Member Info for Watchman007

There's a lot more to it than that. Wealthy tourists don't expect to be able to walk away with 'unicorns' when they are visiting. Those in the know would build up a relationship with in this case WOSG over time if the tax breaks are so favourable. Eventually they would pick up a model they wanted. WOSG sold a lot to pilots through their heathrow stores. That business has eroded thanks to The Treasury's short sightedness. If the Duty Free policy is reintroduced it will mean wealthy tourists will be able to choose the UK again. There are plenty that are happy to pick up a TAG, Omega, Longines, IWC, Hublot, Panerai etc. at 20% + discount to their domestic market market. This was a huge own goal by Rishi and his predecessor. All those tourist dollars are now going to Europe and after Covid we are only now realising the true cost to the economy..

Short answer is no. Nobody can walk into any store and walk out with any in demand model.

Two things struck me from the RNS that I don't think were mentioned previously.

1. Web sales in UK were down a whopping 15%. Like many retailers, they pay Google millions to make sure their name comes at the top of web searches so this may be a reflection of them spending less on promoting on line.

2. Duty free trading is back on the horizon. It was abolished as part of Brexit and has really hurt WOSG. The company has not only many stores at the terminals in Hesthrow but also they have large flagship stores in London / Knightsbridge. They have been hit by the lack of foreign visitors caused by this senseless decision. Hopefully even a Labour government will see the benefits of attracting foriegn tiourists to the UK by reintroducing VAT free shopping.

Ade, I agree the omens are not looking good right now and you have consistently been bearish on WOSG. What makes you think this is going sub £2 when you have never posted this before? Is this just a case of you swimming with the tide as I've never seen you back any of your 'predictions' up with any facts or research.

I think the thought police caught up with him.

That would be one interpretation but WOSG have an undertaking to take a certain value of watches every year so across the year they either receive more watches if all steel or less if all gold or platinum. There is no significant difference in margin regardless of price. Rolex will not be able to manipulate the world market with Buchers 50 Rolex agencies - only four in UK.

looking at the rns there were a some red flags.

"the uk was more challenged, and this impacted a broad range of luxury watch brands and non-branded jewellery. there was an unusually high level of promotional activity in non-branded jewellery."

meaning: all luxury branded watches didn't perform to forecast levels and our competitors discounted the **** out of their jewellery leaving us with our pants down.

"management is now providing revised full year guidance for fy24, which assumes no recovery in consumer demand and reflects discussions with key brands."

meaning: we didn't hit our sales targets with the brands so a) we are left with a shed full of unsold stock and b) the brands won't take it back like they usually do in exchange for new years models because of 'a'.

their generic jewellery offering has been poor for years. it generates very little income compared to the investment in stock and resource required to maintain it. think, for instance, holding stock of twenty odd half carrot diamond ring styles in different metals over eight sizes for lets say sixty uk stores. soon mounts up.

time to streamline the offering and reduce support staff.

Would think the share purchase would be shorters buying back and a hefty profit. Takeover unlikely imo as despite what they say the train has hit the buffers. Its a well run company but they need to be ruthless now cutting non profitable sectors.

Absolutely nothing wrong with ambition. Anders is as driven as the rest of them. The aims are valid, some of the means to achieve them are not financially viable. Its Anders' job to ensure value for money. One example, they moved into a massive new head office last year. They had the option of two buildings on the same site. On the say so of the CEO they took both and one has been dormant ever since. The previous CFO didn't have the clout to push back on this. Regardless of how big they may become they will never utilise the empty space they are paying rent on.

The update in February will tell everyone what has happened in Nov to end Jan. You are right in that barring an unwanted surprise it will make no difference to my long term view. However a 'slightly under' report will not help the SP in the short term which paradoxically could present a buying opportunity.

What would I do differently? I would urge Anders Romberg to keep the lid on cost over runs that his predecessor, Bill Floydd, let run riot. Bill was a nice bloke but managed to keep whatever talents a CFO should have hidden. Anders has a track record of running a tight ship and very little gets by him. He needs to keep some of his fellow board members ambitions at all costs in check.

John North. Belated thanks for your comprehensive reply. Looks like we’re in for the long haul.

You are drawing the wrong conclusions. I have been and will be a long term holder and I do not invest quarter by quarter. Arguably December would have been a good time to sell as would the time it hit £16 a couple of years ago intra day. Just because I think there are things that they could do differently doesn't mean I don't think that there isn't potential for growth. The CEO will retire at some point in the next few years and I'd be very surprised if by that time they would not be paying a dividend.

MS. I understand all that. However WOSG's long term plan (four years) is to double revenue which is the headline grabber, but by then, even with decreased inflation, if they achieve that they wont have doubled profits. My strategy is my strategy. I use the quarterly updates as an indicator like most investors and make my decisions based on known information and how I feel about the environment the investment is in. Currently I feel that £7.50 is a fair value for this. The potential for growth is there but costs must be better controlled. I have been a holder since before covid and topped up during the dip so I am not panicked by the odd bit of bad news.

Its not just Rolex putting up prices. They'll all be doing it. The point is that revenue will need to rise above the level of price increases (and inflation) in order to be standing still. This has been the case since covid and could be a key factor in the reason the SP is struggling. Fingers crossed for good numbers in the Feb update.

If / when Poly split off their Russian business what shares will we be holding in HL?

Lets hope the holiday season has gone well on both sides of the Atlantic for them. We'll find out first half of Feb.

I'm glad to have been proved wrong, for now. Earnings profits have slowed but are still ahead of the industry average, Also, investors are encouraged by US potential.

Operating profit down. That's whats spooked the market.Also disingenuous to say high earning showrooms were closed for renovation as they were all trading out of pop up locations.

This will not be substantially different from the update they provided on Nov 7th.

They may give an indication on how trading has been since then but that isn't part of the H1 figures.

Watches of Switzerland Group PLC

Watches of Switzerland Group PLCWatches of Switzerland Group PLC

31,721 followers31,721 followers

4d • 4d •

A ROLEX flagship Boutique will be opened by the Watches of Switzerland Group on London’s most iconic luxury shopping thoroughfare, Old Bond Street. The new Rolex flagship Boutique will be at the forefront of client experience for the Watches of Switzerland Group and Rolex.

We are now beginning our search for a Boutique Director to lead this exciting new showroom.

Please click the link below to read the full job description and to register your interest -

https://lnkd.in/gVE2cBpn

Shortlisting will take place the week commencing 11th of December.