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Snog, marry or avoid?...... Sit back and watch as it promises to be an intriguing end to 2023. The whole thing is a bit opaque - how is Go Compare actually doing? - but I guess that's the marketing magic at play. This could go either way, but I fear that the pre-close statement will be speaking of a downward trend in terms of viewing stats. It looks as though they have a lot to sort out still as it doesn't look like the engine is purring yet. This will take time and might be painful.
....avoid.
Each to their own, but embracing the circular economy is the way forward as far as I am concerned. Offering a repair service should open up new customer demand rather than stifle growth or reduce the sale of new shoes. There is already a thriving market in secondhand DMs. According to their research, 40% of their US customers have bought pairs from other sources. DOCS' commitment to sustainability is impressive and will serve them well in the years to come.
If anyone has a time to watch their recent product teach-in webcast on their investor site, I can recommend it. Excellent all round from this global brand icon, and plenty of medium and long term growth in SP to come me thinks.
10% reduction in Angels YOY has led to 18% lower revenues for FY24 so far - also due to them not chasing new customers as aggressively. Business model which binds together the whole wine production process inherently isn't the most flexible in times of a change in demand which for some reason has caught them all off guard.
In the last set of results, it was stated that revenues through the tills (so I guess incl. VAT) was £1m per store per annum ON AVERAGE. This is one hell of a combined performance if it is true. It is approaching £3k per day for every store, and must be at least 20% of the stock they hold at any one time. Is this plausible or have I got my decimal point in the wrong place.
Next Wilko? I would say 'not'. Fundamentals, momentum and finances are not even close. Just been taking a look at their 2023 annual report, and I must say the articulation their strategy and direction is impressive. Their clear direction and purpose will I think be well rewarded over the coming years. Stores are sensibly-sized, good stock/floor area ratio, well stocked with some recognisable branded titles/products and importantly healthily busy. Online sales represent c.10%. If they have to trim down a few non performing stores - or if decent rents can't be negotiated, the small store size and relatively short rental terms make it manageable to do so. Board are massively experienced. Shares looking undervalued to me.
Deluded? Always. I did say they needed a clear run in terms of product performance and competition . Looks like the gremlins are already working hard doing their thing with this product review:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_6XYawZuXw
Hopefully the Board are working on a rebrand and updated website to reflect the present strategy and vision. I'm not sure if anyone looking today gives a hoot about the heritage and convoluted family tree which must be out of date by a long way. Rename and clear explanation of what this is all about would add 100% to share price.
I have just started looking at them from having no knowledge prior to last couple of weeks. I don't know why they are running with a lot of small companies rather than consolidating these into a singular customer/investor facing brand. Could do with investing in some marketing and design expertise to promote the group a lot better perhaps. They look like a solid outfit but not presented as slick or as professionally as they could be. But what do I know. Invested yesterday as I think underlying looks positive.
Does anyone have any comment on the product itself - or more specifically whether there is any indicators whether i) their programmatic enterprise technology will take off and ii) whether their financial model (which appears to be a 25% profit share) is viable.
In its favour, it is presumably something that customers can trial without disrupting their existing marketing plans.
I think their move into the second hand market for instruments and audio will prove to be a massive winner and could outstrip their new equipment sales if they get it right. They could also offer it under an alternative brand if they wanted and take on Cash Converters etc directly. Number of transactions should grow nicely in the current climate.
The global market for fire extinguishers is substantial, so it is seems plausible that LIFS can target revenues in the high 10's if not 100's of millions of $$ in the relatively near future. I am particularly impressed with their US sales figures which already are around 60% of their £4m total for 2022. If they are trying to sell into new markets (the people who don't already have an extinguisher at home) with their new system then this could open up a flood of untapped demand. But personally, I think it will be hard to get significant take up simply on the 'every home needs one' message as sadly people don't generally consider themselves to be at risk. They will need to be smarter with their marketing if we are all going to go out and buy one for home - so they have to invest a lot more £ and thinking time in product marketing as currently this looks a bit basic.
