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Hi scb. To be clear, I didn't say Boohoo have never beaten guidance - I expect they have done back in the day - so, no untruths from me and please don't put other words in my mouth.

The company I was referring to was Next plc, a well known fashion retailer listed in London, who released their results today.

Regarding the comparison I was making, of course you're entitled to believe that Boohoo possesses a superior management team to Next and that Boohoo regularly beats guidance in the way that Next does, but I beg to differ. I should say that the relative share price performance between the 2 companies doesn't back you up in this.

Anyway, the point is, for me, as a Boohoo holder, I can't help but look enviously at Next whenever they report.

Solid results from the UK's premier fashion retailer today. Any read-across for Boohoo's next update? Of course not. One company has a top-notch management team - the best in the business - who are skilled at managing expectations by under-promising and over-delivering. The other company, well, managed by a bunch of chancers probably even now plotting to take the company private for a song, leaving investors high & dry. Chalk and cheese.

Re: corporate governance. It was exactly this, james188, which caused one of Ashworth-Lord's funds to sell out of EKF a few months ago. They cited corporate governance issues and 'something of a revolving door' at management level.

Re: divi suspension. It's now clear that they intend to use the cash saved to build up a kitty to fund future sexy investments & acquisitions. After their previous wasteful splurge, which has precisely gotten us into this mess, that is v worrying.

I don't know what to do here. Nothing hasty. Give it a few days/weeks for the penny to fully drop... but when management are such poor allocators of capital and they don't know it, it's a good reason for selling out.

Thanks SB. I didn't appreciate the divi suspension was likely. Damn... not even being paid to wait... like holding a biotech then...?

I shall tune into the presentation this afternoon as suggested by Dartron. Presume man-of-the-moment Baines will be there to trot out the excuses. Hope people ask him about cash (levels and flow).

It is painful. Investors have lost faith in the sector and in the management of GRID in particular. I also read concerns about the shorter duration battery assets which GRID holds.

If that 47% increase in recent BESS flows somehow feeds through to GRID's revenues, well, that's the 1st piece of optimistic news in a while.

An update can't come soon enough! Is this really a sub £50m business? I've taken my position and I'm saying it absolutely isn't.

But it's so hard to get any sort of reward investing in UK small caps atm.... so much liquidity has been sucked out of this part of the market.

I'm struggling to get excited with these. I'm particularly disappointed with the divi suspension as I thought EKF was, above all else, a cash-generative business... at least that's what Mills & Co habitually emphasise. I'd imagined the dividend savings would be used to repair the balance sheet, but they say it's being done to "enhance shareholder value mainly through growth". What does that mean? It suggests to me the building up of a kitty to fund future acquisitions. I hope not.

Cheer me up. What am I missing?

Took a small punt at 47.4p. Surely bargain hunters like me will start propping up the share price? The price is quite volatile this morning, second by second, bit of a tug-of-war as to direction....

Not great. Lost faith. Bailed.

SCB, thank you for reminding us of Boohoo's view and citing sources.

Boohoo v Shein is one thing, but here's a damning summary of the industry as a whole, from yesterday's Guardian. Thanks Spideystreet:

"The rise of AI-driven product development has allowed the distribution of these goods to become smarter and more cost efficient. Existing fast fashion retailers Asos, Boohoo and H&M are all losing market share, as the likes of Shein and Temu drag down an industry that already prioritises profit over human and environmental damage. Damage, because fast fashion is a product that is quickly used and discarded, often at huge cost to planet and people. Fast usually means cheap, which means synthetic materials that do not biodegrade and are tricky to recycle, with cheap labour sourced from unregulated markets linked to human rights abuses. The high volume of products these companies rely on for their sales model is not only encouraging overconsumption in the target audience but creating mountains of waste in the world’s deserts and seas because landfill sites are already full.".

Hi southcoastbather, I must admit I didn't read that the e-commerce in the uk alone is set to nearly treble in the next 5 years. Clearly if that were to apply to fast fashion e-commerce in particular, it would make a difference. Please post a link if you have one.

