DonB Posted November 15, 2009 Share Posted November 15, 2009 Item in yesterday's (14 nov.2009) Times see http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/retailing/article6916508.ece Posted here as there is not a section for general Press comment. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bennyboy Posted November 16, 2009 Share Posted November 16, 2009 404 error.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted November 16, 2009 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 16, 2009 404 error.... Looks like it might be your browser - works o.k for me (this morning and again now). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozexpatriate Posted November 17, 2009 Share Posted November 17, 2009 Internet Explorer 7 404'd for me as well on the link above: Times, Hornby Opening timesonline.co.uk and searching for "Hornby" led to the article. It has the obligatory railway pun reference: "Hornby derailed by sterling but hopes to get back on track". It is easy to see how with such heavy foreign currency expenses, a decline in the pound would really hurt their profitability. It's curious that they see a silver lining with the exit of Woolworths. Very similar content to comments on the Hornby announcement listed on the "Hornby - Profits down 50%" thread: RMWeb> Hornby > Profits down 50% Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold papagolfjuliet Posted November 17, 2009 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 17, 2009 'Money Week' is today tipping Hornby shares as a worthwhile investment: http://www.moneyweek.com/investment-advice/share-tips-Hornby-toy-maker-94703.aspx Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Controller Posted November 17, 2009 Share Posted November 17, 2009 Internet Explorer 7 404'd for me as well on the link above: Times, Hornby Opening timesonline.co.uk and searching for "Hornby" led to the article. It has the obligatory railway pun reference: "Hornby derailed by sterling but hopes to get back on track". It is easy to see how with such heavy foreign currency expenses, a decline in the pound would really hurt their profitability. It's curious that they see a silver lining with the exit of Woolworths. Very similar content to comments on the Hornby announcement listed on the "Hornby - Profits down 50%" thread: RMWeb> Hornby > Profits down 50% The demise of Woolworths might help them, in that Woolies acted as a 'one-stop-shop' for many parents and others buying children's toys at Christmas (this was one of the reasons for their collapse, in that all their profitable business was concentrated in a very short period). With Woolworths gone, and the supermarkets not yet doing a wide range of toys, people would have to look elsewhere, possibly in to specialist toy and hobby shops. Here they may well encounter products from the Hornby group, be it Airfix, Corgi, Scalectrix or Hornby trains. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Dagworth Posted November 17, 2009 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 17, 2009 Foreign exchange difficulties were compounded by the Chinese manufacturer of its model trains falling into financial difficulty. Mr Martin said: ???It had got into some financial difficulties. In order to support that supplier, we took price increases. ???There aren??™t many vendors in model railways. It??™s a very specialist sector. We couldn??™t afford to see it continue with its difficulties, so we took a double hit???. The Chinese manufacturer has been taken over by a Hong Kong company which has a sounder financial footing. Interesting that they mention Sanda Kan's problems but don't mention that they were taken over by the parent company of one of Hornby's biggest competitors in the OO model railway market. Andi Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravenser Posted November 17, 2009 Share Posted November 17, 2009 It is supposed to be operated at arms length, and the reality does seem to be that Kadar is substantially an OEM manufacturing operation, supplying to brand customers , but it has diversified downstream by buying and operating one or two of the brands itself. If their overall business is substantially making for other companies to sell, then they are not likely to compromise that by undue favours to their own "retail" off-shoot It's easy to be concerned by large percentage falls in profit amid the worst economic conditions in living memory, with supplier problems on top. However they're still in profit despite it all, - the comparison should surely be with the various German manufacturers - eg Marklin, who were in administration before this hit, and have been making losses for years, or Faller, who've been driven into administration Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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