Member Info for Zanab

It will create opportunities for sure. I've got hardly any tariff exposure and a pile of cash so don't mind that.

For all the talk of investment into the US, capital will flow out now. He is taking the strongest economy ever and eroding its investability. One for the history books here

Who knows? Let's hope the countries just say okay and stand up to this guy. There's times when bullying tactics are appropriate, but I've never seen them executed so stupidly.

They just have to stand up and say fine now or he'll keep coming back. I can't see any tariffs on this topic standing up to scrutiny in the courts. And it's all because he's throwing a tantrum due to the Epstein files.

I saw that the House speaker literally just advocated diplomatic means a short while ago and now this. Will he finally stand up and prove to everyone he is not a jellyfish, likely not. Oh, well, only a few months until the US midterms and then we can all tune into the ensuing civil war.

The guy is so stupid, but this is his tactic. Find something. aggressive that works once and then keep trying it. That's how he lost a tonne of money on creating buyout rumours relating to him self being the buyer in the 90s. Eventually, people wised up and he lost money.

Another win for RR.

I totally agree, Steve, not that bad at all and half-expected. Those who have been here a while know that card is damned either by way by the market ;)

Anyone got sight on anything that suggests the likes of vinted are digging into revs?

I won't be investing here again, but all my old investments have a place in my heart 🥲. GL to those holders. I hope for good outcomes for you all.

Lol, great economics wasn't it? Ah, the economy is spluttering; let's jack up the Costa! What could go wrong. There's no way unemployment is going to nudge up by at least half a ppt directly due to the government. They must be realising they've shot themselves in the face, surely?

It's sad to see Shoe suffer. I made a killing after the pandemic on this. It looks like it will be a while before they are back to rude health. A much smaller footprint and a good online offering will make a sensible business.

I guess I better get used to seeing vape supermarkets in the closed stores that absolutely don't have a high incidence of illegal working and money laundering. Nope.

Yet they still sell a lot of shoes. There's clearly demand, and I would not waste money on a branded pair of shoes for children that they just grow out of each year.

Their revenue, when noted there are fewer stores, really isn't off-trend for general clothing sales for last year. It's the cost-inflation that is compressing profits in addition to a revenue decline.

I seem to remember ShoeZone being quite popular in Amazon, and their not being a too significant price advantage on Shein. There are obvious benefits to ordering from ShoeZone if you have to get size and feel right for back-to-school, a major trading event for them. That doesn't work if you order from overseas, have to wait a week and then cross your fingers on the return.

Basically, if you expect Shein to have made a big difference, then you should keep an eye on it because if the loophole gets closed, Shein has no advance whatsoever.

ShoeZone is better quality, better design and more ethical supply lines. There's more of a chance a child-labourer has toiled to give you something from Shein basically, which is why they can't list anywhere. It's a moral toilet of a company, and that's saying something.

I don't know why the government are handing tax-breaks to companies that don't contribute anything to help economy in comparison to other retailers. It's really stupid.

Lol, yep, multiple geographies. Check out South Africa. They've had 'back-end' IT issues since last year. Either they've been hacked or just have a really bad IT department. I know.

Middle East. What the hell is that about?

Australia was initiated by the previous management.

The only thing they've done is buy an American business reliant on imports right before Trump jacked tariffs up. Smart. Smart that is for the guys who sold 👏

In case anyone is in doubt, I like card factory as a business. I don't think it's broken or in terminal decline and I don't think anyone buying today will lose money in 2 years.

If it gets cheaper, I will buy. If it changes management, I will buy more.

Dr, the management have shown no evidence they can make online a success though.

Also, MP is 25 years old if I remember correctly? MP steamed ahead, while FP just remained small. MP won. What's disingenuous? They've both been around for well over a decade, 2 decades. MP does about 10 times the sales.

