Roundtable Discussion; The Future of Mineral Sands. Watch the video here.
Hewhodareswins1
All those occassions existed pre-Jan 2020 update. You can also add Christmas to boot pre-Jan 2020.
Yet, trading was disappointing and a new strategy was required. SP collapsed.
Then covid emerged.
DYOR of course.
Hewhodares1
Like black friday on June 15th??? doubt that very much.
What are people buying cards for between now and Christmas??
Card factory missed all of the Easter trading period, timing was seasonally bad for them. Online sales doesnt compensate at all.
Business model was in need of a new strategy and SP was collapsing all before covid.
Now with shops shut for 3 months, debt most likely balooning and customer confidence in pieces - you really think they are in a better position than Jan 2020?? - absolurely not.
Strategic changes and implications are most likely to be far more drastic and costly.
See the following extract from Jan 2020 trading update. Looks like a funding warning on the requirement for new strategic investment. Where will it come from?
"Recognising the long-term nature of the external factors affecting business performance, management has been undertaking a comprehensive review of strategy. The review is not yet complete, but the board is confident that it will yield a number of attractive medium term growth opportunities across both new and existing channels, albeit there may be a requirement for additional strategic investment in FY21 to support this future growth."
Reading through recent trading updates, the company's comments about more investment being needed to drive its new strategy raised doubts for me about jumping in here.
Debt is high, and will be much higher after covid-19 and the company's ability to pay it down will be lower for a while it appears.
May stay on the sidelines on this one for now.
..... were two things promised to be improved during Feb 2019 results presentation.
Today, both are in tatters.
Credibility: Wiped out by unveiling a revised strategy no one believed in and one which no analyst took seriously nor bothered to even analyse. Then covid and generational recession hit, yet bizzarely the company continues to claim the medicine is about to start working, even when the Big 4 and Wall street's largest banks are sounding alarm.
Communication: Chief Risk Officer "asked to leave" after 2 weeks. Q1 update on half a page of A4 with core details ommitted, bizzare for the single most troubled high street bank in the country facing a huge recession.
Crazy.
Cuddothisnow.
No one invests in a bank because of capital buffer levels. But the market will punish any bank that has question marks over its capital.
Metro needs to focus on sales and profit growth if it want to see a recovery in SP and sentiment.
In the absence of that, you'll be pulling your hair out for a loooong time coming.
Shareholders have been left to the wolves for last 7 months.
The Feb results, management and strategy change had the wolves salivating.
Choice is simple: Either management get on the front foot and give investors something to believe in or its a wrap for the equity story here.
Bigsmoke.
Agreed, Odey sounds panicked by developments.
It was clear those weekend articles in Times and City AM had a purpose.
End game is definitely imminent IMHO if these reports are true.
No way will they try to raise funds with current market cap of £130m, that'll mean asking people to pay two or three times the current SP.
An mediate sale only option and many parties will jump in, esp. the Big four.
Got popcorn at the ready!
What exactly is Metro good for now? What is its purpose exactly given the following:
1. Cant lend any more money
2. Cant attract much in the way of new deposits
3. Growing losses
4. Depleting CET1
5. No competitive products to offer
Back to Metro.
This week's SP action will have crysrallised the high stakes of the situation.
Metro limited its entire reporting (half a sheet of A4) to good news only, and SP still tanked 7% cumulative by end of play Thursday.
If it dares to ever report a decrease in deposits, reduced CET1 and quantifies its losses... hell will break loose and shorters will feast.
How this is handled will be key to avoidong contagion, however irrational the fears.
There's a strong incentive to put it out of its misery.
Theosus
Time will tell.
But unlikely to be a coincidence, maybe it is a call to market for interested parties to reveal their hands?
Either way, I cant imagine regulators allowing Metro to release detailed H1 results in its current state and under a bad recession without serious mitigating action