# TOY - Toys 'R' Us Anz



## BraceFace (19 October 2005)

I have been holding this one since May after it bottomed out at $1.50. It has been on the up and up peaking at $2.20 in mid August. Since then it has been hammered with no negative announcements that I am aware of.
Does anyone have any idea what is going on here?


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## It's Snake Pliskin (20 October 2005)

*Re: Funtastic (FUN)*

There were many large parcels being sold off just after it reached it's peak this year. I read this on another forum. It seems you did well getting to $2.20. I was following it and was surprised to see it get to that level. The company had hedging issues at the end of last year and has made some aquisitions this year. The economic outlook is a determining factor here.
Management changed a few weeks ago, which may have affected the stock also.
Cheers
Snake


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## cubsfan (21 February 2006)

*FUN - Funtastic*

Any fans of this company?

I've watched this company like a hawk since 2000, just waiting for the stock to get smashed up before I got in. So the opportunity arose last year and again a few weeks back, I was lucky enough to get in at $1.56 with an earnings yield of 12-13% & a dividend yield of 8%

the market seems to have smashed up small retail stocks lately, and IMO this is a great opportunity to buy, but you gotta look at the business's fundamentals of course

Funtastic owns and distribute best selling brand name toys and they've consistently deliver a return on equity in excess of 15%....sorry if I sound like a saleman....i'm so in love with funtastic, it was well worth the 5 year wait.


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## Duckman#72 (21 February 2006)

*Re: FUN - Funtastic*



			
				cubsfan said:
			
		

> Any fans of this company?
> 
> I've watched this company like a hawk since 2000, just waiting for the stock to get smashed up before I got in. So the opportunity arose last year and again a few weeks back, I was lucky enough to get in at $1.56 with an earnings yield of 12-13% & a dividend yield of 8%
> 
> ...




Hi Cubsfan

I was a fan last year when I bought at $1.60 and they went to $2.20. But wasn't smart enough to sell and rode the price back down to $1.70. The yield looks good at present. 

Duckman


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## savtin1 (21 February 2006)

*Re: FUN - Funtastic*

Yes I too am a fan. I bought FUN when they were 70cents and rode them to $2.70. Then the downgrade came and I got out at $2.10. I also got back in at $1.585 recently......very cheap in my view......


hopefully not long before back over $2.00 and then some.....


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## cubsfan (23 February 2006)

cool 2 fans of fun, they're going to release a prelim report on Monday...something to look forward to.


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## BraceFace (24 February 2006)

I was a fan.... not any more.
A couple of years ago this company was everybodies favourite.
Commentators rated it as a well placed small cap amongst others they wouldn't touch.
Even as recently as 12 months ago Shares mag had it in their stock picks for the year. From memory it was hovering above 2 bucks at the time.
Since then it has dropped and dropped and dropped, and then tracked sideways... I got bored of it and sold out a few weeks back. :goodnight 

I have already recouped my losses by investing the funds of the sale of my FUN shares into better performing market sectors (resources).

In time, FUN will probably bounce back above 2.00 and beyond, and the yield is attractive if you dont want to trade much. Personally I find the retail sector to be a bit too fickle for my liking, although I will continue to watch FUN.


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## cubsfan (27 February 2006)

positive report....stock just hit $1.90


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## It's Snake Pliskin (8 March 2006)

:behead: Looks like it *may* go back down.


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## It's Snake Pliskin (10 March 2006)

A nice drop today.


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## BraceFace (10 March 2006)

Snake Pliskin said:
			
		

> A nice drop today.




Yup, this one is a dog :silly:


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## It's Snake Pliskin (19 March 2006)

BraceFace said:
			
		

> Yup, this one is a dog :silly:



Yup, a real bitch. :horse:


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## Dutchy3 (8 September 2006)

*FUN - Funtastic*

Beeing watching this one for 9 months now.

Fully expected failure at 1.55 in August ... didn't do it.

Gann talked about 3rd time luckly and 4th time fatal. 
What's it going to do around 1.75 this time round?


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## scranch (10 September 2006)

Bought some at $1.69 awhile ago,after selling at $1.72 to take a capital loss (bought at $1.97).Bought some more at $1.60 to average $1.67.
FUN stopped the DRP a while ago as they claimed to have enough capitol.
Now they have come up with a share purchase plan where shareholders up to 11-8-06 can buy $2000,$3000,$4000 or $5000 of shares at a 5% discount on the weighted average of the 5 days before 18-9-06.
They claim this is to retire debt and finance future aquisitions.
I saw a paragraph in the paper a few weeks ago saying they were losing a contract to handle a product line,but can't remember which one.
Haven't seen them make any announcement,which I think would have been helpful.
PPT seem to have bought a couple of million shares recently,which may have edged the price up slightly.
Brian


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## scranch (12 September 2006)

Any one got any ideas on the share purchase plan?
Are they likely to close higher each of the 5 days for the average close to be taken?
Are they likely to drop even more later on due to the dilution of capitol.
I am holding at the moment because the yield hasn't been all that bad.
 Brian


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## Realist (12 September 2006)

scranch said:
			
		

> Any one got any ideas on the share purchase plan?
> Are they likely to close higher each of the 5 days for the average close to be taken?
> Are they likely to drop even more later on due to the dilution of capitol.
> I am holding at the moment because the yield hasn't been all that bad.
> Brian




I'm of the opinion the share price already dropped on news of the buy back and bad earnings.

And that the actual buyback will have no effect whatsoever on the price - the damage has been done.


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## niknah (15 September 2006)

Today's probably the last day for the SPP as it takes 1 day to bpay the payment.

I'm buying, even though the share price has gone up just a day before they started counting the price for this   

The 5% discount is 8c + the dividend is 4c, and if nothing funny happens today the SPP price looks like it could be 10c above recent lows.  Might sell some after the dividend, but then lots of other people maybe thinking this way too.


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## scranch (15 September 2006)

Sent my bpay away last night,been keeping an eye on the price this week to see if it does something funny.At the moment it is $1.635.
Only buying $2000 worth to average down again from $1.67.
No brokerage helps.Could easily drop again next week,but div.is a sweetener.
 Been a bit of a dog,but so have others with lot lower yields.
 Brian


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## It's Snake Pliskin (25 September 2006)

This one may test $1.78.


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## scranch (25 September 2006)

Share price for the purchase plan with 5% disc. $1.53.
Brian


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## It's Snake Pliskin (25 September 2006)

Snake Pliskin said:
			
		

> This one may test $1.78.




It seems it may go the other way and test $1.52-1.54 after today`s action.


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## scranch (26 September 2006)

Snake Pliskin said:
			
		

> It seems it may go the other way and test $1.52-1.54 after today`s action.



Don't forget FUN goes ex div. @.04 today,so should drop a bit.
On the other hand it can be a real dog.
I hold mainly for yield on f.f. div.
Brian.


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## It's Snake Pliskin (26 September 2006)

scranch said:
			
		

> Don't forget FUN goes ex div. @.04 today,so should drop a bit.
> On the other hand it can be a real dog.
> I hold mainly for yield on f.f. div.
> Brian.




That explains the gap down this morning. I didn`t check the div date, just analysing it with a taint of verbosity. What a good short signal yesterday provided if one was aware of the div date; almost guaranteed success.

