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Agree JayK. Would be odd to be liable in respect of sanctions not yet in force.

Billyboy - I don't think it will fall that much. I think the P/E at 28 was much lower than historically has been the case and already reflected reduced expectations. The top line growth should, at some point result in bottom line growth but there is no current visibility for that. Fevertree remains a premium brand that is still growing at a good rate. I think it will struggle to go higher until there is clear evidence of margin improvement but a fall to £6.18 for such a highly regarded brand seems unlikely to me.

I found the update disappointing. Yes, significant top line growth achieved and anticipated again for this year but profitability seems to be declining at a time when headwinds should have been starting to ease. I think increasing sales and reducing profits is not a great combination. Growth needs to reach the bottom line and there is no indication in this statement that it is going to at any point in the forseeable future. There are vague hopes expressed for 2024 but that's it. Other companies seem to be making strenuous efforts to address cost issues but as Fevertree outsources everything I guess it is much tougher. I still think this will come good as it is a superb brand but I think that will be over the much longer term now. It's pre-tax profit was over £70m in 2019 and for the current year to December 2023 it is predicting less than half that. It's hard to see that as anything other than highly negative in the absence of a clear strategy for sorting out the low margins.

I assume the rail strikes will have impacted sales in pubs etc - doesn't seem too unreasonable.

I fear that although the results may be good, the divi will disappoint. The regulator is already making noises about the banks needing to prepare for tough times and that will almost certainly make them take a 'prudent' approach to avoid political flack as much as anything. Hope I'm wrong and thy actually reward shareholders for a change.

I don't see the talks as good news at all. I assume that they were at the instigation of the lenders and if the lenders are worried, and worried enough to have heavyweight lawyers involved, I don't think that is good news for shareholders. It may suggest that current numbers are looking worse than anticipated at the latest refinancing. If things were starting to show signs of improvement, i don't see why the lenders would be doing this. The company has been haemorrhaging cash and I can only assume they are not making much progress in stemming this. A restructuring could well lead to a capital raise which it is better to do sooner rather than later if the company is going to survive this. There is a potentially great business here if it can survive but next year could be brutal if management can't get a grip. They certainly can't go on burning through cash like they have been and its notable that losses and heavy cash burn is still expected for the first 6 months next year. I really hope they are not in a death spiral but the speed at which this business has gone from boom to bust is frightening.

Murmurs, I don't disagree that there is a good positive case to put but investors are not enamoured of UK stocks at the moment and with Asos, they are more focussed on the negatives. I'm a holder and so want to believe the more positive spin but we have to face the facts that the board is unstable, the management decision making, which has left them stuck with massive amounts of excess stock which will probably need even greater write downs than those already taken, and the abysmal returns position, which is completely destroying the margins, together with the dreadful state of the UK economy make for some pretty heavy headwinds. Asos really is in a fight for survival. If, and I think it is an if, Asos gets through the next 6 months or so without any more deterioration in outlook and starts to see some decent margin recovery and there is more confidence in the management, I agree the upsides are potentially huge. It is, though, slightly worrying that the recent changes in the executive bonus structure are all aimed at survival and cost-cutting rather than profit. It is striking how Next have managed to make substantial profits from their online business at a time when Asos is struggling to survive.

Fair point M1k3y. My own view is that this will likely make significantly more over 18 months than 7% as i think it will rerate, assuming that is there are no more misconduct issues. Short term, I have no strong feelings. I do think the share buy-backs will impact the share price at some point. Its 40% dollar exposure is, I think a plus, when there is so much negativity around the UK which is why it is my preferred pick in the banking sector. On the downside, like most investment banks, Barc always rewards its bankers ahead of shareholders despite the losses long time holders have had to stomach. Only time will tell as always.

The underlying business seems to be very solid and the share price underperformance is, I think, more driven by sentiment that any reflection of that business performance. I notice that NWG now has a higher market cap than Barclays and yet its 9 months profits are only slightly above 50% of Barclays and that's after Barclays has suffered the over-issue costs. But for that fiasco, it's figures would be astonishingly good. I don't think the relative share price under-performance is sustainable in the long term. It has a better geographic spread with 40% of earnings in dollars , an investment bank that is performing well plus the retail banking. If anything, that diversity should justify a premium over its peers. - particularly if Barclays starts dishing out the cash. It is claiming a 10.5% pay-out for the last year taking into account buy-backs which sounds pretty chunky - though that may exaggerate things as it is the net of new issuance buy-back figure that really counts. . If it can make total pay-outs in the 10% region going forward the price will have to react at some point or it should take full advantage and really try to drive down the number of shares in issue. Charts have their uses but underlying performance is key at the end of the day.

