KEY POINTS:
Adult entertainment businessman Steve Crow is looking to float his company Vixen Direct on the NZX. Crow is seeking up to $5 million to expand the business, which mostly sells adult DVDs, into Australia and South Africa.
Would you invest in pornography shares? Here is a selection of Your Views:
Jonty
Hell yes, I'd invest in porn shares. The industry is thriving now more than it ever was or has. John Holmes never pictured just how far porn would permeate through society 30 years after his heyday. If the taxes I pay can go towards ACC compo for a prostitute who injures herself on the job, then I sure as hell can use some of my hard-earned money to buy shares in the industry that that prostitute works in, and I should be given just as much understanding for doing so from the public as that prostitute got. Seriously.
William
Reading the posts it amazes me that people are looking seriously at this as a viable financial venture. Overseas the "adult" industry while touting big dollar turnovers, the actual investor returns are something else. Take for instance Private Media Group (listed on the Nasdaq PRVT) its Manifesto reads " Private Media Group aspires to be the world's most innovative, brand driven, multimedia adult entertainment company, producing and providing the highest quality content for all new media." Under content "Private owns the worldwide rights to the largest archive of high quality adult content in the world, which will become the largest archive of digital content by mid 2007." Sounds like a good thing until then you look under the investor Faq's their attitude to dividends "10. Does Private pay a cash dividend or have a Dividend Reinvestment Program (DRIP)? Private Media Group has never paid dividends on its Common Stock and does not anticipate payment of dividends in the foreseeable future. We intend to retain earnings for the foreseeable future for use in the operation and expansion of our business. Since Private does not pay cash dividends, we do not have a Dividend Reinvestment Program". Okay, so the capital gain on the share price must be wonderful? Guess again, current stock price US$2.21. The porn industry (please don't try and confuse us with adult entertainment) isn't viable as a business venture or a component of a healthy society.
Steve
Jtuf says: "Porn DVD sales are falling for the same reason music CD sales are dropping. With so much free or low price material available on the web, few people will buy discs."
In the minds of the censors and those who object to net porn, the free availability of the material through the internet is encouraging consumption, and particularly introducing our young people to stuff they wouldn't otherwise have had the courage to go into a shop to buy. Yet when we turn to music and videos, free availability of material on the internet is said to be ruining the "legitimate" industry. Which is it? Thinking here seems confused to say the least. My pick is there's a bit of both operating in both cases. The potential of free net music to promote the material sold on disks is very much underrated. Ditto porn, in my view. People will begin to ask "can I get higher technical quality by buying "legit"? And yes, there are cases of porn purveyors taking free distributors to the courts.
Simon (Sumner) says: "I bet morals have nothing to do with it and [accountant] are only concerned with the potential for negative publicity."
Is there a difference? For many people (unless they believe seriously in an avenging God) what "society" disapproves of, hence what would bring me "negative publicity" is their definition of morals. Does anyone have a better (secular) definition?
Jada Michaels
I would not invest in pornography, anymore than I would invest in the degradation of my own daughter. Anyone who does is a fool who deserves to lose their money.
Sean John
No I wouldn't invest, enough of my money goes into the industry as it is =(
Rod
Good on you Steve. There is nothing wrong with porn. It's been around ever since humans came to be. If you've come up with a method that will make you rich and in turn provide others with a service or product then good on you mate! I wish you all the best in your endeavours.
John Lewis
In an era when the country is run in large part by deviates prepared to provide services and funding for head bangers, substance abusers and release chronic undesirables into the community why not encourage investment in this "entertainment" sector by providing another round of tax breaks and self aggrandisement for the country's leader.
Kim
It's about time! I know so many people who would love to be able to go to an Adult shop, but they are so dark and dirty that the average person are to scared to go. Steve's idea to open a chain of stores that are classy is so overdue and a great idea, I and many of my friends have already decided to purchase shears in Steve's venture. Good luck Steve and Thank you for supplying a service that is so needed.
Annette Moody
No, I would not add such shares to my portfolio, I find such an option to be distasteful.
Jtuf
Porn DVD sales are falling for the same reason music CD sales are dropping. With so much free or low price material available on the web, few people will buy discs. The upscale sex shops have potential. There is definitely an unfilled market for shops where couples can browse comfortably together.
