Member Info for simon1367

''Brits sent into a frenzy'' at the news about Topshop's return. What a load of BS. This is more like a trashy Sun newspaper headline. There then follows a regurgitated story of its history. I'm sure the market will be impressed at this piece of positive news! We need something to reverse the decline.

Jesus, a 10p drop at this price, and on a day when the market's nicely up. I'm tempted to buy (short term with strict limit) when this daily drop subsides, but I remain highly suspicious about a release of insider information. I recall this happening before when they informed friendly institutions of certain things. I can envisage a disastrous announcement the day after I buy in to average down! Can someone remind me when the next trading update is due. End of February was half year, so it must be fairly soon.

Of the three options available to shareholders, which do people think is the most attractive?

It's basically market sentiment against all supermarkets. It happens once in a while when there's the prospect of a price war Asda will probably start it, or Morisons in an attempt to regain some market share lost to Tesco. I play by the three day rule to let it sink in. My entry point would be nearer £3, but depending on whether there are any other imminent signs of a market correction on the horizon

AI14...Your views largely mirror mine. There's a combination of factors going on here. However I suspect something has leaked. I expect Calamonte will come up with more excuses. The obvious one, in addition to all the struggles they already face, is the affect of increased NI contributions from April (with a lower threshold of £5000, and the 16.3% rise in minimum wages for 18-20 year old. For a company already in distress, this ain't going to help. The actual price drop of such magnitude in the last month is highly suspicious. It makes a merger more likely.

MA has until now won most of his 'put selling' options. He may lose with the option expiring in September 2025. If the price remains what it is now or even below about £4 (roughly what the strike price might be) he will be obligated to buy those physical shares at potentially a much higher price. However, todays RNS suggests he is still in it for as long as it takes, as he has sold more puts with an an expiry of December 2026. My view is that the shares are already priced in for disappointing results, but may have a bit further to fall on the day. However, on this recent transaction he is gambling that the sp will be higher by Dec 2026. I should certainly hope so!

This is a distraction and probably an expensive exercise at a diificult time. MA is determined to get the Debenhams name eventually after what happened before. At some point Boohoo (DEB) is going to have a cash crisis. MA will offer finance in return for changes on the board, Kamani will refuse it and get it elsewhere (probably taking the shareholders for mugs at the same time). I think Debenhams exudes an older clientele. Profit margins are much better, so are they abandoning the the younger market and wafer thin returns? I hope so, but where is the clarity and direction regarding this? I'm not sure where all this as going. I wouldn't mind betting that K personally owns the 'Boohoo' name in which case I can see what might happen. Meanwhile this isn't going anywhere with the K family being involved. Simply in it for themselves. Now purely speculative on a merger or t/o.

If history repeats itself, one could easily make a 25% profit trading in and out on this stock this year. Will the share bounce back by the end of the year? Recent transactions by MA would suggest so, but other than that, I see no reason to invest in this company other than for t/o speculation.

The changes to drive growth will be 'cost neutral'. That of course remains to be seen. A lot of title changes in management. The market doesn't seem over enamoured with the news. A fair amount of waffle. I remain sceptical.

I forgot to mention that three large hedge funds have increased their short positions this month. The declared shorts are now at 3.30% , not the 1.32% being quoted by lse. It's fairly apparent that their bet has paid off so far.

AI4x.....I tend to sway towards your viewpoint at the moment. I cannot see how Asos could have bucked the trend over the Christmas period. Despite cost cutting and increased efficiencies down the line, the debt is still too high and is impeding progress. The second half their financial year will be impacted by the increased N.I and min wage from 1st April. With probably about 2750 employees, this could be enough to tip the balance into a profit warning scenario.

On a positive note, MA selling put options shows his confidence in the shares, but that situation essentially comes under AI4x's 'hope or takeover' banner. I could be repeating what I said two years ago or more. Time has moved on and we are no nearer a better outcome, just more promises of jam tomorrow. I reduced my holding by half a short while back at 4.35

to reduce my exposure and invest elsewhere, but am now thinking I should have sold the lot.

