Packer16 Posted December 12, 2014 Author Share Posted December 12, 2014 An interesting move by the new CEO. He was also the frank guy in the conversation and not the spinner per racemize's comment above. If you read the transcript from what I saw the old CEO is the one having an issue with buy backs. The new CEO is listening and hopefully wants to make a name for himself. Hopefully, they will do more of this with the stock down here. Packer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tombgrt Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 Yes Packer, that was what I meant. The company shouldn't be sold right away for me if that means they will keep buying back shares. Maybe someone should link management this thread. ;) Edit: Made a dumb logical fault, post edited. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremykgold Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 In the transcript from the q3 earnings call someone posted above, I was the "unidentified participant" pushing for a buyback. Here is an email I received yesterday from the company: Dear Mr. Gold, The CEO is currently travelling abroad, we will circle back to you late next week to arrange a call. Also, in case you haven't noticed it pls see below our yesterday’s share buy-back announcement. This is the max amt we can buy on any particulare day. It related to the new CEO's initiatives: “The company INTRALOT in accordance with the Regulation of the Committee of European Community no. 2273/2003, article 4 par. 4, announces that following the article 16 of Law 2190/1920 and the decision of the Annual General Meeting of the Shareholders dated June 11, 2014, purchased on December 11, 2014 through the Athens Exchange Member Eurobank Securities, 80,000 own shares with average price €1.0075 per share and a total purchase price €80,600.00.” Best Regards, Nikos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tombgrt Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 Hey Jeremy, thank you for the questions on the call and your emails to the company. Nice to see the results already and that management is willing to change opinions. Next stop a listing in London? ;) Let us know if anything interesting comes out of that call (if you are willing and able to share of course). Again, much appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremykgold Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 Listing in London... looks like you've been talking to the company too! I hope they move. You can check on helex.gr but they bought another 88k shares today. If they keep this up it might signal that there actually are new CEO initiatives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
investor-man Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 jeremykgold, you are awesome, and you deserve a beer! (more than a beer, but you get what I'm saying) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tombgrt Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 Listing in London... looks like you've been talking to the company too! I hope they move. You can check on helex.gr but they bought another 88k shares today. If they keep this up it might signal that there actually are new CEO initiatives. Maybe4less said it in the topic a few weeks back, has been speaking with management as well. He said that it sounded as if it was a near certainty that they would change listing. Relisting would also mean they could probably get much better financing right? That would seriously boost FCF. Good that they keep buying. They can hit the 10% mark/year if they buy every single trading day and if the stock stays low enough. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Packer16 Posted December 18, 2014 Author Share Posted December 18, 2014 Ever since the stock hit 1 Euro, Intralot has been buying stock everyday taking up a good portion of daily volume. It looks like management is taking the repurchase discussion to heart. Packer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tombgrt Posted December 18, 2014 Share Posted December 18, 2014 Jup. They bought back around 300,000 shares so far I think, which is in line with buying back almost 10% a year. I found this English document on buybacks in Greece: http://www.ibanet.org/Document/Default.aspx?DocumentUid=D03EB2A2-AD68-443A-8079-6B49834D0AE7 It seems that they don't have a lot of specific rules on the volume you can buy back, other than "Treasury shares may not exceed 10% of the paid-up share capital. " as the CFO (now CEO) said in the call. I guess they looked at how much shares they can buy back per year and divided thay by the total trading days/year, which should be around 70-85,000 shares/day. Maybe that means they can be more agressive if the stock drops further (as there also doesn't seem to be a limit on daily volume?)