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Friday afternoon. 180,000 shares and 100,000 shares.
Can't see any substantial buys myself. FWIW, the general rule which I use, is that a single bargain up to £250,000 is most likely to be an ordinary investor. Between £250k and £1m is a manager of a small fund and those above £1m are unlikely to be anything other than an institutional holder. There are minor exceptions, but few and far between, IMO.
Somebody is confident.... those 2 big buys on Friday afternoon!!
the TU was for the lockdown period so realistically was going to reflect the lockdown period,looking forward, all stores opening next week and looks like some foreign travel likely to occur and will be increasing as we go forward, as per the times article today :-)
S-Moonraker - no idea, BUT, opening stores comes with extra costs - staff, stock, rates, rents, utilities etc - better to strengthen the online presence which has fewer overheads. However, the BONUS from opening stores is footfall for pledges, sales or purchase of jewelry and, of course, to collect foreign exchange.
On the foreign exchange side, far better to concentrate this online, trim margins for turnover volumes, offer secure delivery of cash etc. Foreign exchange competes with Post Offices, banks (despite closing in record numbers) and travel agencies. I would not be surprised if the larger supermarkets have a foreign exchange booth in store for that matter.
FWIW, I thought the update was muted, had a big cheer with the online side but all in all, not an upbeat one for investors to hang their shirts on.
Where do you think the new stores will be?
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/covid-19-holiday-travel-restrictions-set-to-ease-in-june-7rj2ztf9n
Popular holiday destinations could be opened up to British travellers at the end of June under a government plan to ease restrictions in time for the peak summer season.
Ministers are expected to allow quarantine-free travel from May 17 to a small number of “green-listed” countries that have a high level of vaccinations.
The government has said that it will review the plan on June 28, when the rules on testing and quarantine could be relaxed for amber countries. These could include popular European destinations such as Spain, Italy and Greece.
Peter Kenyon, Chief Executive stated '' Whilst the pandemic has had an unimaginable impact on communities and companies across the UK, we remain very confident that underpinned by our great value customer proposition, strong balance sheet and diversified model, we remain well-positioned to continue our growth trajectory as normality resumes."
Ramsdens also anticipate opening new stores over the next six months as part of their long-term growth strategy.
and yup, here it is the TU, as expected, interesting to see that online jewellery retail proposition, where revenue has more than doubled year on year. Lockdowns over now, all stores opening next week, cah is £15m at the Period end and an undrawn revolving credit facility of £10m. So all set nicely for going forward ...
https://*********************/newsfeed/article/trading-update-1184691
Good uptick today. Do we think there's a trading update on the way? The one in 2019 was around this time...
https://twitter.com/surprised_trade/status/1380081747547860992
no debt, cash in bank (possible M+A ahead) and profitable ...stores fully opening next week.
''..there will be less competition in the market place ''
Thank you, surprised for throwing a little light on a few questions I raised. So, loan to book at 60% makes sense ( price of precious metal is immaterial ) but there is sufficient margin for profit should the loan not be serviced or the pledge not redeemed.
I fully understand the various channels for sale, but what I would like clarity on is the "churn". And in this context, churn means the number of occasions that the same item is pledged. If pledges are, to all intents and purposes, payday loans, it is a very different prospect from a laundry for stolen property - a bit like buying from one of the original markets where good title was transferred and there were few or no questions on the source
The group’s pawnbroking arm, representing a quarter of group gross profit, is also well placed to rebuild profits. Unable to spend cash during last year’s lockdowns, Ramsdens’ customers repaid loans which reduced the group’s pledge book by a sixth to £6.5m. It’s realistic to expect the pawnbroking book – average pledge of £248 on a loan-to-value of 60 per cent – to start to tick up as lockdown restrictions are eased and customers’ requirement for cash starts to rise again. Furthermore, the gold price is 17 per cent higher than this time last year, and is up 40 per cent in the past two years, so there is scope to make larger pledges as the loan book rebounds given that a high proportion of pledged items have a precious metal content. A strong gold price also enables an improved recovery of interest charges where unredeemed pledged goods are scrapped as opposed to being sold through retail channels.
Typically, a customer brings unwanted jewellery into a Ramsdens store and a price is agreed depending upon the retail potential, weight or carat. The jewellery is then retailed through the 157-store network or online. Any residual items are smelted and sold to a bullion dealer for their intrinsic value. Precious metal purchases account for a fifth of Ramsdens’ gross profits.
Finally, Ramsdens’ jewellery sales should remain strong for several reasons:
¦ Greater online presence. The internet now accounts for 9 per cent of all jewellery sales with two-fifths of online buyers living outside the natural catchment area of its branch network.
¦ New jewellery sales. The segment now accounts for 31 per cent of retail revenue, and has been rising as Ramsdens’ improves its marketing offering.
