Member Info for DC2007

Originated in the North East with a flagship store in Newcastle. It's a department store but higher-end retail; more expensive than M&S, Debs, JL, HoF, etc., though I'd imagine a few notches below Harrods/Selfridges.

No shorts showing on public info sources. Is it not a conventional short you are supposing then Mrd5432?

So toffappleton, can you tell us what does determine the share price?

Takeovers lurking in the shadows should push the SP up rather than weigh it down. Petra's large debt would surely put off any suitor otherwise attracted to the assets so I can't see a takeover situation as likely.

got slaughtered in the FT, and I have to agree. What does everyone else think of this re-branding?

...vary a lot from time to time. Sometimes repetitive and boring; sometimes nutritious and substantial. Yet festive season looms never far so peace be theirs until.

Yes Turkeys, that - and potentially an urgent need for the cash - was my reasoning for cashing out. It was a quite thrilling gain having been down 60% just a few weeks prior. It wasn't a tough call in the end.

Surprised that no short positions appear to accompany this drop in Vodafone. Any long-term investors here see this as value yet? Or is it a value trap?

It's a kicker Mrd5432. Did similar thing with Anglo American - got spooked after a serious fall and then exited up ~14%. If I'd hung on I could have netted 250% less than two years later.

Thanks for the article. IC tips/ratings are hopeless - they had Debs a buy at 46p just a year ago! Only once the price plummeted did they do a complete 180 to sell.

"survive what? breaching a finance covenant and the debt getting called up?" Exactly that. They've had close calls; the rights issue was desperate stuff to stop them going bust. Production declining after divesting Ekapa which means reduced revenues. That huge bond debt maturing in 2022 is going to be hard to afford.

Industrial usage of diamonds is materially irrelevant to Petra since their market is gemstones. No one really needs a diamond (like no one really needs gold) but those who want them could become content with cheaper synthetic types.

Petra looks precarious, hence the market discounting it deeply to NAV.

51p/share, assuming £1/$1.30, or 67 cents before conversion. Few equities trade at a discount to NAV, even fewer when NAV is mainly tangible assets. If you think the company can survive and be profitable, then this buy-in price represents a great margin of safety.

Good insights all and interesting ideas below; I'll return to those posts for further readings.

HoF already is courting controversy by refusing to pay their suppliers.

Pensions, as you allude to Pokerchips, can go horribly wrong. Makes me uncomfortable that the government present them with such benevolence and assume they are only ever a good thing. No other options are presented and no critical thought of the instrument is prompted. BHS was scandalous.

A pension surplus was one of the things I checked for ahead of investing in Debenhams; on last measurement, it is still intact, despite choppy waters on the operations side of the business.

Atb

Agree. The web of Odey's short and long positions around DEB and SPD has conflicted interests and resembles an attempt at price manipulation. That's before even considering how involved in the transactions MA is. I'm surprised the FCA are not looking into it.

Odey sharply increasing whilst other funds quickly reduce makes his move look like a final act of desperation. What I hope it is anyway.

I like your confidence oldtimer but the situation is more precarious. SP down 75% in less than a year and yield pushed into the 20s. With those two things, what makes you so certain as to rule out administration and be sure the dividend will be retained?

Possibly not. Redesigned originally was meant to cost £50m. Now it's £85m; that big hike forced me to wonder about the management's judgement. If the charge increased again, I'd not be surprised. They have at least found some savings to offset this increase on the original plan. I think this might be why CAPEX is expected to be near halved for 2019.

Was going along ok until 2pm then a sudden drop. If JCP results are really the cause of this, then the market for Debs equity has flipped. These two businesses have only the most tenuous relation. I wonder if something else - as yet unknown - spooked the market at 2pm.

You expect Odey is looking for sub-10p to close his position KRSS?

As other hedges reduce, his increase has a feel of denial to it.

Surprising that a sell of that size hasn't put a big old dent in the SP, it's virtually unmoved.