Snake


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## Gigabyte (7 November 2006)

Hi all,

The market has just announced a trading halt for this stock due to the release of an announcement.

Anyone have any idea what the announcement might be?

cheers
Gigabyte


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## TheRage (7 November 2006)

It seems every bloody stock I own has a trading holt on it. First REb now fun. I tried calling Funtastic before but it's a public holiday in melbourne for the big race. Personally I see two reasons for a trading holt. 1) aquisiton 2) Profit downgrade. Either way we either stand to make a quick profit or a new buying opportunity may present itself.


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## spitrader1 (7 November 2006)

TheRage said:
			
		

> It seems every bloody stock I own has a trading holt on it. First REb now fun. I tried calling Funtastic before but it's a public holiday in melbourne for the big race. Personally I see two reasons for a trading holt. 1) aquisiton 2) Profit downgrade. Either way we either stand to make a quick profit or a new buying opportunity may present itself.



i wouldnt be disspaointed that REB is in a trading halt


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## TheRage (7 November 2006)

I am only disappointed because I like Rebel as a company. While I stand to make a generous profit from owning the stock I now have to find another solid company to invest in at what I perceive to be a discount to the market.


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## spitrader1 (7 November 2006)

TheRage said:
			
		

> I am only disappointed because I like Rebel as a company. While I stand to make a generous profit from owning the stock I now have to find another solid company to invest in at what I perceive to be a discount to the market.



no one ever went broke from making a generous profit!!


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## TheRage (7 November 2006)

That certainly is true.


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## Gigabyte (7 November 2006)

Thanks for the info.  I guess we can only wait and see.  

The announcements indicates the halt may continue until Thursday. Lets just hope its a profitable announcement.

Gigabyte


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## TheRage (7 November 2006)

I am wondering also whether it might have something to do with the Radica contract that was proposed to end in the 4th quarter of this year which was worth 10 million or whether it might have something to do with the 5 million that was just raised. These are just some other possibilities. Really I have no idea though.


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## savtin (8 November 2006)

ANNOUNCEMENT OUT - fun to have a strategic alliance with ABS over Judias (a subsidary company)- announcement just out. sounds like a great long term fit. to take part in the revenue of all Judias operations in AUST and NZ and US.

hopefully kicks start FUN into a bit of action. FUN to acquire for $44 Million

5 million in cash and 39million in Skrip.


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## TheRage (9 November 2006)

At least this answers the question why they wanted to raise more cash through the share offering. I remember the reason being given as retiring debt which I thought at the time seemed ridiculous considering how low their debt was. Obviously writing script for this aquisition will further dilute our ownership in this stock. It will be interesting when I get the time to see if I can track down the revenue in ABS annual report that comes from Judica. My feeling is that this will determine whether there will be a jump or not in the Sp.


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## Gigabyte (9 November 2006)

SP before the trading halt was around $1.68.  Hit a low this morning of $1.37 but slowly regaining strength (currently $1.43).  Seems the market has mixed feelings about the aquisition.

I have holding in both ABS and FUN so I guess as you mentioned previously only time will tell.

Gigabyte


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## TheRage (9 November 2006)

I read the release and apparently the Judica nets 8.5 million EBITA. Off of a 44 million investment that is an 19% return on investment 8.5/44. While our share base will be diluted by 19% the EPS from Judica should help make some of this dilution. 

The one concerning feature of the aquistion is that ABS will own 19% of Fun once it is all done and dusted. While I think Fun would do well to team up with ABS in America I can't help but wonder how hard it would be to buy Fun out completely especially when the Sp is around the 1.30 mark. If I was Eddie Grove that's what I would do.


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## MichaelD (9 November 2006)

Didn't anyone read the bottom half of the announcement;

"Oh and by the way, we're downgrading our profit estimate for the year by 20%".

Pretty sneaky if you ask me announcing it like this.


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## TheRage (10 November 2006)

Yeah I missed it until I read it on Yahoo finance this morning. I completely agree with you they are trying to sugar coat their bad performance with a little acquisition teaser. Net profit margin has been consistently around 6% for Funtastic for the past number of years. Off of these new forecasts it drops to 3%. So slow down in retail trading doesn't have everything to do with the result. They are blaming restructuring costs of 12 million in the reduced NPAT. Does anyone know what restructuring costs they are referring to.


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## TheRage (10 November 2006)

Oh crap I don't think we have seen the worst of the share price drop yet. Fun is now forcasting low NPAT of 12 million and high of 15 million. Also with the share offer that generated 5 million cash this added 3 million shares to the 127 million outstanding. Therefore EPS = 12 million/130 million = 9cents per share low range and 15/130 = 11.5 cents high range. If Price = EPS *PE Ratio and Fun's average 5 year PE ratio 10.4 then we can expect price to range from 0.09 * 10.4 =$0.94 and 0.115 * 10.4 = $1.19. This is the price expectation minus the Judica purchase. If you include the Judica purchase and you add in the extra 19% script you end up with 154 million shares outstanding but you also need to add in the EBITA of 8.2 million which given the usual conversion to Net Profit after tax of about 55% of EBITA we then know that this 8.2 million is worth about 4.51 million NPAT. If we add this 4.51 with say the high forecast for next year of say 15million we get 19.5 million predicted NPAT. We then divide 19/154 = 12.3 cents per share. Price in one year .123 * 10.4 = $1.28. This is my own analysis so take it with a grain of salt but I hope that Fun can start improving their Net profit margin or start increasing their sales or start reducing the number of shares available so that EPS can start to look better again. By the way I still own Fun.


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## scranch (10 November 2006)

In the SMH this morning it states "the price of the shares to abc will be based on a 30 day average following the announcement.Yesterdays close would have given abc a bit over 22%,so triggering a full takeover bid.It states that this was not probably what eddy groves had in mind when the deal was first suggested."If the share price continues to drop it could become a real disaster all round.
To go into a deal like this so close to Christmas it makes you wonder what their forward sales are like.
Smells a bit of incompetent management.
Brian


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## TheRage (10 November 2006)

I tend to agree with you. I think Fun's management are seeing Stars in their eyes in America. I think the only reason script was given in place of a debt offering was because this was ABC's stipulation to the sale. Fun may or may not have been able to generate the funds through debt but in my mind why would you put your money into an aquistion just because you can when you know it won't hurt the balance sheet. Abc stands to benefit from this deal strongly by mounting pressure on Fun board to preserve costs on toy sales to their learning centres and also by getting shares cheaply into Fun. If ABC sold their Judica component out right to Fun they would have only received a Capital Gain not an ongoing royalty. I really think the acquistion stinks given the timing of it and I can't help but feel it was timed all too well with the negative news on earnings. I am going to call Fun management today and discuss some of these issues and see if I can get some candid answers. On another note it is interesting that Perpetual, the biggest investor in Fun, sold out 2% of their ownership in Fun last week. I wonder if they are buying back in at a cheaper rate. I am sure the sell out was merely a coincidence .


