Stephan Bernstein, CEO of GreenRoc, details the PFS results for the new graphite processing plant. Watch the video here.
Steady - I don't recall FC having a rise in share price during any of my posts? Chinese interest would make sense, it's probably the most encouraging market to try to achieve any growth, as the brand is undesirable in both Europe and America with known failures in recent years! Again it comes down to my view that the only way this brand will avoid administration in the forthcoming years is a sale and M and A in the retail sector is happening now, with the sale of a few known premium brands in 2016. Hence if there's no sale in 2017 then the last ship of opportunity may have passed in my opinion. ( just an opinion) Keep taking the paranoia tablets, you may want to up your dosage ! Lol
Interesting week ahead, particularly interested in Teds update. I believe their exposure in the uk to Hofs is equal if not slightly more exposed than FC. Be great if an indication of this is mentioned in the update. Hobbs now up for sale at 80 million making 1.4 million profit. I feel Fc need to make it official they are for sale, with the number of brands now on the market, they may miss the opportunity of a buyer. What would you value FC at for a sale? As for Steady I guess paranoia eats away at the best of them lol
Agree FC is a high risk share with a TO the only chance of success for the brand. This should fundamentally be the priority thought on this investment, will it be sold and at what price? At best I'd say absolute top end 60 million on current assets / cash in bank and performance equal to 58p a share. Whilst a TO is possible, is Fc the best brand to buy for the value the CEO wants, definitely not. Good luck all
Steady - trust me I'm not here to trash the FC share price. Only to add credibility and share my views. You seem to lack knowledge of the sector and your previous posts are all flippant comments? Adding no value. You are fortunate enough to have credible views and posts on this board, which is totally your choice to accept or dismiss. Fc drop today is based on Jigsaw's update. You mention Next and a few others? Retailers I am invested in have only dropped 1% across the board against Next -14% today. The premium end of the market is facing a potential deep recession with clear winners and losers and not many brands sitting in between this in the next 2 years. Fc and their direct competitors range across 7 to 8 brands and there is a clear definition of why amongst these brands the likes of Reiss and jigsaw are strengthening their businesses and why Fc is incapable of doing so. Fc also had the best chance having such a large cash balance only a few years ago. Just to confirm I am also invested in another retailer turning a 10k investment into 50k in the last 12 months, this is not down to luck but understanding. Hopefully your sensitive side improves and your head can start to rule your heart in your investment choices
Big fall today as a result of Jigsaws success. (Nothing to do with the update from Next) No surprise to see strong Lfl's from Jigsaw, more interestingly is their resilience in their strategy to continue to drive full price sales and protect margins in a discounted market place. This was FC's strategy, which they have come so far away from so much this season. A clear indicator the season at FC must have been highly unsuccessful. Jigsaw whilst holding a considerable higher average selling price represents the brand have more desirable product for the premium market and the customer base in this area, again a sign Fc are losing market share here in their main driver of ladieswear whilst not improving menswear in any form. Weeks away from a SP of mid 20's in my opinion. Let's hope a sale is evident before a end of season trading update .
Cash currently 7m in the bank with no debt. A 5m overdraft as been pre authorised recently to support the brand. Fc will go into debt with a negative cash balance towards the end of SS17 based on current performance without any significant change in sales performance. With the recovery strategy failing and nothing of difference in place to change course, its realistic to say at the end of next year (2017) FC will be around 3m in debt with declining sales ongoing.
The Fochini group are rumoured to be lining up another acquisition. Could this be Fc? After their recent purchases of Whistles and Phase Eight? Any thoughts anyone?
Dalooks1 - I've enjoyed following your posts over the last 12 months, always 100% accurate. Your right on the concession exposure and the risk here is high. I predict a potential significant fall as 1)AW15/ SS16 updated retail sales of +6% was achieved through concession growth. This season the concessions are against high growth Lfl's in an underperforming evironment, secondly and more importantly Ss16 +6% sales were reported against a conparitive -10% the season before, stores had not gained much growth against a -10% comparative. Stores have traded with a greater discounted rate of sales this season (against the recovery strategy) to drive the lfl performance but the recovery strategy seems to be failing more in its latter period than ever. I see Fc as the poorer brand of the premium market, where as Reiss and Ted can confidently represent 40% of their trading space to Men's. Fc have a shockingly poor Men's range that is outdated in any market and is an issue which as not been fixed or been a focus in the recover strategy by a supposedly "product man" in S. Marks. New and outperforming lifestyle brands such as other stories and anthropology have also entered the premium market in the last 12 months with an increased retail portfolio. Potential to be a great brand but time is running out if not already, an exit from their Oxford Street store may buy the brand some much needed time but the recover strategy as failed and now seems to be a race against time in terms of can we close stores fast enough before the cash runs out to break even / achieve a profit. Hope I'm wrong but this is how I see the facts at present.
I would assume FC are having a difficult season, a large majority of their stores have continued to trade their Black Friday offers. FC normally update on sales end of November but haven't this season, generally the group only update mid season if performance is good. The next few months seem critical to this brand. I see the sp falling to 20p on March 2017 update, should no official takeover talk happen by then.