Member Info for DC2007

No, I don't expect to influence anything and I've never read the comments of that poster.

Stonking that was today. Think that must be up there with the daily record and quite notable given there was no RNS, news and a comparatively modest lift in the SP. Short % the same so that doesn't explain it either.

What a turnaround in ten days from 138p! Impressive change of direction which will continue on improving sentiment towards the sector and receding threats of onerous trade tariffs. I still think this could sink again quick if either of those things become prominent again. Atb and well done to anyone who bought on the inflection.

Any holders still expecting one? Thoughts on the merits/drawbacks of this?

Those below who mention Monday, are you expecting RNS or other news? Realise Watford opens, but is this the positive event you are expecting?

Quite infuriating.

so I expect another red finish today.

It bows towards the end of the day, so predictable, so disappointing.

Yet I remain cautious since the 1-yr trend is downwards and I've noticed a couple of short positions opened. If I could convincingly explain the trend to myself, it would then look a very good buy - growth at a discounted price.

I reckon this will deflate again. It's a bit of positive market sentiment on the changes to the BoD. The results announced alongside were not good at first look. Revenue has at least picked up, but nothing finding its way to the bottom line.

Trend still seems downward to me. I think it could find new recent lows yet, mainly on sector weakness. Anything towards £1 and this becomes very attractive. Can't see it could dip under that.

Atb

Seen that too; a little piece of encouragement. What has annoyed me is the FT's inaccurate quoting of the % short on Debs stock. They say 'nearly a fifth' in almost every reference to it. Even last week they quoted 14%.

KNIGELK, No probs. Sorry, I should have made clear I meant trailing p/e - as you surmised - based on 2017's 4p EPS.

They will have to hit £33m pre-tax or the market will crucify them. Not sure what tax will come of that, say a general 20%ish to leave £26m. With 1.29bn shares in issue, I make that a prospective EPS of 2p, same as you.

God knows what the market might value the company at. Normals haven't applied for some time to Debs. Say a reasonable average for retail p/e is between 8-12, leaves the current fair value of Debs at 16-24p.

Market conditions, the debt and high fixed costs have to be discounted and I can't see anything above 15p being feasible without some visibility of earnings growth. The Odey short remains a downward pressure too; it would be interesting to see what happens if he closed. That he hasn't suggests he's expecting sub-10p. If the SP starts grazing 9 and the shorts don't, then that would be a cardinal sign that admin/insolubility is imminent.

The days of reasonable EPS of 4-6p and a p/e around 10 seem years away at best. Hard to discern how much of International Profit comes from Magasin. If they could really get near £200m for it that would be excellent. If a good valuation is there, I think I'd want to see them sell the lot rather than a stake if possible.

This leaves two things which I hope for more clarity on in October's results: MA & the dividend. First the easy thing. The dividend should be cut IMO, or reduced to peppercorn level. With that though, I will expect to see Redesigned showing objective, concrete promise. It will take away the status of the equity as dividend paying; but you knew that already, judging by the yield. Then MA. In the past few days, he's went from being possible white-knight, to almost saboteur. I've really no idea what he's doing with his stake, other than causing erosion of value. I'd prefer he sold up and stopped playing games. Debs does not need the hassle or the negative media coverage, given the partisan bashing that has become standard for them.

Atb

Don't see how he could block the sale of Magasin, not that I think it's necessarily a good idea to sell it. If these newspaper stories could be shown to have any connection to MA or Odey, then it would be blatant market manipulation. The distorted share price alone suggests something is off - plunges like the past 11 months are for companies in dire straits that last made profit a long time ago. None of that applies to Debs, yet it sits on a p/e of 2.5!

For the buy-and-hold brigade, is it an inviting bargain, or a value trap?

Anyone know of market or company news to explain the uplift in price?

Not sure what lifted this today. Starting to be concerned about the UK house-builders (in which I have an interest) that are on low P/e ratios could sharply devalue depending on how Brexit plays out next Spring.

So after wild volatility, we're about back where we were. I don't know whether to be pleased or not.

Thought this was one of the safest things in my portfolio so disconcerted to lose 14% in a couple of days. That's steep.

Hi KRSS, thanks for the reply; some angles I'd not thought of.

Atb