MPG - Metro Glass

[nomis]

We recently broke some glass at home - bit of an accident on a glass sliding door.

New house, and went to the window joinery company and they put us on to Metro. They didn't have the glass in stock - so had to order it - took between 1-2 weeks.

I thought we weren't going to get invoiced, but turned up 3-4 weeks later. It was an insurance job, and Metro had quoted for it. Invoice came in circa 10% less than the quote. Invoice was supposed to come to us, but went to the insurance company instead - they had already paid out to us.

Nothing wrong with the glass or the job - but some of their basic business processes were not exactly timely or best practice.

Much better story than the glazier that had a new build in Pauanui i spoke with in August last year
To summarize ,:
40k worth of custom cut glass. Delivered late, Wrong cuts, And then had to chase the invoice for months afterwards just to be able to pay them. Have to wonder what happened with the glass "cut wrong" and at what expense. Really made me kick my self for the holding I have in this company.

It is good to hear they are potentially sorting operational issues. Glass was from Tauranga Branch apparently too not waikato?

[winner69]

Australia $5m down the gurgler dilutes reasonable NZ performance

But it’s looking ok for the future

Bugger those instos and other greedy shareholders who demanded growth post IPO which lead to the ill considered expansion into Australia ...they got their comeuppance eh

http://nzx-prod-s7fsd7f98s.s3-websit...899/300330.pdf

[bull....]

Australia $5m down the gurgler dilutes reasonable NZ performance

But it’s looking ok for the future

Bugger those instos and other greedy shareholders who demanded growth post IPO which lead to the ill considered expansion into Australia ...they got their comeuppance eh

http://nzx-prod-s7fsd7f98s.s3-websit...899/300330.pdf

another disaster of a company in nz

[Beagle]

Australia $5m down the gurgler dilutes reasonable NZ performance

But it’s looking ok for the future

Bugger those instos and other greedy shareholders who demanded growth post IPO which lead to the ill considered expansion into Australia ...they got their comeuppance eh

http://nzx-prod-s7fsd7f98s.s3-websit...899/300330.pdf

How many times have we heard we have this or that plan to improve performance only to see ongoing disappointments one after another after another ?
The balance sheet, (as I have mentioned previously) is absolutely riddled with intangible assets at grossly exaggerated level's which were predicated upon assumptions about growth that simply aren't happening. Investors were sold a pup and through gross mismanagement its heath has deteriorated to the point where it could be considered to be almost terminal.

[whatsup]

How many times have we heard we have this or that plan to improve performance only to see ongoing disappointments one after another after another ?
The balance sheet, (as I have mentioned previously) is absolutely riddled with intangible assets at grossly exaggerated level's which were predicated upon assumptions about growth that simply aren't happening. Investors were sold a pup and through gross mismanagement its heath has deteriorated to the point where it could be considered to be almost terminal.

Major lessor for all investors, NEVER get involved in a reconfigured company that has been through the hedge fund grinder ! Et al Feltex etc !

[Arbroath]

I love how much everyone hates Metro at the moment. All they've really done as winner points is make one bad acquisition which admittedly has hurt them quite badly but to make $$ (or for most in this case recover lost $$) you have to stay objective. The NZ operation is doing well and the debt reduction in the last 6 months is $12m, much more than they said they'd do ($11m reduction for the full year instead of $7m).

Imagine if they reduce debt from $83m to around $65m in FY20 with $42-43m ebitda on a reduced loss or breakeven in Australia? Of course this could like a childhood dream where you imagine you're flying until you wake up!

[winner69]

I love how much everyone hates Metro at the moment. All they've really done as winner points is make one bad acquisition which admittedly has hurt them quite badly but to make $$ (or for most in this case recover lost $$) you have to stay objective. The NZ operation is doing well and the debt reduction in the last 6 months is $12m, much more than they said they'd do ($11m reduction for the full year instead of $7m).

Imagine if they reduce debt from $83m to around $65m in FY20 with $42-43m ebitda on a reduced loss or breakeven in Australia? Of course this could like a childhood dream where you imagine you're flying until you wake up!

