[alanb]

There was an article in yesterdays Sun newspaper in their 'city' section

It states ; ' Shares of model maker Hornby fell 16p to 189.5 after it admitted annual profits will be lower than expected. The group blamed delays in new product shipments from its Far East manufacturers'.

Nothing to do with DCC then !!!!

AlanB

 

[Doug]

Annual pre-tax profits, to be published in June, are expected to be between £8.75m and £9m, higher than the £7.7m taken the previous year but missing estimates of £9.2m.

Hornby has been quoted to blame the problem on "flagging UK demand and delays from manufacturers in the Far East."

If manufacturers are to blame, who here is complaining and should that affect sales? Are we buying less because we expected newer models to be out sooner? I'm not so sure.

Sales will pick up when the latest Bond film is released as Scalextric are producing tie-in products.

 

[dwb]

QUOTE Are we buying less because we expected newer models to be out sooner?

Since I the region I model is north of the Thames, there aren't too many new models to tempt me to open my wallet

David

 

[neil_s_wood]

QUOTE (Doug @ 3 Apr 2008, 03:47) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Sales will pick up when the latest Bond film is released as Scalextric are producing tie-in products.
Yes, I'm looking forward to that Aston Martin.

 

[Petal]

Have sales fallen because the prices have gone up too much?

 

[Ravenser]

We may be seeing the first impact of recession here . Model railways rank somewhat lower in the family budget than food , electricity and paying the mortgage. I heard a comment from a retailer recently that trade was noticeably down - people c oming in once a month not twice, Mondays and Tuesdays very quiet - due to the current economic climate and more specifically the gloom and uncertainty people feel.

 

[Purley Oaks]

QUOTE (Ravenser @ 3 Apr 2008, 11:26) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>We may be seeing the first impact of recession here . Model railways rank somewhat lower in the family budget than food , electricity and paying the mortgage. I heard a comment from a retailer recently that trade was noticeably down - people coming in once a month not twice, Mondays and Tuesdays very quiet - due to the current economic climate and more specifically the gloom and uncertainty people feel.

The slow down is only hitting certain sectors such as housing, with knock-ons to flooring and furnishings &c. If people aren't moving house, surely there's more time to spend on your hobby. On the other hand, food and power prices have been rising for well over a year now, so there probably is less to spend. Which may turn us away from the local shop to one with discounted mail order prices - but we've done that on another thread already...

 

[rb277170]

The housing market will affect even those who are not moving. If they've got a variable rate mortgage the rates are going up , if they are coming out of a fixed rate mortgage they are facing a step increase. In the worst cases the credit squeeze may mean some people will not be able to remortgage at all. We have all lived in an era where people are bending over backwards to lend money- I think you will find that such sources are drying up.

Famillies are cutting back. It is also becoming more difficult to justify spending £100 on the new Hornby RXXXX for yourself when the family is sacrificing other things. So model sales will slow down- pricing will become an issue.

Russell

 

[Purley Oaks]

QUOTE (rb277170 @ 3 Apr 2008, 16:49) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>The housing market will affect even those who are not moving. If they've got a variable rate mortgage the rates are going up , if they are coming out of a fixed rate mortgage they are facing a step increase. In the worst cases the credit squeeze may mean some people will not be able to remortgage at all. We have all lived in an era where people are bending over backwards to lend money- I think you will find that such sources are drying up.

Famillies are cutting back. It is also becoming more difficult to justify spending £100 on the new Hornby RXXXX for yourself when the family is sacrificing other things. So model sales will slow down- pricing will become an issue.

Russell

Agree with you totally, Russell. Saw a story on tv yesterday which said that the number of mortgage products had fallen from 15,000 odd to just over 5,000, which is probably no bad thing. The finance sector is panicking a bit because they don't know how exposed they are to this sub-prime thing that they should never have become involved with in the first place. The market cannot afford to grind to a halt, though, there's too much at stake. So I'm probably a bit more optimistic (just don't quote me on that when the bailiffs are chucking us out!)