Member Info for simon1367

I simply do not understand how a company with a head start in terms of 'storage' in all it's forms, can go off course like this. Good riddance to the CEO and CFO who steered the group into this mess.

This company, in my view, still has the potential to be a growth stock provided the right people are in charge and stick to the core business rather than trying to gamble on short term digital contracts and fads.. In many ways its a licence to print money, given the amount of businesses that must be looking for a dedicated storage facility. The potential must be huge.

So why am I holding back? The company may be rudderless for a while although they ave started cost savings already. Time to take stock and review in a few months. I'm not going to average down. Learnt my lesson from previous experiences.

I suggest that very few people bought at the bottom, simply because even if they had wanted to, the brokers were regularly putting temporary holds on attempted deals due to the volatility at the time.

I'm tired of the vagaries of the AIM sector. The actual reaction to a set of poor results always seems to be magnified on this exchange.

For what its worth I may as well hang on to the holding I have in the hope of a miracle. I'm still wondering how Luke Burtis feels. At least that gives me some consolation!

As for the CEO....he may know his way around a game, but as for business acumen, he knows sweet FA.

My final thought. What happens in about a year's time when the cash has run out?

No wonder the CFO resigned two weeks ago. He knew what was coming.

The drop seems harsh. This was due to be a long term hold for me. I saw it as a company in a sector that would be in high demand for the foreseeable future. I'm loath to sell at a low though.

Ginksy: You've not followed this story for long have you? This company has screwed investors. There have been far too many unanswered questions in the last few months. Too many dodgy events in the last year. Additionally, one has the creative accounting of capitalising large amount of costs, thereby achieving what is considered to be a false 'profit' , whilst eating into a large amount of cash. Consequently, unless they curtail expenditure, there will be a need for more cash within a year, as reinvested cashflow has been put into poor performimg products.

The CEO (the joint founder) has made his millions by going the IPO route a few yrears back. As for everyone else, they are basically screwed. This company is a disgrace.

.........Oh, and I forgot to mention, we never did find out the reason for the massive drop in the share price in March. That in itself stank of shares being dealt in in huge amounts without any RNS updates re shareholder details. All the warnings were there at the time. We live and learn.

I've been away a few days and had not looked at this. I'm now incandescent with rage. Incredibly angry. A few days ago It was 34p and now it's 9p. I had averaged down over the last few months to about 90p. I've basically written this share off, given it is virtually impossible for this share to recover significantly to recoup my money. Basically, we've been taken for mugs.

Firstly, why the hell did I listen to Questor in the Telegraph a year or two ago when the sp was over £2 ?

Secondly, why the hell didn't I go by my gut reaction a few months ago when the Tinyworld 'team' did a broadcast about their updated figures? I said on here at the time that I wasn't impressed with the presentation and said that this looked like a 'one man band'. The CFO seemed out of his depth. It was all too laid back and stank of lack of corporate governance

The only satisfaction I get is seeing that Nichoporchick has lost a massive amount of his own share value, although he (and his wife, for some reason) has taken out a lot from this company. Luke Burtis, co-founder (who has not been part of the business for quite a while) must be sick as a pig.

I've been in this situation once before. It all STINKS. In the last scenario where I lost my investment, the updates became less frequent, (but continued with a positive theme), and eventually the shares were de-listed from AIM due to delays in updating, and the company was dissolved, and the directors disappeared. I'm getting a horrible feeling of Deja Vu.

And finally, as they are going to run out of money soon, don't get conned when the rights issue comes along. My advice is to tell them to eff off.

