Woolworths Share Discussion Threads

[fazersix] 20/3/2009 23:04

Davy99 - 20 Mar'09 - 21:34 - 5906 of 5906

Yep i understand that one but does the name Woolworth Group still exist or re
useable in any way ?




IMHO this senario is dead and buried for good.

[littlebro2] 20/3/2009 22:20

Chaps,

Do either of you know at what point the administrators will tot up all that has been revieved, paid, and is left to pay/in the bank? Who do they answer to?

I appreciate that there is zero left for shaeholders, but surely as owners of the company they owe us a justification of the way the company was dealt with?

Thoughts appreciated.

Cheers
LB2

[davy99] 20/3/2009 21:34

F6-Two seperate companies. Tony Page still has to think of a name. The Barclay Bros. as you know bought the Woolworths name & currently intend only trading online.

[fazersix] 20/3/2009 19:10

Davy99 - 20 Mar'09 - 16:08 - 5903 of 5903

Hey cant wait for T P LOL !!!!!! This cant happen after Barclay Bros imho ?????

[sl33py] 20/3/2009 19:08

At debt's door: Retailers
Created: 20 March 2009 Written by: Risen Dennis
Listed retailers in the FTSE 350 have close to £3bn of debt coming to maturity this year, according to some estimates. And with retailers' cash flows under pressure, those high debt levels could put companies in real danger of breaching banking covenants. That theoretically gives the bank the right to call in the loan, although so far banks have been open to discussions when retailers know they are nearing a covenant breach.

Still, the shrinking earnings of retailers as consumers hold back spending are making lenders nervous.

Justin Scarborough, retail analyst at ABN Amro, says: "The outlook for retail is grim as consumers rein in spending. There are other issues like declining sterling which raises the cost of goods. Lenders are aware of this. Banks are going to be less likely to extend facilities to retailers whose viability is questionable."

Some retailers managed to renegotiate their debts last year. These were the lucky ones, as conditions in retail have deteriorated since then, with indicators such as unemployment figures having worsened. Last September, Topps Tiles said it had successfully renegotiated its loan facility and a relaxation of covenants associated with its debt. But its lenders slapped it with an arrangement fee of about £500,000.

Even so, the tile retailer's £90m debt pile, combined with its weakening sales – which dropped by a chunky 18 per cent over the Christmas period – still leaves it in danger of breaching its covenants. Clearly, any renegotiation of debt terms is going to cost retailers a lot of money in the form of fees and higher interest rates. Companies such as carpet retailer Carpetright and car dealers Inchcape and Pendragon are already in talks with lenders about relaxing debt covenants and looking at refinancing terms. Bankers are inclined to impose onerous terms to protect themselves. No wonder, then, that Inchcape brought in Deloitte to advise it on talks with its lenders.

Food producer Premier Foods and department store chain Debenhams are working to tackle their debt as well and are both considering rights issues. But that route is unlikely to prove any easier. Their battered share prices – Debenhams' has slid by 50 per cent in the year and Premier's by 73 per cent – limit the amount of money that can be raised.

And the debt levels of these companies are many times greater than their market capitalisations, indicating that a rights issue alone cannot solve their debt problems.

Having valuable assets to dispose of could come in handy. Both Sainsbury and Tesco have freehold values many times greater than their debt position. This, coupled with their huge cash flows, mean that their debts don't keep their lenders awake at night.

But others are not so lucky. Troubled Woolworths went into administration after it failed to obtain sufficient backing from its banks to weather a cash crisis.

And it's not only indebted retailers that can fall into administration in the current climate. Land of Leather was debt-free when the administrators were called in. It wasn't a case of not being able to service its debt or breaching its covenants. The sofa retailer simply was not able to secure emergency working capital facilities from banks, who were not in the mood to lend money to a struggling retailer.

Whatever the reasons, debt-ridden retailers, bereft of valuable assets and facing a major downturn, are staring at one of the most challenging times of their history.

