Member Info for 100notout

Considering that THG has had a sell off from 42p, a re rating by a credit rating agency focusing on deleveraging, negative article in the FT (although they are always negative with regards to THG) and a broker down grade, I wouldn't be surprised if some news has leaked suggesting that they won't get a rebate. It just seems rather odd for this to happen just days before HMRC updates the market.

Not long to find out but if THG are successful I cant see the hedge funds hanging around. I'm sure that brokers will make some upgrades of over 70p for starters.

I think the problem of the low attendance is that the AGM is in Manchester and it is difficult for most shareholders to attend because of distance and if you have a portfolio of over 25 companies you would have to attend an AGM every other week which is not plausible. I think having a proper IR department that dealt with shareholders concerns would be a start. Perhaps they could use the money they pay the Chairman to enable this.

With regards to share price manipulation the FCA are useless. I have made several complaints over the years and got absolutely nowhere. I have even spoken to MP's and talked about the corruption but they won't go against the hedge funds as a lot of them are political donors. I have on at least 5 times warned of manipulation for the purpose of a takeover but they are not interested.

It is my belief that the share price has been worked on for a takeover. Shareholders are getting annoyed and for good reason as the share price is being suppressed. The current Mkt cap of £500m bears no resemblance to the true value of the company. Ask yourself why would US hedge funds, brokers and credit rating agencies really be interested in a company with a mkt cap of £500m in the UK. MM won't agree to a low ball offer so any bidder will go hostile and bypass the Bod. With regards to the valuations of APN and Huel, the take over price should be over £1.25 but I reckon a lot of shareholders would take 80p and move on.

I don't personally believe that MM is totally to blame as the retail environment hasn't been a bed of roses but he hasn't helped matters by sticking two fingers up at the city. Let's not forget though that at least he has given up the golden share, separated Ingenuity, reduced debt and increased revenue which the city asked of him. We just have to wait for the profits which I think will start to come soon enough. THG must be doing something right as the likes of Mars, Muller, Google, Shein and Greencore wouldn't partner with them otherwise. The share price really doesn't deserve to be at 30p.

JPM have reduced their target to 48 from 55 and Fitch have downgraded within the last few days whilst THG in a matter of days will find out if they will receive a VAT rebate close to £80m which would propel the company to drive debt below £130m.

Wouldn't it be wise for them to have waited for the VAT outcome if they were balanced. The timing is rather odd don't you think?

Are you saying that MM and Ashley are behind the share price manipulation Stanley?

THG is in a much better position now than it has been for a long time. Everyone has to make their own investment decision but I have added to bring my average down and will continue to do so at these prices. If THG do get the VAT money back and debt falls to less than £130m then this massively de risks the company going forward. Hopefully the Iran conflict will be over soon and this will be another negative out of the way.

An offer could come in any day at multiples of the current price but if not I am happy to wait until THG makes some decent profit as it's just a matter of time. The hedge funds will no doubt disappear soon as the risk reward at the current price is skewed against them despite the ramblings from the like of Fitch. Most of the covering brokers if not all of them have targets over 50p which goes no where near the sum of the parts valuation.

The Fitch ratings for THG have't massively deviated for a while and if anything it is rather dubious that they have slightly downgraded THG since their net debt position a few years ago stood at £560m and has fallen to £233m as of March 2026. THG have stated that if the VAT claim comes through then it expects the debt to fall to £110m-130m before any asset sales. If there are any asset sales and THG have a cash surplus they probably won't change their rating so it's pretty worthless. It's best to stick to the facts. Bring on a debt free THG to rid the muppets.

It doesn't even mention the possible VAT refund. Don't you think that the small matter of £80m is worth mentioning. Fitch reports are best used as toilet roll.

It was probably MM's dogs buying them back after dumping them at 42...

Of course the war is having a negative affect on the share price but really the share price is 33p, how much lower can it feasibly go!!!THG is being played with by a group like a fiddle. The sad thing is that I reckon MM knows who is doing this. You will know the VAT outcome a few days before the news is released, if it's positive it will rise to 40p plus and then they will dump it again before the next news for example an asset sale. This is a leaky ship and genuine shareholders are being taken for mugs.

MM's time is running out. The share price would be an embarrassment to most CEO's but not for MM as he will just brag that he has just purchased another x millions from a disgruntled fund manager. Most CEO's wouldn't still be in the position after such an extended period of poor share price performance. Shareholders deserve better from a ftse 250 company. MM has three options, 1 get the company profitable to increase the share price. 2 Sell it. 3. resign and get a new management team that are focussed on profit before revenue. The whole BOD should be ashamed and apart from MM not one of them has purchased any shares. What a bloody disgrace. Do us a favour MM and resign. You know it makes sense.

Sylvia - Are you saying the same for US companies as the president had an assassination attempt on his life?

I think some of the de ramping posters on here could be associated with the terrorists. Perhaps they should be investigated.

It doesn't look like investors in Hainan are worried as the share price wouldn't have risen today.

I agree elcobbledore - What's the betting that Hainan have been suppressing the share price for this reason. With current price of spod the share price should be much higher.

Valuations for Myprotein range from £775m - £1.5Bn. The current market cap is circa £570m and if debt falls to £130m this equates to an EV of £700m. This goes to show how ridiculously cheap THG is. Let's hope this goes much higher than all your stated averages.

I agree 35p isn't anything to get excited about but at least it is moving in the right direction for a change. Let's face it, it's the price that MM bought his last stake for. When we get clarification of the VAT decision hopefully that will propel THG to a better price.

I take JPM'S note as seriously as their broker target of 32p on RR a few years ago. The rest of the brokers will no doubt increase their targets if the VAT outcome is successful. I still wouldn't be surprised for an asset sale in the foreseeable future. Myprotein could easily fetch more than the current mkt cap alone.

The writing was on the wall and MM spelt it out that debt could fall between £110m-130m. This is manageable compared with previous debt levels over £530m a couple of years ago. EPS should start to improve.

Any sniff of a takeover and this triples like last time.

If they don't get the refund it doesn't mean they will go down as it hasn't been priced in that they will get it. Why would they go to the low 20's?

I think the main ball and chain was the debt. If they can get this below £130m then this is more than manageable and you never know with just one asset sale like ESPA it would turn THG in to cash positive. What they were paying out in interest payments or at least part of it they could use for dividends.

If debt continues to fall, revenue continues to rise and profitability increases then we will likely see some positive broker targets a lot higher. I can't see the risk reward for hedge funds shorting at this level especially with the VAT decision in a matter of weeks. Let's hope that is the catalyst to get to a proper valuation.