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

Delayed buy for 425000 after the close.

Some big trades went through earlier, 1m and 1.5m. Wonder if thats some institutions getting in?

Just released:

Marchpole Holdings PLC
08 September 2004


8 September 2004 For immediate release


Marchpole Holdings plc
(the 'Company')

Licence agreement signed with Emanuel Ungaro S.A.
('Emanuel Ungaro')


Agreement with Emanuel Ungaro

The Company is pleased to announce that negotiations with Emanuel Ungaro have
culminated in the signing of a significant worldwide (excluding America)
menswear licence agreement (the 'Agreement') extending until December 2012. The
Agreement covers two well-defined collections per season under the Emanuel
Ungaro label and the Ungaro label (the 'Collections').


Territory

The Agreement extends the global offering of the Company and covers all European
countries plus Russia with pre-emption rights on any other territory for the
Collections, such as the Middle East, the Far East, Asia, Australia, Africa and
Japan. Building upon the Company's worldwide trading relationships with the
Castelbajac brands, the Company will use its network to establish quickly the
Collections in each territory.


Term

The Company's ability to launch brands into the market has been well established
with its brands such as Yves Saint Laurent and Boateng. Under this 17-season
Agreement, the first Collections will be for Autumn Winter 2005/6, launching in
January 2005 with deliveries from July 2005. The last Collections will be for
Autumn Winter 2012/3, making the term of the agreement eight and a half years in
total.


Collections

Under the Agreement, Marchpole will be producing two men's collections per
season under the Emanuel Ungaro label and the Ungaro label (the 'Collections').
Each collection will be clearly positioned using Marchpole's brand management
expertise to create a lifestyle men's offering. The Emanuel Ungaro collection
will be high quality men's tailored clothing, including Suits, Jackets,
Overcoats, Formal Shirts, Formal Trousers, Tuxedos and other Formal wear. The
Ungaro collection will be more casual in nature and will include lines such as
sportswear, underwear, casual shirts, t-shirts, polo shirts, knitwear,
sleepwear, loungewear and jeanswear.



Chief Executive Greg Tufnell commented:

'The last two years have seen the business rebuilt in terms of both performance
and value. The addition of the Emanuel Ungaro and Ungaro trademarks means that
we now have six world class brands under our management. The strength of this
portfolio gives us significant certainty and momentum as to the strategic future
of the Marchpole Group.'

Chairman Chris Phillips commented:

'We are very excited by the potential of this new partnership with such a
prestigious fashion house as Emanuel Ungaro. The demand for high quality
branded menswear fashion is growing throughout the UK and the rest of the world,
and we aim to capitalise upon our extensive knowledge of this market by
developing these collections.'

Paolo de Spirt, Chief Executive of Emanuel Ungaro S.A. commented:

'We are very pleased to have signed this agreement with a strong partner such as
Marchpole with a proven track record of success and demonstrable experience and
knowledge of those markets. We look forward with anticipation to the launch of
the first collection in January 2005 for the Autumn Winter 2005 season.'



Note to editors:

Emanuel Ungaro S.A.

French fashion designer Emanuel Ungaro formed Emanuel Ungaro S.A. in 1965 after
spending some six years working alongside the Spanish designer at the fashion
house Cristobal Balenciaga. He quickly established his own sense of fashion on
the international scene, with his first pret a porter collection launched in
1968 as well as his first flagship boutique in avenue Montaigne, Paris.

In the 30 years which followed, he has established his house as one of the
premier fashion design houses in the world, with an extensive clientele
including many celebrities. In 1973 he launched his first menswear collection,
Ungaro Pour Homme, opening a Pour Homme store on avenue Montaigne in 1974. In
1980 and 1981, Emanuel Ungaro received the Golden Thimble Award for his
contributions to fashion, and became a figure of reference in the fashion world.

His first fragrance, 'Diva', was launched in 1983 which, due to its success has
since been followed by several others.

Emanuel Ungaro S.A. is 100% owned by the Salvatore Ferragamo Group which is also
the licencee for the Emanuel Ungaro footwear and handbags collection.

The celebrity client list of Emanuel Ungaro includes Whitney Houston, Mariah
Carey, Penelope Cruz, Liz Hurley, Catherine Zeta Jones and Sharon Stone



For further information contact:

Marchpole
Greg Tufnell - Chief Executive
Justin Hampshire - Finance Director
Michael Morris - Executive Director 020 7908 7700

Buchanan
Tim Thompson
Nicola Cronk 020 7466 5000

Shore Capital
Alex Borrelli 020 7408 4090



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

Yum Yum, I bet there will be some smiley faces at the AGM this morning.

capa

Just found this:

Wednesday September 8, 7:16 AM
Marchpole Hldgs In Emmanuel Ungaro Licence Agreement
Edited Press Release

LONDON (Dow Jones)--Marchpole Holdings report Wednesday that negotiations with Emanuel Ungaro have culminated in the signing of a significant worldwide (excluding America) menswear licence agreement extending until December 2012.

