Member Info for masterboffin

https://www.futurelifestyle.in/Admin/pdf/FLFL_Annual_Report_2018-19.pdf

Forgot the link .....comments on page 20 from Biyani about KOOVS

Putneylad , I think you have hit the nail on the head regarding FIFL's relationship with KOOVS.

FIFL Managing Director, Kishore Biyani has outlined the interest his company has in KOOVS in his message to shareholders published in July 2019 ( page 20 of the FIFL annual report on link). I have posted Biyani's comments about KOOVS which clearly holds value for FIFL and hopefully the funding issue is sorted asap.

"To further strengthen our digital
presence and expertise, we acquired
16.25% stake in Koovs Plc., and
intend to reach upto 29.9% stake.
Koovs operates the India-focussed
popular fashion portal Koovs.com.
With its easy navigation, catwalk
videos, 360° product views and a
portfolio of home-grown fashion
brands, Koovs.com enjoys a cult-like
following among its customers. We
have deep expertise in both digital
technology and fashion design; and
are uniquely positioned to grow
profitably in the coming years. Apart
from integrating Koovs.com brands
within Central stores, we are also
leveraging the Koovs.com expertise and
knowledge in building digital platforms
for our brands.
In the forthcoming financial year, we
are slated to launch Brand Factory’s
e-commerce platform, backed by
the technical expertise and platform
provided by Koovs. As a leading
off-price brand outlet chain, we are
confident that Brand Factory Online will
perform exceedingly well in delivering
value for customers and for us at large"

putneylad,

despite your best efforts( plus the efforts of some other frustrated shareholders) to gain accurate information from the company and Nomad we are all left in limbo land .

We are left to rely on soundbites . I recall after the AGM there were some understandably positive posts on this site from shareholders who had attended the AGM in September . The shareholders had been informed at the AGM by Koovs CEO, Mary Turner, of the good working relationship between Koovs management and Future Lifestyle Fashions LTD. The Koovs CEO was quoted as stating she met with FIFL Managing Director, Kishore Biyani, on a regular basis ( once every two weeks I think it was) to discuss the working relationship. It now seems odd that the RNS on Monday this week stated that Koovs had been told by FIFL as late as 18th October that the Reserve Bank of India had requested FIFL to reapply for approval before any further subscriptions for Complusory Convertable Preference Shares are made by FIFL. In light of the fact that only £ 0.25 million of the agreed £6.81 million has been subscribed to by FIFL so far this calender year, surely , given the good working relationship between FIFL and Koovs and the slowness of FIFL taking up their agreed subscriptions this issue should have raised alarm bells sooner and the reasons why the full subscription had not been made established and published more quickly to shareholders .

I think we are all somewhat bemused by the present situation and some clarify would be welcomed ...

https://www.koovs.com/corporate/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/KOOVS_Investor_Presentation_July_2019.pdf

Bearing in mind there is a July 2019 investor relations presentation already published on Koovs Corporate website (found under Regulatory News section dated 18th July 2019) it begs the question ; why invite prospective investors to the capital markets day if there was no significant information about the companies progress over the last three months . There must be something news worthy being highlighting to the attendees on 29th October otherwise Koovs could just use the July 2019 presentation . It's interesting to note that there will be "presentations"rather than a single presentation being published on the Koovs website on 29th October . So fingers crossed , suffering shareholders will have some reading material to scrutinise . I'm sure I'm not the only person frustrated by the lack of information being provided in RNS form by Koovs.

Its good to see sensible reasoned debate on this board today irrespective of whether its bearish or bullish in nature . No doubt there is a significant opportunity for companies in the online retail space in India . I'm sticking with my view that medium / long term Koovs will prove to be a winner . Good luck whatever your viewpoint .

Christie Lagally, Founder and CEO of Rebellyous commented: -

"We are thrilled to partner with Agronomics in our work to transform a global industry. At Rebellyous, we are building a more efficient, profitable, and sustainable meat industry by reimagining the way meat is made. Through our novel production technology, we are enabling the production of plant-based meat at a scale not previously seen in this sector, and we could not do it without support from Agronomics."