Not being a chemist, I don't fully understand their patent position and whether this really protects them from competition - but if they start getting a lot of traction you can bet there will be a reaction from the incumbents. Hope they have invested in patent defence insurance. That said, on balance, I am positive. They have a clear objective and hopefully they will have a clear run in terms of product performance which will help make this company a winner.
Board has issued a cautious statement ahead of AGM. August was understandably quiet but the fear is this will continue to be the case relatively speaking for Sep and Oct. This will test whether they are as diverse in their product mix as they think they are. SP has walked steadily south all year and looks like only a positive announcement in Oct (or an anticipation of that) will prevent further downward movement despite apparent dividend yield. Even so, soon be a time to start buying a few thinking longer term.
Shame. Gone backwards as far as I can see. Not impressed with the less is more explanation again. No clear route to profitability offered. Might be technically brilliant but still not solving a problem anyone will pay $ for.
I don't see the Chinese supplier buying this company outright. They have swapped some of their outstanding creditor balance for large minority stake, which preserves their ability to supply goods through this channel until a proper buyer can step forward - but taking out the whole company in a public takeover is completely different and would be out of character. The good news (for investors looking at this afresh now) is that new management have come in. They have a mandate to sell, are incentivised to do so and will be given some time and leeway from major shareholders to complete the task. This will find a nice home in a larger group in the next 12-18 months, or if the price goes up materially could even be a vehicle for acquiring other companies. FA certainly has some scale in its own right and would be of interest to a number of different companies trying to get access to home owners, connected home/IoT etc. I'm in this week.
At today’s price I am a buyer (as I was at 100p too). G4M are a serious technology enabled online retailer. They’ve got a large in-house development team, 50+ people compared to some other listed retailers who have a handful or less. They also have a growing stable of in-house organic and acquired brands which give them 42% gross margin.
OK, they need to improve on 5% EBITDA off £150m sales, but at a sub £20m valuation, this is well in the buying zone for me. They have absolutely masses of customer data: 1.65m email subscribers and info on over 4m individual customers in the last 6 years is hugely valuable. They should be excellently positioned to benefit from the whole AI toolkit to generate sales over the coming years.
I raised my eyebrows at the cost of av.com but that aside their combined strategy of bringing in well known brands, developing a secondhand offering and then extending that sales, procurement, logistics and online marketing expertise into new markets outside of instruments into AV and then hopefully other markets with similar attributes such as sporting goods, camping gear or pretty much whatever you like is a long term winner for me.
Hopefully we will both be right. The stat which values them at £1.1m per store (and associated share of online sales) just doesn't quite compute for me currently. They just need a convincing growth story to justify it I guess. The Japanese saga dented people's perception of how easy they could deliver on their international growth potential. I really hope that they can find a way to reach new markets as this will help to get to £3 and above again.
Haven't learnt that much new but it is always nice to hear from their spokesman. Anyone know if it is the intention to make the polymer for this customer in their factory and ship it over to Mexico or whether this is more outsourced research and they will hand over the cooking instructions for someone else to manufacture in South America. If they have now 6,000 tonnes capacity what is typical unit price of this stuff? £2k/m3m more or less?
Agreed. Not sure why they are trying to compete in this area. For me, HOTC do well in the gifting market not the food and beverage market. Alcohol yes, hot chocolate and takeaway coffees no.
"Good news, Investors! Naked Wines is nearing the 2 month mark from its last announcement delaying results". This is nothing short of impressive. But not in a good way. Naturally I expect there is a perfectly boring reason for the silence but still this is by no means a guarantee that there won't be a shock coming - good or bad. One for the brave IMO.
The thing that freaks me out about this company (but I accept is also an opportunity) is that 33% of their revenues are from South Africa. The rand has been deteriorating over the last 5 years (now approaching 25 to the £1) and could worsen further both from a forex and political perspective. Triton might have a lot of market share in their chosen market, but they are not the brand for me. Overall, the messaging from the company appears to be a little over confident for my liking and their declining share price bears this out.