While a few “limited destinations” may become available in May, I suspect that the domestic punter changing cash in RFX stores is likely to want Euro. And although many countries in EU are desperate for hordes of Britons to party in their sunshine, unless the obvious dangers from infection are addressed through vaccine and prevention of spread, currency turnover will be small.
It does not mean though, that, as the UK begins to return to work that RFX will not prosper. Sadly, for some, measures in place for the last 12 months to prevent foreclosure or the execution of demands in satisfaction of debts has changed. I thus expect a pickup in the pawnbroking turnover for RFX which will be reflected in the pledge book and cash flows. It may be that the loan period is more volatile, pledge valuations fall or interest rates change. Those are the short term things that might be useful for investors.
I would be interested to learn from any experts in the competence of pawnbroking the typical timescale for a pledge and frequency that the same item is pledged for a loan. Cannot pretend that this is a company that holds long term appeal for me, but one that I hope provides portfolio cover should markets deteriorate.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/boris-johnson-hopeful-of-foreign-holidays-by-next-month-fsvpzxnf2
''He said he was hopeful that foreign travel would be possible to a limited number of destinations from May 17..''
every little helps ...
While the liklihood for mainland European holiday travel resumens before September (my hunch) it does not mean that travel further afield will be affected. It is quite possible that USA will be a destination for vaccinated travellers though, again my hunch, the first whiff of foreign holidays will re-commence in December 2021 when the European ski season resumes.
Foreign exchange is usually a last minute exercise for most holiday makers and the FX side of things won't recover until first there is assurance for discretionary travel without financial penalty, that travellers will not be subject to intrusive testing and restriction on movement in a foreign country and last that quarantine in return is un-necessary.
In short, Europe needs to roll out vaccine with greater enthusiasm for all viable medicines with more zeal and fewer political shenanigans.
Pawnbroking, new and second hand Jewellery sales, scrap gold and silver, watches then FX. Maybe 25% represents FX but it won't be totally eliminated. I'm targeting £2 then I'm out.
Sold my holding up at 170p. I was really keen on this stock but I now worry if the FX won't come back as the door on o'seas travel this year might be gone
Thoughts...
With the basic information that the majority of us have, it is always easy to attribute suspicion that Market Makers are "holding the price back" or somehow manipulating the market. MM's are there to make a market and can be long or short without the need to disclose their position.
I have not looked at the volumes transacted but it might be that the recent rapid uplift in the share price brought a few sellers out of the woodwork and these are gradually being hoovered up by domestic punters. It might also be that there is a worked sell order in the background and, so that there is no alarm or panic, prices remain steady and thus an orderly market is evidenced.
Of much greater conern are wild swings in the absence of news or volume.
As far as I am concerned, Spring is beginning to take over from Winter, vaccine is being rolled out at an increasing rate and takeup is high. Shops in Wales are starting to re-open, school children are returning to their classrooms and Europe is beginning to play "catchup". Life therefore is returning to normal. I will be even happier once I receive my first vaccine (this Saturday), have a reaction to my jab but no lasting ill effect or complication.
Buys outweighing the sells considerably the last week or so but the SP remains at 165/172.
Get the feeling it's being held back???
Cannot declare a loss or profit unless share is sold. I've kicked myself many times for not running profits long enough and holding losers too long.
Having made a conscious effort since 2012 to change that, my portfolio performance has improved a full 1%. And although this does not sound much, the effect over an 8 year timeframe has benn very beneficial, especially in poor years such as 2018.
I sold at 170p but will be buying back in for sure. I think we are a little off results so chancing some additional gains elsewhere
Hope I’m back in time!
I have added another few shares today to average up (my preferred method of accumulation). I doubt that the transaction will move the share price, but, with the chart showing a broad trend of improvement and my gut feeling that the UK and to a point, America and Europe, are getting Covid 19 under control, recovery to pre-pandemic levels for the SP has improved considerably.
(Sharecast News) - Financial services provider Ramsdens Holdings said on Wednesday that it had traded profitably during the six months ended 30 September.
Ramsdens now anticipates pre-tax profits for the 18 month period ended 30 September to be in the vicinity of £9.0m, while the group's balance sheet and liquidity were said to be "strong" with cash of approximately £16.0m at the period end and an undrawn revolving credit facility of £10.0m.
The AIM-listed group did acknowledge that store closures and ongoing restrictions to international travel had resulted in "a significant reduction" in revenue during the period, with foreign currency commission coming in at approximately 30% of that seen a year earlier.
However, Ramsdens said the performance of its jewellery retail segment had been "encouraging" and its purchase of precious metals segment had benefited from the strong gold price.
Loan repayments in its pawnbroking unit also improved the group's cash position during the half.
Chief executive Peter Kenyon said: "Whilst this has been a very challenging six months for us all, and although significant uncertainties still lie ahead, we remain confident that underpinned by our trusted brand, diversified business model and strong balance sheet, Ramsdens is well-positioned to continue to deliver its long term objectives."