Seems like a unique asset. East72 has a good writeup on it as well. I struggle on two points:
Margins up are up a lot in the past few years vs. the previous 10-15. What changed in the business and why are oper margins sustainable at ~25% (vs high teens before)?
And ultimately, despite better profitability more recently, avg ROICs are still 5-7%... shouldn't it trade below book?
Thanks for the valid. points. On the important question of margin, I believe it is mostly related to price increase in the Champagne industry as a whole in 2021-2023, in the 21euro range from 17 euro in 2019 - see the graph I included in this post for price per euro current per bottle on pricing history. Is this price increase sustainable? Well the price increase has level now but I do not believe that price will actually come down from there. I mean Vranken is almost bankrupt. LCC Lanson is heavily indebted. These 2 cannot sustain a price reduction. Supply is limited. The luxury brands like Moet or Mum or Perrier Jouet would certainly not start a price war. Having said so - Laurent Perrier is a new pos for me so this is certainly not a large position and i am monitoring and leaving the time do its thing. There was a small contraction in latest half in price, but I believe it is more related to currency headwinds. Will see.
On the ROIC, or RoE we are more in the 8-10% bracket thus far in the last few years. This is an issue. But hey this is below Book story..
Having the former CEO of Hermès as chairman is (I think) an asset that should not be underestimated. Patrick Thomas made a huge impact at Hermès. He's currently also on the board of Richemont.
Good luck. I started buying a year ago, & averaged down, but ultimately didn't have enough conviction & got out a few months ago at cost. I like the company & think it's cheap, but didn't have enough confidence about a catalyst and think the management are decent but not especially pro-active. I think it could do well, but just had other ideas I felt more confident about.
WB: In the short run, the market is a voting machine, but in the long run, it is a weighing machine. My time horizon on this one is 3 years. If P/B does not increase in 3 years... I am out.. In the mean time, book value should increase close to 10% so I will be fine.
Seems like a unique asset. East72 has a good writeup on it as well. I struggle on two points:
Margins up are up a lot in the past few years vs. the previous 10-15. What changed in the business and why are oper margins sustainable at ~25% (vs high teens before)?
And ultimately, despite better profitability more recently, avg ROICs are still 5-7%... shouldn't it trade below book?
Thanks for the valid. points. On the important question of margin, I believe it is mostly related to price increase in the Champagne industry as a whole in 2021-2023, in the 21euro range from 17 euro in 2019 - see the graph I included in this post for price per euro current per bottle on pricing history. Is this price increase sustainable? Well the price increase has level now but I do not believe that price will actually come down from there. I mean Vranken is almost bankrupt. LCC Lanson is heavily indebted. These 2 cannot sustain a price reduction. Supply is limited. The luxury brands like Moet or Mum or Perrier Jouet would certainly not start a price war. Having said so - Laurent Perrier is a new pos for me so this is certainly not a large position and i am monitoring and leaving the time do its thing. There was a small contraction in latest half in price, but I believe it is more related to currency headwinds. Will see.
On the ROIC, or RoE we are more in the 8-10% bracket thus far in the last few years. This is an issue. But hey this is below Book story..
Having the former CEO of Hermès as chairman is (I think) an asset that should not be underestimated. Patrick Thomas made a huge impact at Hermès. He's currently also on the board of Richemont.
I was not aware! He should help on building this into a luxury brand hopefully.
Thanks a lot for the Update. So far, owning LPE was not big fun but maybe this is indeed around the bottom of the cycle.
I know... Champagne supernova united!
Good luck. I started buying a year ago, & averaged down, but ultimately didn't have enough conviction & got out a few months ago at cost. I like the company & think it's cheap, but didn't have enough confidence about a catalyst and think the management are decent but not especially pro-active. I think it could do well, but just had other ideas I felt more confident about.
WB: In the short run, the market is a voting machine, but in the long run, it is a weighing machine. My time horizon on this one is 3 years. If P/B does not increase in 3 years... I am out.. In the mean time, book value should increase close to 10% so I will be fine.