Member Info for LorenzoLynch

Porters and Anti-Venom,

A genuine question here: can you both please explain why you are posting in this board? I’m just curious as to how it benefits you.

If it doesn’t benefit you, then would simply be wasting your time doing something which doesn’t serve you; the actions of a person suffering with insanity.

I see the question as binary: are you both insane, or do you both have a hidden agenda (e.g. having short positions or aiming to pick up shares on the cheap)?

I don’t mean any disrespect. I’m genuinely just curious about what motivates you to post on here so frequently when you have no interest in investing in the company.

Do you not have families or friends to spend time with? Or companies to follow which you are interested in investing in?

With Trump considering 10% tariffs on China, this should benefit U.S.A’s in-country manufactures, allowing enhanced profit margins. I think the competition from China is what has eroded margins for the likes of IGR.

A lot of lessons will have been lot by the IG Design Group board over the Christmas period, and with DG Americas under new management, I expect a turnaround to unfold next year.

I hope the company becomes much more selective about who it sells to, both from a security of earnings prospective and from a margin enhancing perspective.

I would also personally consider selling of DG Americas, and suspect that this could be the plan moving forward. I think this would be the best way to unlock value.

With how cheap the stock is now, the company barely needs to a show a profit moving forward to justify this valuation imo. Oversold imo.

All in my honest opinion. Do your own research.

Flatliners,

I’ve always wondered how so many traders lose money on the market (isn’t it around 80%?).

Thank you for shedding some light on this.

Wishingstar,

Your thoughts and calculation would be warmly welcomed.

It always amazes me how some investors point out areas of weakness in a company or an economy, and automatically assume that a stock therefore must be a poor investment.

If everything was rosy here, JD would (imo) be trading at £2+ per share; and there would be no opportunity.

It’s for you to decide if you think there is value at the current valuation.

Everything has its price.

Would I be buying now at £1.60 given the circumstances? No, but at 85p, I think it’s a serious bargain.

Do your own research and draw your own conclusions, but something to note here: think outside of the box a little bit….

E.g. which events/catalysts could JD benefit from in the next year or two?

Have all of the earnings from the recent acquisitions been included in this year’s financials?

The list goes on, but I’m keeping my cards close to my chest as I want to keep topping up in the meantime.

Best of luck.

Johnjo Musk,

Economics was the module which I performed best in whilst at university (usually 80%+), which was with almost no attendance and that was before I started reading economics books.

In recent years, I’ve read many, but ok.

Cumulative inflation in isolation means nothing. Purchasing power has remained broadly flat over recent years…. And that’s in the face of rising interest rates, a global pandemic, several wars and so on.

It’s ok, I didn’t expect an informative response from you. I just wanted to ascertain if you were sincere in your skepticism or not…. You performed in line with my expectations.

Imo, the company is experiencing TEMPORARY headwinds. I think it’s a coiled spring, but what you do with your money makes no odds to me.

I remain heavily invested.

All in my honest opinion.

WishingStar,

1 & 2) While COL increases remain an issue, inflation is now at 2.5%… it was 11% in 2022, and yet JD performed reasonably well. This isn’t a new issue, and it’s one which I personally expect to subside in the coming years, especially as interest rates will likely fall and affordable housing becomes one of the governments top priorities.

Let’s compare this to the NLW increases scheduled to start in 2 and a half months:

• 6.7% for those 21 years old+

• 16.3% for 18-20 years olds

• 18% for for 16-17 year olds and apprentices.

How are they small increases when compared to 2.5% inflation? Moreover, cost inflation for JD shouldn’t be an issue, so surely margins can increase and/or sales volumes will increase?

I do however agree on your point regarding the job market being challenging for young people.

3) Ok.

4) Young people have been buying 2nd hand clothes for a many years. This isn’t a new thing or a new headwind. Again, JD has performed well in spite of this. Moreover, I’m pretty sure most people aren’t buying used footwear… and even if they did, trainers don’t last forever. There cannot be a continual supply of used clothes without people buying new clothes. What are the sellers are the used clothes buying, for them to be in a position where they can sell their old clothes? It’s a completely different market imo.

If it wasn’t for these headwinds, what net profit JD Sports be making? This is the most important question to consider imo. Every headwind is a future opportunity for upside/growth.

All in my honest opinion.

Thank you for your response.

*correction*

Ignore ‘shy’

Johnjo (or anybody else who agrees with him,

1) Please explain to me how inflation is too high now.

2) Please explain to me how disposable income is not going to increase in the U.K. when the NLW is due to increase in the coming months.

3) Please explain to me how JD Sports has multibagged time and time again, whilst being a poor investment (allegedly).

4) Please explain to me how JD has grown to become a globally diversified company making just shy over £900m PBT in a bad year, in the face of headwinds, when according to you, it has no position in the retail market or any competitive advantage.

Not everybody is so skint that they have to shop at a Sports Direct; we’re not all working at the circus like yourself. Furthermore, plenty of people in the U.K earn cash in hand and need somewhere to spend their cash.

How old are you if you don’t mind me asking? I’m 31, and I mean no disrespect when I say this, but you seem out of touch.

Heavily discounting stock is a race to the bottom; I’m happy for JD’s competitors to destroy their own margins, as this will imo, lead to the collapse of at least some of them. Isn’t that what usually happens in pricing wars? Although, I doubt it will come to this. I think they’ll increase prices again once they’ve worked through their excess inventory.

Moreover, when their customers return to store and see that prices have shot up, I imagine most of them will walk straight back out the door as they ‘may as well shop somewhere that has more selection on offer, with better quality goods’… you know, somewhere like JD.

I think you’re disingenuous, but please prove me wrong by answering the above questions Mr Moneybags

I must say, I’m largely in agreement with Knot.