"Boohoo doesn't need to compete with shein to make shareholders money from these levels, all it needs to do is return to steady growth with a good margin and we will get exponential sp growth from here...". That sentence is a contradiction because to return to steady growth with a good margin absolutely requires Boohoo competing with Shein - there is no avoiding it. And it's getting clearer by the month that we are struggling in that endeavour. I had hoped that public markets would increase the burden of scrutiny on Shein, but with Jeremy Hunt desperately courting the company to list in London, I wonder if he might be prepared to cut them some slack as part of a deal to get them to list here.

I've held boohoo loyally for years but the light at the end of the tunnel seems to get further away, not closer, as the years go by. Do I keep saying something like "into the bottom drawer it goes", or do I face up to the reality, take my licks and move on? That question has never felt more pertinent to me. Ultimately, everyone's patience has a limit.

Interesting, thanks. There seems to be a paucity of info about GRID. I keep looking and will update this board if I find anything relevant & useful. I'm sure you're doing the same JTS13. It's been a painful experience for all of us LTHs, but I've added this morning at 52p because I really don't think they'll allow a trust with (supposedly) £950m in assets go to the wall.

Patience is required because this is now a long-term recovery situation without divi income to sweeten the pill. First they need to cut debt while trying to avoid a fire sale of assets. Then we require the flows of revenue from the grid connections to bed down and become more predictable. Finally there should be a renegotiation of the fee structure, imo, as has happened with other poorly performing trusts. A lot of things to fall into place but with time I remain hopeful.

Oof! A capitulation day to end a fun week. Income mandates selling out I suppose. Loads of uncertainty here, both in the battery storage sector generally and with this trust. Another c*ck-up buying this...

Ok, VCT status is not part of the strategic review. The RNS says they want to broaden the investment remit while preserving VCT status. Of course I can understand why - if they didn't maintain their VCT status, most of the investors would cash out - but, big mistake (imo). Only allowed to invest in IPOs (& placings)? In 2021?? Good luck with that!

To be clear, if Amati is selling, it's not because of redemptions. That's because the shares are not held in the open-ended fund but in the permanent capital VCT compliant AIM investment trust, AMAT.

Re: the strategic review announced by AMAT today, it's a good thing in my opinion. That's because the trust has to operate under v onerous restrictions in order to preserve VCT status. For instance, they cannot buy shares in the open market. Purchase can only be made at an IPO or at a subsequent placing, which means they cannot buy more of a share simply because the price has fallen and they reckon it's good value. Similarly, they cannot buy a share they have previously sold. Imagine investing in that way - it's hard enough making money on AIM, without having to navigate these VCT compliant handicaps additionally. I'm therefore not in the least surprised that AMAT has been such a poor performer and should be avoided except, possibly, for v wealthy risk-taking investors who need the VCT tax advantages... but even then I'm doubtful because if it doesn't make any money due to the restrictions it operates under, what's the point?

Very fair points Streets.

SP decline is just a reflection of the company's deteriorating financial performance these last years. They stopped the divi too, meaning on top the share gets no love from income investors. It's also v possible there's a significant seller, as suggested.

Sooooo, I've done the good, old-fashioned contrarian thing and topped up. Why? 3 reasons. Firstly, I re-read the half-year Results and I detected tentative signs of a pick-up, so maybe, just maybe, this time it really will be different. Secondly, the price is so low - now 50% below my last top-up and almost 60% below my initial purchase - that I'll never get my money back unless I take a chance like this. Finally, I admit I do love a juicy contrarian punt and this rather fits the bill...

C'mon Mr Cooklin, cook us up some good results!

"Ignore the noise"... well said yourself Hawker, especially on this board of late!

Interesting to see that the other biotechs in the Harwood stable, EKF, VRCI and esp TRLS, are all having a bad day today. Worries about Harwood money being allocated/diverted to the RENX fundraise?