Why Wilde Couldn't Invest

No real suprises, but the long awaited accounts for the Merlion Group for the 2006 year have been filed at Company's House. 15 months overdue, reading them explains why Wilde himself is unwilling to commit a cent to his investment in Southampton. He signed them on January 29th, 2009, only 15 months late and they read like a train wreck. To quote the auditors:

"The group incurred a loss after tax of £2,597,149 during the year that ended 31st December, 2006 and, at that date, the group's liabilities exceeded its total assets by £2,253,781. These conditions.....indicate the existence of a material uncertainty which may cast significant doubt about the group's ability to continue as a going concern."

Jeez, why the hell he used his money to invest in a football club whilst his own company needed every penny at the same time, says everything about the man....

Does not make for good reading for any company... let alone the one headed up by our Football Chairman and major shareholder.

Agree with the last line

Let's hope he's not offering financial advice at SMS then :shock:

nice find. explains a lot. So Wilde is basically bankrupt? Interesting times. A lot of pigeons come home to roost during a recession. Suddenly castles in the sky replace so-called "solid" businesses. I take no pleasure in hearing about his company though. Been there, done that.

Hopefully he may now feel it neccesary to sell his shares to raise a few quid. Leon, got your chequebook ready?

nice find. explains a lot. So Wilde is basically bankrupt? .

Why do you assume that ? its his company not him personally, however, the delay in filing the accounts could be frowned upon due to the now public financial position, trading insolvent can lead to being struck off, I suspect HE will be included in some way shape or form in the financial liabilities...directors loan etc..

Why do you assume that ? its his company not him personally, however, the delay in filing the accounts could be frowned upon due to the now public financial position, trading insolvent can lead to being struck off

you're right, I meant his company...

One fact jumped out of the accounts. Remuneration is respect of the Directors was £1,747,507 in 2006 compared with £468,575 in 2005, despite the loss increasing from over £700K to over £2.5M.

The remuneration of the highest director was £940K!!!!!!

No dividend was paid in 2006, unsuprisingly, but, given the above "remuneration" who needs a divi. ?

One fact jumped out of the accounts. Remuneration is respect of the Directors was £1,747,507 in 2006 compared with £468,575 in 2005, despite the loss increasing from over £700K to over £2.5M.

The remuneration of the highest director wasn't shown, suprise, suprise,.

No dividend was paid in 2006, unsuprisingly, but, given the above "remuneration" who needs a divi. ?

Had to pay for those SLH shares somehow.

Not a very good investment as it turned out.

That's when the housing market was booming as well!

Anyway i thought his wealth was mainly in;

Wilde Family Office Ltd & Wilde family investements Ltd

No real suprises, but the long awaited accounts for the Merlion Group for the 2006 year have been filed at Company's House. 15 months overdue, reading them explains why Wilde himself is unwilling to commit a cent to his investment in Southampton. He signed them on January 29th, 2009, only 15 months late and they read like a train wreck. To quote the auditors:

 

"The group incurred a loss after tax of £2,597,149 during the year that ended 31st December, 2006 and, at that date, the group's liabilities exceeded its total assets by £2,253,781. These conditions.....indicate the existence of a material uncertainty which may cast significant doubt about the group's ability to continue as a going concern."

 

Jeez, why the hell he used his money to invest in a football club whilst his own company needed every penny at the same time, says everything about the man....

All this says is that Wilde cannot be expecting his personal wealth to be increased from Merlion in the short term. That does not say he has not made a huge amount from Merlion and managed to transfer that to his own personal control legally. It's always good if your company makes you a fortune, it's another matter leaving it within that company and being subject to market movements, especially in the building sector. Anyone with any sense would take this approach and leave the shell behind, always capable of supporting, if and when it is felt required. I looked a while back at Wilde and he has made a lot of money, but just becaue you have all that money does not mean you are prepared to throw it at a football club. Just because you are worth a kings ransom from nothing, does not mean you are prepared to spend most of that on a football club. You get expensive tastes and commitments which whittles down your pot to a small percentage of that total.

This is no sort of endorsement for Wilde, but the shell that is now Merlion has little relevance, only from the stand point that it does not look like providing further revenue in the short term, but equally isolated from it's losses. What is of relevance is the money he made from Merlion and what that money is now doing.

This is akin to someone who has sold their company, making a pretty packet, only to now find the share price is rock bottom and the company is in debt. It does not worry to that individual, because their money is no longer tied up in that company but in his own personal account.

One fact jumped out of the accounts. Remuneration is respect of the Directors was £1,747,507 in 2006 compared with £468,575 in 2005, despite the loss increasing from over £700K to over £2.5M.

The remuneration of the highest director wasn't shown, suprise, suprise,.

