Member Info for gulfharbour

Rhinocol,

Even though the title of the RNS was titled "Trading Statement" it was actually a profit warning that the were BOD are obliged to make to the market at the point they determined the financial performance of the business was going to be materially different to previously released figures.

I still expect them to issue the regular annual trading update in January which will include the full Christmas and new year period, which this "trading statement" could not do, and I have emailed CARD IR department asking them to clarify that point.

At the next results release, there should definitely be a proper breakdown of P&L for each business unit i.e. CARD stores, UK Online. UK partnerships, plus the acquisitions SA Greetings, Garlanna, Garven, and FP.

Given that the BOD has so actively pursued that acquisition strategy, they must now give that breakdown for shareholders to accurately assess the financial performance of each new business, rather than the consolidated results that were previously provided.

For me, that breakdown is a non-negotiable expectation of the BOD!

Bhaveen, I think you've hit the nail on the head with your comment that the BOD seem to be in it for themselves rather than working for the benefit of shareholders!

It's good to get a balanced perspective which is certainly what was presented by Lorenzo, and that balance is welcome on this board.

I think the shock of the announcement was just too much for many including me, although my reaction was anger at what I feel was board incompetence.

Time will tell if the acquisitions do indeed mitigate concerns over a general high street decline, but to issue the profit warning so soon after reiterating the previous FY forecast was inept at best!

Although I agree with Lorenzo that the business is still profitable and not in structural decline, I disagree that CARD has been unable to offset the NLW and NI increase.

With their vertical integration model, alongside already being a cost leader, they should have been able to pass on small price increases to cover those additional costs whilst still retaining that cost leadership position.

The BOD chose not to make increases (that were demonstrated on this board at the time with worked examples) to properly cover those costs, presumably around fear of eroding their cost leader market position.

So far II's have been publicly quiet about the profit warning but behind the scenes I am sure there have been some tough discussions held between major shareholders and the board about the announcement.

If we get an holdings updates that show reduction in interests held by major shareholders that would only add pressure on Darcy, but in the meantime, tomorrow is a new day and I will watch with interest to see if the markets have had time to digest the news and form a different opinion about the value of the business.

Although I agree that the drop in SP may be an over-reaction I feel that the issue is more one of the market, and also many shareholders, having lost confidence in the BOD.

If shareholders and the market do not have full trust in the BOD, there could be a mountain to climb to regain any confidence.

There is less than a month to the next "official" trading update around mid Jan, and many potential buyers may sit on their hands until that happens before deciding to take the plunge, me included.

Any further bad news in that update could lead to further SP destruction, so I really hope the BOD have "kitchen-sinked" things with todays RNS bombshell!

In that case the BOD would almost certainly lose support of IIs, who thus far have been quiet about the announcement.

I only have a little bit of sympathy for the BOD due to the general lack of consumer confidence in the economy alongside the "business friendly" (lol) labour government stacking additional layers of costs on retail businesses (NMW/NLW and NIC increases, business rate increases etc).

Much more worrying is the BOD strategy in the past couple of years using our (shareholder) money to buy other businesses, rather than returning a more appropriate amount to us shareholders (we own the damn company!), and all the while letting debt creep up to current levels.

Also as previously stated by another contributor, how the hell can the BOD issue recent statements reiterating full year guidance, then only a little over 8 weeks later announce a significant cut in full year profit projections, especially during this peak period where a sizeable portion of CARD profits are made!

Finally, how the hell can the company be going ahead with share buybacks to fund management incentive plans while presiding over a dramatic reduction in profit, and a collapse in SP, thereby destroying shareholder value?!

From my point of view they should cease those buybacks immediately and only reinstate when market and SP conditions are more stable, plus they should absolutely not be offering management any incentives based on the current low SP which has been caused largely by management incompetence.

I've been a shareholder here for over 6 years but enough is enough and the CEO and CFO should exit without delay, and I also want to know what the rest of the BOD from Chairman downwards have been doing while Darcy has presided over this total mess.

I'm furious!

In previous years the final dividends went xd late august, but for whatever reason this year the xd moved to 16th October.

The duration between xd and payment date this year is exactly the same as in those previous years.

Agreed Robleo.

Divi is already high, and rather than increasing the standard divi I would prefer to see a special offered to redistribute excess capital.

I would also like to see some confirmation as to the current status of the previously stated Daichi 15% buy-in of MNG shares that must surely have a significant effect on the SP.

They already announced divi increase to 13.2p

WPP, BKG, HIK are all lower than EZJ on mcap, with WPP at £3268m vs EZJ £3641.

However I haven't looked to compare with the mcap values of possible replacements from the top of FTSE250 listings

In normal times an RNS which highlighted shareholder returns and future distributions would be very positive and welcomed by shareholders and markets alike.

Unfortunately with this government it is likely that any company doing that would make themselves a target for a tax grab to redistribute those "super-profits", because as all labourites know, profit is evil!

Meant even with....

Revenue up

Profit up

Dividend up

Net Cash up

Forward financial targets up

SP down.

Even without the obvious budget uncertainty, WTF is going on in UK share markets????

Although pretty muted in tone the main thing of note from my point of view was the reiteration of previous guidance, and on that basis I was a bit surprised about the drop on opening this morning.

The only other thing that caught my attention was that the TU wording seemed to be aimed at the government as much as at long suffering shareholders, so lets see if they take notice in the upcoming budget.

Dave Lewis appointment is great news for DGE and it ends the uncertainty that has surrounded the succession recently, however I wouldn't expect a rapid turnaround.

He will undoubtedly be able to turn things around given time but DGE SP has struggled for a couple of years so we should not expect things to change overnight.

I assume he will need a couple of months to do a full review of the business and identify opportunities, areas of waste, savings etc.

On that basis I expect the very earliest we might get some sort of initial turnaround strategy update would be in the H1 res that are due for release 25th Feb.

The article pretty much echoes my own thoughts.

Given that labour has put so much stead into the 1.5m housebuilding target (and they are the only ones that seem to think that target is actually still achieveable!), it seems impossible that there won't be some supporting measures such as either a version of help to buy, or maybe some temporary stamp duty incentives.

Without similar strong incentives I believe labour would be signalling that they are not serious about even trying to get near the magical 1.5m number!

@Bhaveen, there has been a general drifting downwards of CARD over past couple of weeks but as you no doubt are aware, this share tends to yo-yo within 5-10% ranges for most of this year.

And although I am generally a LTH rather than trader, I have managed to take advantage of that yo-yo effect quite a few times over the past 12 months, although always retaining my core holding.

The particular drop on the 6th when you posted this thread was due to us going xd, so if I decide to sell a few more soon, at least I will have the benefit of keeping that nice dividend.

And of course we have the budget followed by the peak christmas period coming up which this year will benefit from the FP acquisition.

I will be particularly interested in the January trading statement which will be key to help me decide whether I continue to be a LTH'er of CARD with, what for me, is a fairly large exposure.

The last few years there has been a trading update around mid January, then the next official res are FY results in May.

Any positive press such as that contained in the article is welcomed, and can only help get CARD brand better recognized when compared to other companies like Moonpig.

Interesting that the article was only published 2 days ago, but it still notes that the CARD online platform competes with Moonpig and FP, with no recognition that CARD actually own FP now!

Irrespective of that, its good positive coverage for CARD which is very welcome.

And to55ers like savage lol.