Member Info for Carrington

Hey Forest - my nervousness with MKS is the overhang of summer stock - they still have a large amount of clearance clothing on the books with discounts which to me indicates that overall clothing margins may come under pressure, which is why I have not added anymore - could be wrong of course but I would prefer to see the figures before adding anymore- with MKS the results will as always be all about the clothing - the food is a given and we know full well that MKS/OCADO are continuing to take market share from the monthly NIQ figures - we will find out soon enough - gl dyor etc.

Denby - "LOL 😂 WILL GO DOWN when the div is paid out in november so we will see 105 per share if this chocolate teapot does not do some thing ? "- er no it goes down ex dividend which was 9th Oct to reflect the amount of money leaving the companies books - not on dividend payment date - gl dyor etc.

Next beat guidance this morning surprise surprise - they have been guiding low for years on previous updates to ensure they exceed profits at future trading updates😊- still it may well have a positive read through for MKS this morning, lets see - gl dyor etc.

David - "BP share price will go down 20p per share soon, give or take, This is due to the ex div date coming up around 13 Nov," " - David, you have got that wrong mate - ex div is 13th Nov but for 6.19p - the div is on a quarterly basis with BP not annually or semi annually - gl dyor etc.

Decided to sell today at 189p - a 4.5pct profit not to be sniffed at with the market toppy right now - gl to all remaining holders -

Whatidsay "Carrington, you may be right on this point but it is largely irrelevant because the retail business only represents about 20% of the market cap, although it does also drive revenue for the logistics business." - very true but what it does do is highlight to the rest of the Ocado users, Kroger, Sobeys, Coles etc how powerful the logistics can be if applied properly, Kroger did not apply properly hence the logistics worked well in high density areas and not so well in low density areas - the UK is the role model to follow for all users worldwide - hopefully lessons will be learned and applied accordingly - gl dyor etc.

"Doubt it, be another hold imo." - disagree - markets now pricing in a rate cut - UK Gilts up again today closing in on the 94 handle, moreover they have been going north over the last few days on the back of positive inflation news, with major UK lenders like HSBC already cutting rates - rate cut incoming maybe not Nov but defo Dec imho - lets see - gl dyor etc.

Retailer performance (four weeks to Oct 4, 2025)

NIQ's report highlights strong, yet divergent, performance among retailers.

Fastest-growing retailers

Ocado: The online retailer was the fastest-growing grocer, with sales up 14.3%.

Lidl: The discounter continued to attract new shoppers, with sales rising 11%.

Marks & Spencer: Sales grew 10.4%, driven by new ranges and strong social media engagement.

Sooner or later the market will have to acknowledge that the Ocado model in the UK will continue to take market share, it cannot be stopped - lets see - gla dyor etc.

Bt going into the budget phone sector makes sense to me - why not do it via Plusnet ? - the brand is already known for being budget so easy to market - rather than trying to market a new brand - lets see how it plays out - gl dyor etc.

BRC reporting this morning food inflation dropped to 3.7pct - UK Gilts now rising - imo a rate cut next month is pretty much nailed on - good news for TW - lets see - gla dyor etc.

Latest BRC report - Food inflation dropped to 3.7pct - good news for the market, with the FTSE futures rising atm and good news for MKS - an interest rate cut now odds on for next month - should be good in general for UK stocks - lets see - gla dyor etc.

Decided to sell half my holding here this morning at 178.5p for a 10pct profit and a divi to come - its had a good run, - will buy back the ones sold today if it gets back to the 170p mark - gla dyor etc.

"Seeing that the share has gone xdiv, if I sold some shares today would i get the div on the 14 of november ?" yes Denby you would, even if you sold some shares the day after it went ex divi you would still get the dividend for those sold shares - gl dyor etc.

I would be surprised if the guidance was not on the extreme low side to give room for manouvre with the interims on the 13th (I accept that all cannot be disclosed until the review is finished but I would expect the guidance to have added contingency for this) - Next have been doing this for years and surprise surprise they smash estimates when it comes to results time - I have a tranche here at 168p and at 184p so a £1.76 average - I did a quick DCF calc on the new guidance on a 2 year basis and it was well over £2.50 intrinsic value - the results would have to be catastrophic imho to tank further south - lets see - gl dyor etc.

Should be a good start for MKS and retail in general this morning with UK Retail Sales coming in above estimates at 0.5pct vs -0.2pct and the gfk at -17 vs -20 - lets see - gla dyor etc.

JDW ex div today for 8p - sp finished down 2.5p so a net gain of 5.5p - 🦾

Jake - at the end of the day MKS clearly see more value in closing SOME cafe's down and replacing with fashion/food stores etc - as I said in an earlier post the margins in fashion are greater after expenses - it has already worked for Marks with the store closures/relocations that were not profitable and the result of that is the share price you see today - gl dyor etc

Jake - of course nobody believes people go to an out of town store for 2 hours to just drink coffee - I do just that with the Mrs and we have a coffee, finish said coffee and continue our shop - the point being made here is should people be allowed to hog a table for 2 or 3 hours with or without a laptop taking up seats that could be sat on by other people in order to generate further income ? - personally I think not - gl dyor etc.

For once I actually agree with Retirment here - nursing a coffee for a few hours cannot be allowed if you want to run a successful business and it is a sure fire way to see a business go bust - I see it in Gails bakery - students nursing a coffee and taking up 2 seats, one for themselves and another with their laptop - then people walk in for a coffee and walk out as there are no seats - now some coffee shops around my area tell people to leave after they have finished their drinks - at the end of the day, business is business - gl dyor etc.

Time to put the heating on boys - get that Centrica sp up to 180p - 😁😁😁- gl dyor etc