Hereshopin......perhaps he needs some cash? .....Lol. There is no way this guy is desperate for money. The only reason I can possibly think for him selling at this point is that, given the position he is in, he can only deal at certain periods of the year outside periods of official announcements, updates, and results etc. This restricts him. HOWEVER, quite frankly I am disgusted by his need to find a million quid by selling at an almost all time low. I could understand it if it was a guy who had bought at 3.25 and sold at 4 for a quick profit, but this.....this is the action of a plonker (unless of course he knows something we don't.....which I suspect is unlikely)

I go back to the comments made by 'Barhut' when he said this afternoon.......''Nothing like showing confidence in your company, when a director sells shares at the bottom . This sounds alarm bells. Before anyone shouts at me ask yourself, does this person really need the money. Has to be the worst timing''. I have to say that I didn't disagree with him. And look what the markets thought of it, down nearly 10%, and curtailing the momentum. Thanks Mr Robertson for nothing. I just find the actions of the man unbelievable.

Now yielding 6.56%. Strong balance sheet to withstand present economic woes. Looks in a strong position. Good entry point for ISA and forget about?

Am I missing something? At this price the yield is 7.38%. Okay, if base rate rises again, then this could drop a little bit more in value. However, once interest rates settle down at a lower level, this preference share will continue to pay out a nice div with also the prospect of a bit of capital appreciation. A pretty safe holding in my view.

West6809 ....(part2)....It is possible to see the appeal. The online fast fashion houses have some decent infrastructure, and a substantial online presence. They know how to source clothes and ship them out. And perhaps most of all they are very cheap. When the value of a company has fallen by 99pc it is not hard to convince yourself that it can only improve. No doubt the bankers can make a decent case for launching a takeover offer.

Even so, they are not really worth all the attention they are getting. First, they don’t have any real brand value. People have heard of Boohoo and Asos, but they are a long way from having the kind of loyal following that the leading designers have created, or that chains like Zara or Primark command. Even worse, their core teenage and twenty-something demographic is suspicious of their ethical and environmental standards.

They much prefer buying pre-loved clothes online to what they often see as cheap tat. There is zero loyalty to any of the online retailers, and that makes customers very fickle.

Next, the market is brutally competitive. In any online business the margins are always wafer thin. It is simply too easy to compare prices and a better deal is never more than a click away. But online fast fashion takes that to new levels.

As well as intense competition, the marketing costs are also huge, with advertising and influencers ramping up the cost of every sale. It is a very hard way to make money.

Finally, costs will inevitably rise. The era of ultra cheap manufacturing in developing countries is coming to an end, and the logistics that delivered stuff around the world efficiently have never recovered from the pandemic. The one pound tee-shirt is not necessarily coming back any time soon.

In fact, environmental standards, and net zero commitments, with even container ships switching fuels, means costs are likely to keep on rising for the next few years. That does not matter so much for retailers that rely on design to keep customers loyal, but if you are selling mainly on price it is a big problem. If you aren’t the cheapest product on the market you lose your customers.

Over the last two decades, there was real money to be made from swooping on traditional retailers as they ran into trouble.

It worked for Philip Green in his heyday, and it has worked for Ashley over the last few years. But those were all chains with physical shops on the high street, loyal customers and brands that had been built up over decades.

They might have been losing money but there was still value there. None of that is true for the online retailers that have run into trouble. There are no easy profits to be made. It is better just to let them fade away – and allow them to be replaced by newer, sharper rivals''

West6809....A fairly cynical piece in my view but with elements of reality chucked in.

West6809.....I thought I had posted the full article. Maybe it's only available to subscribers. I've tried pasting the full article here but as it's lengthy will have to do it in two bits.