Yes Arbroath it is rather strange the hatred shown towards Metro.

NZ operations made $30m ebit plus or minus a bit over each of the last 4 years ...not terminal as made out.

Even with Australia taking a bit of hit this year operating cash flows over those years have been quite strong ...funny enough not that dissimilar to a company that sells tee shirts and dresses.

How the company has been judged is by the share price, rather than actual company performance eh

With that in mind one could say it’s been shareholders who have been the stupid ones and that experience has made them view the way the company the way they do. Not completely rationale.

As a company they are a pretty solid performer ...sell lots of stuff and achieve margins many of their global peers would envy....and continue to improve operational efficiencies to stay in the game.

whatsup summed it up nice in above post ....Metro was always going to be a dud investment for a few years post IPO.

As Arbroath says to make $$ one needs to remain objective ....I think most have lost any objectivity on this thread.....and many probably have done so because they’ve lost money or something.

Disc: as disclosed previously been involved in a few ways with them over the years .....pity they were screwed by private equity and then taken public. Didn’t deserve that fate.

[JeremyALD]

I love how much everyone hates Metro at the moment. All they've really done as winner points is make one bad acquisition which admittedly has hurt them quite badly but to make $$ (or for most in this case recover lost $$) you have to stay objective. The NZ operation is doing well and the debt reduction in the last 6 months is $12m, much more than they said they'd do ($11m reduction for the full year instead of $7m).

Imagine if they reduce debt from $83m to around $65m in FY20 with $42-43m ebitda on a reduced loss or breakeven in Australia? Of course this could like a childhood dream where you imagine you're flying until you wake up!

They listed at $1.70 with numerous promises of growth and improvement. They have had so many downgrades for both businesses it's hard to count. They have been in capital works for years with the promise of improved productivity to no avail.

The Australian disaster has only really happened in the last 6 months, so you can't say their NZ performance has been sound. They have been in the midst of a sharemarket and construction boom and yet have been the worst performing stock on the NZX. Also they took on far too much debt for a company of their size.

Given how low the share price is I wouldn't be surprised if it bounced back - but it will never make it close to what it was listed for and they have warranted every bit of negative coverage they got imo.

[Baa_Baa]

Yes Arbroath it is rather strange the hatred shown towards Metro.

NZ operations made $30m ebit plus or minus a bit over each of the last 4 years ...not terminal as made out.

Even with Australia taking a bit of hit this year operating cash flows over those years have been quite strong ...funny enough not that dissimilar to a company that sells tee shirts and dresses.

How the company has been judged is by the share price, rather than actual company performance eh

With that in mind one could say it’s been shareholders who have been the stupid ones and that experience has made them view the way the company the way they do. Not completely rationale.

As a company they are a pretty solid performer ...sell lots of stuff and achieve margins many of their global peers would envy....and continue to improve operational efficiencies to stay in the game.

whatsup summed it up nice in above post ....Metro was always going to be a dud investment for a few years post IPO.

As Arbroath says to make $$ one needs to remain objective ....I think most have lost any objectivity on this thread.....and many probably have done so because they’ve lost money or something.

Disc: as disclosed previously been involved in a few ways with them over the years .....pity they were screwed by private equity and then taken public. Didn’t deserve that fate.

That’s how it looks watching the sustained vitriol. You should open up more often, it’s refreshing and I’m sure I’m not the only one who thinks you have great insights, often profound and compelling.

Thanks for sharing.
BAA

[Baa_Baa]

Gliven how low the share price is I wouldn't be surprised if it bounced back - but it will never make it close to what it was listed for and they have warranted every bit of negative coverage they got imo.

If someone believed that there is a future and had the patience to keep their powder dry until the real opportunity showed itself, it might still be a good investment. The market is impetuous, it makes decisions on incomplete information, but for the patient observer sometimes opportunity emerges from what might have appeared for some time to have otherwise been a lost cause.