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News out today and as expected it's bad. PTP for 6 months down 17.5%. Final div scrapped, also interim for next year. They said their business is stabilising, but one doesn't know if that's a BS statement just designed to calm things. Hopefully things don't get a lot worse.
It's hardly a bargain if the oil price continues to fall. This is largely down to what the Saudis and Russia have cooked up, not just Covid-19.
With the oil price at the level it is now ($31) BP are barely making ends meet, and the oil price is destined to go sub $30. So no, you'd be daft to buy now.
COST used to be run well for many years. Now it seems the management have screwed up big-time in more ways than one. No excuses as BBY also reporting today had very good results. Very bad start for newish CEO Alec Vaughan.
Don't think it's panic in this case. The BoD have royally screwed this company from the moment it went public well before Corona. Yet another case of a company run by individuals who shouldn't have been let near a directorship. Sadly this is becoming increasingly common with British companies.
I think you guys might be underestimating the substantial life assurance payouts if a lot of people were to snuff it if a serious pandemic occurs here. Not saying that will necessarily happen, but a definite possibility considering how ill equipped the NHS would be to deal with such a situation, which increases that risk.
It's unlikely to drop anything like as far (160p). That was a shock scenario then with the ref. result. A lot of gloom and doom is already in the sp and it offers good value now.
They can be legally bound. Doesn't mean the company won't disregard the law or regulations. Too many big-name examples of this in recent times, CLLN being 1 classic example, BBY another back in 2012, which led to the resignation of CEO and Chairman, Tesco , HSBC, BARC. . .need I go on?
Clearly COST has some big skeleton to fall out the cupboard which so far they're keeping tight-lipped about. Insiders already have wind of it. The sp has crashed by 2/3 over the past year. It's not a co-incidence.
We saw the same thing happen in recent times with IRV, KIER, CLLN etc. Management deny there's anything wrong at first, then eventually they're forced to come clean. No difference in this case.
The only sensible thing they've done in the last 2 years is slash the div, although perhaps they should have passed it altogether. Otherwise it's yet another example of arrogant fools trying to run a companym and digging a bigger and bigger hole for themselves and shareholders. Inevitably I'm afraid, in the end highly unlikely to survive, let alone recover.
So did I. This was clearly a silly reaction. The company doesn't appear to be in any financial difficulty or hiding any skeletons in the cupboard as far as I can tell. Totally different business to CLLN or IRV.
Nice recovery developing here. Thought they looked rather cheap so decided to buy, even though wary of current management complacency. Don't see Argos as a problem.
Hi Mitch. I'll have a pop at your 2 questions.
Q1 - Food sales falling. Probably the mixture of a) impact of the tightening of belts by middle-class consumers in anticipation of a bad Brexit (no deal), b) the growing awareness of discounters like Aldi who offer food quality as good as MKS and a lot cheaper, and c) The footfall effect. If less customers are visiting the stores to buy clothes then it follows there will be less customers visiting the food departments there.
Clothing sales falling. Many reasons, the main ones being: a) The growth.in the 80s and 90s of clothing retailers like Primark and Next that became serious rivals to MKS who then dominated the clothing retailing market. Other rivals were supermarkets like ASDA who started to sell underwear and socks at cheaper prices than MKS stealing a substantial part of their market b) Serious decline in quality of MKS clothing over past decade or so. c) MKS pricing still at a big premium compared to rivals like Primark where nowadays the quality is not that much inferior. d) Stores look dingy and uninviting compared to rivals. e) The inertia or disregard in the idea of retail selling over the internet.They took up the idea far too late, allowing companies like Amazon, Next and others to steal a march on them.
r_h. MKS have been in trouble with their clothing side for many years. They've been forced to close 100 stores in the last year. That tells a big story. Now we're seeing the food side, the one strong prop to their business, starting to struggle for the first time. It isn't looking good for them.
If I had to back a retailer I'd probably invest in Next, but not right now.
And the last 2 CEOs before Wilson were dreadful and were responsible for near collapse of the company. There seem to be far more useless, overpaid CEOs around today biding their time than really decent ones. Mark Wilson was more of an exception who proved his worth. So if I was an AV shareholder I'd be concerned about his replacement.
There are fears around that the departure of CEO Mark Wilson, who saved AV. from near administration may lead to a return of incompetents put in charge. AV had been plagued by poor management who paid themselves huge salaries for failure before Wilson arrived, and the company was then on its knees in 2012, having seen its sp sink to well below £2, Wilson performed something of a miracle in reviving AV's fortunes.So, without Wilson's guiding hand will AV return to the bad old days?
The shorters must be getting roasted by this, yet they seem totally undeterred. Decided to sell half my holdings as I don't altogether trust this rally.
"I hope they all have to close out roasted!"
I think the shorters have been suffering a heavy 'roasting' since April yet it hardly seems to deter them.
As with yesterday large trading volumes > 7m, so something's happening. Don't think it's shorters suddenly unwinding, because why now?
Bought a few more on Friday afternoon. Have to say I did not expect these to collapse so fast - they were 216p less than 2 weeks ago. They are now down 33% over the past 12 months against a rise of 17% in the All-Share Index in the same period.
Cause for concern?
Heading for 2 year low, with no hard evidence to suggest why the sp is doing do poorly. This looks like another SAGA (which I also hold). May buy some more soon.