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I used to consider VOD depressingly boring in the 1.20’s. Now it’s depressingly boring sub 75p. Where did it all go wrong (apart from the eye watering debt)?

The crash down was way overdone and this rise is very welcome. For me, the jury is still out on this management team. Reaping the benefits of the actions of the previous CEO imo. What is this CEO’s strategy and can he deliver real growth and materially improve the SP? I’m yet to be convinced.

Whilst PI’s can vent as best they can through voting against any proposed resolutions at the AGM, I wonder whether there will be a Q and A? If there is, no doubt the usual suspects will be asking the usual tame patsy questions of the useless Board. I’ve thought of some questions I’d like asking;

1. Do you think Bubbles the Chimp would be a more effective CEO than you, Matt?

2. Was it wise to appoint Lord Trappist Monk to the BoD?

3. On the basis you’d be eaten for breakfast if you listed in America, is it time to perhaps admit that you are stuck where you are?

4. What happens to a growth company which stops growing but remains a decade away from making a profit?

5. How much do you think we’d have to pay LinkedIn to ban you from LinkedIn, Matt?

I’m sure others have some equally incisive questions for Matt. Perhaps we could all send our questions to Matt via LinkedIn because there’s absolutely no chance a critical question will be put to him at the AGM (assuming he doesn’t duck a Q and A session which he might).

It’s almost in the 50’s. Another week of the IR Trappist Monks doing what Trappist Monks do complimented by a Matt LinkedIn outburst about the LSE and shorters (ignoring past missed forecasts, dismal results and his general disconnect with the market due to personal character flaws) and we will be there.

Come on ye olde king of value destruction, you master of disaster, one final push and it’s back to the 50’s, well below Apollo’s offer and about £5.50 away from your deranged “fair value” assessment.

#timeforchange #valuedestroyingCEO

Totally agree, this was crashed down way too low. Pleasing to see it moving back up.

Should keep improving as more money is put into people’s pockets as prices fall and taxes and interest rates are cut.

Problem 1 - the CEO

Problem 2 - the Chairman

Problem 3 - targets being habitually missed.

It is possible that problem 3 will cease to be a problem and the company has genuinely turned a corner.

Problem 2 cannot be fixed without first fixing problem 1.

Problem 1 cannot be fixed. THG is practically un-investable because of problem 1 - hence the relentless destruction in share value.

Matt is doing a great job and has taken the price down below the level it was prior to the Apollo bid 12 months ago. That bid was rejected because it failed to recognise THG’s value.

So what is its value? 12 months on, it’s less than it was. The Trappist monk of a chairman has uttered as many words as Wild Kong and we know more about Matt’s skiing holidays than we do about the company’s strategy.

It is time for Matt to go. He is a useless CEO.

It is time for the Trappist monk to go. He has proved himself to be useless despite his CV.

The replacement is a cheap imitation.

Spot on and THG is an easy and compelling share to short because there is a track record of making promises which aren’t delivered on (strategic review) and forecasts which are never delivered and always come in disappointingly below forecast. Add in the utter disdain for shareholders, CEO petulance, “the jolly boys club” and a chairman seen and heard less frequently than the Loch Ness monster and you have the perfect short.

Set out a clear strategy and deliver the numbers. The share price will rise and the shorting and criticism of the CEO and the jolly boys club members will then stop.

We know IR at THG are absolutely hopeless so we cannot rule out rank amateurism. However, I think it more likely that investor pressure (Kelso as you speculate) has forced them to publish this RNS.

If that is right, it will hopefully lead to better governance and a realisation that the Board cannot get away with failing to act or deliver on its promises.

This brings me on to the strategic update. It is nothing short of appalling that the promised strategic update has never been provided and that THG has a Chairman who refuses to force the issue.

If the Chairman is too weak to handle the CEO and hold him to account, then he has to be replaced.

JD shops in my location were also very busy. Hopefully a bumper Christmas will help the share price to recover.

I’m reminded of the line from that song;

“This time, more than any other time, this time”

And they didn’t win the World Cup.

I hope it will be different this time when the Trappist Monks who allegedly work in IR provide a rare RNS in January re Q4 trading.

I also hope there will be no more Linkedin rantings in the lead up to Christmas or the blaming of everybody else for the destruction of shareholder value which is almost wholly attributable to the delivery of consistently uninspiring numbers.

Can we trust the CEO and THG to end “the Cycle”?

We shall see.

GLA

Re-posting this as I fear we are in the later phase of the cycle - let’s call it the giddy phase.

The Cycle18 Oct 2023 08:33

Bad set of numbers.

Negativity and butchered share price.

LinkedIn rantings, further butchering the share price.

Justified criticism of MM’s failings.

Spats between the devout followers and those calling it for what it is.

Positivity builds through speculation.

Positive trading updates.

Share price ticks up

Positivity builds

Talk of £7 per share returns.

Share price ticks up in anticipation of results.

Bad set of numbers again.

Rinse and repeat.

Another year passes.

How low can it go?

They did, and I expect them to turn that stock and the trade receivables into cash. Trade receivables unlikely to deliver 100p in the £ but yes, I still expect this to pay for itself.

I’m not negative about the deal. I’m negative about the LinkedIn post which I feel has driven the “overpaid for it” perception. That perception drives negativity which adversely impacts the share price. It was unnecessary imo.

In fairness, this isn’t a bad deal because of what it gives THG if it can be bedded in properly. I appreciate paying 20m in a fire sale may be viewed negatively by some, but I suspect that in 12 months time, it will be seen as a very good piece of business.

The linked in piece from the ceo is not so good. Did he really need to say there was only one other bidder?

That post in my view helps to drive the “overpaid for it” sentiments. He could have still extolled the virtues of Ingenuity without stating it was a 2 horse race in a fire sale with no other interested trade purchasers.

It is unnecessarily hapless and has tarnished a rare and relatively positive RNS imo.

Ticking up pretty well. Strong Christmas numbers may see it nearing £2 before we go into 2024. Hope so, it’s been a grim 2023 for JD.

I fear the price will get worse before it gets better. The dividend is too high imo.

How much did it cost? I need to know the price of stupidity.

Is it time to bring Peter back?