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## constable (10 November 2006)

Oversold hmmmm looks like gdn yesterday! you cant tell me a 20% drop in profit is worth a 20% drop in sp. Sounds like a simplistic view , but i bet some bargain hunters are at the trough now . For me this is worth holding over the weekend just to see what happens next (in at 1.325.).
anyones thoughts?
note i am a compulsive gambler!


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## scranch (10 November 2006)

1.Fun needs shareholder aproval before the deal can go ahead,there will be a special meeting to vote on it before 31-12-06.
2.Maximum holding of ABC is proposed to be capped at 19.7%
3.Valuation of shares to ABC to be volume weighted average of 30 days after the announcement,with a FLOOR and a CEILING.
All this poses a few questions for me.
Is it likely they will win aproval?(Volume yesterday was over 4million,today will be over 2 by the looks of things).probably depends on whose buying,PPT was holding something around 8-11%.
If the cap for ABC is 19.7% what happens percentage wise?Will ABC end up taking over FUN?Can't see them offering cash,would have to be a share swap.
What effect would a ceiling and a floor on the price of FUN have?
Would all bets be off if the price fell outside the guidelines,which are unknown to us?
The 5million cash FuN is offering fits in perfectly with the amount raised by the share purchase plan.
Wonder how big their reserves are? Haven't tried to look the balance sheet,my eyes just glaze over.
Brian


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## TheRage (11 November 2006)

Brian I agree with your comments and questions. Fun had about 15 million in the bank at the last annual report. I bought back into to fun at 1.50 a few months ago and on projected earnings it appeared to be a bargain. On current earnings minus the dilution of ABS 1.50 is probably fair value. I have been tempted in the 1.20 range to average down my investment. I want to know whether I can trust management before I do and I think the uncertainty of the Judica purchase maybe holding me back. I have been in and out of Fun several times over the past few years. I have been happy with managements job up until now. The company is focussing so strongly on positive EPS acretion that I think it is trying to outgrow itself. I think I would have been happier as a shareholder had Fun managment come out and said, okay we didn't do such a great job this year and maybe some of it occured due to the market but we won't blame that instead let's focus on consolidating our business look for cost efficiencies and maybe buy back a few shares instead of making aquisitions all the time. Having a defensive strategy going into an evironment of higher interest rates can sometimes be a smart thing.


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## TheRage (24 November 2006)

The smoke and mirrors style disclosure of the Judica acquisition is starting to wane my enthusiasm for this company. Yesterday I received the voting forms for the acquisition and some information. A quick scan revealed something else that I missed. Fun is quoting ABC as getting 19% ownership in Fun. While this is strictly true dilution to our current share ownership is much higher at 25%. This is worked out by dividing current outstanding shares of 133 million by 33 million shares which is what is being given to ABC. Fun has used the calculation of 33/ total after acquisition which is 166 million shares outstanding. 33/166 = 19.8%. Therefore to calculate the fall in EPS I will use 25% reduction in capital base not 19%. I am almost at my tether over this aquisition. I won't be voting, if I keep my shares, for the judica purchase as it only brings in 4 million NPAT. Not to mention it stipulates that a proportion of sales goes straight back to ABC even before Fun gets its hands on it. The only person to win from this situation is ABC. I can only see fun doing well from this, if sales to childcare centres went through the roof due to a massive international expansion. Other wise it is a dud.


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## scranch (25 November 2006)

The Rage,
I share your frustration with FUN.
They need to do some lateral thinking on which direction to take and try and think outside the square.
Trying to get bigger by aquisitions means every time they take over someone,they increase the chance of getting it wrong,as far as I'm concerned.They are supposed to be the biggest toy distributor in Australia,but it doesn't seem to give them any clout,maybe make them more vulnerable.
Maybe a share buy back,and a downsizing may have been the way to go,while they had a re-think on the future.
ABC are certainly the winners with this deal.Beside getting a % on everything they buy,under the agreement,they only paid $5 003 399 for JUDIUS on 4MARCH 2005.In there financial statement they say there is a capital gain,but they don't say it is nearly 40 million dollars.
Either they have added an incredible amount of value over 20 months or the board of FUN is incredibly inept.
One of the concerns playing on my mind was the growth of the playstation and xbox consoles,and games,e.g,1 large expensive gift instead of a few smaller ones.One of the commentaters I looked up mentioned the lack of "screen games"in FUNs range.
Also,just a thought while I was putting this down,WOW and CML both have teams of buyers working in China,maybe to cut out the middle man?
Brian


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## constable (1 December 2006)

Has been a bit of a mover today ! Massive amount of depth compared to last 2 weeks. The only thing of interest was a director buying , but wasn't earth shattering news !


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## TheRage (1 December 2006)

scranch said:
			
		

> The Rage,
> Also,just a thought while I was putting this down,WOW and CML both have teams of buyers working in China,maybe to cut out the middle man?
> Brian




Brian I think you have hit the nail on the head. I spoke with Tony Oates the other day and he told me that some of the large toy sellers such as target etal are starting to source their own distribution rights. He told me this was one of the main reasons behind judius purchase as it provided a 5 year gauranteed income stream. Fun still has the rights to several large products but they have already lost radica rights from Matel early this year so maybe this could become a future trend.


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## scranch (1 December 2006)

Moved up to 1.395 last time I looked with volume well over 2 million by memory.Makes it interesting,one of the cmmentators I saw a couplle of weeks ago was reccommending sell over 1.40.
Will still hang on for a while if the div doesn't dip too much.
Only have a bit over 5000 shares.
Thought the buyers might have something to do with it.Last Christmas nearly every toy I looked at was made in China.
Brian.


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## UMike (31 January 2007)

Fun has made an outstanding recouvery eh?

Reached low $1.7's

Must have been more in the deal than meets the eye.


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## scranch (1 February 2007)

Sure you are looking at the right one Mike?
My data says fun had a high of $1.64 yesterday(31.1.07).
Highest for a while was $1.71 in Oct. 06.
Wish you were right,waiting to see how Christmas was for them.
Brian.


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## UMike (1 February 2007)

scranch said:
			
		

> Sure you are looking at the right one Mike?
> My data says fun had a high of $1.64 yesterday(31.1.07).
> Highest for a while was $1.71 in Oct. 06.
> Wish you were right,waiting to see how Christmas was for them.
> Brian.




Positive.   
FUN	19/01/2007	$1.71 At close. and hit highs there a few times after.
reached a high of $1.72 on 15/01/2007


I sold a large parcell just before close at $1.67

I still got alot so if it creeps back down it won't hurt as much and may buy some more.

Definately more selling pressure than buying


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## scranch (1 February 2007)

Sorry UMike,
Owe you an apology.I use a program called IC-Investor and have found my data is absolutely corrupted between 10/1/07 and 25/1/07.Every file has the close of the 10th as o,h,l,c,with volume as 0,until 25/1/07 when the data is o.k again.
I will have to email them to find out the cause of the problem.I updated my version from an update disc last week,maybe there was something corrupted during the update.If it had not been for your post I may not have noticed for a while.
Brian.


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## UMike (1 February 2007)

UMike said:
			
		

> Positive.
> FUN	19/01/2007	$1.71 At close. and hit highs there a few times after.
> reached a high of $1.72 on 15/01/2007
> 
> ...



*edit is in bold.

No worries scranch any info is weclomed.

