Member Info for chilting

Hello Neil
With every day that goes past it becomes more likely that M&S will purchase the other 50% of Ocado Retail.
Staged payments will help Ocado as well - with their investment plans - so I guess there will be a similar deal for the other 50%.

It could be 2030 before the deal in concluded after that I guess M&S will pay a percentage of sales to Ocado Group in the same way as other Ocado Solutions partners.

Ocado Retail will also be able to accelerate the national rollout of CFC's for substantially less capital spend than they originally thought when the partnership with M&S was established - that could make a vast difference to profits.

I wasn't aware of the bonuses but they certainly make sense, cutting down the initial payment and incentivising increased profitability.
There is no hurry re the other 50% - an agreement is in place where M&S have to agree to a sale up until a certain date and have the option to purchase up until that date - sorry I cannot remember the date - its all in the original prospectus.

Its a shame, I quite enjoy a bit of banter with romaron and I think we had quite an amiable discussion today - still each to their own - he obviously has fixed irretractable views on most subjects and is unable to see the other side of any argument, right or wrong.

romaron
I have never been a fan of heat pumps - traditionally UK construction methods for insulation have simply not up to the same standard as seen in other parts of Northern Europe and many properties couldn't be upgraded .
There is off course a simple reason for this - its not so cold in winter so they haven't needed to be.

Therefore, heat pumps don't supply adequate levels of heating in most UK properties.

I accept that in operation they make very good use of electrical power, but if householders need to add extra heaters to their properties to keep warm then a Gas boiler will probably still be a cheaper more efficient option.

It may be OK for new properties with extra insulation to use a heat pump but I am not particularly convinced.

The cost of renewables - especially solar and UK offshore wind are reducing all the time as economies of scale kick in.
The actual power generation costs for renewables will soon be less than carbon fuels.

Capital costs are high for both carbon and renewables and even higher for nuclear but so much depends on what costs you add in for all types of energy - I guess supporters of all energy forms could make a case for their preferred option being cheaper.

My preferred option is for a long term balanced mix of all three with an increasing bias on renewables as the tech improves.

mrc
Its not a perfect world - far from it - the UK can and will stop buying from Russia.
But all the while other countries like China and India buy from them and Russian oil finds its way on the market via third parties then there will be no overall reduction in supply.

The only constraint will come if Russian tech to get the oil out the ground fails.

With Iranian sanctions likely to be lifted the irony will be if Russia, after so many years of helping Iran to get its crude to market, now uses Iran as a third party to export its own crude.

On another subject, according to Reuters - the Venezuelan national oil company is hiring in oil tankers to start exporting again - they anticipate US sanctions being lifted.

romaron
As I said heat pumps are not an option in the UK other than maybe for new builds - giving consumers a 5 grand grant to install something that doesn't provide a adequate heating solution is ludicrous.

mrc
I have never said that oil and gas had such a short timeframe of usage - simply that usage will decline and that puts a question mark with regards to over supply and makes areas where production is expensive vulnerable.

Heavy transport usage for hydrogen is certainly possible - a few years ago I would have said it was the number one option, but battery technology advances may cancel that out.

As for Green hydrogen becoming viable - current predictions are saying that will happen this decade because so much extra capacity is being added to offshore wind.

romaron
You need to see green hydrogen simply as a byproduct of renewable power in the UK - it would only be produced at times when there was excess renewable power to be fed into the grid. Its usage would then probably be confined to heavy industry close to where it was produced - the market for it will never be very large.

Sure heat pumps work well in Scandinavia - but that's no use to us in the UK.

Energy supply needs to be tailored to individual countries - in the UK we have oil and gas plus wind and tidal power and coastal locations for nuclear.

There are to many outside elements conspiring to mess things up - planning, finance from customers, public opinion, Covid etc etc.
That's why its good to have so many projects of different sizes in multiple markets on the go at once - it may look chaotic, but there is method in the madness.

romaron
In case you hadn't noticed renewables are already playing a big part in our energy provision, we just haven't got the balance right yet, as the current energy crisis shows the reliance on gas is too high.

Gas does have a big part to play and we need to get what we need from the North Sea - there are still plenty of reserves.

But we also need to push wind power and store the excess power generated that's where green hydrogen may come in useful.

I totally agree that some developments in renewables only belong in a museum - heat pumps are a prime example - but as part of the balance they have a part to play - we just need to find the right balance between carbon fuels, renewables and nuclear - getting rid of any one of the three is a bad move as the Germans have found.

Yes all this swirling around like headless chickens, plus the war in Ukraine just continues the volatility - Brent could be anywhere between $90 and $130 in a few months time - the damage being caused is just increasing inflation and could even lead to recession.

General market sentiment will probably be the main driver for the SP until we get some good numbers from EQT - the SP is just drifting at the moment, like many stocks - we really need to see an end to the war in Ukraine and a reduction in energy prices.

As for EQT, I think that the SP will continue to be depressed simply because of the fast rate of growth - growing a company quickly is an expensive business, and we are likely to see many rounds of equity raising over the next five years or so.

Hopefully, the next equity raise will come at a time when stock prices have recovered and the dilution effect won't be so extreme. Or better still a business partner takes a stake in return for equity.

It might be a good time for AB to sell a stake in Kraken with Bressay and Bentley in the mix to share development costs with a new partner and then look to purchase more assets in the North Sea and beyond to enhance production.

If Biden goes ahead it will be the largest drawdown from the strategic reserve since 1974 - just to put the numbers into perspective.

Good news from the US, with Biden likely to release oil from the US strategic reserve - this could start a downward trend in oil prices. Biden forced into action because of high price at the pumps - always bad news for any US President.

Hopefully this will dampen global inflation fears and improve sentiment.

Growth companies like EQT are vampires, they feed on cash, and the more successful they get the more cash they need.

Investors have to learn that you cannot have it all ways, you will get diluted, borrowing may get uncomfortably high, and the SP will lie in the doldrums - sometimes for years - but if the company has potential and it is well run with plenty of opportunities, then it is worthy of investment and somewhere down the line you may even make some money.

A welcome intuitive by the EU to green up the textile industry.
Should be good news for ITX with the new DSP 2K™ polymer.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-60913226

https://www.lse.co.uk/rns/ITX/first-order-for-new-use-in-sustainable-fashion-sdzz5bhogabpwl1.html

A welcome intuitive by the EU to regulate the cheap tat of the textile industry.
Has to be good news for more responsible, upmarket retailers like M&S.
Especially as it seems the UK will follow a similar path.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-60913226

I not saying this is a bad move - just asking the question.
The current bonds are not due until October 2023 and with Brent high can easily be repaid.
So why issue new bonds now at a higher interest rate to replace them, especially when the total amount to be raised is a relatively modest one?

Hello Neil
Yes, good day all round today, especially ITX, they have very few shares in circulation so when it does move, it moves very quickly. I have held it for years and been 95% down at one stage but have now top sliced to just leave profit.
Nice to see MKS finally moving in the right direction and fingers crossed for all concerned that they get a ceasefire soon.