Member Info for alex1621

Hexam - no question they need to get cash flow positive. I’d like to see sales, margin and profit growing and debt reducing. The sale of PLT would provide some breathing space for this, give Dan a longer runway. I think once this company turns a corner we will see some substantial re ratings. But still a long way to go.

Unless its cash flows improve?

I wonder if the PLT sale will follow the Shein IPO? I’ve been prattling on about Shein for a while now, and it seems to be taking forever for the IPO to take place. A woman PR/Communications consultant provided free services to Rachel Reeves on the run up to the General Election. She was the Comms agency for Shein. I now wonder whether scrapping de minimis so far in the future is to keep the door open to a London IPO? But if Shein eventually do buy PLT it solves the problem above.

Camelot plus Schroder plus the Kamani’s, the Employee Trust and Kane … roughly 36%.

Reardon - what would that be? Ashley will probably just sit it out. I think if he was interested in buying 100% he would have done so by now. He could raise a legal challenge, but that wouldn’t really change anything. I would have welcomed a White Knight takeover last year, but unfortunately he’s not the one you’d hope for.

Alessandro - I don’t know. But the price in recent months is for a company that is close to failure. If that narrative no longer applies it’s a new world.

RoyGA … I believe that there was a period when Next was trading at 7p, following the departure of George Davies, around 1990. The company was in the same state as this one, but as we all know it made quite a recovery over the next few decades. So a £3 SP looks like pie in the sky today, but is by no means impossible.

I still think there is a long way to go, but they do appear to be moving in the right direction, and the prospect of business bankruptcy appears much less likely. Carol’s £1m punt makes more sense in light of these improvements … the cost base is adjusting to the sales level.

Quaker - £3 would be something … but will require a SP turnaround of Rolls Royce proportions. RR was at 40p during the pandemic. Look at it now.

Look at the scheme … that’s the top target … £3.

And no mention of the PLT sale?

I can see another Ashley fight looming. It suggests that the scheme could be triggered by a change of control or shareholder event like a nominee appointed to the Board by a shareholder holding 25% of the shares. That is referring to Ashley. Shareholder approval is not being sought. It also refers to other participants, but doesn’t name them. Only Dan and the Finance guy. Again, shareholders treated like sh@t.

Having said that if Dan gets the SP to £3 I’m not bothered about his £150m.

I was thinking that the bounce has less to do with de minimis and more to do with leaks? We will find out tomorrow.

If the SP bounce is down to this, why no bounce for ASOS?

I personally don’t believe the PLT sale is signed and sealed, but it may well be the case that the Kamani family will try to get it before anyone else. Given Ashley is on the share register I’d be surprised if they could get away with that. So I guess there will be a number of interested parties involved. Shein would be the obvious suitor, and as pointed out by an earlier poster, they could do much better with it than this lot.

BFD … just bid £10. To stop Umar getting it for £5.

On a serious note I’d expect more Ashley disruption around the sale of PLT. Interesting times.

Results were not good, and that was expected. Some signs of green shoots … but I’ll be interested to see the press and analyst take on events. To be fair Finley is doing the right thing in bringing down the cost of operating but let’s hope we begin to see some positive news from now onwards.

Any thoughts on who the interested parties would be?

Shein I’d guess but I’m not sure Ashley would be interested. The Kamani family perhaps. And possibly BFD?

I was a bit disappointed that Shein didn’t get their IPO in London as I thought Boo would be vulnerable to a bid. Ashley still has that option, being patient may not make sense as there is less guarantee that he can simply pick over the spoils, without competition. I still believe that Shein after Hong Kong IPO are an obvious buyer, but I understand they are being pressured by the CCP to relocate HQ to China, from Singapore.

At the very least the going concern issue has been overcome and we will all see Kamani’s “boom time” prediction in all its glory.

The delay in the publication of the accounts may simply be auditor “going concern” issues, and that’s why they are seeking extended financing. Alternatively they could be in discussions to offload several brands and/or the entire business, but I suspect we would know as the business is such a leaky ship.

I read some recent analyst comments on ASOS, who by all accounts are closer to turning a corner. They are a more serious business. Ashley will not be buying more as he has reached his limit.

Buybacks only make sense if the Board believe that the current SP is lower than their calculation of intrinsic value. In that scenario you are purchasing e.g £1.50 of value for a £1. If the strategy begins to yield improving results then the buyback makes sense.

The Government has put them under pressure to help stimulate growth, effectively clipping their wings. At the time of the offer and acceptance the general consensus was that they would not stand in the way of the deal.