I sold only to realise a profit having bought the sold amount a few cents cheaper.


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## UMike (17 February 2007)

It's Snake Pliskin said:
			
		

> This one may test $1.78.



5mths on and it $1.78 that it is testing.

I sold a few days prior thinking $1695 was a winning price and I could pick it up a bit cheaper.

Any news on why it has made a spectacular recent rise?


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## Dutchy3 (17 February 2007)

Some FUN .... finally.

Shouldn't have too much trouble now accumulating and running up ...

This weeks move has been years in the making and better than average prob of been the signal for a turning point


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## It's Snake Pliskin (18 February 2007)

Some destructive action to occur sub $2.20 ish. Still gives a good profit target though.


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## Realist (19 February 2007)

Good news!!


Funtastic says approached by third party
  February 19, 2007 - 10:34AM

Toys company Funtastic Ltd says it has been approached by a third party about a possible takeover.

"The company has received a confidential, preliminary, incomplete and currently unfunded proposal from a third party in relation to a possible transaction which, if implemented, may result in a change of control of the company," it said.

Funtastic said it had only begun to consider the proposal and has had preliminary talks with the party.

"There is no guarantee that these discussions will lead to any agreement being reached with the third partly," it added.

Funtastic was responding to a query from the Australian Securities Exchange about a recent rise in its share price.


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## TheRage (19 February 2007)

Funtastic on the rise due to speculation of takeover. Fun released today it was in discussions with a third party over possibility of buyout. Gee I wonder who that could be. Perhaps it's ABC King Mr Eddie Grove doing a buyout after acquiring 20% of the company through script. I feel sorry for Funtastic shareholders that bought at 2.50 a couple of years back. Not much value will be realised for them.


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## TheRage (19 February 2007)

So it looks like it's not ABC doing the buying but some third party that approached ABC according to the ASX announcement. Strategically Fun is the largest toy distributor in OZ so I can't think of who might be doing the buying. Perhaps a private equity deal. I wouldn't think so though because Fun aren't that attractive at the current Share price as their growth has been suffering due to shrinking margins and distribution rights being bought out or given up. No too mention the effect of issuing the script has had on EPS.


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## Dutchy3 (19 February 2007)

Price and Volume confirmation today of my previous post


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## scranch (26 February 2007)

Final report now out.
Div.4c.
Don't know much abut reading financials,but it doesn't look real good to me.
Brian


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## Pager (17 October 2007)

Any opinions ?

This has come up on my radar, just about on 12 month lows but with a very good yeild of over 6% fully franked.

Whats the problem ?, has fallen over 50% from its highs a few years ago.

Was in some kind of takeover talks about 6 months ago, but been going backwards ever since.


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## ta2693 (17 October 2007)

Fun is on Children's business. I know these children stuff's margin is very big.
But I do not have children, so I do not know whether FUN is strong brand in children's business. I would appreciate anyone's  opinion from a customer or provider's point of view .


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## TheRage (17 October 2007)

Fun is a distributor of children's toys, educational products etc. A lot of Fun's problems have come from dilution of shareholding through the Judius purchase which they bought from ABC Learning. ABC Learning got quite a bit of script in Fun which means it owns a fair chunk. Poised for a take-over bid maybe who knows. Maybe when Sp runs down a bit more. Theoretically Fun should be performing quite well due to influence of A$ being high as they can buy more for their buck. As to margins on the business Fun is a retailer at a distribution level so Margins arn't high. I think from memory operating margin is 7% and Net profit margin is 3%. Earnings have been taking a hamering not because revenue is down but due to dilution of Judius purchase increasing shares on offer.


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## UMike (19 November 2007)

Dropped to around $1.13 before shooting up to $1.18 at the close of Friday.


Now in a trading halt.

Any takers to suggest why this trading halt was put in place?


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## niknah (20 November 2007)

With the state of the toy industry lately, there's more chance of bad than good news.  They should know something about christmas sales about now.
But at least it doesn't sound like a toy recall...

http://sa.iguana2.com/cache/a1078232d81d4daa2d46d51e2f208aee/ASX-FUN-287824.pdf



> Funtastic Limited requests the ASX to grant a Trading Halt in order for the Board to review the company's trading forecasts and market guidance.


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## Pager (20 November 2007)

You would have thought with the strong $A and them importing most of there product things would be looking good, they also said in August that sales were good and they were looking at entering the US market.

On the flip side the share price has been going one way and that’s down, they have had there problems as well so all doesn’t bode well for whatever guidance as to there earnings etc tomorrow.

I bought a small parcel at $1-24, so will watch with interest, but agree with niknah, any announcement is more likely going to be bad rather than good.

Fingers crossed im wrong.


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## UMike (20 November 2007)

Pager said:


> You would have thought with the strong $A and them importing most of there product things would be looking good, they also said in August that sales were good and they were looking at entering the US market.
> 
> On the flip side the share price has been going one way and that’s down, they have had there problems as well so all doesn’t bode well for whatever guidance as to there earnings etc tomorrow.
> 
> ...



 I'd have thought the import condition would lift their SP also.

A takeover perhaps.

We'll find out tomorrow I  'spose


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## Pager (21 November 2007)

As i guessed the news was not good 

I think the technical term is it got "Rogered", down about 30% on the open.


Announced that earnings would be about 25% down on previous guidance, i was going to dump but ABC have a large stake and this may make a takeover that has been on the cards rather attractive plus i only bought a few with a long term view in mind.


----------



## ROE (21 November 2007)

With increase mortgage repayment people has less $$$ to spend on toys
so natural affect earning in these stocks.

and the people who don't have the mortgage their kids all grown up


----------



## Siraitken (21 November 2007)

Good point ROE

I just read smart investor magazine which had an article on FUN.

They seemed to think FUN had ironed out all its previous problems. They also mentioned which was interesting they believe a decrease in discretionary income won't necessarily decrease toy sales. They mentioned that most parents would sacrifice other spending so their kids can still enjoy toys, etc. Most probably due to the "nag" effect.

Do you guys believe FUN is good value now after decreasing 30%?

Cheers
Dave


----------



## ROE (21 November 2007)

Siraitken said:


> Good point ROE
> 
> I just read smart investor magazine which had an article on FUN.
> 
> ...




I read that article as well and I dont agree with Toys is the last thing they let go.. I'm a parent and toys is the first thing I let go before education, school fees, piano class, swimming lessons, food, holiday etc..
and that seem to be the case why else lower profit ?

They got TV and various other entertainment kids dont really need a lot of toys.

I dont know about you but look at FUN even though it drop a bit I dont think it's a good business going foreward by looking at their ROE and margins..
their ROE is steadily decline that usually indicate a business is not well run or
profit margin is getting a bit if a hammer. 

That enough to keep me away  for now . unless it drop down to 40 cents or something ..


----------



## ne0h (21 November 2007)

What to do with this stock now?Sadly i own it.Should i hang on for a takeover bid or just dump it fast.


----------



## niknah (22 November 2007)

I'm going to wait around for HAS(hasbro), MAT(mattel) to release their figures.  See if FUN just sucks or the whole industry is taking a similar hit.

This is now the worse performing stock in my portfolio.