Boohoo is fighting for control of its rival Revolution Beauty even though there are plenty of questions around its own survival. Asos is fending off approaches from Mike Ashley and a Turkish bidder backed by Chinese money. The Hut Group was about to be sold to a private equity firm, and then wasn’t – at least for another week or two. The UK’s major online fashion retailers have almost as many bids as they do cut-price summer T-shirts and shades. Offers, approaches and minority stakes whizz by at bewildering speed, making a sector once known just for its fast fashion just as noteworthy for its fast deal-making. After valuations collapsed many of the major online retailers may well look like a bargain. And yet their brands have little real value. The market is brutally competitive with wafer-thin margins, and the supply chains that used to deliver ultra-cheap clothes to their customers are a thing of the past. In reality, it is not worth all the squabbling and infighting. It would be better just to let the whole sector quietly fade away, and be replaced by businesses of greater substance. The UK’s fast fashion empires, which once promised to build on this country’s traditional strengths in fashion and retailing to create major internet successes, have turned into a sorry shadow of their former selves. From almost 400p back in 2020, shares in Boohoo are down to a fresh low this month of just 34p, a catastrophic fall in value. Shares in Asos are down by 93pc over the last five years, and are hitting fresh lows this month, a dismal performance for a company that at one stage could have joined the FTSE 100 if it had been listed on the main exchange at its peak instead of on Aim. Meanwhile THG is down by a mere 90pc since its peak, helped by takeover speculation. Put them all together, and the sector has completely crashed, and shows little sign of recovering any time soon. Against that dire backdrop, it is probably not a surprise that the vultures have started circling. The private equity house Apollo offered to buy THG a few weeks ago but the deal fell through, and now its founder Matthew Moulding has lifted his golden share in the company, presumably to encourage another buyer to come in. Boohoo is locked in a struggle for control over Revolution Beauty, although it is hard to understand why anyone would want it. Meanwhile the ubiquitous retail tycoon Mike Ashley took a 5pc stake in the business, and presumably now has his eye on a full takeover. Ashley has also snapped up a 10pc stake in Asos, not long after the Turkish retailer Trendyol, backed by China’s massive Alibaba, made an offer for the business. At this rate all three companies will soon have more bidders than they do customers. It is possible to see the appeal.....

Ahttps://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/06/25/online-fashion-boohoo-asos-not-worth-fighting-over/

Fairly critical article about the fickle online retail sector

With a yield of 6.9% and an entry point of about £5.85, surely this is a good entry point for a long term hold. I'm tempted.

Skier1.....Windfall taxes to assist homeowners with their higher mortgage payments isn't going to happen. It seems today that there is an ever increasing expectation of the government intervening in order to subsidise or bail people out who have overstretched their finances. It's the unhealhy culture of ''entitlement' where people, as you rightly say, have stupidly taken on too much debt. Why on earth should the ordinary taxpayer of this country (often only being able to rent) subsidise those who have taken on too high a mortgage. It's madness and wholly unfair. Consequently, the government should merely encourage lenders to help by altering the terms of some mortgages, such as converting to interest only for a while.

Lloyds Bank in my view stand to, overall, benefit from high interest rates. There will be a higher rate of repossessions, but Lloyds have the resilience to see that through. I see the present price as a reasonable enrty point. If it goes down below 0.40p then the sp, in my view is a steal

I agree that a takeover bid is unlikely imminently. People are jostling for influence. MASH does not need to increase further, and is busy doing similar percentages with other struggling retailers, with a view to benefitting long term.

Various interested parties see this as a recovery play. The fact that the 'declared' shorts are down to 1.79% is very significant in my view. One of the main culprits, Marshall Wace also seems to have lost interest. Shorts down from 8% in January to 1.79% now is telling me that shorters have moved their targeting elsewhere.

While I remain cautious about the management, this, nevertheless, is beginning to look interesting.

This is ridiculous. And concerning. We already knew Burtis was on his way out. There's nothing to indicate he's sold shares yet.

Jc1220 : I agree. The market has been spooked by resolution 5, to be taken forward at the AGM. The company says it nevertheless does not have any intention at this point of raising capital in this way. My answer to that is .....cobblers. Its likely they will need to raise more capital fairly soon, so will that further dilute the sp?

I beleive the CEO is exremely knowlegible in his field, but I'm not convinced about his 'business acumen' and the people around him. I was not impressed by the live online update a few months back. It was all too laid back.

I'm releuctant to throw more money at this. However the last financials looked reasonable, and the price looks a bargain. What am I missing?

''100,000. At £7 and ordered another £100,000. To be purchased automatically on Monday''......Of course you have Jamess! Sorry but I must confess to being slightly dubious. Have you placed a price limit?

