Profits at HARMAN Technology / Ilford are on the rise

[Kirk Gittings]

Cool.

[EdWorkman]

Sal
I'm also a retired engineer, I was my own boss for maybe half that, best job was a non-public corp that went belly up.
The other half i was a proprietor, and couldn't just sit and wait for the check to land in my lap.
I live on investments in publicly traded companies, which are in fact the basis for many pension funds, including those of gummint workers [ as in California PERS]. Yeah, mostly I saved the money to invest in wall street instruments.
"Wall Street" traders got stupid and got bailed out and got their bonuses, [and I hate them] but my investments are just fine.
No non sequiter at all, the system works, except when gummint gets crazy and interferes. Let the traders fail, let the rest of us own equities.
For example Kodak wasn't killed by "wall street" or so-called "bean counters"---see what Steve Smith said.

[Drew Wiley]

It's just that there's an enormous amt of pressure on the bean counters to come up with
something quarter after quarter. We're not a patient population. I too did OK on my pension funds, but I know a lot of people who lost almost everything. I think of Wall St as
more slash and burn agriculture - get a great crop real fast, but potentially ruin the soil
forever after. It doesn't have to be that way. Berkshire-Hathaway (Buffet) employs a strategy of buying solid mfg concerns and retaining not only the facilities but the experience of the personnel, basically keep the infrastructure intact so that you own a real asset - but it is a very tightly managed ship and outside the realm of the general public to invest in. Way too many buyouts lately have been unrealistically leveraged; and
then to make an appearance of profit, the tangible assets are thrown away, the product
line outsourced, and the end result is that they own nothing but a label and its marketing
rights - an extremely vunerable position for anyone involved.

[Andrew O'Neill]

I don't care how Ilford goes about their business, as long as they are in the black. Good news for once!

[benrains]

Let me just reiterate because this thread seems to have run off the road and into the weeds ... Yay! Ilford films and photographic papers are, hopefully, gonna be around for a while! I think HARMAN has been smart about their business and while still making an effort to service their customers. One great example is their willingness to accomodate the ULF folks with their annual special-size film orders. I think that's a wonderful way for them to accomodate the needs of a rather small segment of customers-- who probably don't number beyond some dozen people worldwide (maybe into the low hundreds in a good year). What other film company out there would make an effort to support such a small number of customers?

[Drew Wiley]

Well for one thing they actually communicate with their customer base to read the tea leaves. They follow what we are thinking. That's rare enough nowadays. And the quality is
very good and dependable. Score another point. They know who they are, and understand
who they're not. Another good sign. They have certain home-run products that dominate
discussion at the moment, like MGWT. So they deserve my business and will continue to
get it.

[Kodachrome25]

Well for one thing they actually communicate with their customer base to read the tea leaves. They follow what we are thinking. That's rare enough nowadays. And the quality is
very good and dependable. Score another point. They know who they are, and understand
who they're not. Another good sign. They have certain home-run products that dominate
discussion at the moment, like MGWT. So they deserve my business and will continue to
get it.

+1, even in film's heyday was it not *this* good, hubris was rampant at the big yellow for example in the 80's & 90's. Ilford / Harman realizes that film users want long term solutions with product lines we can trust will stick around and for pete's sake, top quality control. Short of pairing up with an enlarger company, they are the only cradle to grave solution for a serious analog shooter.....and they know this and are doing everything right.

[Sal Santamaura]

one of the most decent lines of type on this forum in years

Thank you Bob. I should add that Dick Phillips is one of the most decent people I've run across in 59 years on this planet.

...i was a proprietor, and couldn't just sit and wait for the check to land in my lap...

Most employees don't do that either. Implying otherwise does them a great disservice.

...I live on investments in publicly traded companies, which are in fact the basis for many pension funds, including those of gummint workers [ as in California PERS]...

Pension funds and how they invest has no bearing on HARMAN's report or how "Wall Street" would view those results. Dragging public employee pension funds into the discussion is even more irrelevant.

Yeah, mostly I saved the money to invest in wall street instruments...Let the traders fail, let the rest of us own equities...

I've always felt that anyone should be able to go to Vegas or buy stocks. I'm just glad a great film and paper supplier like Ilford isn't dependent on either gambling industry for its financing.

...Kodak wasn't killed by "wall street" or so-called "bean counters"...

Nor did I say or suggest it was. I simply pointed out that "Wall Street" would likely be unhappy with HARMAN's results were it a publicly traded entity. "Investors" would probably push it to make changes that wouldn't be good for Ilford or us, perhaps including ending the reportedly break-even annual special sizes runs. A privately owned (by silver imaging enthusiasts) HARMAN is far better. I'm convinced that profit-driven but non-greedy privately-held corporations serve everyone best.

[Oren Grad]

You may be right--you probably are. Although the press release cites Harman as being the manufacturer of a line of high end inkjet papers. I don't really follow the industry.

--Darin

Inkjet papers labeled "Ilford" are made by the Swiss company. Harman makes some inkjet papers too, but they're sold under the name "Harman". Under the reorganization, the Swiss company came away with overall rights to the "Ilford" name; Harman has the right to use it only for monochrome silver halide materials and directly related products.

[Pawlowski6132]

Ok Sal, let's take this one pont at a time. Please, enlighten us IN DETAIL, since you brought it up: Why would "Wall Street" likely be unhappy with Harman's results. Oh, and also, let us know WHO Wall Street is. Please share. Oh, and if you can, try to use facts. Not just your opinions. It tends to make your arguments much more convincing.