----------



## shinobi346 (22 November 2007)

Mattel may take a hit from the all the recalls. Hasbro... transformers has done well but I dont know if thats their biggest line. The event with the popular bindez toy will hurt them too.


----------



## UMike (22 November 2007)

ROE said:


> With increase mortgage repayment people has less $$$ to spend on toys
> so natural affect earning in these stocks.
> 
> and the people who don't have the mortgage their kids all grown up



There is always the parents and Uncles ;-)

Very disappointed. Bought in again at 80c Hoping this is an over reaction.

Remember the dividend payment is around 11% atm.


----------



## ROE (22 November 2007)

ne0h said:


> What to do with this stock now?Sadly i own it.Should i hang on for a takeover bid or just dump it fast.




tough call, it is up to individual what they want to do with it.. 
If I was you, I hold on to it till close to financial year and if it's not making any improvement, dump it and offset with with your current year capital gain to save tax.


----------



## SevenFX (22 November 2007)

There's nothing FUN about this stock (pun intended)

But seriously... Summing UP & to coin a famous Phrase.

RUN with the PROFIT.
Cut your LOSSES. (early)

IMO
SevenFX


----------



## UMike (23 November 2007)

SevenFX said:


> There's nothing FUN about this stock (pun intended)
> 
> But seriously... Summing UP & to coin a famous Phrase.
> 
> ...



WestPac hit it with a Sell/avoid also it listed as N/A to vital information as Dividend, PE, EPS, ect....

I'm holding for now.


----------



## Broadside (23 November 2007)

UMike said:


> Remember the dividend payment is around 11% atm.




Do you really believe the dividend will be maintained after this profit downgrade?  if they do they are nuts.  The dividend yield means nothing at this point in time in my opinion.


----------



## ROE (23 November 2007)

Bad things comes in three .... 2 already on the drawing board, what's number 3 
1. Profit down grade
2. COO resign
3. ??


----------



## UMike (24 November 2007)

Broadside said:


> Do you really believe the dividend will be maintained after this profit downgrade?  if they do they are nuts.  The dividend yield means nothing at this point in time in my opinion.



Not any more.  

This share had topped $2 on take over rumors not too long ago So I still believe that they are oversold.

Still might take a while to get back to even $1.

.


----------



## sachz (29 March 2008)

UMike said:


> Not any more.
> 
> This share had topped $2 on take over rumors not too long ago So I still believe that they are oversold.
> 
> ...




Hovering around the 37/38c market for a long time.

Broke 40c yesterday... is this an uptrend about to start?


----------



## Trojax (4 April 2008)

sachz said:


> Hovering around the 37/38c market for a long time.
> 
> Broke 40c yesterday... is this an uptrend about to start?




Have a look at todays trades, on 50c (up 25%) definitely movement at the station lately, anyone know where ABC\Eddie Groves 19.9% stake in FUN is right now, or if they still own it? It'd be a nice parcel for a raider to pick up if they still do.

Certainly today would be a happy jig day for any bought at the lows lol, congrats Sachz if got in cheaply, you might just be the only holder on the site, hehe, hope she holds up for you!

(FYI I work in the same industry but do not hold FUN stock)


----------



## Trojax (4 April 2008)

Ahh found it!
--

Substantial Shareholders-

	Name 	% Holding

	A.B.C. Learning Centres Ltd 	19.9
	J N H Toys 	11.6
	Orbis Global Equity Fund Limited 	9.9
	Perpetual Limited 	6.9
	Sino Pacific Resources 	5.7
	Australian Horizons 	5.5


----------



## csiderob (4 April 2008)

Plenty of fun left in this one & it should continue to rise with gr8 news
Friday 4 April 
Media Announcement 
*Funtastic Takes Out Toy of the Year 2008 *
Funtastic awarded the most prestigious industry award in the country – Australian Toy of the Year 2008 for LeapFrog TAG Reading System – presented as part of the annual awards held at the Australian Toy Fair in Melbourne today (Friday 4 April). The next generation, all-new LeapFrog Tag Reading System, quite simply brings books to life. Easy to use, amazingly responsive and small enough for a child to take anywhere, the Tag stylus takes just one touch to make words talk and pictures sing. A small, sophisticated infrared camera at the tip of the stylus ‘reads’ letters, words and symbols printed on the special dot-patterned pages of books in the Tag library. The LeapFrog Tag Reading System was also awarded Pre-school Toy of the Year 2008. 
Funtastic won a further award with the Garden Girlz - Large House ‘Meadow Mansion’ selected as Girls Toy of the Year 2008. 
Garden Girlz Meadow Mansion is a play set with a twist – use your imagination, and your green thumb, to plant a garden and watch it grow in just seven days. The main flower house blooms open to reveal a magical doll house, complete with a guest house. Take a ride down the Garden Gondola to play in your very own enchanted garden, or stop along the way and catch a few rays on the sundeck. 
The Australian Toy Association Awards were followed by the announcement of three further awards from the Retail Tracking Agency GfK OzToys which presented Funtastic with: 
• 2007 Top Selling Toy of the Year (value) - Tamagotchi Jinsei 
• 2007 Most Successful Toy Release – FlyTech Dragonfly 
• 2007 Fastest Growing Interactive Games Key Distributor (value) – Funtastic Interactive Games 
The ATA awards are seen as an important indicator of sales success for the year. 
“The awards are judged by industry experts well versed in what translates into fantastic toys kids will love, so they are one of the clearest predictions of what will actually be leading the charge to toy boxes around the country,” Tony Oates, Funtastic’s Managing Director, said. 
Not just one of Australia’s largest toy product companies, Funtastic is also an entrepreneurial marketer and distributor of consumer branded lifestyle merchandise with product spanning all aspects of family life – from children’s toys, apparel and footwear to sporting goods, nursery, manchester, homewares and DVD, film entertainment and gaming. 
The company’s Madman division is responsible for major cinema releases like Kenny and driving the enormous interest in Japanese anime DVD sales. 
While now encompassing so much more than its traditional toy roots, Funtastic’s business remains firmly based in leading children’s licenses and brands like Thomas & Friends, Bratz, Disney, LeapFrog, Wow Wee, WWE, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Ben 10, Cabbage Patch Kids & many more. 
- copy ends - 
For more info on Funtastic, visit web site at www.funtastic.com.au and for comment contact Tony Oates, Managing Director, Funtastic Limited Ph: 
03 9535 5888 or Anna Kirby, Public Relations for Funtastic Limited Ph: 0409 484 894 or 03 9486 9357.


----------



## niknah (5 April 2008)

Up 25% today!

I sold at 42c, maybe I'm stupid and it was the bottom, who knows. 