Todays RNS is hopefully the start of a profitable relationship between Agronomics and Rebellyous Foods . It would be good to see Agronomics invest more cash into Rebellyous Foods as that company grows .

Note the tweet from Agronomics PLC this morning.

@AgronomicsLtd
3h3 hours ago
More
@RebellyousFoods has joined our portfolio! We are looking forward to working with @lagallyc and the team: A Seattle based company developing plant based meat alternatives, such as their delicious chicken nuggets. #plantbased #ANIC

https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/koovs/apptopia/apptopia_app_overview_list_public

Yes, Koovs share price is frustrating ( to say the least ) for all investors.
The latest mobile APP download figures for KOOVS ( updated on 1st October) shows a big monthly growth figure of 36% !
The total APP download figure for the last month is 302,775 .( 251344 on Google, 51431 on Apple).
Currently, in India there is a huge increase in mobile phone sales. It would be reasonable to assume that more APP downloads will increase KOOVS sales ...............we shall see in due course

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/extinction-rebellion-activists-occupy-smithfield-market-and-set-up-fruit-and-veg-stalls-a4256381.html
The mass protest which has closed down Smithfield market today is part of the mass worldwide movement to stop the slaughter of animals for meat production and to promote plant based substitutes. Personally, I like the occasional burger from McDonalds and in restaurants but the publicity emanating from these protests has got me thinking about the negatives impacts of livestock farming and eating meat to the extent that I have cut down on my meat consumption . I'm a million miles form being a sandal wearing fraggle but mass movements of this nature will drive the development of meat substitutes and will in turn encourage investment . All good for Agronomics PLC and any company in the alternative meat sector IMHO.

https://www.similarweb.com/website/koovs.com#overview

September 2019 figures for Koovs.com webite visits (3.07 million visits) show a jump of 30.58% from the August stats. At least that's one thing heading in the right direction !

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/services/retail/small-town-india-helps-amazon-flipkart-record-growth-in-sales/articleshow/71449679.cms

A few weeks ago Koovs CEO was interviewed on a BBC report stating the company had seen an increase in customer sales from smaller Indian cities & towns. That may explain why there has apparently been issues with late deliveries and complaints from customers citing poor refunding procedures by Koovs . Koovs' delivery /return logistics may be struggling to keep up with the demand in geographical areas more difficult to access ! Improving logistics and delivery times is not an impossible issue to resolve for Koovs imho.

The above article proves the big increase in online sales ( especially fashion)to smaller towns by the giants Amazon & Flipkart .

“We doubled our transactions in tier-III cities. Fashion, general merchandise and beauty categories did well with first-time shoppers,” said Flipkart’s Krishnamurthy."

“We received orders from 99.4% of India’s pin codes, of which 88% customers were from smaller towns,” said Agarwal. For Amazon’s first-time shoppers, fashion was the biggest category, followed by smartphones and consumables, he said."

thanks, I'm looking forward to some news on further ANIC investments soon .

https://masterinvestor.co.uk/equities/cultivated-meat-climate-change-the-presence-of-plant-based-foods-science/

"This raises the question – how will plant-based products ever be able to achieve price parity? A Seattle-based company, Rebellyous Foods, is attempting to achieve exactly this. The company pioneers itself as an innovative manufacturing company that can bring the cost of plant products, specifically chicken nuggets, down to match industrial chicken nuggets in taste, price and texture.*"

Rebellyous Foods would fit nicely into ANIC's portfolio . It's mentioned in the article written by Laura Turner, Agronomics analyst ( who has written a series of articles for the magazine) . Furthermore, Agronomics staff have recently attended the Good Food Conference in San Faranciso which is a major networking event in the USA.
"Agronomics (LON: ANIC) is just getting going. Jim Mellon and Anthony Chow’s trip to attend the Good Food Conference in San Francisco was more than a success, and as with most Septembers, it has been a hectic month. Jim, Anthony and I popped off to Berlin at the end of the month to visit the strong food tech hub – perhaps lesser known than in the Bay Area.

