ARCHIVED FORUM -- March 2012 to February 2022READ ONLY FORUM
This is the second Archived Forum which was active between 1st March 2012 and 23rd February 2022
The redundancies will primarily take place in support functions in Denmark. - Click here. https://translate.google.com/translate.
https://bo.eventcdn.net/20200316_update/
tick tock tick tock....
Very sad indeed.
An expected sales decrease of 20-29% is also quite alarming
The Corona crisis will the end I guess :-(
Unfortunate whenever a company has to let employees go. Getting back to growth is tough and the company is in a rebuilding mode. The newer products will need to compete in a much more price sensitive market. I believe the new products are in the right direction. Hopefully they can turn it around since they have excellent audio and the best design in the industry. I hope they survive. B&O is one of my two favorite brands in the world :)
B&O in my life 😊:
Peter Pan:The redundancies will primarily take place in support functions in Denmark. - Click here . https://translate.google.com/translate .
KMA
B&O product history since 1991: Ridiculously long to list in a signature.
Ten percent? Luxury. I worked at one aerospace firm where we went from 16,000 employees down to 3700 in a year.
Jeff
I'm afraid I'm recovering from the BeoVirus.
Another 80% to be replaced by chinese,I guess...
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The brand will not go to its 100 years. It's sad.
If you can buy the product of your dreams before the end, do it.
But what if the product of my dream was a special 100th years edition A9???
diisign.com
BeoBoy68: The brand will not go to its 100 years. It's sad. If you can buy the product of your dreams before the end, do it.
And you think support is bad, now?
poodleboy: BeoBoy68: The brand will not go to its 100 years. It's sad. If you can buy the product of your dreams before the end, do it. And you think support is bad, now?
Hey, at least the s/w updates that break things would stop.
9
Jeff: poodleboy: BeoBoy68: The brand will not go to its 100 years. It's sad. If you can buy the product of your dreams before the end, do it. And you think support is bad, now? Hey, at least the s/w updates that break things would stop.
10% less people to ignore you??
Ban boring signatures!
Puncher: 9 Jeff: poodleboy: BeoBoy68: The brand will not go to its 100 years. It's sad. If you can buy the product of your dreams before the end, do it. And you think support is bad, now? Hey, at least the s/w updates that break things would stop. 10% less people to ignore you??
That means the others will have to work overtime at ignoring you!
I listend to the recording of the call, one comment of a analyst was a positive feedback on the actions taken by the management, but with Corona crisis kicking in this is all now dust from yesterday unfortunately. Also not sure if I got it right but there was remark that Stage and Harmony may not have reached the sales numbers expected.
(and I think support functions are not mainly customer support but more in regards HR, accounting etc.) Nevertheless very sad to hear.
I also have the feeling that this could be the end of B&O and many dealers.
Jeff:That means the others will have to work overtime at ignoring you!
It’s sad enough that people lose their jobs - is it really necessary to terminate them as well?
--mika
tournedos: It’s sad enough that people lose their jobs - is it really necessary to terminate them as well?
A bit drastic, I agree, but nevertheless a permanent solution.
Martin
I have a more 'high-level' question:
Are we seeing any board members leaving (read getting sacked)?
As far as I am concerned, the deep troubles of B&O are pretty much all down to a useless board not being able to keep up with the realities of the world.The bad software we have seen over the years is almost certainly a result of top level decisions.
The fish rotts from the head...
And now over 100 persons will be out of a job, to no small reason due to incompetence at top level.
No company ever failed due to excellent leadership!
yes, there is high sense that management is taking out their mistakes on the employees all the while they stay put...
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The Chairman has outlasted how many CEO's and Business Presidents?
During "normal" times:The only people that needed to be terminated at Bang & Olufsen are management and CEO. All the other great people at B&O (like Geoff Martin etc.) are the true assets of that company. Current Corona situation:The crisis is (and will be) hard for many many people and it can only be solved together.
kuyttendaele: The Corona crisis will the end I guess :-(
Totally agree. Lots of companies are going to go under. I was talking to two this morning and one said their landlord refuses to help with their rent and another which is down to a skeleton staff of 2 employees (down from 10), already.
Our sales are down 60% this week. People just aren't spending. People are very very worried about money and their jobs, so won't spend. Totally understandable.
Luxury items such as a B&O product will be low down on the list for many right now, Chinese market gone. This isn't management, it's a reality of the current situation.
Let's hope that the company can survive. However, at some point they could go into receivership. Look at the once famous British clothing brand Jaeger. Went under about 3 years ago. Edinburgh Woollen Mill bought the name from the receiver but no other assets. So a name can live on as a brand but with no connection to the original company.
Graham
vikinger: Let's hope that the company can survive. However, at some point they could go into receivership.
Let's hope that the company can survive. However, at some point they could go into receivership.
My hunch is, we'll see the world changing once/if we get past this pandemic. Money will be reduced world-over, economies need to rebuild, people still don't know what's happening with their employment and even when things are good again, I can't see consumers heading to the stores en masse to shop like we did before.
I work for online tech companies and even we're 40% down in terms of sales/traffic. And in theory this should go up when people are at home. People are just avoiding consumerism, avoiding spending, avoiding looking at expensive goods.