I felt there is more downside than up in this one.  ABC not helping, increasing costs to get every $ of revenue in almost every area...
Cost of goods 58%(2006) to 67%(2007)  of revenue
Warehouse & distribution 7.7% to 8.9%
Marketing and selling 12.9% to 12.5%
Admin 4.5% to 5%
Finance 1.8% to 2.3%


----------



## csiderob (5 April 2008)

Well it seems like there is still some fun left in this one, & with latest news it should make a bucket load $$$ in comming sales season later this year so IMO, I reckon it will get back up past $1-1.50 mark pretty easily, especially that they have paid down debt & also have solid contracts to supply abc till 2012 with merchandise etc, so Good luck to those who held on,


Friday 4 April 
Media Announcement 
*Funtastic Takes Out Toy of the Year 2008 *
Funtastic has been awarded the most prestigious industry award in the country – Australian Toy of the Year 2008 for LeapFrog TAG Reading System – presented as part of the annual awards held at the Australian Toy Fair in Melbourne today (Friday 4 April). 
The next generation, all-new LeapFrog Tag Reading System, quite simply brings books to life. Easy to use, amazingly responsive and small enough for a child to take anywhere, the Tag stylus takes just one touch to make words talk and pictures sing. A small, sophisticated infrared camera at the tip of the stylus ‘reads’ letters, words and symbols printed on the special dot-patterned pages of books in the Tag library. The LeapFrog Tag Reading System was also awarded *Pre-school Toy of the Year 2008. *Funtastic won a further award with the Garden Girlz - Large House ‘Meadow Mansion’ selected as *Girls Toy of the Year 2008. *Garden Girlz Meadow Mansion is a play set with a twist – use your imagination, and your green thumb, to plant a garden and watch it grow in just seven days. The main flower house blooms open to reveal a magical doll house, complete with a guest house. Take a ride down the Garden Gondola to play in your very own enchanted garden, or stop along the way and catch a few rays on the sundeck. 
The Australian Toy Association Awards were followed by the announcement of three further awards from the Retail Tracking Agency GfK OzToys which presented Funtastic with: 
• 2007 Top Selling Toy of the Year (value) - Tamagotchi Jinsei 
• 2007 Most Successful Toy Release – FlyTech Dragonfly 
• 2007 Fastest Growing Interactive Games Key Distributor (value) – Funtastic Interactive Games 
The ATA awards are seen as an important indicator of sales success for the year. 
“The awards are judged by industry experts well versed in what translates into fantastic toys kids will love, so they are one of the clearest predictions of what will actually be leading the charge to toy boxes around the country,” Tony Oates, Funtastic’s Managing Director, said. Not just one of Australia’s largest toy product companies, Funtastic is also an entrepreneurial marketer and distributor of consumer branded lifestyle merchandise with product spanning all aspects of family life – from children’s toys, apparel and footwear to sporting goods, nursery, manchester, homewares, DVD, film entertainment and gaming. 
The company’s Madman division is responsible for major cinema releases like Kenny and driving the enormous interest in Japanese anime DVD sales. 
While now encompassing so much more than its traditional toy roots, Funtastic’s business remains firmly based in leading children’s licenses and brands like Thomas & Friends, Bratz, Disney, LeapFrog, Wow Wee, WWE, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Ben 10, Cabbage Patch Kids and many, many more. - copy ends - 
For more information on Funtastic, visit the web site at www.funtastic.com.au and for comment contact Tony Oates, Managing Director, Funtastic Limited Ph: 03 9535 5888 or Anna Kirby, Public Relations for Funtastic Limited Ph: 0409 484 894 or 03 9486 9357.


----------



## Pager (19 May 2008)

In a trading Holt pending an announcement, read it is to do with a "change of control" type announcement ?.

What does this mean ?, a takeover of some sort.

Any ideas


----------



## UMike (19 May 2008)

Pager said:


> In a trading Holt pending an announcement, read it is to do with a "change of control" type announcement ?.
> 
> What does this mean ?, a takeover of some sort.
> 
> Any ideas



You'd think so.

The last time the were discussions in this area the sp jumped to $2. These are now different times.


----------



## Pager (21 May 2008)

Takeover it is from a private equity manager called Archer.

Will buy ABC learnings stake today and will offer 80 cents for all outstanding shares, last closed at about 54 cents so a decent premium, although think they can see this business is worth allot more.

Should add its still officially a proposal, although if they are buying the ABC stake today which is about 18%, its a go oer


----------



## Gigabyte (21 May 2008)

The stock has opened at 0.72 cents today.  Lets hope it keeps climbing as the market seems to like the proposal.

Gigabyte


----------



## stavvy (13 June 2008)

Anyone got an opinion as to why price is hovering around fifty cents?
With the sale still imminent and with profit outlook looking much better
it seems strange that the price has stagnated back at 50c.


----------



## rhen (21 July 2008)

Both monthly and daily charts indicate a close *watch* of FUN may be necessary.
I do not own FUN shares at this point in time.

rhen


----------



## michael_selway (21 July 2008)

rhen said:


> Both monthly and daily charts indicate a close *watch* of FUN may be necessary.
> I do not own FUN shares at this point in time.
> 
> rhen




I wonder why the jump recently?

*Earnings and Dividends Forecast (cents per share) 
2007 2008 2009 2010 
EPS 3.2 8.0 9.3 10.9 
DPS 4.0 4.3 5.0 5.6 *



> Date: 4/7/2008
> Author: Sue Mitchell
> Source: The Australian Financial Review --- Page: 55
> A proposed takeover of Australian-listed Funtastic Limited is uncertain. Privateequity firm Archer Capital acquired an 18.8 per cent stake in the toydistributor earlier in 2008, although there has been a dearth of information onthe proposed buyout in the intervening weeks. However, toy manufacturer NirPizmony, who is part of Archer's buy-out syndicate, notes that it can oftentake some time to complete due diligence. Meanwhile, the Australian toy industryis banking on the mid-year sales to boost volumes, although Pizmony notes thatthe rising oil price is having an impact on makers of plastic toy products


----------



## It's Snake Pliskin (20 February 2009)

Any funtastic fundamentals worth fundamental consideration for fun?
http://business.theage.com.au/business/nsr-lifeline-keeps-fun-in-funtastic-20090219-8ckx.html
Interesting to see who one of the owners is. But is the latest situation a positive step for Fun?


----------



## UMike (20 February 2009)

It's Snake Pliskin said:


> Any funtastic fundamentals worth fundamental consideration for fun?
> http://business.theage.com.au/business/nsr-lifeline-keeps-fun-in-funtastic-20090219-8ckx.html
> Interesting to see who one of the owners is. But is the latest situation a positive step for Fun?



Dunno but the SP has fallen so far that a 22mil Capital raising almost will double their market Cap.


----------



## Pattena (26 May 2009)

*Funtastic*

Can anyone advise why trade in Funtastic is so tight. Almost nil today, nil last Friday. What is going on. Fundamentals and gossip looks good.


----------



## KurwaJegoMac (26 May 2009)

*Re: Funtastic*

Funtastic is a stock that's very out of favour by many analysts. They've had poor performance over the last few years so most analysts have taken off FUN from their watch lists. They're waiting for signs that the company is turning around.

Although in recent weeks there has been a surge in trades for FUN, perhaps these are early signs that investors feel that the price relative to fundamentals is good? 

Quite often you'll find that FUN has zero trade activity for a few days, then volumes of 40K - 200K. If there's not a lot of interest in the stock, there's gonna be low volumes!

Just my


----------



## Pattena (28 May 2009)

KurwaJegoMac
Spot on reply; today's turnover had a surge of over 1.1 mill more that past 2months. Very perculiar buy pattern though. I heard they were tieing up with a huge Chinese design company.... but that sort of corporate activity takes months to bear any result. I would have thought with Murdoch and Mathieson family (poker machine king) and new management team on board (plus ABC behind them) they would be worth a consideration.


