Real question will be what B&Os cash flow and borrowing facilities are currently like?

If good, no issue, if bad and deteriorating ( as I suspect) then SR may be the only game in town. They don't need to buy 51% - they just need to offer a loan with the price being equity and board positions. Shareholders will capitulate and attempt to recover value by accepting something rather than a total loss if the company goes under.

Mr 10Percent wrote:

Real question will be what B&Os cash flow and borrowing facilities are currently like?

If good, no issue, if bad and deteriorating ( as I suspect) then SR may be the only game in town. They don't need to buy 51% - they just need to offer a loan with the price being equity and board positions. Shareholders will capitulate and attempt to recover value by accepting something rather than a total loss if the company goes under.

The latest results show cash of DKK 810 million.  There are no borrowings other than DKK 191 million of mortgage debt which is long term by nature.  Operating cash flows were DKK 55 million positive last year, current year to date (but that's only 9 months) DKK 4.7 million negative. 

The sale of the automotive business sorted any short/medium term cash and borrowing issues.

As some of the older markets decline so new ones open up.  Excellent!

Just found this document about yesterday's announcement

Chris wrote:

Just found this document about yesterday's announcement

link

The same document we're all discussing!

Wow brand name just changed from bang & olufsen to jianhong & olufsen 

I wonder what B&O feel about me (or any other customer)?

I have owned B&O audio and TV since the early 1980's and still use my Beovision 10, Beolab 6000, Beosound 3200, Beosound 1, Beosound 3) daily.  Most of these of course are older products. when looking at updating / replacing them I feel that b&O have been offering me a range of solutions to connectivity problems i don't have and when investigating further find it difficult to see wha the premium pricing offers above similar solutions from Apple or Sonos for example.

I have bought a variety of Play products but have been unimpressed with the functionalty (I own both the Beolit 12 and H8's neither of which work properly). Recently B&O have made it impossible to return Play products via dealers and will only communicate via e-mail or social media.  Finally I have had problems discussed elsewhere with a repair which was handled badly and now see that they want customers to pay a premium for additional 'care' that should come as standard for a high end product.

I'm left feeling that B&O don't really want to bother with me as I don't fit a demographic that will spend 10's of thousands of pounds on a bespoke installed system nor one that solely spends a couple of hundred pounds via the internet and shrugs when the product proves disposable.

 So in the end I feel that I don't much want to bother with B&O right now.

Mark wrote:

I'm left feeling that B&O don't really want to bother with me as I don't fit a demographic that will spend 10's of thousands of pounds on a bespoke installed system..

Do many do that these days? I guess they do, but it must be few and far between. Most of the stuff doesn't even interconnect anyhow.

Talking of communication, British Airways is dreadful by phone or email, but incredibly good by social media. I can DM them on Twitter and they reply instantly, give good info and even call me back. Superb. It's just a new way of embracing making contact with a customer in 2016. If you get it right, it works. Long gone are the days where you should need to phone a company - I hate end users calling me. I can't get them off the phone :)

How do you feel about B&O right now?

As a Dane growing up with B&O as part of my heritage,- deeply saddened!

I will never, ever buy a B&O product made in China or Turkey for that matter!

Please consider what you buy!

If not for you, then for the ones who eventually will be walking in your shoes...´(Intentional Depeche mode reference)!