I agree with that Treacle - most UK focussed shares are pretty much in the bin and good news is quickly drowned out by dire warnings about cost-of- living crisis. With a share like ASOS, I think it will just bob up and down until the next set of figures and projections. On the plus side, it does have a turnover almost at the levels of NEXT but of course nothing like the profit margin. There is certainly a business there if management can run it competently and unlike a lot of online companies it has proved in the past that it can make a decent profit although its cashflow is a bit dodgy.

Treacle - I think they need to show some decent margin improvement as supply chain pressures ease etc. They were quick enough to blame those things for causing margin contraction and so it needs to work the other way now. If they can show that, then I think the share price will respond quite strongly. If they can't, I think, as you say, it will take a catalyst like the end of this dreadful war to make a material difference. I think, given the financing headroom they have, they should be able to survive unless the downturn gets even more grizzly. There are certainly quite a few levers they can pull to improve things - hopefully clearing the £1bn stock overhang. If they can't clear it, things could become quite serious. Would be good to see the new CEO put his hand in his pocket and buy a few shares at these depressed prices given that he knows the business better than anyone. I'm sure he would if he thought it was about to really motor.

and probably higher rents as more and more private landlord's quit the lettings market.

The share price movement at Virgin Money shows the impact of a decent hike in the dividend - up over 20%. I expect that Barclays will once again be more conservative in their pay-outs to shareholders. Based on past practice, they are more likely to disappoint than pleasantly surprise. Anything less than 4.5p for the final dividend will be poor in my view. Even that only gets up to a 4.3% yield on a pretty bombed out share price.

The profits are likely to be very good over the foreseeable future unless unemployment and bad debts etc are a lot worse than currently anticipated. Each 1% interest rate rise boosts the bottom line by between 8-20% according to analysis and we have had nearly 3% of rate increase already. I just hope the board share a decent amount with shareholders. Based on the previous £2bn buy-back they hopefully will but would be good to see a material increase in the dividend as well.

Machiismo, if you don't give them relief for the costs of dismantling the platforms you are taxing them on more than their profit. It is an expense of the business.

Mr Wolf - a very fair rant. The keeping of the divi is even tougher to swallow when UK banks seem to trade at little more than 5 x PE compared to double that or more in the US. The low PE almost disguises the derisory dividend pay outs to shareholders. A 4-5% yield sounds respectable but is actually pathetic off such a low PE and suggests either a lack of confidence in the business or a desire to keep the money to ultimately reward themselves. I don't know which it is or what is actually happening to all the profits.

I think Barclays should be looking at rather more generous returns to shareholders. Although their profits have continued to impress, they have still not paid out the dividend that was cancelled with covid. What has happened to that? Anticipated profits after tax for the current year are in excess of £5bn after impairment provisions. A £2.5bn pay out, which should be achievable, would equate to a yield of 10% at the current depressed share price. They might be reluctant to pay out because of political fears etc but they need to bite that bullet. Share buy-backs only really count as a pay out at all to the extent they are larger than new share issuance. Sustainable and significantly more generous dividends should, if they come, prompt a re-rating. The fact it is only yielding around 3-4% at the current share price is frankly pathetic.

I think there might also be continuing worry about the possibility of some change to the interest paid by BOE on reserves which could dwarf any corporation tax changes. I think it was this rumour which initially knocked the shares back and it would be a popular change if made. Hopefully whatever happens, the additional certainty once we have had the autumn statement will generate a bit more positivity. I am still surprised that bank shares are trading well below their levels when PPI was at its peak.

I'm actually not making any assumptions. Anything can happen but i think the current results are very resilient - particularly the clothing sales and the company gets very little credit for that with shares down almost 60% from highs. I think the share price is more a reflection on perceptions for the UK generally than this company which I suspect might weather the storm better than most. Quality companies such as JD sports are also priced at levels which suggest there is no hope of recovery for years. Maybe that's right but I doubt it.

I don't really get this stuff. If £300m plus is expected in the teeth of a recession surely there's quite a bit of upside here or is the assumption that the UK economy is permanently screwed.