----------



## KurwaJegoMac (28 May 2009)

It's as you say Pattena - the stock is worth a consideration. Given the news about Nir Pizmony returning and taking a major stake in the company + interest by Murdoch and the Mathieson family + the acquisition of NSR, FUN is probably in the early stages of the stock grabbing the attention of analysts. 

Considering how inactive this stock has been in recent months, these higher volumes definitely warrant  keeping FUN on the watch list. 

Having Nir Pizmony return for a major stake is a comforting sign - he would know the insides and out of the company and I highly doubt he would return and buy a major stake unless he felt that the company was due for a turnaround.

However for now, it's all just speculation. But i've got a stake in FUN myself and I intend to watch it closely - I don't think it would take much to see this stock rebound (provided the GFC doesn't kill it )


----------



## Gigabyte (8 July 2009)

Have just received the letter from Funtastic regarding the rights issues.  Can anyone elaborate on what this means?  Do I need to do anything?

Thanks


----------



## Huskar (22 April 2012)

Who would have thought Pillow Pets, Power Rangers and Lego make so much money.

From 8c to 22c since the start of the year after significant cost-cuttings, write-offs and restructurings succeed in turning company around. 

~10% decline in revenue but significantly improved margins so NPAT from $0.4m to $5.5m for HY12 = ~1.5c diluted EPS. 

Extrapolating to FY12 = ~3c EPS (assuming revenue remains relatively steady). If ~10x P/E is justified then shares might still have some value in them. Be wary of negative NTA however...


----------



## pixel (1 October 2013)

Breakout alert. Yesterday's Financials have been well received.





I'm on board. First target 18c; stop 15.5


----------



## McLovin (1 October 2013)

I picked some of these last week when it was banging along at 14-15c/share. It's at the more speccy end for me but they've got a few great little money spinners and they launched their Coolcup slurpee thingy in May and sold 2.4m units by 31/July. The Australian business is kind of hiding the fast growing international business.

Lachlan Murdoch is a shareholder, which makes me worry given his track record of picking winners.


----------



## skc (1 October 2013)

McLovin said:


> I picked some of these last week when it was banging along at 14-15c/share. It's at the more speccy end for me but they've got a few great little money spinners and they launched their Coolcup slurpee thingy in May and sold 2.4m units by 31/July. The Australian business is kind of hiding the fast growing international business.
> 
> Lachlan Murdoch is a shareholder, which makes me worry given his track record of picking winners.




Agree.. it's a good trading buy. The stock yields 6% fully franked at these levels with a PE 7-8x. A decent run is certainly possible on both fundamental and technical perspectives.

P.S. I want to meet the guy who invented slurpee and personally congratulate him. There's nothing better than a frozen coke on a hot summer day in Brisbane.


----------



## 13ugs13unny (1 October 2013)

skc said:


> Agree.. it's a good trading buy. The stock yields 6% fully franked at these levels with a PE 7-8x. A decent run is certainly possible on both fundamental and technical perspectives.
> 
> P.S. I want to meet the guy who invented slurpee and personally congratulate him. There's nothing better than a frozen coke on a hot summer day in Brisbane.




Windy in Sydney, who's the clever....

"Mr. Potter always Buys when the Suckers Panic" ?


----------



## McLovin (1 October 2013)

skc said:


> P.S. I want to meet the guy who invented slurpee and personally congratulate him. There's nothing better than a frozen coke on a hot summer day in Brisbane.




The problem with the slurpee (at least for me) is that you never buy one, you rent it....If you get what I'm saying.

I've always preferred a Frosty Fruit.


----------



## System (29 June 2021)

On June 29th, 2021, Funtastic Limited (FUN) changed its name and ASX code to Toys 'R' Us Anz Limited (TOY).


----------



## UMike (3 July 2021)

Wonder if they will change their fortunes?

Very disappointing company since the ABC learning days.


----------



## peter2 (14 July 2021)

Seems like the name changed has really worked. *TOY* is better than *FUN*. 

Adding toys and baby stuff to their Fantastic furniture has perked investor interest.


----------



## The Triangle (23 August 2022)

Looking forward to seeing results of another 6 months of cash burn...  

The most recent announcement says they received 15 million in debt funding to aid expansion in the UK...  They did not say who provided the debt...  They did not say the terms of the debt...  Expansion into the UK is laughable.  Toys R Us already been there, done that, went broke last decade.   This little aussie battler thinks it can compete in the UK?  Ha!!! 

I still can't figure out if this is at all connected with the original toys r us or if they just bought the rights to use the name and logo?  (like most yank branded things in Australia) 

What is the investment case for these guys?  They are reasonably cheap and might get lucky?


----------



## UMike (23 August 2022)

The Triangle said:


> Looking forward to seeing results of another 6 months of cash burn...
> 
> The most recent announcement says they received 15 million in debt funding to aid expansion in the UK...  They did not say who provided the debt...  They did not say the terms of the debt...  Expansion into the UK is laughable.  Toys R Us already been there, done that, went broke last decade.   This little aussie battler thinks it can compete in the UK?  Ha!!!
> 
> ...



Purely a Spec play .

Long term holder Long term loser.
Used it as a tax loss and averaged down..... But needn't have bothered, 
Was probably better off not averaging down and just selling and getting out.


----------



## peter2 (14 October 2022)

Needs a follow up chart to show that what goes up can go down. 
Not interested in today's high volume bullish bar. The down trend is too strong.


----------



## divs4ever (14 October 2022)

UMike said:


> Purely a Spec play .
> 
> Long term holder Long term loser.
> Used it as a tax loss and averaged down..... But needn't have bothered,
> Was probably better off not averaging down and just selling and getting out.



 bought into this as FUN , luckily i DIDN'T average down 

 i probably would sell out if the parcel  gets above the brokerage fee  ( and i can crystallize the 95% plus loss   , for tax purposes )


----------



## divs4ever (14 October 2022)

with Australian families  having less children over the decade  and the recent immigration headwinds  , this looks like demographics roadkill , crawling towards that final ditch  a little further down the road


----------



## UMike (14 October 2022)

Yea Bought in as FUN.

Market is OK just the Business is floundering due to lack of vision and actions.
Always a way if your good enough and versatile.

About only good for a stock tip in the Monthly tipping Comp.


----------



## divs4ever (14 October 2022)

sadly TOY is not unique on the ASX ( in it's ability  to vapourize  share-holder capital  , yet remain listed  )

 lucky for me i started  taking notice of population trends  , before tipping extra cash into this 

 this company  also has raised two red flags ( for me ) via the share consolidation and the name/ticker code change 

 BTW i normally tip ( in the comp.  ) stocks i  hope to buy ( or add extra ) so secretly hope they slide lower during the month/comp  ( my yearly tips have been very nice for that strategy  except for SIG )


----------



## greggles (18 October 2022)

TOY ready to turn around after being battered by the market for the last 12 months? Revenue up, gross profit up and $12.5 million in cash as of 31 July. UK launch coming soon.

It was smashed from 18c to around 2c in the last year, but it is now looking like it may have bottomed out.