[fazersix] 19/3/2009 23:29

LittleBro2 - 19 Mar'09 - 23:03 - 5900 of 5900


O No Yellow Card Again it made me laugh - had to change the dollar for pounds to be relevant lol.

[littlebro2] 19/3/2009 23:03

Thats a yellow card F6, any more of that and its an early bath for you m'boy :)

[fazersix] 18/3/2009 21:00

So,

here's the story. . .

Tired of constantly being broke & stuck in an unhappy

marriage, a young husband decided to solve both problems

by taking out a large insurance policy on his wife with himself as the

beneficiary, and then arranging to have her killed.

A 'friend of a friend' put him in touch with a nefarious dark-side

underworld figure who went by the name of 'Artie.'

Artie then explained to the husband that his going price for snuffing out a

spouse was £5,000.

The husband said he was willing to pay that amount, but that he

wouldn't have any cash on hand until he could collect his wife's

insurance money.

Artie insisted on being paid at least something up front, so the man

opened his wallet, displaying the single dollar bill that rested

inside. Artie sighed, rolled his eyes, & reluctantly agreed to

accept the dollar as down payment for the dirty deed.

A few days later, Artie followed the man's wife to the local Woolworths store. There, he surprised her in the produce department & proceeded to strangle her with his gloved hands & as the poor unsuspecting woman drew her last breath & slumped to the floor........

The manager of the produce department stumbled unexpectedly onto the

murder scene. Unwilling to leave any living witnesses behind, ol' Artie

had no choice but to strangle the produce manager as well.

However, unknown to Artie, the entire proceedings were captured by the

hidden security cameras & observed by the store's security guard,

who immediately called the police. Artie was caught & arrested

before he could even leave the store.

Under intense questioning at the police station, Artie

revealed the whole sordid plan, including his unusual financial

arrangements with the hapless husband who was also quickly arrested.

The next day in the newspaper, the headline declared .....







(You're going to hate me for this ... )













'ARTIE CHOKES 2 for £1.00 AT WOOLWORTHS!'







Oh,

quit groaning!

I don't write this stuff,

I receive it from my warped

friends and then send it on to you.

[fazersix] 18/3/2009 19:14

SL33PY - 18 Mar'09 - 17:25 - 5897 of 5897

Maybe he will buy us one with the profit he made from organising woolies loan lol.

As you say its only money even if its ours, health comes first lets hope the spin doctors stop the doom and gloom soon.

Ever thought where all the monies gone not just ours from woolies but in the economy, i think there's a secret storage units in the UK full of notes and bags of pick n mix.

Wonder if this is still possible ?

[sl33py] 18/3/2009 17:25

f6 If i met the man,i definitely would'nt be buying him a pint.At least the sun is out.It's only money,our money unfortunately.

[fazersix] 18/3/2009 15:00

SL33PY - 18 Mar'09 - 09:53 - 5895 of 5895

Yeah but how can you trust a man who signed the death warrant for woolies and ran away selling his shares at about 8p plus a fat bank account.

Think you will find that's a bit of old news if my memory serves me right, would you trust this man lol !

f6

[sl33py] 18/3/2009 09:53

Ex-Woolies chief sets up jobs site
By Maija Palmer

Published: March 16 2009 02:00 | Last updated: March 16 2009 02:00

Extract from Davy's link

Trevor Bish-Jones, the former chief executive of Woolworths, is to set up a recruitment website aimed at unemployed executives, writes Maija Palmer.

Mr Bish-Jones, who was ousted from Woolworths last summer with a £503,000 pay-out, is understood to be investing some of his own money in Mypeoplebiz.com. The job site aims to help companies cut the cost of hiring by harnessing the power of social networking - for example getting people to recommend friends for jobs.

Mr Bish-Jones, who ran Woolworths for six years, is one of a number of private investors in the project. He is also understood to be looking at several other ventures.

F6:Quite apt that he is helping unemployed anyone considering that he helped put a few on the dole.

[fazersix] 17/3/2009 22:29

SL33PY - 17 Mar'09 - 19:47 - 5892 of 5892

Wonder what's happened to this hyperthetical situation !

