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Many thanks for the article chilting.

I think the move up could be to do with a positive development in the Autostore legal case.

Just my thoughts, dyor....

Possibly Chilting, although the US listing of Ocado shares OCDGF didn't jump up yesterday. From the timeline it looks like the US stock market was open when this article was released.

Anyway. Do you think the new distribution centre applies to Ocado in any way. Twice as big as their nearby CFC. Will the new purchase be an even bigger CFC?

Saw that yesterday but couldn't get behind the paywall of the article, could you post the content on the board if possible?

Seems like a possible Zoom site they are looking at building near the existing CFC?

Great to see a big move up so far today... sign of things to come?

I have seen many company presentations also. Usually upbeat stuff feeding the audience their corporate message. Pretty formulaic stuff. Little new information. Rarely have I heard of a share dropping 30% on an investor day though as THGs did in October. Due seemingly to the audience's digestion of the information that was communicated at the presentation. So hard to know exactly what went on there.

Fair enough, they are your views. Happy to have passed up on investing so far. Very much interested in any upcoming developments.

That could be the case Pokerchips. If so you'd expect Matt to clearly communicate that during the investor day. Maybe he did that?We both have no access to a record of what was said so it's hard to know. Interesting to discuss though.

Agreed Pokerchips. I'm just throwing Nils articles out there as they stood out for me when I read them. They looked more informed than most and raised points I hadn't seen discussed on this board before.

All journalist articles are best served with a pinch of salt.

Ian.B - "no one is that keen to understand a share they have no position in."

I am interested in investing in THG. Have always been open about that. I always find it surprising how investors dive into buying shares having carried out little research. Guess this is the way of the current world though.

Trojan,

Haven't seen you address any of the points in Nils information? I'm trying to understand what's the real picture at THG. Hoping for you that the share price rises. Every chance it can if THG can deliver on its blurbs. For myself I want to find out more currently

Marks and Sparks was a fascinating proposition a year ago. Loads I liked about it (especially the Ocado tie up). Much I didn't like. Management there have delivered a stark turnaround with great vision in a very transparent manner.

With the gaps in information it's hard to gauge. Matt himself regrets the IPO decision.

Have a read of these 3 articles. I've listed the main points from them below but there are many others within the articles. To date these points are still unanswered.

"Why does THG consume so much capital? And, if and when Ingenuity produces profits, what will margins be?"

"Instead, the excitement around Ingenuity was meant to come from recruitment of big companies’ brands to plug into the system. The most eye-catching client – hyped to the hills during last year’s flotation – is Nestlé, but there seems to have been no update on Tuesday on that relationship, which was a serious omission when your “land and expand” strategy involves getting a foot in the door and then winning more business from the partner. If Moulding didn’t see the Nestlé question coming, he was naive in the extreme. Bleating about short-sellers only adds to the impression."

"The critical piece of information from a valuation perspective is the terms on which Ingenuity trades with its larger beauty and nutrition divisions, but the big reveal is now promised only next year."

"Meanwhile, THG is sticking to its ambition to demerge those beauty and nutrition operations, for reasons that are hard to fathom. The idea, supposedly, is to give each mini-company its own acquisition currency but, to outside eyes, the model looks like a recipe for complexity and share dilution."

https://www.theguardian.com/business/nils-pratley-on-finance/2021/oct/18/hut-group-misadventure-offers-lesson-in-control-to-wannabe-zuckerbergs

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/nils-pratley-on-finance/2021/oct/14/thg-needs-to-reassure-shareholders-and-get-a-proper-chairman

https://www.theguardian.com/business/nils-pratley-on-finance/2021/oct/12/citys-crisis-of-confidence-in-matthew-mouldings-thg-is-real-and-getting-worse

itisagame,

The official information is all rosy. It has to be. Anything to the contrary would be extremely damaging to THG, especially at this juncture when every move is under the spotlight.

As is often the case with investing the game is to work out what's occuring under the surface of a company rather than in the official blurbs. If THGs current share price was based on the official information it has provided then it would be £4+. As it is there are big gaps in the official information provided (see my previous post re Nils Pratley articles). The market is trying to understand why these gaps are there (it also has a lack of confidence in MM) and what the current reality is regarding THG.

Currently for the market the reality is believed to be considerably more gloomy than THGs official information would suggest.

This market outlook is constantly changing. THG could fill these information gaps giving the share price a boost...

Above is imo, dyor as always...

Danl90,

SoftBank invested in May however if they were fresh to the situation now would they invest in THG? No way of knowing. A lot has happened since May and THG are still not providing basic information to help their claims/business (see Nils Pratleys points) There has been a lot of mismanagement from THG, a lot of trust lost.

This could change...

I believe they thought there was great potential in both. That one of them would be a winner if the the other started to fail. A hedged bet scenario. That's been the case so far.

Currently, given THGs recent management mishandings, Matt's presentations/ interviews and the many still unanswered questions such as those listed by Nils Pratley, I believe that SoftBank will be prioritising Autostore over THG in their hierarchy.

Just my thoughts. Autostore have shown clear management/vision so far, THG haven't. This could change of course. If it does I think SoftBanks priorities will start to shift.

Pokerchips,

SoftBank currently have a £144m stake in THG. SoftBank have a current £5bill stake in Autostore

Yes I believe within the SoftBank hierarchy that they currently prioritise Autostore issues over those at THG.

danl90 - "I actually think auto store will drive customers to THG"

Absolutely. SoftBank will want THG to gain customers. They will talk to Autostore about the possibility of them helping get clients for THG.

Softbanks paramount importance though is Autostore. They will be far more interested in what THG can do for Autostore than vice versa..

There's are general headwinds but there are many issues THG can easily address if the company is as robust as they claim.

I'm looking for that turning point..

Agreed Pokerchips,

Traders have moved onto other issues currently. The issues Nils raised though are still a big part of the current cloud hanging over THG.

If THG address some of these issues some sunshine will return and the SP will move onto a higher altitude.

danl90 - "With the share price being so low now is that any of the aggressive moves THG could have made to send a rocket up the share price can’t really be played ie selling Nutrition"

The obvious huge upwards rocket moves for the THG share price can be made if THG restore trust in the company and produce superb sales figures. Currently the market is discounting the value of the business as there are many unanswered questions/ lack of transparency.

Regain trust, show you are as good as you say you are and boom this share is up, up and away...

SoftBank buying THG for a lowball figure in the future is a possibility. Currently they are happy to act as a parasite on THGs back picking up THGs customers and pushing them to their prize baby Autostore which has in part helped them make £3bill in 7 months from Autostore .

SoftBank are hedged and overall winners here whichever outcome. They have an interest in THG but they have a far bigger interest in Autostore..