This really caught my eye in the Guardian article:

Its chief executive, Nikhil Rathi, tried to address concerns in a letter to the prime minister, Keir Starmer, and the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, last week, amid concerns that UK regulators are stifling economic growth.

“We can never rule out firms having to pay redress for serious misconduct,” Rathi’s letter said. “However, through proactive management of issues, and improved coordination with the Financial Ombudsman Service, we aim to prevent further significant FCA-led consumer redress exercises. As part of that, we are considering reforms to the redress framework which may need legislation.”

Sounds like me like a mere slap on the wrist is en route for CBG, whilst others who may have been playing dirty could be slapped with reasonable redress fines to pay.

As alluded to in the article, if the Supreme Court do not overturn this decision, then it opens a huge can of worms which the U.K. economy cannot (in my opinion) withstand.

From what I can see, it’s not in anybody’s interest for the CoA ruling to remain as it is.

All imho, DYOR.

Johnjo,

If I was a multimillionaire like yourself, I wouldn’t be spending my time on LSE trying to increase negative sentiment in any stock, let alone a stock which appeals to value investors (the type that invest in companies based on financial statements, not speculation or emotion).

I won’t insult you, but honestly, you’re embarrassing yourself.

I hope it does fall to 60p, so I can continue increasing my position. Keep up the good work mate.

If investors are/were buying shares en masse, how would it be possible to manipulate the share price downwards? Can somebody please explain this to me, because it makes no sense to me.

If it were that simple, what would be the point in investing at all, if all price movements were the consequence of sheer manipulation?

Was this being manipulated when it recently hit £1.40, or were the manipulators on holiday for a few weeks?

I think a more logical explanation, as provided by Paul Scott, is that funds might be forced to sell their shares in this (and other stocks) at the moment due to huge capitals outflows from the vast majority of British investment funds?

When such funds return to net inflows, I think this re-rates quickly… if not beforehand.

Short squeeze? Information leak? Both?

Marshall’s appear to have been exiting their short at a decent pace.

Isn’t the next stage of the appeal process expected to draw to a conclusion soon?

Been a busy man lately, so slightly out of the loop, although I have been reading Knot’s very informative posts on occasion.

I don’t agree with this narrative that the SP is being held back by shorters, but admittedly, I know very little about this side of investing.

Market sentiment is awful atm imo, due to a lack of faith in the government, and especially in regards to the retail sector.

In a falling tide, all boats sink alike.

I don’t see many bargain opportunities on the market at the moment, so I’m happy to have somewhere to park a significant amount of my net worth, and I’ll gladly collect the dividends along the way.

My view:

As I’ve said here before, if CF pay down their debt, it will enhance the net profit to the tune of millions.

There also appears to be some headroom for increasing the dividend at the appropriate time.

I’m hopeful that the new acquisitions start contributing in the next financial year.

The growth strategy appears to be working well.

The online underperformance = a turnaround opportunity to enhance earnings even further in the future.

Partnerships appear to be on the rise.

The management team appear to be doing a great job.

Management are confident that they can handle the NI and NLW increases comfortably.

The company has shown its resilience throughout the pandemic and double digit inflation, when other companies have collapsed or regressed significantly.

These are the things I prefer to focus on, rather than market maker speculation.

Given the huge share price rallies we’ve experienced here as share holders during the past few years, I imagine we’ll see another rally before long.

All just my honest opinions on where I see the company heading; consequently this is my largest holding.

A similar holding (imo) which i own is IG Design Group. Might be worth considering if you like this type of company, but would like some US exposure at a U.K. valuation. Dividend reinstatement could be catalyst, but do your own research on all accounts.

JD Sports is my 2nd largest holding… speaks for itself imo.

If any of you hold any similar stocks, I’d be very grateful if you could share them… low p/e, pricing power, good management etc.

Steveu,

Have you seen how other retailers have been performing lately and what they are forecasting?

It’s all relative… CF have done exceptionally well considering the circumstances imo

2reincarnated,

You could say the same about any company in history prior to it being taken over.

Clowns like yourself said the same about SCS and Redrow when I was holding them prior to the takeovers… fortunately I ignored them.

JD88,

That was one of the best posts I’ve ever read on an investing forum. I’m in full agreement with you.

Wouldn’t be remotely surprised if JD decide to float on the NYSE around the time of the World Cup as well, to really get the valuation motoring on.

10/10.

Thank you.

Rather than complain about the ridiculous SP performance (one of the most shocking market responses I’ve ever seen), I’ve topped up.

This was already my largest holding by some margin… now I’m ridiculously heavy on it.

This was £1.40 not so long ago, and with my 2 eyes, it looks a better company today than it was back then.

Note that if the government does a u-turn on the NI increase as some stage over the coming months or years, it will add several million £ to the net profit of CARD… in this challenge lies an opportunity.

If companies are hit as hard as they’re claiming to be, I think a u-turn is more likely than not.

All in my honest opinion.

Wiscos,

I wouldn’t be surprised to see more director buying and/or more buys from some of the larger shareholders e.g. the billionaire fella.

This might need an increase to the dividend to really get it moving though (and I suspect we’ll get this next year).

Bear in mind that many retail investors wont even be aware of this RNS yet.

I think we’ll see it continue moving upwards as the mainstream media or investing media outlets report on it.

Additionally, some traders have probably ‘sold into the news’.

I’m very happy holding here, and I’ll be topping up when I have the capital to do so.

Carrot,

It’s absolutely ridiculous in my opinion, but without market over-reactions, how would we make any money?

I’m contemplating when to top up and how much to top up by. Wouldn’t surprise me if it continues to fall a bit further.

Today’s movement is emotion-led imo. JD may as well have left out all of the numbers and just said ‘some bad news, time to panic sell’