No dividend was paid in 2006, unsuprisingly, but, given the above "remuneration" who needs a divi. ?

Looks to me like he has been extracting his cash from this company - most of the loss was directors' fees

Looks to me like he has been extracting his cash from this company - most of the loss was directors' fees

It wasn't his cash, actually....it was the company's, which had, during the 12 months to the 31st December, 2006, increased the amount of money it owed, by over a million (creditors due within 12 months increased from £15.4M to £16.5M).

Strange year to increase director's wages by nearly £1.3M.

That strategy is beginning to sound very familiar.....

So in short, Michael Wilde is putting his faith in Rupert Lowe to save him losing a fortune on his shares.

Would explain his u-turn.

A re-read shows me that the highest paid director of Merlion Group paid himself £940K in 2006, compared with £183,740 in 2005.

Who could justify that type of pay, whilst the company is losing over £2.5M?

I think I'll now look up the penalties for directors of companies who trade whilst insolvent. I should think they're pretty severe...

No real suprises, but the long awaited accounts for the Merlion Group for the 2006 year have been filed at Company's House. 15 months overdue, reading them explains why Wilde himself is unwilling to commit a cent to his investment in Southampton. He signed them on January 29th, 2009, only 15 months late and they read like a train wreck. To quote the auditors:

 

"The group incurred a loss after tax of £2,597,149 during the year that ended 31st December, 2006 and, at that date, the group's liabilities exceeded its total assets by £2,253,781. These conditions.....indicate the existence of a material uncertainty which may cast significant doubt about the group's ability to continue as a going concern."

 

Jeez, why the hell he used his money to invest in a football club whilst his own company needed every penny at the same time, says everything about the man....

Or perhaps he used the money FROM his company to buy the shares....

No real suprises, but the long awaited accounts for the Merlion Group for the 2006 year have been filed at Company's House. 15 months overdue, reading them explains why Wilde himself is unwilling to commit a cent to his investment in Southampton. He signed them on January 29th, 2009, only 15 months late and they read like a train wreck. To quote the auditors:

 

"The group incurred a loss after tax of £2,597,149 during the year that ended 31st December, 2006 and, at that date, the group's liabilities exceeded its total assets by £2,253,781. These conditions.....indicate the existence of a material uncertainty which may cast significant doubt about the group's ability to continue as a going concern."

 

Jeez, why the hell he used his money to invest in a football club whilst his own company needed every penny at the same time, says everything about the man....

Worst speculative punt ever!

As Warren Buffet observed:

"It’s only when the tide goes out that you learn who’s been swimming naked"

For anyone that's interested, here's some information on the duties and responsibilities of a director of a company and with that, I'm off to have a stiff brandy....

"It is important to be able to identify if your company or business is insolvent. The directors of an insolvent company have a duty to protect creditors’ interests and maximise funds for creditors.

If as a director you fail to take correct action you may be found to be in breach of your duty of care to the company. This could result in you being required to make a contribution out of your private funds to the company’s assets or disqualified from acting as a director."

Worst speculative punt ever!

Not so bad when it's not your money.

As a company director of a multi-million pound company (one of 4 so I'm not in a position to invest in Saints - not yet anyway), I'm well aware of the directors responsibilities regarding trading while insolvent. Extracting money through directors fees from a loss making venture, prior to putting the company into administration leaving your creditors hanging is one of the oldest tricks in the book.

Having said that, HMRC and the courts are much hotter on it now - hence the chap who killed his family and burnt his house down the other day - he'd done exactly that but the courts had chased him down and ordered him to pay his company's creditors.

So, if anything untoward has taken place, and I'm not saying it has, it will probably end with personal bankruptcy of the main director.

Not so bad when it's not your money.

What?

What?

Appears he may have been taking more of his company's money than he should have, money which ultimately may cost creditors should the company go under.

No real suprises, but the long awaited accounts for the Merlion Group for the 2006 year have been filed at Company's House. 15 months overdue, reading them explains why Wilde himself is unwilling to commit a cent to his investment in Southampton. He signed them on January 29th, 2009, only 15 months late and they read like a train wreck.

Does it mention when the 2007 accounts will be published, given they must be late too?

Remember he lives in Jersey.

AFAIK the "in " to Jersey is rumoured to be about £20mill in readily realisable non-properrty assets, and apparently you negotiate your tax individually.

It is just possible that he bought one of the very few ludicrously expensive free market properties, and didn't go down the personal negotiation route though.

I wouldn't necessarily equate the health of a UK registered company with his personal wealth.

HMRC can get at his company but not at him, unless he returns.

Mmm, might not see so much of Mr Wilde at SMS in the coming months then? His cosying up to Agent Lowe now takes on a whole new meaning. Snouts in trough comes to mind.