We might just be seeing a turning point in the SP. There are of course a combination of factors at play which are clouding things. A trading update idc (which wont be great but possibly sufficient to demonstrate the beginnings of a turnaround), an entry to the FTSE250, a takeover or merger or similar speculation, and the ongoing activity of Frasers. By selling more put options MA is demonstrating at least a neutral or indeed a bullish expectation. He hopes or thinks the SP will be above the put strike (which I guess was around £4.10 ish) by this September when it expires, in which case he keeps the put selling premium collected upfront. Let us hope he is right!

NY don't want Shein. The LSE would normally reject such a dubious enterprise too. The problem is: 1. the LSE is desperate for business as stocks are leaving it, or preferring to go to NY, and 2. This Labour lot are in so big do dahs that they are presently brown nosing Beijing. My guess is that Shein could sneak in. That would obviously detrimentally affect the likes of Boohoo.

This has been a poor investment decision by me over the last 30 months. What a dismal performance. I was lured in by the attractive div yield. Pretty pointless given, with divs reinvested, I'm still down over 20%

I was also influenced by so called various experts in the press recommending a nice diversification over various sectors, including mining and bonds. Both have gnerally been out of favour for years and so I thought we would see an improvement. Not so. Oh how I wish I had just stuck to global etfs and the S&P 500.

Celtic: I take it that your last comment wasn't a swipe at me. If it was, I would request you justify your comment or take back what you said. I have always taken a balanced view on this share and object to being associated with someone who spews out the same old garbage on a daily basis.

End of year closing positions in my guestimate. It often happens between xmas and new year.

Don't wish to put a downer on things but SIH significantly increased their short position on 20th by 1.30%, bringing their total to 1.74%. Overall declared shorts now up to 3.69%. How many others are just under the 0.50% 'undeclared' line?

The fact is, retailing as a whole over the Xmas period has remained subdued and so don't expect great news with the trading update.

On the positive side, MA took up some physical shares, and continued with his put selling of 1.425% to December 2025, indicating to me that he sees the SP potentially rising by that time. Having said that, someone obviously bought those puts thinking the opposite! My bet is on MA. He has generally won most of his sell put deals. At the moment though, only speculative t/o or merger rumours keeps this share above £4.

Bon_scott : Spot on. 'Shady' sums it up nicely.

Ammu123: Fair point . The declared shorts are now under 2% which imo either indicates a more positive trading outlook (unlikely imo given the gloomy retail outlook generally) or continued speculation on what might be on the mind of MA or some other predator. Presently up about 0.10p today, no doubt due to MA selling more put options, and SIH seemingly exiting their derivatives and near 7% voting rights. That potentially changes the dynamics

Paulleydee : Fair comment, but it's not his usual 'modus operandi.' We certainly do live in hope.

Paulleydee: Have you been reading my posts on Boohoo? You're precisely repeating my 'battles and war' comments!

Frankly I just wish MA would put Boohoo out of their misery and take them over. But that's not his style. He will slowly turn the screw on Kamani.

Meanwhile, back at Asos, we are on a similar trajectory. Both companies face a long painful demise unless new blood is injected. A merger would be ideal given the intense and overcrowded sector. Today I read that a survey of 1000 Britons by marketing platform Omnisend says that among Gen Z , 44% make at least one purchase on Shein monthly, with Temu close on 41%. The sheer quantity of their shipments together with a lack of stockpiling that their model entails has made sending cheap items far more viable. Many UK Gen Z's are now choosing 'price over speed'. And the £135 limit that many European countries want to amend would detrimentally affect so many other businesses that it is difficult to change; even if it did change it would be minimal and would have little effect on the Chinese mega-compnies.

In a nutshell, there is not a fair playing field. Asos' next results I imagine, will be less than encouraging. My only hope is that MA or another will keep up the t/o speculation in order that I can exit at a price better than we presently see. I have come to the conclusion there are clearly better opportunities out there. I haven't the patience to wait much longer. My main fear is another cash call.