[fazersix] 17/3/2009 21:24

SL33PY - 17 Mar'09 - 19:47 - 5892 of 5892

Yep i feel the same suppose Bish Jones was in the job long enought to have dealt with that but he cut and run with his full wallet leaving the remains for Steve Johnson.

IMO we have lots to whinge about especially as Gordon Brown failed to guarantee woolies credit insurance giving them a chance to carry on trading without paying up front for goods and keeping the value of the group up instead of the fire sale it turned out to be for the Banks interest only.

I blame the government for not stepping in last minute in the long run the government will loose big time with job losses housing benefit claims and income tax revenue losses, the loss from income alone from xmas trading must be massive if you take into account deloittes created the high street price war cutting profits less revenue for the tax man and that's a tip of the iceberg.

[sl33py] 17/3/2009 19:47

f6;Agree with everything that has been said,but the management have got a lot to answer for.They seemed incapable of doing anything.They did not sell any of the profitable parts long before this happened to raise cash,they did'nt shut any of the non profit making shops ?I would love the opportunity to ask the management how could they could make such a mess of it all.Nothing like a good whinge to make you feel better.

[fazersix] 16/3/2009 19:32

loganair - 16 Mar'09 - 17:00 - 5890 of 5890

Deloittes are the equivalent to anyone employing a lawyer on their behalf, they are there to gain the most for their employer ie the Bank within uk law.

No one else matters however Deloittes have to be seen to be doing the best for all but as we all know they work exclusively for the Bankers.

Administration laws give powers to earn mega bucks and sell off valuable assetts for the best offer during impossible money raising times.

It makes us all sick to sit by and watch the distruction of a national company, would have been more economical for the government to have guaranteed woolies credit insurance giving them a chance to carry on trading imho.

Its a cruel finanacial world out there wolves waiting to pounce !

[loganair] 16/3/2009 17:00

Davy - Deloittes were employed by the banks to do a job. IMO - The statements they made were only made because they are legally bound to do so. Please do not kid any one on this thread that Deloittes were doing their best for all creditors as that is a false and rubbish statement.

IMO - Deloittes were and are only working for the banks and to get the banks their money back as simple as that. There is absolutely no question whatsoever that they were trying to get any money back for anyone else.

[fazersix] 16/3/2009 12:20

Davy99 - 16 Mar'09 - 11:45 - 5888 of 5888

yea agree the whole blame remains with the ruthless bankers, however deloittes are in a privileged position to milk these situations within the law and No consideration for creditors regardless, except their employers the Bank.

suppose we are all clear about that though - still lets have a moan lol.

[davy99] 16/3/2009 11:45

F6- The banks who loaned money to Woolworths come into the category of secured creditors & legally are given preference over unsecured creditors when it comes to money distributed in administration.

As your own email from deloittes said, nothing left for shareholders this time... as shareholders come bottom of the list.

Yes the administrators always make sure there's enough put by to pay themselves first, I expect in their shoes we'd do the same.

[fazersix] 16/3/2009 11:24

Davy99 - 16 Mar'09 - 10:37 - 5886 of 5886

Deloittes stated they are working for the best interest of creditors is a front because Deloittes first secured their bill then the Banks debt.

The rest of us are left with the front and empty pockets not even a bag of pick n mix as compo !

There's probably skips full of unsold stock some where probably be used for Delittes bonus scheme for completing their contract of paying the Banks in record time, what a mess.

[davy99] 16/3/2009 10:37

loganair- You may be correct in reality, but Deloittes would I am sure say they are/were working for the benefit of all creditors.

[loganair] 16/3/2009 09:44

Davy - More accurately, Deloittes were employed to get the banks their money back as quickly as possible - which they did in only six weeks.

Share holders and WLW other creditors I doubt even entered Deloittes mind.

[davy99] 16/3/2009 08:55

andrewlewis- Deloittes were employed to administer the sale of WLW assets, shareholders always come bottom of the list in getting anything, the only way to change it would be to change British law.


LB2- Nothing heard of SJ, only TBJ: