FT on Sunseeker and Fairline today
- Thread starter aviator
- Start date
mlthomas
Well-Known Member
? followed the link and I have register, youtube not working? point and click is the way forward
DougH
Well-Known Member
Click on the link, when FT screen shows click on the purple link at the left hand side marked 'Personal Goods' and all is revealed.
mlthomas
Well-Known Member
Thanks Doug, will give it a go 
mlthomas
Well-Known Member
Must be a FT thing - asked to register again :-( CBA
ari
Well-Known Member
All I can get is:
Then it asks me to register. Nothing about Fairline (although maybe it's in the text I'd be able to see if I were registered?)
Any chance you could let us have the basics of the story?
Then it asks me to register. Nothing about Fairline (although maybe it's in the text I'd be able to see if I were registered?)
Any chance you could let us have the basics of the story?
Mr Googler
Well-Known Member
3571
Well-Known Member
You could try this one....
http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/sunseeker-struggles-in-choppy-waters-ftimes-35372d7d0eec.html?x=0
http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/sunseeker-struggles-in-choppy-waters-ftimes-35372d7d0eec.html?x=0
aviator
Well-Known Member
http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&q=ht...AA5CSY&usg=AFQjCNFZTesRwNIlo2FAj9yu0YtNwzi0LA
is the link from Google alerts which shows the whole text. Hope it works for you guys.
is the link from Google alerts which shows the whole text. Hope it works for you guys.
aviator
Well-Known Member
Well it doesn't work now. sorry about that. It may be linked to a single visit or whatever. Now FT say don't copy etc etc.
Basics of the story are Sunseeker breached their covenants with the bank and made $9.1M loss up to July 09 due in part to rescuing in one form or another one of their distis.
Two other distis have acquired assets now and banking support achieved although current GP around 11%, down 5% largely due to exchange it is said.
Fairline is about the January announcement of 40% reduction in sales.
Who would be in the big boat business these days although on the surface.............
Basics of the story are Sunseeker breached their covenants with the bank and made $9.1M loss up to July 09 due in part to rescuing in one form or another one of their distis.
Two other distis have acquired assets now and banking support achieved although current GP around 11%, down 5% largely due to exchange it is said.
Fairline is about the January announcement of 40% reduction in sales.
Who would be in the big boat business these days although on the surface.............
D
Deleted User YDKXO
Guest
Link worked for me although I was previously registered with FT. This article raises more questions than it answers. Who owned Sunseeker Sales Group and why did Sunseeker feel obliged to rescue it and if it is now sold to 2 other dealers, did Sunseeker get some or all of their money back? If the dealer was so important to Sunseeker that they had to rescue it, how could the dealer get into a £6m hole in the first place without Sunseeker noticing? As for the exchange rate losses, surely the fall in Sterling has been beneficial to their business overall rather than detrimental?
Nick_H
Well-Known Member
I guess the fx losses are on boats where sales prices were already agreed in GBP, but SS then had to buy parts in Euro. They could/should have hedged, but they wouldn't be the only company to have been caught out by the second stage of the GBP devaluation. Could also be an indirect fx effect, in that most buyers are still British, so don't have more pounds to spend to cover the higher GBP cost of building the boats.
The dealer rescue was obviously to protect the brand, as they didn't want bad press about buyers losing their deposits or instalment payments if the dealer folded. fair play to them for that. Maybe the dealer hadn't hedged their own fx exposure?
My guess is their accounts look far healthier than most euro boat builders. The trading loss is pretty small considering we've been through such a deep downturn, and even the dealer rescue looks very bearable when compared to sales and prior year profits.
The GP deterioration is the biggest concern, but if that is down to fx exposure then it should recover, and as Deleted User says, a weak pound can only be good for export sales in the long run.
jfm has hinted at possible other problems, but just based on the info in the article I wouldn't be concerned about them.
The dealer rescue was obviously to protect the brand, as they didn't want bad press about buyers losing their deposits or instalment payments if the dealer folded. fair play to them for that. Maybe the dealer hadn't hedged their own fx exposure?
My guess is their accounts look far healthier than most euro boat builders. The trading loss is pretty small considering we've been through such a deep downturn, and even the dealer rescue looks very bearable when compared to sales and prior year profits.
