All I can say Bensons is that I still expect them to report a profit at this stage, based on the announcement yesterday they said substantially below expectations. Their was no mention of a breakeven or loss. Expectation was for £1.1m pretax so substantially below is anybodies guess where we will end up on 31 Jan.
Over the last few years I thought the business had put the problems from the past behind it. Figures (all measures) were improving year on year and the business was looking good for the future.
What appears to have happened is that they have taken on more sales staff than they needed in the first half only to lay them off again in the second. The management blame a temporary downtown (you always get one on the lead up to Christmas anyhow) for the problems. I blame the management for not planning for such an eventuality.
One of the prime reasons that increases in fee income have not made it down to the EPS level is because Directors salaries have been increasing disproportion ally. This should now stop and be reversed - there simply is no justification for it.
Still holding for better times, 80p at the beginning of the year seems a long way away now.
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