The company has effectively said its new strategy is working and on current figures and forecasts, barring any new adverse factors, will continue to trade profitably. That's great news, and I was pleasantly surprised by their recent trading update. Forgive me for being cynical but these guys have previous form. They've said one thing one week and something else the next, so I am being ultra cautious in buying more. Having averaged down, I'm now in at about £7.50, but presently down nearly £10k. Meanwhile The CEO hasn't done much in the way of buying recently or the CFO for that matter. I presume they are allowed to now if they want, unless someone can correct me on that.

Issues that still concern me 1. the 'returns' model which will have to be addressed. They said it was costing them £6 a time but didn't appear to specifically say how many millions it was costing per annum. Perhaps they think that if they can maintain higher margins, it might be a price worth paying. In my view they need to address this anyway.

2. This dubious loan facility with Bantry Bay who are connected to Elliot the hedge fund vultures. They did it to circumvent various covenants that their usual lead bankers were insisting on. £275m at 11% is about £30million per annum plus high arrangemnet costs. That all comes off the bottom line. Have Ellit an ulterior motive? 3. In about 18 months time they will need to be reviewing a £500m bond deal, currently paying a tiny 0.75%. The new interest terms will be much higher when it comes up for renegotiation. Even at 6%, its another £30m p.a burden. 4. The inventory. Still too high in my view and I expect more write offs through selling some of this at massive discount just to generate cash.

Now the BIG positives. The company appears to 1. be succeeding in cutting costs (which quite frankly should have been done far earlier) 2. Are concentrating on selling better quality items at higher margin (rather than selling certain cheap trash to compete with the likes of boohoo and shein) 3. ....and finally, there's mega interest from some big, and predatory shareholders. That has added excitement to the scenario, and is probably the best bet for getting my money back in the short term, providing they don't screw small investors by way of a debt for equity deal. Remember, the likes of Ashley only care about themselves and rarely make genuine bids when a company is on its way up. He maybe only in it to benefit strategically ....either benefittng from the sp on someone else making an offer, or having a recipricol trading arrangement with Asos, or blocking a deal now he has over 10%. This all makes for an interesting few months.

I'm the kiss of death when it comes to investing. While I'm not exactly out of pocket from a few weeks ago, the resignation of the CFO is possibly not going to help the share price. Barring any dodgy activity at the company, I still see this as a steady growth stock.

I was pleasantly surprised by the update, albeit there was a lot of spin on things that were going to plan (to what extent we shall find out later in the year), but little about the large challenges ahead which are numerous. I do hope they are not being over optimistic, as I still cannot see a significant profit coming through at the year end given all the reasons I have previously given. Having said that, the analysts feel this could be a turning point.

Theres been a lot of silly remarks on here in recent days; one liners trying to ramp up or short the shares without bringing any substance to the debate. I do however want to respond to a few a points raised by many regarging takeovers, the quality of management, and the sp. Firstly, as we know, Mike Ashley is not in the habit of bidding for companies who are possibly on the way up from a low. His holding is purely strategic. That ''over 10%'' figure gives him a few more benefits. (But he would also love to buy this company if it were heading for administration). Secondly, Cigam, I cannot agree about your views of this CEO who was promoted from within and has been in the middle of this crisis for the last two years. He has contributed to the 94% loss in share value in two years, has invested little in the company and now quite rightly should get us out of this mess or be sacked. Finally why so much jubilation when the sp today is still 10% below the placing price of a couple of weeks ago? I think everyone needs to calm down and realise that for those who bought in a few months ago, they are still suffering big losses. Those who bought at 3.25 earlier this week...well lucky you. Finally, If a bid is going to happen, it should happen very soon before this share gains momentum.

With shorts creeping up, people will be nervous. I see more chance of the shares dropping tomorrow than rising.

It will depend on how much analysts are convinced that the company are turning the corner by making inroads into cutting costs. This one factor, if positive could see the shares jump. Regrettably, I somehow can't see it .

I think sales will be down. E-commerce sales online for the whole retail sector of May was down 3.3%. The worst on record.. I can't see Asos being any different.

cross fingers they are doing enough to head in the right direction