The GP deterioration is the biggest concern, but if that is down to fx exposure then it should recover, and as Deleted User says, a weak pound can only be good for export sales in the long run.
jfm has hinted at possible other problems, but just based on the info in the article I wouldn't be concerned about them.
D
Deleted User YDKXO
Guest
Maybe but Sterling's dive, certainly against the Euro, happened in the early part of 2008 so should have been factored into the 2008 accounts. It's possible that they failed to hedge against dollar denominated materials cost (resin?) so maybe that had some effect as Sterling fell against the Dollar in 2009. I understand the necessity to save a dealer for the good of the brand but a prudent management would have been actively monitoring it's brand critical dealers before one of them fell into a £6m hole.
The big problem for UK boat builders and export manufacturers generally will be when/if Sterling starts to appreciate against other currencies which may happen before the global boat sales market recovers. I'm not at all sure that the current Eurozone problems are containable and, given some kind of stable coalition govt in the UK, Sterling may appreciate considerably over the next few months but, to be honest, it's just as likely to go the other way. Certainly, market instability is not good for boat sales whichever way it goes
Nick_H
Well-Known Member
Sterling moved to about 1.25 euro and stabilised for most of 2008, before crashing again at the end of the year. SS could have hedged net euro receipts for 2009 at the 1.25 ish rate, and would then have booked fx losses in 2009, although in that situation they would only have failed to realise all the currency gain, so classing it as a fx loss is technically correct, but arguably is a bit misleading.
I've never had to manage a dealer relationship so i'll take your word that they should have been closer to it, but it sounds like one of those things that's obvious retrospectively, but doesn't seem so obvious at the time.
I agree rates could go either way, but I have to think GBP stengthening against the euro is more likely. UK export data was reported (with no fanfare) a few days back showing a big jump, so I think rates are starting to filter through to competitiveness.
I've never had to manage a dealer relationship so i'll take your word that they should have been closer to it, but it sounds like one of those things that's obvious retrospectively, but doesn't seem so obvious at the time.
I agree rates could go either way, but I have to think GBP stengthening against the euro is more likely. UK export data was reported (with no fanfare) a few days back showing a big jump, so I think rates are starting to filter through to competitiveness.
Nickb
Member
In terms of FX losses another scenario could be boats agreed a 1.1E at a euro value, with the stronger pound this would translate into losses (Surely?)
nick
nick
D
Deleted User YDKXO
Guest
You're right, of course. Hindsight is always 20/20 but my experience in dealer/manufacturer relationships is that manufacturers keep a fairly close eye on the financial health of their dealers, especially the larger ones with whom they may have very large credit exposures. In credit risk terms, dealers are no different to any other customer.
DougH
Well-Known Member
Title of the boat is not passed onto the Distributor by the manufacturer namely Sunseeker International until the Distributor has transferred the monies into Sunseeker Internationals account.
All deposits and stage payments are made by the customer to the Distributor who then makes payment to Sunseeker International without deduction.
The Distributor receives his profit only when the final payment is made.
I could have been caught in the Sunseeker Sales Group scenario and cannot praise Robert Braithwaite and Sunseeker International highly enough in taking such action and ensuring that no customer suffered in any form.
Where was Fairline and Sealine in the Peters debacle.
Whitelighter
Well-Known Member
To be fair by the time Peters went under Fairline had parted company with them. Those who lost money were buying new Sealines, Rodmans and Brokerage boats
D
Deleted User YDKXO
Guest
Of course. A condition not passing full title until 100% monies paid must be in every set of sales conditions ever written and the dealer not making a profit until the final balance is paid is very common. What did SSG do to get into such trouble and who owned SSG before they got into trouble? Fair play to SS for bailing them out; it must have been a very tough decision. Many manufacturers would have walked away
DougH
Well-Known Member
Very true, but lets be absolutely fair and acknowledge just what Robert Braithwaite did.
IT COST HIS COMPANY 6.8 MILLION.
Who do I have great faith in and who will I be buying my next boat from? SUNSEEKER.
Come on guys for once praise a British person from a British Company for the exemplary action he took.