Associated British Foods Share Discussion Threads

[philanderer] 20/9/2018 16:59

UK retail sales better than expected in August

[essentialinvestor] 18/9/2018 12:11

Any views expressed here make diddly squat difference to the SP,

To retake previous highs Primark growth needs to be reignited.
To see much lower, may take wider sharp UKX weakness, or/and a plunging GBP.

[queen gibbs] 18/9/2018 10:10

Not sure if I'm trying to earn credibility from yourself or anyone else - just posting an opinion
2% down like for like is a FACT
EXPECTED is a big word
Let's see - don't be so touchy
Big X

[essentialinvestor] 18/9/2018 10:07

Perhaps worth keeping in mind- there has already been very significant multiple
compression, and the balance sheet (excluding lease liability) has net cash.

[tlobs2] 18/9/2018 09:50

Try being a little less selective then you might have a little more credibility ....


"Our full year outlook for the group is unchanged with progress expected in adjusted operating profit and adjusted earnings per share. Strong profit performances this year from Primark, Grocery, Agriculture and Ingredients are expected to more than offset the adverse effect of lower EU sugar prices.

As previously explained, net interest expense will be lower than last year, following favourable interest rate movements affecting non-sterling denominated borrowings in Southern Africa, and the underlying tax rate will benefit from the reduction in the US federal corporate tax rate."

[queen gibbs] 18/9/2018 07:50

Zzzz's like for like sales 2% down v LY = negative or FACT?

[tlobs2] 18/9/2018 06:32

Ah not like Queen Gibbs to post a negative slant once again despite Primark still continuing to grow !

[queen gibbs] 17/9/2018 08:24

Paul & John are incredibly close - Paul will be gutted however £1.5m per year salary talks
I believe that not only was John a driving force in Primark with huge influence - I'm sure he will now start to cherry-pick key people to join him on his new venture?
John was the only original board member left with Paul, who has 'gone through' 3 x finance directors 2 x PC directors & 2 x sales directors in the past 4 years
The foundations of the business were built on a 'gang of four' who ran & grew the business for years - times have changed!
Boohoo sell similar to Primark so maybe John didn't have the confidence in a potential online offer from Primark?
Or has Primark peaked?

[queen gibbs] 17/9/2018 08:03

Agree that isn't good news
It isn't the CEO it's the COO
Or is the CEO going as well?

[essentialinvestor] 17/9/2018 08:01

COO, Marchant is the CEO. Still a loss and it may lend some validity
to Gibb's posts.

[suetballs] 17/9/2018 07:35

Primark ceo off to boo - not good news.

[suetballs] 17/9/2018 07:35

Primark ceo off to boo - not good news.

[philanderer] 13/9/2018 10:42

JP Morgan 'overweight' tp 2740p cut from 3200p

[essentialinvestor] 11/9/2018 13:00

Gibbs, what did you make of the Primark l4l numbers?.

My concern on Primark (as previously mentioned)
is will increasing online buying trends ultimately impact.

Physical stores will remain popular far in to the foreseeable,
but could increasing online buying trends begin to clip Primark growth?.

That's the only real downside I see, outside the usual economic cycle, Brexit etc.

The cyclical nature of sugar etc is a non issue longer term.

[wskill] 11/9/2018 10:21

If Glaxo is selling Horlicks India for more than £3 billion what is Ovaltine worth I am thinking, no idea myself but will buy a few more as the sum of the parts add up to much more than the share price is today.

[philanderer] 11/9/2018 09:26

All target price cuts...


11th sept Kepler buy tp 2600p cut from 3000p
11th sept Goldmans neutral tp 2500p cut from 2840p
11th sept Credit Suisse outperform tp 2950p cut from 3300p ++++House Broker ++++
11th sept Barclays overweight tp 3280p cut from 3340p

[philanderer] 10/9/2018 17:43

10th sept Liberum buy ... reiteration

[mozy123] 10/9/2018 16:01

tlobs - haha yes the mrs is exactly the same, always comes out with two huge bags of stuff, and when i ask how much she spent its always under £40!

You just cant get the same online anywhere for the price.

[tlobs2] 10/9/2018 15:30

Good afternoon all.

It does make me smile when I read about Primark needing to have an on-line presence. With three daughters (two with children) Primark is one of their stores of choice.

They go in looking for a particular item that they need and normally come out with bag fulls of other items!

That would never happen on-line and as has been mentioned previously if it did then the bulk of items might be returned.

[warranty] 10/9/2018 14:13

The sugar business will always be variable, always has been but it will recover again along with profits. These so called experts who want to split the business up should go and do one. Perfect opportunity for long term holders to take advantage of market swings and add to their position in a superbly run business.

[essentialinvestor] 10/9/2018 14:03

We bounced from about last week's low.

[philanderer] 10/9/2018 13:39

“Investors may be getting worried about the ongoing ability of Associated British Foods’ Primark business to get the rest of the company out of trouble,” said AJ Bell’s Charlie Musson.

“It may be asking too much for this part of the business to always come to the rescue, given the pressures on traditional retail.”

Primark added 15 new stores during the year taking its total stores estate to 360.

It will continue to add more space in Germany, France, Spain and Britain.

[queen gibbs] 10/9/2018 12:54

Lots of noise about today as you'd imagine - an article I just picked up


Major shareholder unmoved

The big issue in this particular case is that almost 60% of ABF’s shares are held by chief executive George Weston and his family.

That means the Westons need to be on board with any proposed changes and, so far at least, they have shown little interest in breaking the status quo.

If the family opts to maintain things as they are, Beauchamp is convinced that Primark, along with ABF shareholders, will continue to be held back by the ailing sugar business.

“The problem for Associated British Foods is that it is a perfectly good clothing retailer for the mass market but until either the sugar market turns around or ABF bites the bullet and gets rid of it the shares will be serial underperformers.R21;

ABF shares dropped more than 4% at the opening bell on Monday, although they have recovered some of those losses as the day has worn on and are down 1% to 2,249p in early afternoon trading.