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremykgold Posted December 18, 2014 Share Posted December 18, 2014 I had trouble verifying but the company told me "the maximum amount allowed by our stock exchange, which is 25% of the last 20 days average daily trading volume." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter1234 Posted December 19, 2014 Share Posted December 19, 2014 I had trouble verifying but the company told me "the maximum amount allowed by our stock exchange, which is 25% of the last 20 days average daily trading volume." Sounds right. http://www.ibanet.org/Document/Default.aspx?DocumentUid=D03EB2A2-AD68-443A-8079-6B49834D0AE7 According to Hellenic Capital Market Commission explanatory circular no. 114/15.5.2007, the commission may consider a buyback transaction as abusive particularly when: a) buyback transaction is entered in a higher price than the price of the last independent trade (“uptick rule”). b) the purchase of own shares exceeds in total per day 25% of the average daily trading volume of the previous 20 meetings. c) the issuer proceeds into selling treasury shares in the same period of time while the purchase of treasury shares is still pending d) treasury shares are being purchased while the issuer has decided to delay the public disclosure of inside information in accordance with article 11 of L. 3340/2005. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tombgrt Posted December 19, 2014 Share Posted December 19, 2014 Totally read over that point in the document, thanks guys! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tombgrt Posted December 27, 2014 Share Posted December 27, 2014 I'm not trying to talk anyone out of their position but if I come across pertinent material in Dutch I'll post a recap or summary. Quick comment @ Yadayada, the dutch article on stopdebankiers.nl (stopthebankers) is actually a Volkskrant article (which can be accessed through Blendle) or the Volkkrant archive. At the bottom of the stopthebankers article it also states: Source:Volkskrant. A small follow-up on the matter. From three weeks ago from 'De Telegraaf': TREKKINGEN STAATSLOTERIJ ZIJN VEILIG Gijsbert Termaat Een onafhankelijk onderzoek heeft aangetoond dat de trekkingen van de Staatsloterij honderd procent veilig gebeuren. De kansspelorganisatie had zelf opdracht gegeven aan het toonaangevende bureau Software Improvement Group om vast te stellen of veiligheidsmaatregelen op en top zijn. De laatste weken deden geruchten in diverse media de ronde dat trekkingen van de Staatsloterij gemanipuleerd kunnen worden omdat er sprake zou zijn van een veiligheidslek. Een verhaal dat gebaseerd was op anonieme verklaringen van vier boze ex-werknemers van het bedrijf Intralot dat de systemen beheert. „Ik ben blij dat we nogmaals in het gelijk zijn gesteld en klip-en-klaar is dat we onze veiligheidsmaatregelen volledig op orde hebben”, reageert algemeen directeur Frans van Steenis van de Staatsloterij. „Er zijn kennelijk partijen die ons willen beschadigen en dat is ze ten dele gelukt. Want mensen denken vaak: waar rook is, is vuur.” „In dat kader doet het ons natuurlijk pijn, want je wilt niet dat er zo over je gesproken wordt. Zeker niet als deelnemers aan onze loterijen daarmee ook twijfels krijgen. Maar intern weten we dat er wel zes sloten zitten op het systeem. Maar wanneer men dat wenst willen we er ook nog wel een zevende of achtste slot op zetten. Dat gaan we dus ook doen”, aldus Van Steenis. De Kansspelautoriteit (Ksa) was al eerder een eigen onderzoek gestart gericht op de beveiliging van bestanden en systemen rond het trekkingsproces. Deze club kon in haar onderzoek ook al geen aanwijzingen voor fraude of malversaties of pogingen daartoe vinden. De Ksa heeft dan ook nooit overwogen om de Staatsloterijtrekkingen op te schorten. „Ze hebben ons ook geen maatregelen opgelegd, maar wel een paar aanbevelingen gedaan die we ter harte nemen en ook uitvoeren. Inderdaad, dan praat je over zaken als het zevende of achtste slot op de deur”, meent Van Steenis. „Wij zijn gebaat bij een betrouwbare loterij en willen aan alle twijfel een einde maken. Daar heeft de speler recht op.” https://blendle.com/i/de-telegraaf/trekkingen-staatsloterij-zijn-veilig/bnl-telegraaf-20141206-1_04_3 And then another one from 4 weeks ago from De Volkskrant: Staatsloterij kampt met fouten in systeem trekking De Staatsloterij heeft de beveiliging van het loterijsysteem niet op orde. Dit blijkt volgens bronnen van de Volkskrant uit het onderzoek dat de Kansspelautoriteit naar de grootste loterij van Nederland uitvoert. Vooral de trekkingsgenerator, waar de winnende loten worden getrokken, zou kwetsbaar zijn en is voor buitenstaanders te manipuleren. VAN ONZE VERSLAGGEVERS WILLEM FEENSTRA, SYBREN KOOISTRA AMSTERDAM Of daadwerkelijk is gesjoemeld met de uitslag van de Staatsloterij, blijft onduidelijk. Wel