I thought it was illegal to knowingly trade whilst insolvent

You're only insolvent if the banks decide to stop backing you, I guess. I also don't know if Jersey laws differ from our own.

Remember he lives in Jersey.

AFAIK the "in " to Jersey is rumoured to be about £20mill in readily realisable non-properrty assets, and apparently you negotiate your tax individually.

It is just possible that he bought one of the very few ludicrously expensive free market properties, and didn't go down the personal negotiation route though.

I wouldn't necessarily equate the health of a UK registered company with his personal wealth.

HMRC can get at his company but not at him, unless he returns.

MW moved to Jersey fairly recently

I remember him telling me that he arrived late 2004

It is true though, his residency category requires proof of having high levels of personal wealth

Let's hope he's not offering financial advice at SMS then :shock:

no weve got Mr "Teflon" Dave Jones doing that ......... oh ****!

Well GM, we knew he didn't have enough money coming in, that's why he couldn't afford to buy all of Hunt and Wiseman's shares and had to charm his way to getting options over them instead. And Merlion didn't quite reach his projected turnover of "in excess of £30m" either...

A re-read shows me that the highest paid director of Merlion Group paid himself £940K in 2006, compared with £183,740 in 2005.

Just to spell it out, given you are being polite not mentioning it, the only shareholder in Merlion is Mr Wilde so no prizes for guessing who took home that money (tax free). Oh, and that salary was "only" £97,931 in 2004, so it had already doubled the year before it quintupled. I wonder who sits on his remuneration committee? :-)

Who could justify that type of pay, whilst the company is losing over £2.5M?

Given that there were no profits to distribute as dividends (previously issued in excess of his stated policy of "no more than 50% of taxable profit" anyway), it would seem that was the only way to get the cash out - lucky Merlion coincidentally managed to increase their overdraft by £1m too eh!

I think I'll now look up the penalties for directors of companies who trade whilst insolvent. I should think they're pretty severe...

One of the more interesting parts of the accounts is that all the non-execs resigned on 1st October - as that was 9 weeks after the 2005 accounts were signed off, and given Wilde's issues with attending the UK too frequently, I would guess that was the date of the Merlion AGM. Maybe they took issue with that 10-fold salary increase in the middle of a terrible year for the company? And it's interesting to see they weren't replaced, so much for practicising the Corporate Governance he preached about SFC!

And this year the Managing Director and Finance Director both resigned on 10th October... this year's AGM? Perhaps they didn't fancy explaining away why the accounts were over a year late. Anyway, Merlion are left with just Wilde and one other Director now (the most recently appointed one) - they are even using a secretaries company to act as Company Secretary!

"If we wanted a couple of million, we could find it within the board"

Ha ha.

And this year the Managing Director and Finance Director both resigned on 10th October... this year's AGM? Perhaps they didn't fancy explaining away why the accounts were over a year late. Anyway, Merlion are left with just Wilde and one other Director now (the most recently appointed one) - they are even using a secretaries company to act as Company Secretary!

The MD and FD resigned on the 10th October, 2007!!

The last director, S.C. Wren (apart from Wilde) resigned on December 1st, 2007, a resignation that was not authorised by the company secretary and notified to Companies House until January 9th, 2009!!!

Wilde is now the last man standing at Merlion Group Limited. I think that if administrators are appointed, there will be some very interesting questions asked of his conduct since then....

I wonder why we don't here much from Scouse Mike on here nowadays?

HMRC may be deterring him form entering the country but he must have internet access in his tax haven.

Has he gone the same way as Help Me Rhonda and Dan Williams?

No real suprises, but the long awaited accounts for the Merlion Group for the 2006 year have been filed at Company's House. 15 months overdue, reading them explains why Wilde himself is unwilling to commit a cent to his investment in Southampton. He signed them on January 29th, 2009, only 15 months late and they read like a train wreck. To quote the auditors:

 

"The group incurred a loss after tax of £2,597,149 during the year that ended 31st December, 2006 and, at that date, the group's liabilities exceeded its total assets by £2,253,781. These conditions.....indicate the existence of a material uncertainty which may cast significant doubt about the group's ability to continue as a going concern."

 

Jeez, why the hell he used his money to invest in a football club whilst his own company needed every penny at the same time, says everything about the man....

I seem to remember quite a few posters including you, GM, making this point when he first came onto the scene. We didn't want to know, of course. He was the messiah coming to oust Lowe.

so his company is going to the wall but his personal fortune is growing nicely thank you very much.

Who polices this sort of thing?

so his company is going to the wall but his personal fortune is growing nicely thank you very much.

 

Who polices this sort of thing?