As our portfolio continues to grow, we remain heavily excited by our first three investments in Bond Pet Foods, New Age Meats and BlueNalu. The teams are all immensely busy in R & D phases. "

https://www.standard.co.uk/business/meet-waheed-alli-the-labour-peer-suffering-birth-pangs-of-india-s-answer-to-asos-a4183176.html

This was the article published in the Standard , back in July . Slight correction to my post below. Lord Alli was not quoted stating Koovs will need further funding in the future but rather the author suggests that may happen . The article was overall bullish and a good read for any potential new investors in Koovs .
" Although analysts at Hardman & Co are bullish about it's chances , risks such as slower uptake of e-commerce or new entrants could hold the retailer back. It will probably have to raise more cash too. "If you take investors' money, you have an obligation to deliver returns on them.We're going to win the race that we are in .Our brand is going to win in India ," says Alli , confident that Koovs will be in the black by 2022-23"

I concur Matt . In an article published in the Evening Standard back in July , Lord Ali made reference to Koovs seeking further funding in the future . So , the Capital Markets day appears to be a good move as part of the fundraising process .

https://www.greenqueen.com.hk/lab-grown-food-to-drive-collapse-of-beef-dairy-industry-by-2030-says-new-report/

Fundamental change is bound to take place in the food industry . Its just a question of time .

"A new report conducted by independent think tank RethinkX concludes that the beef and dairy industries are in a “death spiral” and will collapse by 2030, predicting that the bold disruption will be driven by new food technologies, including cell-based meat and plant-based analogs, that are rapidly innovating to replace the currently carbon and resource-intensive traditional livestock agriculture"

Understandably , there has been a lot of negative thoughts expressed on this bulletin board about the slow progress of Koovs and the decline in the share price. Maybe now it is feasible that there is a positive future for the company which will surprise all Koovers.

https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-makes-brick-and-mortar-play-in-india-2019-8?r=US&IR=T

Another article outlining the significance of the Amazon involvement with Future Retail Group ( which holds a 25% share interest in Koovs). Worth a read to gain an understanding of developments in the online retail sphere in India.

"The deal gives Amazon around half of Future Coupons' 7.3% stake in Future Retail and, after three years, the opportunity to acquire part or all of the share currently owned by Future Retail's founding family, which is worth over 40% of the company. Future Retail is likely an appealing investment for Amazon as it operates over 2,000 stores, including hypermarkets and supermarkets, in more than 400 cities in India."

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Business-deals/Amazon-buys-Future-Retail-stake-to-ride-on-billionaire-Biyani-s-India-store-network

It's good to see renewed interest in Koovs today . Investors latching onto the fact that Amazon is getting its foot in the door with The Future Group which in turn is a 25% shareholder in KOOVS .

"Amazon.com's stake purchase in Future Retail sets the stage for the U.S. company to embolden its distribution network in India, where intense competition and regulatory hurdles hobble its prospects.

Amazon will buy a 49% stake in Future Coupons, a payments solutions business owned by Future Retail, and gain a 3.6% stake in the retailer that operates more than 1,500 supermarket stores across 400 cities in India. It will also get the first right of refusal in case Kishore Biyani, the billionaire founder of Future Retail, or his family decides to further trim their combined 47% stake in the company, as per their agreement. Financial details weren't disclosed.

The deal gives Amazon a beachhead in India's $365 billion retail market, of which more than 62% is groceries, according to Morgan Stanley. Store retailers have barely grabbed 3% of this pie, while online penetration is negligible. Amazon will ride on Future Retail's vast network of convenience stores spread across smaller towns and cities to address this huge market for groceries, say analysts."

Mniy,

in response to your question , BlueNalu is not a publicly listed company. It is a private USA company and therefore does not use the Regulatory News Service to publish news . If you are asking why Agronomics PLC have not released an RNS , I don't know the answer because I'm not familiar with the stock exchange rules regarding investment companies releasing news about their individual investment holdings.