Member Info for FED1

Roberto - i simply paraphrased UBS. The note was designed to warn institutions about potentially crowded short trades that were at a higher risk of a short squeeze. Yes the note said that there was a negative concensus on Asos among institutions, but that wasn't the purpose of it. It was to highlight potential risky short trades.

I did not say that there was going to be a positive earnings surprise.

When you posted article, you highlighted your own bias.

May I suggest you also consider the seven stages of grief? Obsession? Anger? Manipulation or distortion of facts? Delirium through your odd quotes of music lyrics?

What is baseless about my posts.

1) I have paraphrased UBS who has warned institutional investors that this is a crowded short which has the potential for short squeeze;

2) I have gave facts about the main shareholders and the relatively low free float which could contribute to a short squeeze.

When hedge funds are taking their positions, they are also considering the risks. Having worked as an analyst in the City, we do not know what is going to be announced in the results. This is a misconception among retail investors that institutional investors are positioning on insider information.

Saying "we've seen this movie before" is a vacuous statement devoid of any fundamental fact.

*If there were a strong earnings annoucement.

Agreed. It doesn't look a major short position. However, when compared against free float (c.21%). This has the potential to gap up on a wide bid-offer spread.

You have to take away the combined main shareholders which total 79% Frasers (29%), Povlsen (28%) and Barker (17%) and Schroders (5%). These are unlikely to be selling into a strong earnings announcement.

UBS is warning that Asos is a crowded short by institutions. It says that IF there is a positive earnings surprise, it is highly susceptible to a short squeeze. It is warning institutional investors if the potential danger of shorting.

I would add that the free float is also low as there are three large institutional shareholders and one is actively buying.

Let's not take UBS note out of context for your own agenda. Yes institutions are negative in European retail but Asos presents a risk of a short squeeze at earnings.

https://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/companies/news/1093288/ab-foods-and-asos-are-the-most-shorted-stocks-in-retail-finds-ubs-1093288.html

In the six months to August 2025, Group GMV was -25%

In the quarter to February 2026, Group GMV was -5%

In the quarter to May 2026, Group GMV was -0.5%

In the month of May, Group GMV was 8%

It's lack of disclosure on FCF suggests negative FCF in the last fiscal year (hence equity raise in February), but guidance seems confident on neutral/positive FCF in the year to February 2027.

This trading update seems to imply that PLT had a positive LFL in May?

If there was any doubt on who hired the private detective to follow John Lyttle and Kamani about 2yrs ago:

https://www.cityam.com/mike-ashley-i-was-behind-peter-cowgills-jd-sports-downfall/

Https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ceqv4r3nvy2o

I can see the strategic fit of Debs and JoyBuy. They already have DCs.

The difference is Very is inviting bids, and JD.com is looking at the books. DEBs requires Frasers, Kamani and William Barker to agree to sell before JD would seriously consider offer.

You're not going to make yourself popular SCB by taking swipes at Razor.

I think any concerns about over-indebtedness and cash burn have now substantially subsided. We got to nearly single digit share price last Summer due to the news vacuum and concerns about viability.

I would hope we have had the last equity rights issue. There seems to be a plan to get the net debt to EBITDA ratio down to a relatively modest level although I would say that EBITDA is not a reflection of FCF. Maybe we should be looking at net debt to FCF.

I think the revenue issue is still a concern at Youth Brands although I see long-term potential in the Debenhams marketplace model. I wouldnt be surprised if Youth Brands is eventually sold to a bigger global player when Debenhams reaches critical mass.

Ultimately, we seem to be past the worst of it. We now need better corporate governance (i.e., disclosures) and a positive like-for-like from Youth Brands. I am confident the balance sheet will sort itself out over next 12-18 months.

Im assuming Burnley is comparable to Lichfield? Anyone got any insights into the comparative quality/desirability of Burnley vs Lichfield?

Although it does beg the question of why not buy the company!

Asos mothballed its state of the art Lichfield warehouse in November 2023. It only opened it a couple years prior.

It took 2.5 years for it to sell. It did sound like there was a bidding war between Primark and M&S in the end so hopefully the market for this type of DC is picking up and Boo can offload in short order and make a real dent in its balance sheet. It is encouraging the amount Asos got for it in the end. However, probably need to be more realistic about disposal timeframes.

Forgive my spivvy posts. I got punch-drunk on the prospect of exiting this God-awful share by way of white-knight takeover bid.

I will refrain.

Suspect the rationale is that Primark needs it's own carved out logistics infrastructure if it's to be spun off and put ecommerce down as part of the thesis in it's IPO prospectus.

ABF be better off bidding 70p a share for Debs before spinning off Primark as a packaged deal.

I think you're right Razor, surely Primark is looking at Burnley.

https://www.retailgazette.co.uk/blog/2026/05/is-primark-about-to-launch-ecommerce-due-to-pressure-from-shein-and-temu/

I see no reason why Boohoo can't dispose of Burnley this year.

We know the headline sales figures for FY26 are going to be bad and the best we can hope for is the word "improvement" in its FY27 guidance.

I suspect they will want something substantial to announce in Full Year Results to sugar-coat the numbers. I just hope that this doesn't mean a similar delay as the FY25 results.

If there is nothing imminent, then release the results this week.

From 2021-2024, the convention was to have the full year earnings announcement in the first half or May. In 2020 it was late April.

In 2026 it was a complete mess and was issued on last possible day in late August.

I would hope that we get the full earnings announcement next week (Monday to Thursday).

I would also add that it is the convention for companies of good standing to issue an RNS prior announcing the date of the results.

I'm not asking for a positive like-for-like, or some development in the strategic review (e.g., Burnley, KM licensing).....I'm asking for Debs to follow the norms of reporting.