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Non-Tech : GRIN (Grand Toys International Inc) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Frank McVerry who wrote (164)	4/14/1999 8:22:00 PM
From: katmando	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 495

Frank, Great job. Any forecasts on earnings? Should we go with our guesses for 4Q? Kat

To: Frank McVerry who wrote (164)	4/18/1999 3:19:00 PM
From: katmando	Respond to of 495

Frank, 1. Plz see SEC 10-K filed 3/31/99. 2. Outlook 1999 might be GOOD. May not happen in 1Q but Net Sls must pop NLT 2Q because GRIN has a 4-mon shipping rule on backlog. Backlog is very IMPRESSIVE. Also, scary if they can't ship. 3. First Hurdle: No profit margin in '98 ie negative earnings. COGS was up 5 % over '97...that is BAD BAD BAD news. I presume due to currency adjustment (US vs CAN $). This expense better drop. 4. Second Hurdle: GRIN has $15.7 Mil in back orders which must ship in 4 mons. That's almost half of all 1998 Net Sls!!!! Good news. 5. Third Hurdle: AR is huge at $7.7 Mil. GRIN must collect this or it will get hosed. I wonder how much they have in uncollectables. 6. Fourth Hurdle: Info Tech. GRIN needs to get on with the web site and E-commerce. Am wondering if their sales force is automated in any way. GRIN's Manufacturers are automated: Tiger, Toy Biz, PMS Intl etc. GRIN's Customers are automated: WALMART, Toys R Us, Sears et al. What the heck!!!! 7. GRIN is broke bad if it can not produce earnings in 1Q and 2Q. 8. My guess: GRIN is going to liftoff this qtr.

To: Frank McVerry who wrote (164)	4/19/1999 11:00:00 AM
From: katmando	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 495

E-mail response from Ron Goldenberg, CFO: 1. First, GRIN CFO has always been responsive. IMO he has a good track record for straight talk. 2. CFO's paraphrased comments to my questions: a. FURBY: Very important. But, tighter margins than other toys. See 1Q earnings for more details. b. BANK LOAN: Line of credit loan being finalized in May. Better deal than present loan. c. ORDER BACKLOG ($15.7 Mil): Most of backlog is for current shipping. Some orders already for fall shipment. d. AR ($7.7 Mil): All collected in-house. e. WEB SITE: Will be improved. f. E-COMMERCE: Awaiting board approval. Should start this year. g. PRESS RELEASES: GRIN prefers to announce after initiatives are finalized. Refuse to hype the market. h. 1Q EARNINGS: Should be out before May. 4Q always takes longer because of end-of-yr audit by KPMG. 3. My guess for 1Q Earnings: Positive but lower than we want. Maybe about 10 cents. 1999 is big transition year.