Wiscos, card is a lot better business than SHOE, but I feel the loophole not being closed by RR was a big mistake. Clothing is much more cyclical, but SHOE should be somewhat resilient, which is surprising

The board failed to make GP profitable, failed to make the website profitable and now it apparently has earned the trust to be the steward of FP?! Give me a break. Maybe third time lucky, but they should ditch the management and board. The stores are well-run but generally always have been. They need someone who knows how to run an online business.

Btw, to help you out, Darton: FP has been stagnant for years while MP raced ahead.

It's hard to see the update bringing much joy. I agree Wiscos. If you're in here, be prepared to be in for a year or two at least. I don't think it will be a quick fling would be my advice.

Eventually, a board is responsible for the share price. If the dividend was significantly higher there is no way this is selling at this price. Short-term, you can say that's reasonable, but long-term, no. I guess there's a lot people drawn here recently for a short-term trade too that I expect to be disappointed.

My other small caps affected by the same issues are doing fine. It's management.

Darton, what?! Card factory's margins were a lot, lot higher prior to the pandemic due to the produce weighting. Again, what? Look at the operating margins in the 2010s. They are like 20%. Again, what? Have you researched this company?

Yep, debt was paid down, yep, store performance was good, but it doesn't mean anything if the management spray it up the wall.The company is still reliant on stores for all its profits basically. Are you implying it is now not? What?

Okay, go and look at all the money spent on CF online and GP. You ain't getting that back. I have extensive research spanning back many years on this company. I know what I'm talking about is the bottom line.

Just a bit of confirmation bias ;). I wouldn't want to be short for long.

Sky news:

Mortgage market hits 'huge milestone' - raising expectations for 2026

The mortgage market has hit a "huge milestone" with the highest number of deals available since 2007.

Product choice has risen in the past month, with 7,158 options now available, research by Moneyfacts shows.

Year-on-year, there are now 650 more deals available to borrowers, it found.

The average mortgage rate has fallen to 4.87%, down from 4.91% last month, and 5.4% this time last year, in part thanks to more choice.

"Expectations are high for a booming market in 2026," says Rachel Springall, finance expert at Moneyfacts.

"Mortgage rates are lower year-on-year, and the choice of deals is abundant. The relaxation in stress testing and expectations for further rate cuts will help ease the affordability constraints on borrowers."

It's still a good company and a reasonable decrease in profits isn't anything major to worry about, but they've failed to deliver and wasted a lot of money doing so imo.

I was so disappointed with card. I'm just glad I got out when I did.

Agree, Wiscos. 30m and then some. Remember all the money they spent on online only to go and spend 25m on an acquisition that makes all that expenditure largely pointless.

I can't see it going much lower as it is still cheap but debt is going to be up.

Sorry, it's clear that Teleios were informed not to expect anything meaningful in terms of returns, hence why they sold up. They are an activist and clearly felt the institutional investors were too close-minded and willing to lap up everything management said to make it worthwhile.

Basically, Darcy has overseen a decline in real profitability since 2019 and returned a fraction of the profits to shareholders. Get him out and you will have a good investment on your hands again.

Darton, the board have not played the market. The board played investors. They have destroyed capital. To be frank, I would be asking for them all to go. How CARD has ended up at this price is entirely down to the management.

Those who remember Teleios were probably as confused as me when they sold up, but it is clear that management have no intention of returning most of the cash to investors. Laugh they will at you as the Emperor and his fool build their empire on your profits.

There's no real strategy here. Until management go, this will languish imo. It's a shame as I made a killing here, and it was always undervalued despite that.

The theme of Christmas reporting for the supermarkets seems to indicate that those with problems continued to suffer at the expense of those who were succeeding, on trend essentially: Lidl, Aldi, M&S and Tesco good; Asda, Morrisons etc bad.

This makes me think that b&M will have suffered again. Maybe their seasonal range drove extra footfall but I'm thinking that the numbers will be at the low-end at best but I've no crystal ball. A recovery needs to be earned.

Let's see...

Some soberity*