----------



## The Triangle (18 October 2022)

greggles said:


> TOY ready to turn around after being battered by the market for the last 12 months? Revenue up, gross profit up and $12.5 million in cash as of 31 July. UK launch coming soon.
> 
> It was smashed from 18c to around 2c in the last year, but it is now looking like it may have bottomed out.
> 
> View attachment 148148



Nearly $11 million of negative operating cashflow vs negative $4 million last year and trade payables vs receivables swung negative $2 million vs last year as well.  I question the value of the inventory on the books as toys don't exactly maintain value.  Given how the economy is looking I think children of the world should be getting used to a lump of coal and some Aldi & Kmart brand toys this year.

$37 million market cap company burning through cash at a rate of $10 million a year with revenues of $38 million?  Hmm.  No thank you. 

I'd call 0.00 bottomed out.  Not there yet.  Still some gullible suckers in the market though.


----------



## frugal.rock (18 October 2022)

The Triangle said:


> Given how the economy is looking I think children of the world should be getting used to a lump of coal and some Aldi & Kmart brand toys this year.



Aye, and they should consider themselves looocky, the little blighters.


----------



## greggles (19 October 2022)

The Triangle said:


> Nearly $11 million of negative operating cashflow vs negative $4 million last year and trade payables vs receivables swung negative $2 million vs last year as well.  I question the value of the inventory on the books as toys don't exactly maintain value.  Given how the economy is looking I think children of the world should be getting used to a lump of coal and some Aldi & Kmart brand toys this year.
> 
> $37 million market cap company burning through cash at a rate of $10 million a year with revenues of $38 million?  Hmm.  No thank you.
> 
> ...




You could well be right. It's hard to tell right now, although management do seem to be determined to turn things around. As you say, a slowing economy certainly doesn't help.  They need to trim the fat and drive more sales. I agree that the toy business is very fickle and they need to keep turning over stock. They bought $5 million more stock than they sold in the year ended 31/07/22 which is a concern, especially since they bought it wholesale and are selling it retail.

TOY is currently in a trading halt pending a further announcement. In their response to an ASX Price Query the company said this:



> The Company is not aware of any information concerning it that has not been announced to the market which, if known by some in the market, could be an explanation for recent trading in the securities of the Company. *The Company holds information which it plans to announce in the coming week, however, currently the announcement cannot be made as the information concerns an incomplete proposal or negotiation that is uncertain. Announcement will be made immediately after the proposal is completed.*




So perhaps the share price increase in recent days is related to whatever they are about to announce? TOY could be a leaky ship. We will find out soon enough.


----------



## greggles (19 October 2022)

Also interesting is that Alex Waislitz took a 5% stake in the company via on market purchases earlier this month by Thorney Investment Group. I wonder what convinced him that the investment would prove to be a profitable one down the line.


----------



## divs4ever (19 October 2022)

REQUEST FOR TRADING HALT
Toys”R”Us ANZ Limited (ASX: TOY) (Company) requests an immediate trading halt in respect of its
securities.
In accordance with Listing Rule 17.1, the Company advises:
1. The trading halt is requested to assist the Company in managing its continuous disclosure obligations
pending the release of an announcement regarding a potential new commercial agreement.
2. The trading halt is requested to apply until the earlier of the commencement of trading on 21
October 2022, or an ASX release issued by the Company providing details of the commercial
agreement.
3. The Company is not aware of any reason why the trading halt should not be granted.



probably a precursor to a cap. raise ( but just guessing ) a 'pump and beg ' play i suspect

 i hold TOY ( and been watching my capital  disappear even faster  than perceived inflation )

 but at least the current rally will cover the brokerage if i sold ( but only the exit brokerage )


----------



## peter2 (19 October 2022)

Oh, come on. The standard "we know nothing" and less than one hour later there's a request for a trading halt to finalise and then announce an imminent business deal.


----------



## divs4ever (19 October 2022)

now maybe  senior management  didn't  ,  but depending on the actual news ( after the halt ) somebody with more ready cash than me DID ( or has been tricked into buying )

i wonder if the regulator will 'follow the money '  to look closer


----------



## divs4ever (19 October 2022)

The Company noted an article dated 17 October 2022 entitled ‘Macy’s Partnership Signals A Brand New Future For Toys R Us’
 released on Forbes (https://www.forbes.com/sites/joanve...rand-newfuture-for-toys-r-us/?sh=187be45542a6) (“Article”), which discusses WHP Global’s partnership with Macy’s and the installation of 451 Toys”R”Us branded toy shops in Macy’s stores. However, the Company would like to clarify that this partnership and matters raised in the Article has no material impact on the Company as it wholly relates to WHP Global’s US operations.

 PS  the indicated Forbes article   has now disappeared  ( coincidence ?? )


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## greggles (19 October 2022)

divs4ever said:


> PS  the indicated Forbes article   has now disappeared  ( coincidence ?? )




Here's a working link: https://www.forbes.com/sites/joanve...and-new-future-for-toys-r-us/?sh=3478aa442a6e

Yours is missing a dash between "new" and "future" in the URL.


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## divs4ever (19 October 2022)

the next question  that comes to mind  IS , is that still related to the ASX listed stock 

TOYS'R'US ANZ LIMITED​
 there are some tiny ( but important ) differences in the branding  , which may start  a brawl  over trade names 

Substantial Shareholders List​
NAMESHARE HOLDINGSHARES HELD (%)Louis Mittoni and Associated Entities291,205,81834.33%Jason Sourasis and Associated Entities109,733,15912.93%Regal Funds Management Pty Ltd61,259,7297.22%

 and very recently Tiga Trading with just over 5%

i guess time will tell


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## greggles (21 October 2022)

So here's the news that interested observers have been waiting for.

TOY has signed a sub-license agreement with WH Smith High Street Limited in the UK to trial nine Toys R Us store-in-store implants, all of which are scheduled to open in the first half of 2023.

Announcement a bit of a let down really. The UK economy is tanking and nine trial stores won't be more than a drop in the bucket in terms of revenue. There is no guarantee that the store-in-store implants will be increased (or even maintained) after the trial period ends 12 months after the first store is opened.

So I can't see this really going anywhere. The market agrees and TOY is down 14.5% following this underwhelming announcement.


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## divs4ever (21 October 2022)

indeed correct ,
not quite the confirmation of that Forbes article the market might have been expecting 

 and let's face it new exposure to the UK this festive season  could be a real tester


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## UMike (31 October 2022)

Not Even tha wannbe chief bottom picker of ASF would invest in this.

I have picked it for the November comp tip.
The most interesting detail of this pic is the gap between buyers and sellers. Pick the timing right there could be a good margin trade.


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## greggles (31 October 2022)

UMike said:


> View attachment 148637
> 
> 
> Not Even tha wannbe chief bottom picker of ASF would invest in this.
> ...




Good luck with it in the November competition. I thought that TOY may have been on the path to recovery with the share price bouncing back this month, but the recent announcement didn't impress me. But that doesn't mean they are out of powder yet. Might be some other news around the corner. I will watch with interest from the sidelines.


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## UMike (2 December 2022)

Down to 2c now. Lets hope they get a Christmas spirit boost.


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