ADVERTISEMENT





The agreement covers two well-defined collections per season under the Emanuel Ungaro label and the Ungaro label.

The agreement extends the global offering of the company and covers all European countries plus Russia with pre-emption rights on any other territory for the Collections, such as the Middle East, the Far East, Asia, Australia, Africa and Japan. Building upon the company's trading relationships with the Castelbajac brands, the company will use its network to establish quickly the collections in each territory.

The Company's ability to launch brands into the market has been well established with its brands such as Yves Saint Laurent and Boateng. Under this 17-season Agreement, the first collections will be for Autumn Winter 2005/6, launching in January 2005 with deliveries from July 2005. The last collections will be for Autumn Winter 2012/3, making the term of the agreement eight and a half years in total.

Each collection will be clearly positioned using Marchpole's brand management to create a lifestyle men's offering. The Emanuel Ungaro collection will be quality men's tailored clothing, including Suits, Jackets, Overcoats, Formal Shirts, Formal Trousers, Tuxedos and other Formal wear. The Ungaro collection will be more casual in nature and will include lines such as sportswear, underwear, casual shirts, t-shirts, polo shirts, knitwear, sleepwear, loungewear and jeanswear.

Chief Executive Greg Tufnell commented: "The last two years have seen the business rebuilt in terms of both performance and value. The addition of the Emanuel Ungaro and Ungaro trademarks means that we now have six world class brands under our management. The strength of this portfolio gives us significant certainty and momentum as to the strategic future of the Marchpole Group."

Chairman Chris Phillips commented: "The demand for high quality branded menswear fashion is growing throughout the U.K. and the rest of the world, and we aim to capitalise upon our extensive knowledge of this market by developing these collections."

http://sg.biz.yahoo.com/040908/15/3mzin.html

so given the jump earlier on (which I missed!)I presume this news means the share will creep back up again over the next day or so?

Just out:

Marchpole Holdings plc

(the "Company")

Results of AGM and Trading Update





Results of AGM



The Company announces that all resolutions proposed at the Annual General
Meeting held today were duly passed.



Accordingly, shareholders approved the proposed increase in the authorised share
capital of the Company by the creation of an additional 20,727,200 ordinary
shares of 1 pence each.



Trading update



July and August were key months as customers commenced their intake of
Marchpole's new Autumn Winter ranges for Yves Saint Laurent, Boateng and
Jean-Charles de Castelbajac.



With two months of the second quarter now complete, overall performance is ahead
of directors' expectations. The YSL and Boateng brands continue to be well
received and the Jean-Charles de Castelbajac brands' worldwide deliveries are on
schedule.



Spring Summer 2005 collections have been launched and the order books are
currently ahead of this time last year.



For further information contact:



Marchpole

Greg Tufnell - Chief Executive
Justin Hampshire - Finance Director
Michael Morris - Director 020 7908 7700

Marchpole Holdings PLC
08 September 2004

8 September 2004 For immediate release






Marchpole Holdings plc

('Marchpole')

Transfer of shares re the Boateng Licensing Agreement


Marchpole announces that, in accordance with the licensing agreement dated 8
October 2002 between the Company, Ozwald Boateng and Michael Morris, a director,
for the design of the Boateng diffusion collection for Marchpole, the transfer
by Michael Morris to Ozwald Boateng of 500,000 ordinary shares of his
shareholding in the Company (representing 0.4 per cent. of the issued share
capital) has been completed.


Michael Morris is now interested in 24,946,715 ordinary shares, representing
18.8 per cent. of the issued share capital of the Company.



For further information, please contact:

Marchpole Holdings plc 020 7908 7700
Greg Tufnell, Chief Executive
Justin Hampshire, Finance Director


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

A trading update as well as contract announcement all in one day.

Looking forward to results :-)

capa

Some excellent news released today and bodes well for the future. Looking forward to results, should be very good. Should get some good press coverage over the next few days and maybe an update in IC or Shares. Also found this:

UK: Marchpole Signs Emanual Ungaro Licensing Deal
08 Sep 2004
Source: just-style.com



Clothing Marchpole Holdings Plc has signed a worldwide mens wear licensing agreement with Emanuel Ungaro SA.

The agreement will run until December 2012, and will cover two collections each season under the Ungaro and Emanual Ungaro labels.

In a statement on Wednesday, Marchpole said the agreement extends its global offering to all European countries plus Russia with pre-emption rights on any other territory for the collections, such as the Middle East, the Far East, Asia, Australia, Africa and Japan. It excludes America however.

The first collections under the 17-season deal will be for autumn/winter 2005/6, launching in January 2005 with deliveries from July 2005.

The last collections will be for autumn/winter 2012/3, making the term of the agreement eight and a half years in total.

The Emanuel Ungaro collection will include quality men's tailored clothing such as suits, jackets, overcoats, formal shirts, formal trousers, tuxedos and other formal wear.