David H
There is nothing wrong with good healthy porn, although Mr Crow is taking a gamble investing in DVD when broadband internet is already making serious inroads against TV in many countries. What worries me is that so many people are slaves of their appetites, and free speech is too often used to allow business practices that are detrimental to human life, thought and personal progress. Religion may play less of a role than it did in previous centuries, but that doesn't mean that the concepts of right and wrong, good and bad are similarly deprecated. Porn is not illegal, but do we really want to encourage it?
Hab Itual
You bet. Give me crows email address and I will invest with him without the prospectus. Accountants are the worse hypocrites ever.
Jeremy
Business is business. Look at what playboy has done. Brilliant.
Paul (Auckland)
Why not invest if the business model stacks up? As for the small minded who say it objectifies women, might I remind you that there are men in frame showing as much of their bodies as the women! Stop being a prude. Steve, if you're having difficulty finding someone to value your company, I'm a CA in practice who'd be happy to do it.
Wade
Keep New Zealand clean. We don't need this grubby stuff. Get rid of it.
Bruce
Porn is certainly a growing market here and internationally, so it could be a pretty good opportunity to investigate. If the returns are good, and the numbers stack up, then yup, it's probably a more sound investment opportunity than investing with a BridgeCorp!
Chris
Have a look at the share price of Playboy over a five-year period, stuff all gains, and they "into" everything to do with porn. Having said that I be keen, if it stacks up. If it don't throw a $100 at it anyway just to go to the AGMs. Just imagine what be like :)
Peter (Auckland)
How many sheep blindly say that if something is illegal then it is bad, yet don't say the reverse if it's legal then it's okay? Our government views this is a legal business and it has every right to operate as such. I'd put my money into it if I thought it had a sound business model. But I'd be a little concerned about the impact that broadband will have on the DVD side of the business.
Mel
Will the shareholders get discounts on the DVDs and video? What about the entertainment at the shareholders meeting?
Jono
I wonder if they would offer protected dividends.
Jess Robertson
I think this is a great idea. If people are more aware of pornography instead of it being hidden away like some kind of morbid taboo then people won't be as against it. As for shops designed for women, I am all for that as well, in fact I wouldn't even mind working in one. Whilst men can be happy with a magazine or movie brought from any old shop, women tend to be a bit more adverse as to where they buy things from. From my own personal experience I would much rather walk into a sex shop that was nice and displayed as just another kind of store, instead of some dimly lit shop hidden down the non-busiest part of town that even just walking past it makes you feel a little dirty. There is a growing market of woman looking into the sex industry for all sorts of things from toys to advice and it's a great source to tap into as it just keeps expanding and expanding.
Harry L (Waitakere City)
Might be a good stock tip. I mean, explosive growth is often associated with the porn industry.
Er, but seriously, it's not exactly the type of company I'd like to see my KiwiSaver funds being invested in. Don't want to sound like a prude but I can't see myself purchasing any shares in a company whose business plan so obviously involves the objectification of women.
LV
Great idea. It's a global multi-billion dollar industry, its a legitimate industry, what's the big issue? I'm sure the prudes and PC types might get on their high horses and have their noses put out of place but then again no-one is going to try and force them to buy shares in adult entertainment.
KeenInvestor
Sure, why not invest? Provided it's not a moral issue for you then the porn industry is certainly a robust and valid investment.
Simon (Sumner)
What a laugh. Accountancy companies refusing work for an adult entertainment company on "moral grounds". I bet morals have nothing to do with it and they are only concerned with the potential for negative publicity. Wimps. I imagine these firms wouldn't hesitate to work on behalf of Sky TV which has a more acceptable image, despite the fact that it broadcasts explicit porn 24 hours a day. Hypocrites.
Digby
It amuses me that these little guys go public for the sake of raising $5m. He will chew through all of that in advertising just to float. Hard to imagine that this company will ever go gangbusters.
C Hoods
This is to be expected, as NZ continues its moral decline. Would I partake? Yeah, right. We cannot cope with the social problems we have from white collar in the street to blue collar in jail. Our country has had the worse run in the last few years in every area as we continue the downward spiral and excessive waste of money on ombudsmen, queries, boards, you name it a total shambles. Focus in parliament is on the small things, while we idly sit by and see things like this happen.
Fady
Absolutely not.