heeft de Kansspelautoriteit de loterij tussentijds een aantal maatregelen opgelegd om de gebrekkige beveiliging te verbeteren. Zo moet worden voorkomen dat consumenten het slachtoffer worden van vals spel. De toezichthouder van de gokbranche begon in september een onderzoek naar 'de beveiliging van bestanden en systemen rondom het trekkingsproces' van de Staatsloterij. Aanleiding waren meerdere trekkingen waarbij onregelmatigheden plaatsvonden. Zo keerde de loterij in januari minder uit dan de bedoeling was. Onderzoek van de Volkskrant wees eerder al uit dat de beveiliging van de Staatsloterij, met de minister van Financiën als enige aandeelhouder, niet in de haak is. Uit een vertrouwelijk rapport van accountant PricewaterhouseCoopers uit 2011 bleek dat het Griekse bedrijf Intralot, dat de systemen van de Staatsloterij beheert, op de vingers is getikt omdat de beveiliging op cruciale punten niet op orde was. Oud-medewerkers van Intralot stelden tegenover de Volkskrant bovendien dat het door een beveiligingslek mogelijk is de uitslag van de loterij te manipuleren. Werknemers van het Griekse moederbedrijf hadden volgens hen toegang tot het lotenbestand en konden verkochte loten vervangen door eigen loten zonder dat iemand daarvan op de hoogte hoefde te zijn. De Kansspelautoriteit wil niet reageren op de opgelegde maatregelen. Volgens woordvoerder Martijn van de Koolwijk is het onderzoek naar de Staatsloterij nog in volle gang en kunnen er geen conclusies worden getrokken. Over tussentijdse bevindingen wil hij niks kwijt. 'Zolang het onderzoek nog loopt, doen we geen uitspraken.' De Staatsloterij wil de maatregelen bevestigen noch ontkennen. In een verklaring laat de loterij weten met de Kansspelautoriteit 'in overleg te zijn over de uitkomsten van het door hen ingestelde onderzoek, waaraan de volledige medewerking is verleend'. In het beeld dat de beveiliging van het loterijsysteem niet op orde is, herkent de Staatsloterij zich niet, aldus woordvoerder David Selier. 'Een onafhankelijke externe partij heeft in opdracht van ons eveneens een diepgaand onderzoek uitgevoerd. Daaruit blijkt geen fraude of pogingen daartoe. De Staatsloterij is desondanks in gesprek over aanvullende aanbevelingen om haar zorgplicht en controles nog verder uit te breiden.' I assume most will get a good understanding of the articles by what follows and the use of Google Translate. Basically in the oldest article from 'De Volkskrant' (the 2nd), they claim that the 'Kansspelautoriteit' (a controlling organ for gambling) has imposed a couple of measures to improve the security. They also state that that the report of PWC showed that Intralot's security wasn't up to date (but that was back in 2011 and they signed off so I don't see why that would be an argument...) and that ex-employees (found and interviewed by the 'Volkskrant') reported the results could be manipulated. The 'Kansspelautoriteit' didn't want to comment as they are still investigating and the 'Staatsloterij' doesn't recognize that their systems aren't in order and has given a mandate to a third party to investigate further. That third party hasn't found any fraud or attempts to fraud. The most recent article from 'De Telegraaf' (the 1st) states that independent research by Software Improvement Group has shown that the drawings are 100% secure. The general director (ceo?) of the 'Staatsloterij' said that there are parties that want to hurt them and that they partly succeeded. According to him, the 'Kansspelautoreit' didn't impose new measures. They only made some recommendations that they will implement. -- I think the difference in reporting between The Telegraaf and The Volkskrant is very interesting. The latter spoke of imposed measures, a bad PWC report from 2011, statements by ex-employees and that it's still not clear whether there was any fraud. The former newspaper however said the 'Kansspelautoriteit' only gave recommendations that will be implemented, that the statements from ex-employees were anonymous and let someone of the 'Staatsloterij' shed his light on the matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiltacular Posted December 28, 2014 Share Posted December 28, 2014 Thanks for the updates and reporting, tombgrt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tombgrt Posted December 29, 2014 Share Posted December 29, 2014 Yw. Does anyone know the distribution of employees located in Greece versus rest of the world? I could only find this: D.PERSONNEL EMPLOYED The number of employees of the Group at the end of the current period amounted to 5.348 (5.131 subsidiaries and associates 217) and the Company's 695. At the end of the nine months of 2013 the number of employees of the Group were 5.532 persons (subsidiaries 5.266 and associates 266) and the Company's 615. What other major costs do they have in Greece? 