The Ungaro collection will be more casual in nature and will include lines such as sportswear, underwear, casual shirts, T-shirts, polo shirts, knitwear, sleepwear, loungewear and jeanswear.

Chairman Chris Phillips said: The demand for high quality branded menswear fashion is growing throughout the UK and the rest of the world, and we aim to capitalise upon our extensive knowledge of this market by developing these collections.

Marchpoles existing brands include Yves Saint Laurent, Boateng and Castelbajac.

Emanuel Ungaro SA is owned by the Salvatore Ferragamo group.

http://www.just-style.com/news_detail.asp?art=35156

Anyone go to the AGM and can give some feedback to us?

Another snippet from fibre2fashion.com:


UK : Marchpole gets Emanuel Ungaro menswear licence
8th September 2004


Marchpole Plc, the British menswear maker and licensee of Yves Saint Laurent and Ozwald Boateng in the UK, is adding another prestigious brand to its portfolio through a licensing agreement with Emanuel Ungaro, the French fashion house owned by Italian luxury goods company Salvatore Ferragamo.

Under the terms of the agreement with Emanuel Ungaro SA, London-based Marchpole will produce two menswear collections per season under the Emanuel Ungaro and Ungaro labels.

The deal, which runs through 2012, includes worldwide distribution except for the US. The first collections will launch in January 2005.

Marchpole informed it would use its worldwide trading relationships with the Castelbajac brands to establish the collections in all of its markets.

The company, which acquired Jean-Charles de Castelbajac SA in January this year, revealed that the addition of the Emanuel Ungaro brand gave momentum as to the strategic future of the Marchpole Group.

The group's Chief Executive Officer, George Tufnell, said, "We now have six world class brands under our management."

http://www.fibre2fashion.com/news/NewsDetails.asp?News_id=9195

When I started this thread around 16 months ago MPH was around 5p. If any of you bought then and still hold you now have a 5 bagger going on 6. Well done to you all, I wish all of my selections were as good but they definitely are not.

Socrates: well done to you for starting this thread, and for buying in so early, a very healthy profit. Still feel this one has a long way to go in the medium to long term. Extremely happy holding this one.

More director buying:

Marchpole Holdings PLC
09 September 2004

9 September 2004

Marchpole Holdings plc
(the 'Company')

Directors' Shareholdings

On 8 September 2004, Michael Morris and Raymond Harris, directors, acquired, in
aggregate, 120,000 ordinary shares of 1p each ('Ordinary Shares') in the Company
as follows:

Director Number of Price paid per Resultant holding of % of issued share
Ordinary Ordinary Share Ordinary Shares capital
Shares
acquired

Michael Morris 100,000 27.75p 25,046,715 18.91%
Raymond Harris 20,000 28.3p 50,000 0.04%


For further information contact:

Marchpole
Justin Hampshire - Finance Director 020 7908 7700

Shore Capital
Alex Borrelli 020 7408 4090




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

Doubt many will still be holding from the 5p days though. Most would have taken profits at some stage along the way. The trick is having the nerve to keep holding if you feel the company is a winner.

I got in at 18p and have added all the way up to 25p and now fully invested at an average price of 22p. Not looking to sell for a goodly while yet :-)

capa

Michael Morris bought some more:

Marchpole Holdings PLC
09 September 2004


For Immediate Release 09 September 2004

Marchpole Holdings plc
(the 'Company')

Director Shareholdings


The Company has been notified that, on 9 September 2004, Michael Morris,
Executive Director, acquired 200,000 ordinary shares of 1 pence each in the
Company.

The shares were purchased for a consideration of 28 pence per share.

Michael Morris is now interested in a total of 25,246,715 ordinary shares
representing 19.06 per cent of the issued share capital of the Company.


For further information contact:

Marchpole
Justin Hampshire - Finance Director 020 7908 7700

Shore Capital
Alex Borrelli 020 7408 4090


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

Re-investing his dividend I would imagine.

Nice act of faith.

capa

What is more important is the timing, don't you think?

Another director buying, David Moss for 20k. Re-investment of the divi's as Capa thought or something else? Some cracking newsflow these last 2 days. Wonder if something else is going on behind the scenes?

Marchpole Holdings PLC
09 September 2004


Marchpole Holdings plc
('the Company')

Director Shareholdings


The Company has been notified that on 9 September 2004 David Moss, Non-Executive
Director, acquired 20,000 ordinary shares of 1 pence each in the Company.

The shares were purchased for a consideration of 29 pence per share.

David Moss is now interested in a total of 35,000 ordinary shares representing
0.03 per cent of the issued share capital of the Company.


For further information contact:

Marchpole
Justin Hampshire - Finance Director 020 7908 7700

Shore Capital
Alex Borrelli 020 7408 4090


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

i get that feeling too gav.a lot of faith shown by these people. usually a good sign when directors buy. it will be interesting to see what happens next..........