Member Info for chilting

Yes, its important to remember what the political dangers are from the Right Wing Nationalists.

We have already seen Brexit in the UK, Putin's invasion of Ukraine and now Trump's protectionism - all at the behest of the right.

The effect on business of all three actions has been bad and it could get a lot worst especially as the right thrive in chaos and respond by accelerating their agenda.

Its not a joke!

Absolutely no chance at all that the EU won't retaliate.

We have four years of this to come.

Only hope is someone has better aim than on 13th July 2024.

Yes, I have often wondered when M&S would come out of the shadows and become more prominent with Ocado Retail.

I guess we may have to wait until they decide if they want to purchase the other 50% of Ocado Retail, they have up until 2030 to make that decision. After 2030 Ocado can sell to anyone.

Before then it would be useful if the M&S logo was added to the van branding.

Just to be clear -

Ocado Retail is the supermarket division of Ocado Group in the UK. A joint 50:50 partnership with M&S.

M&S have no financial interest in the rest of the Ocado Group, the tech side.

Jds15

There is a very big hidden benefit for M&S with its Ocado Retail partnership.

This is M&S own branded products - profit is made on these products and the extra production volume allows M&S to get much better prices from its suppliers and benefit from economies of scale.

Since September 2020 when the partnership started the M&S food offering has greatly expanded in its retail stores and online, compare that with the demise of Waitrose when they ended their Ocado Retail partnership at the same time.

Yes, another update confirming good progress with great potential for real royalty income this year plus an excellent cash position. Certainly a good time to buy.

Robotic tech in Premier Inn may be a step too far judging by the problems they have at check in.

Most of the self check in machines seem to have been taken out or be broken and the manual check in is often far from a smooth process, often taking far longer than expected.

The news yesterday that WH Smith has put its High Street stores up for sale to concentrate on its much more lucrative international travel hub stores, should come as no surprise.

Potential buyers may well repurpose the stores for services rather than retail.

With labour costs increasing I think that the demise of the High Street is likely to accelerate again.

M&S will have to take another look at the profitability of its High Street stores once again, as a 2nd round of closures seem imminent.

Yes, in theory a good idea as long as its 100% accurate.

Its probably better than existing self checkouts if the customer doesn't need to do anything other than pay.

The main thing is not to go down the Amazon Fresh route - their system doesn't even give the customer a receipt.

Politics is so emotional to us all.

Best option would be to get rid of the Westminster Bear Pit, bring in PR to ensure coalition governments and elect boring technocrats.

Jds

Lets hope Goldmans are right.

As for the politics - its the right that forced Brexit and we have a right wing US President - all bad for trade at home and internationally.

The loss of tax revenue resulting from Brexit, around one third of Income tax revenue, has totally derailed the economy and resulted in a deficit of available funds for public services - hence the poison chalice that Reeves has inherited.

The biggest single influence that is holding M&S back and undoubtedly affecting the SP is the state of the UK economy.

Unfortunately its unlikely that fortunes will improve, even in the long term, if interest rates start to increase they could get a lot worst. Also our politics is likely to swing to the right.

I cannot remember a worst time to live in the UK but we have to try and look on the plus side.

Does anyone have any good economic news?

A good steady as she goes update.

Usually when the institutions get such a large share it helps stabilise the SP because there are fewer shares in circulation.

It could also make a takeover much more likely.

But, as you say our voice and views become irrelevant.

Waitrose is a dead duck.

When the partnership with Ocado ended they lost their buying power, add to that exceptionally poor management right at the top of the JLP and the result is a business in decline.

The point is though - would a foreign company want to buy a UK retailer - even a good one.

If they were looking at FTSE100 companies, my guess is that they would be more interested in ones that mainly traded overseas, like Ashtead for example.

It will be interesting to see what the headline shorts do now.

Will they reduce and close over the next few weeks/months?

Its their decision that will determine the SP going into 2025 and every small reduction will make a difference.

Its important to realise what Ocado Retail are achieving with their impressive growth figures.

Unlike in the early years when the business was constrained by lack of capacity, remember Covid trading, the business now has spare capacity.

Growing and using that spare capacity is crucial to eventual profitability - this is now very achievable.

When the business reaches this milestone it will be much cheaper to add new capacity because Ocado Solutions has slashed capital costs.

Ocado Retail also acts as a live demonstration for new and existing Solutions customers, to show them the way forward is critical, giving them the confidence to invest.

Elsol

I took the Extreme uncertainty rating from Morningstar.

Hopefully they will change that soon, as you say it seems unfair, but I guess they just generalise.