Div Yield
31-Mar-06 35.70 5.00 2.50p 5.9 0.7 +9% 0.80p 5.4%
31-Mar-07 49.70 6.60 3.30p 4.5 n/a +n/a 1.00p 6.8%
31-Mar-08 48.10 6.50 3.20p 4.6 n/a +n/a 1.10p 7.5%
Forecast Ratios
Year Ending Sales/Share Price/Sales per share
31-03-2006 0.27 0.55
31-03-2007 0.37 0.40
31-03-2008 0.36 0.41
Trends & Recommendations
Current 1 week ago 1 month ago 3 months ago 6 months ago 1 year ago
Sales (m)
31-03-2006 36 n/a 36 36 36 38
31-03-2007 50 n/a 50 50 50 60
31-03-2008 48 n/a 48 48 n/a n/a

Earnings
31-03-2006 2.50p n/a 2.50p 2.50p 2.50p 2.70p
31-03-2007 3.30p n/a 3.30p 3.30p 3.30p 3.20p
31-03-2008 3.20p n/a 3.20p 3.20p n/a n/a

Dividend
31-03-2006 0.80p n/a 0.80p 0.80p 0.80p 0.80p
31-03-2007 1.00p n/a 1.00p 1.00p 1.00p 1.00p
31-03-2008 1.10p n/a 1.10p 1.10p n/a n/a



HALF YEAR RESULTS
Marchpole Holdings PLC
16 November 2005

Outlook

On the basis of our current order book, we expect the existing business to
generate profit before tax for the full year in excess of last year.

The current order book for Spring Summer 2006 is 15.6m which represents growth
in all areas with the highlights being the first season for Boateng in Harvey
Nichols, Emanuel Ungaro launching in London and Paris and JCC growing sales and
royalty incomes across the world.

Emanuel Ungaro is making progress on a worldwide basis with encouraging sales in
Japan, Hong Kong, Russia, the Middle East and Italy. Our third flagship Emanuel
Ungaro shop in shop opens in January in New York where we have already had a
positive response from both customers and press.

Our wholly owned brand, JCC, continues to grow both its sales and royalty
income. We are optimistic that there will be further growth in both of these
areas in the second half of the year. Royalty and design fee income continue
to increase as we expand the successful collaborations with brands such as
Rossignol.

In the second half of the year the company will continue to expand
geographically and increase its presence in the important accessories market.

Nowt but Tumbleweed

Good God the Circus has come to town.