Harry's Holdings

[freedom]

is Philip OTC like some sort of private equity trading?

[lonewolf]

is Philip OTC like some sort of private equity trading?

The best way to describe it is Philips very own stock exchange.

Just like SGX, companies listed on OTC need to publish an annual report plus results and potential price sensitive announcement. Dividends declared by the companies are credited directly into your POEMS account.

[dydx]

Harry's Placement Prospectus makes interesting reading.....
http://info.sgx.com/webipo.nsf/6bb750ded...700059912/$FILE/Harrys.pdf

After the placement of the 24.0m new shares at $0.22/share, Harry's issued share base will increase to 95.0m shares. At the $0.22/share placement price, Harry's initial market cap. will be pegged at $20.9m.

Some relevant questions -
- Will Harry's business grow further without too many problems?
- Is the present management headed by Mohan Mulani (who together with his wife Rita wil have 42.96% of the company post-listing) competent and good enough to run and bring this small enterprise to greater heights?
- What's the value of the "Harry's" brand?

[Musicwhiz]

I like Harry's atmosphere and ambience, and I tried their lunch-time meals (Temasek Tower outlet) and their steak is very nice. Portion was a little small though. Affordable and delicious is how I would classify it.

As to whether they can grow, I think they have a good chance as they have a recognizable brand name and they appear to be holding out well in the last few years amidst intense competition in the F&B business.

Will have to take a look at the numbers (of course) to get a better feel, but these are just my initial thoughts on the business as a customer.

[MrValue]

What stikes me is that they have to spend $1.98m on IPO related expenses to raise $5.28m.

Wonder how much they spent when they did the first round with philip sercurities.

[LionFlyer]

Hi all, just some thoughts. I haven't read through the prospectus yet and have not crunched any numbers. But the gut feel and experiences of friends who had been partners in various 'night ventures' aka pubs/night clubs is not good.

While on the plus side, Harry's is an established brand here in Singapore and occupies a certain niche, the margins for this type of business are usually thin with strong competition/alternatives (I suppose this falls under the category of an unattractive industry by Porter). This means to me that the risk of the company making a wrong turn and have sufficient resources to survive it is not very high. (aka the safety margin). The proposed expansion overseas is a classic step by such companies to open new markets and revenue stream. But quite risky IMO.

Harry works because it appeals to sufficient number of expats here in Singapore as well as locals. Not quite sure if the same concept would fly in say, Jakarta when there are many other 'colorful' choices to go.

[VestedInterest]

They're selling a Singapore brand and a lifestyle. Not sure how their hotel, catering and merchandising (HPL beer) business will pan out. Will be interesting to find out if any big cornerstone investor will take a stake in the placement. Otherwise the CEO seems quite smart, although was a near-bankrupt at one time if am not mistaken. Perhaps a tie up with a hotel chain, eg Air Asia's tune hotels will do the trick although the latter is considered in the budget league. On the selling beer side, if HPL beer finds its way to the shelves of the big supermarket chains, convenience stores and petrol stations, it'll be boom time.

[Musicwhiz]

An article from TODAY on Harry's.

Harry's rides on strong brand to grow abroad
by Millet Enriquez 05:55 AM Jan 19, 2011

SINGAPORE - Homegrown bar and restaurant operator Harry's Holdings hopes to see its first overseas outlet up and running by next year.

Harry's chief executive officer, Mr Mohan Mulani (picture), 50, is banking on the group's established track record and brand name to take it beyond Singapore and into China and Vietnam.

"To me, the brand is a tremendous value; a huge strength. It's probably not in the balance sheet but, to me, that's a huge asset that the company has," he said.

The listing of the premium bar and restaurant on the Catalist of the Singapore Exchange (SGX) is one of Mr Mulani's biggest coups since taking over the first Harry's at Boat Quay in 1994.

After four years of being quoted on Phillip Securities' OTC Capital - a platform that provides a venue for equity trading of unlisted Singapore companies - the firm is now hoping to raise more than $5 million by offering 24 million new shares at 22 cents apiece.

The funds are for Harry's expansion plans in Singapore and abroad, as well as for establishing distribution channels for Harry's beer.

Trading of Harry's shares on SGX Catalist is expected to commence on Jan 26. From its first Boat Quay outlet in 1992, Harry's has grown into 32 bars, seven restaurants, a catering business, a boutique hotel and three Gymboree outlets and sub-franchises in Singapore and Malaysia.

Mr Mulani said he expected to have Harry's Beer - first introduced in 2008 - to be available in local supermarkets after the second half of this year.

With more outlets in operation this year, Mr Mulani expects Harry's revenue to be better than last year's $37.3 million. In 2009, it made a net profit of around $2 million.

But while the Singapore business remains strong, Mr Mulani said overseas expansion would be a big part of the company's strategy.

"As of now, we are pretty much almost done here. We have to focus on what we got and operate them optimally," he said.

"After the listing, the plan is to invest in a franchise model, create a training centre here, invest in manuals, define our unique selling propositions, those that we think are unique to us and seek to franchise it internationally," Mr Mulani said.

"With a business like ours, if you try to do this on your own, it can stretch your resources. So we think franchising is the right way to go about it," he said, adding that finding the right partners who will help grow the brand would be crucial.

Currently, Harry's is in talks with some interested parties in China.

Mr Mulani said the company would also look into mergers and acquisitions should the opportunities come up. This is to further expand the company's size and make it more attractive to investors.

"There are a lot of F&B businesses and it's a tough landscape in our country but what we have created is a very strong brand; the brand recognition is very high," Mr Mulani said.

Rising rents and labour costs will continue to present challenges for F&B companies like Harry's but Mr Mulani said it had managed these well by having a good human resource department in place and maintaining good relations with landlords.

[ssian]

Hi, i am actually quite interested to buy Harry's shares.
Where can i actually subscribe them? Today is the cut-off date.
I doubt i'm able to make it.
I have vickers online account, but i can't seem to find them under the IPO tab.

[kazukirai]

Hi, i am actually quite interested to buy Harry's shares.
Where can i actually subscribe them? Today is the cut-off date.
I doubt i'm able to make it.
I have vickers online account, but i can't seem to find them under the IPO tab.

I believe Harry's is doing a placement which means there's no subscription to this IPO.

Anyhow, Harry's has been assigned the Ticker 5SS. It's there when I search in my Vickers a/c but it doesn't seem to be trading yet.

Any idea when Harry's starts trading?