500-1000 employees alone that get paid in Drachma's instead of Euro's could more than offset any potential losses. If that number of Greek employees is higher and other costs are significant as well, what number could we be looking at? 10€ million? 20? ..? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Packer16 Posted December 30, 2014 Author Share Posted December 30, 2014 They keep on buying back every day and now Makuria just purchased over 5%. Makuria is run by a former Canyon Capital London office head who said Intralot is a 3x from here. Interesting times. Packer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tombgrt Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 Its by far my biggest position now. Not for the faint of heart though. 3x would still leave it very cheap but I'd definitely sell some at that point to lower the weighting. Their buybacks have been small(er) these last few days. 10k euro day won't do much good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tombgrt Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 http://www.intralot.com/content/3280/announcement & No share buy backs since the end of the year. Too bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tombgrt Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 It's amazing how the stock has decoupled from the Greek drama (rightfully so). I still expect the Mexican standoff in Greece to be solved eventually (Who really knows anyway? Greenspan dared to make a prediction as well...) but don't count on it for Intralot to be a good investment. I was lucky enough to buy a lot more but despite the big gains in the account, greed reared it's ugly head with a feeling of lost opportunity. This despite knowing that buying even more would be irrational. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tombgrt Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 I'll just keep posting here once per month while everyone else keeps quiet, seems to work for the stock. ;) Chou has bought more Intralot if we can base us on this doc: http://choufunds.com/pdf/Europe1214.pdf 4.7% at YE when the stock was at the lows, while it was at only 3.4% on 17/09/2014 with the stock around current price levels. Should be his biggest or second biggest position in the Europe fund now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
investor-man Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 I'll just keep posting here once per month while everyone else keeps quiet, seems to work for the stock. ;) I'm still happily following this thread and owning this stock. Owning this stock has been a great lesson in value investing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plato1976 Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 Their debt seems quite expensive They are not esp. more leveraged than comparable companies Maybe they should get rid of their Greek identity I'll just keep posting here once per month while everyone else keeps quiet, seems to work for the stock. ;) I'm still happily following this thread and owning this stock. Owning this stock has been a great lesson in value investing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tombgrt Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Results out. http://www.intralot.com/content/3316/intralot-announces-2014-full-year-results-revenues-exceed-185-billion-173-cash-flow-inc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tombgrt Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Had a quick glance so far. Not entirly sure I like how they are shifting the business but maybe they have little choice. Capex down good vs 2013, hope it has a way to fall from here. We must note that in the end of December, 2014, we drew down €200m from our Syndicated Facility for financial prudency reasons, which positively affected our cash position. This didn’t have any effect on net debt. Can anyone tell me why the would do that? Other thoughts? TIA. If anyone has a transcript of the call, that would be great as well. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kab60 Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 Had a quick glance so far. Not entirly sure I like how they are shifting the business but maybe they have little choice. Capex down good vs 2013, hope it has a way to fall from here. We must note that in the end of December, 2014, we drew down €200m from our Syndicated Facility for financial prudency reasons, which positively affected our cash position. This didn’t have any effect on net debt. Can anyone tell me why the would do that? Other thoughts? TIA. If anyone has a transcript of the call, that would be great as well. :) My first thought was grexit. Liquidity might freeze up if lenders think Greece goes Drachma? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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