Danny Diab & Restaurant Brands

Well, he has finally done it.

Over the years Danny Diab, franchisee of a number of Pizza Hut stores in Sydney and a director of Restaurant Brands Ltd [RBD.NZ] has managed to cobble together a holding of 5% in the company that he works for.

He hasn't had to shell out a huge amount of money to get his holding of almost 5 million shares, as the share price of the company has been predominantly below NZ$1.50 since he has been on the board and well below $1.00 for the best part of a year.

We know he is a successful Pizza Hut operator in Australia but there is alot we don't know about the man and his possible motivations for owning such a large stake of RBD.

Lets have a look at his investment strategy first.

He owns his RBD holding through his investment vehicle Diab Group and we can understand his motivation for getting into RBD as an investment because he has experience in the QSR industry, through hands on experience and through his investment philosophy:

Our investment philosophy is to deliver long term growth while managing risk. Relying on detailed research data and a proven approach to investment success, we:

• Construct a portfolio that manages risk while maximising long-term performance.
• Establish optimal asset allocation.
• Select a mix of investments to provide the best possible return for our level of risk tolerance.

To ensure we stay the course during a variety of market conditions. Diab Investments seeks long-term capital appreciation by committing equity to:

• high-quality companies with superior management
• high-quality index products with significant downside protection
• high-quality interest bearing warrants / convertible notes
• By leveraging the capabilities broadly available within the group, we aim to generate superior returns.

The Diab Group integrates a diverse portfolio of companies which operate in the advisory, quick service restaurants, manufacturing and investment markets.

We already know Danny is a long term investor because he has been with RBD for around 7 years as an investor and latter as a non-executive director but what of his continued future with RBD?

We can only guess but it would be natural to assume that he would want to continue to increase his shareholding in the company and there is nothing that motivates an individual to do more or work harder than owning a large financial stake.

His continued presence on the RBD board and as one of the largest investors in the company is something that should encourage long suffering shareholders.

RBD shares were up 1c yesterday to 99c on reasonable volume.

*while Danny has a big presence on the internet he must be camera shy because I couldn't find a photo of him.

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c Share Investor 2009

"Government Motors" unlikely to survive

Even big companies with "enduring brands" that have been around for a long time die.

Being big and around for 100 years certainly didn't help General Motors or what is now being cleverly dubbed "Government Motors" from heading towards the abyss.
No matter which way you cut it the big GM is certainly in an abyss it will find its way impossible to climb out of, without even more massive amounts of cash to keep it afloat.

Lets face it, the company has been a basket case for a long time and hasn't made a profit for around 5 years. The nail should have gone into the coffin eight months ago but that great economist Barrack "I have a Plan" Obama decided he knew more about cars and how to build them than Henry Ford and proceeded to sink 10s of billions of American taxpayer dollars into it in the hope that doing the same thing it had been doing over the last few decades was going to turn the company around - amazing how resuscitive other peoples money is eh folks!

Ain't socialism a wonderful thing.

Here we are now 8 months later and there is talk of sacking thousands of highly overpaid car workers, killing multiple brands, ditching 2000 dealerships and even selling the car that beats the Toyota Prius for being ecologically sound, The Hummer, to a Chinese company.

But is that going to save it?

Short answer, NO.

But why?

For a start dropping 2000 dealerships simply isn't enough, they have 6,426, to be exact, to Toyota's 1,461, so try dropping another 2000 to reduce those massive overheads that are dragging GM down. Start with that and in combo with some of the other cuts - especially the gold plated pension plans - that just might work.

The big problem that GM has though is that it is now effectively a Government department and we all know that politicians and business equal failure with a capital F.

Some of us my age (43 years young) remember British Leyland being "rescued" by British taxpayers in the 1970s. Where is it now ?

It no longer exists.

It made poorly designed and built cars that politicians had influence over building and nobody wanted to buy them.

Mr Obama wants cars to be built that are "greener", whatever the hell that means and instruction on high from mad socialists like him will result in the same fate that was visited on BL 30 years ago.

Success for GM is almost impossible under its present ownership and Obama's "plan" to get the company out of the crapper seems to be a combination of the ability to sell cars to Americans that they don't want from a company that they already own by using taxpayer money(again) to bribe them to ditch their old cars, so they will buy the new ones from Government Motors.

This will apparently allow the company to sell 10 million cars a year, make the cash flow (out and in and out again of taxpayer wallets) and then they will be able to make a profit.

Again, ain't socialism wonderful!

No plan yet from Obama about just when that 50 billion loan is going to be paid back to Americans.

It never will.

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c Share Investor 2009

Richard Worth: Goff's posturing hypocritical to the max

Without a doubt, whatever Richard Worth did or didn't do, he clearly isn't Minister material anymore.  

Whatever the outcome lets judge him on the facts, which are currently subject to political conjecture, and when we do know the facts, if we ever do, the appropriate hand of justice should come down hard on his little head.

What I find curious though is criticism of John Key from Phil Goff and Labour for not being "up front" or quick enough to take action on this matter.

The facts are he acted as soon as he knew the facts and would have sacked Worth if he didn't fall on his own sword. End of story.

This of course is in stark contrast to Phil Goff's former leader.

She lied her arse through numerous Labour Ministerial gaffs,  and regularly did nothing when her ministers erred.

Some conveniently forget that months went by before Phillip Field was dealt to and then only mildly. Winston Peters was on the take from seemingly every sector of New Zealand and Clark did nothing. Benson Pope was in Parliament for months before anything was done about his curious ways with Tennis balls and young teenagers.

Ruth Dyson drunk driving her way across town ended up back as a Minister.

Having Phil Goff spearhead the charge against Key is a big mistake by Labour.

It mustn't be forgotten that "stick it on the bill" Phil wanted to make it legal in New Zealand for 12 year olds and older to have sex. He certainly shouldn't be pointing the finger, especially as this accusation against Worth involves sexual impropriety.

Johnny maybe starting to err on the side of the thieving socialists but I believe he is an honest man. The same cannot be said of one Ms Helen Clark.

Whatever the outcome of this saga, I cant help but feel that once again Labour's muck-raking is going to back-fire in spectacular fashion. 

c Political Animal 2009

Stock of the Week: The Warehouse Group

In this Stock of the Week we are going to be looking at New Zealand's dominant general retailer The Warehouse Group [WHS.NZ].

Its a stock that hasn't been in the news recently although it probably should be, for a number of reasons, the least not being a sale process that appears to be in some sort of credit crises limbo.

It has been trading at a pretty steady share price for the last 6 months (marking time until news about its sale is forthcoming) at a range between NZ$3.00 - $3.75 and represents value whether you want it for a quick buck for its probable sale or if a sale falls through and you want a good solid company for the long term portfolio.

On its long-term merits the company has a dominant position in its sector of the retail market and a great cash flow that helps contribute to a gross dividend north of 8%. Spectacular in these days of 3-4% returns for term deposits or 5-6% for rental property.

Retail is struggling these days but that isn't going to last forever and The Warehouse is coping well with the current recession. It historically does well in recessions because of its low price perception.

The company has recently met its own forecast for profit in its March release of its 2009 interim profit and its forecast for FY 2009 is on track to meet last years profit of $90.76 million.

Good luck!



Disclosure - I own WHS shares


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c Share Investor 2009