That's my big fear. I'm seeing people say we just need to endure this for 2-3 months, but even that's a LONG time if you close a company. Wuhan has been in lockdown for over 2 months now, Italy is in its 3 week, UK is heading that way, so is the US. By June the world will feel very different. We have to prep ourselves that B&O won't be around in the short to mid-term. I'd love to be proved wrong, but I think this is the final nail for a lot of companies, even those who only trade online!
Nah, my bet is that most (all?) countries in Europe will hold the lock-down until around Easter.Reason is simple, most countries will not be able to afford a shutdown of the economy for any longer.By then some top level EU unit will recommend the countries to lift most of the restrictions and since it is a EU body making the recommendation no individual government can be held responsible.Convenient way for the leadership in each country...
By that time we will also have better statistics for how many in a population that actually gets affected by the virus and then the true risk between death of patients vs death of the economy can be calculated.The Chinese numbers, can they be trusted...? Doubtful...
My 2 cents...
My 2 cents is that B&O’s current portfolio is in a better position to weather a downturn. They are still premium but not crazy premium. Also, they are now manufacturing in China which will improve margin. As far as the current health crisis it hasn’t really impacted the economic infrastructure and govt. are pumping in a lot of $ into the economy. As long as B&O can be cash flow positive they will survive. I noticed that even when their revenues were falling significantly their cash flow was only slightly negative. Also their software has gotten much better. Both my A9 and Stage are fantastic values.
AndersPersson:Nah, my bet is that most (all?) countries in Europe will hold the lock-down until around Easter. Reason is simple, most countries will not be able to afford a shutdown of the economy for any longer. By then some top level EU unit will recommend the countries to lift most of the restrictions and since it is a EU body making the recommendation no individual government can be held responsible. Convenient way for the leadership in each country...By that time we will also have better statistics for how many in a population that actually gets affected by the virus and then the true risk between death of patients vs death of the economy can be calculated. The Chinese numbers, can they be trusted...? Doubtful...My 2 cents...
Stan:This is in line with my “best case” thoughts. I’m really hoping as most of the other scenarios are quite dismal. To Moxey’s point, I do feel a bit guilty about spending time on “shiny baubles” when so many people are in such dire straights.
This Corona Hoax will result in a total market crash , 10x worse than 2008. They know. It will be the end of everything.
Gatex: This Corona Hoax will result in a total market crash , 10x worse than 2008. They know. It will be the end of everything.
The original post is almost two years old - a lot has changed since then - to the better - with B&O.
MM
There is a tv - and there is a BV
Millemissen: Gatex:This Corona Hoax will result in a total market crash , 10x worse than 2008. They know. It will be the end of everything. The original post is almost two years old - a lot has changed since then - to the better - with B&O. MM
Gatex:This Corona Hoax will result in a total market crash , 10x worse than 2008. They know. It will be the end of everything.
advice @MM: ignore him/her!
Gatex does not deliver any positive attribution what so ever, to this forum. So do not give him/her a podium (again).
who is the hoax?
Carolpa: advice @MM: ignore him/her! Gatex does not deliver any positive attribution what so ever, to this forum. So do not give him/her a podium (again).
I agree, and I have banned the user in question.Never anything useful or contributing, - only negative comments and often political and/or provocative.Trolling is not accepted here.
.
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Hello,
I suggest to close this topic.
It's no more relevant now.
Kind regards,
Yann.
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As someone who spent 20+ years as fund manager, I can assure you not only will hedge funds not look at B&O, only a minority of regular investment funds will look at it either. Its quite jarring if you listen to their. results webcasts, that there are basically about 2 or 3 analysts, likely domestic, who dial in and ask questions. Thats very low, interest wise, and I've done hundreds of these over the years.
The last 10-15 years has been dominated by growth stories (stock wise), and those who look at older "value" businesses have seen their funds massively underperform.
Lastly I'll say this - the global recovery in the last 12-15 months has seen a massive upturn in consumer spending on goods, and one that has been both historic and surprising. Consumer savings levels in many Western markets are extremely high, and have only just started to reduce - plenty of buying firepower there. Against this extremely favourable background, the upturn in B&O sales is somewhere between disappointing and average. Otherwise put, if this upturn is what the company can achieve in good circumstances, the fund community will continue to pay little attention to B&O.
This is all notwithstanding company specific improvements, which I wouldnt argue with. The release schedule the last 2 years has been better, and less mired by software issues, and the companies general visibility seems better and with more of a focus. But anyone hoping for a big rise in the stock is going toe disappointed, absent someone larger buying them out for a premium.
Generally it is - and has been so for decades - that ‘a few domestic funds’ were the main investors.
We should be glad, because these are not only aiming at the money, but also at keeping a ‘good old danish company’ alive - they know of the values, that B&O is based upon.
In fact noone should invest in B&O ‘just for the money’ - and hardly anyone of the smaller investors do that (something that you can experience, if you attend the general annual meetings).
That makes B&O special - I am glad that they are doing well….if they could have done better, is hard to know.
I like that the company has devoted employees and that we get some good products….something usefull in our daily life.
YannChris:Hello, I suggest to close this topic. It's no more relevant now. Kind regards, Yann.