Brown (n) Share Discussion Threads

[creditcrunchies] 16/1/2023 16:36

SP shooting up something's brewing

[creditcrunchies] 16/1/2023 16:18

Looks like they're buying it out themselves

[dicktrade] 16/1/2023 15:47

Yep
Lady Alliance,
now that's interesting

[ivancampo] 16/1/2023 15:33

Well I was wrong, but another family buy. Still in play.

[ivancampo] 13/1/2023 13:03

Someone picked up 2.1m yesterday. Money on it being Ashley directly or indirectly. Looks in play to me and this is the time to make moves.

[creditcrunchies] 12/1/2023 21:45

Blimey somebody bought big in the closing auction 1.25 million shares Off-book trades which triggered a monitoring extension

[davebowler] 12/1/2023 21:00

htTPs://masterinvestor.co.uk/equities/evil-diaries-around-the-world-in-eighty-seconds/

[creditcrunchies] 12/1/2023 20:08

Over 5 million shares traded today looks like someone loaded up on that pullback

[creditcrunchies] 12/1/2023 12:14

Trading inline with future guidance is the new negative in today's market unfortunately

[outsizeclothes.com] 12/1/2023 12:07

I see nothing in this trading update that scares me. Nor, I suspect, the Alliances, should they wish to take this private at 50p-60p.

[creditcrunchies] 12/1/2023 07:38

I like the confidence on their cash and credit position it means they can easily absorb a huge one off payment of 45 million with plenty available going forwards

[creditcrunchies] 12/1/2023 07:34

I did notice the premium brands were selling well in N Brown you can usually tell by the average sizes running out of stock very quickly

[creditcrunchies] 12/1/2023 07:31

I've got MKS as well strong sales over Xmas, food reported it's highest ever recorded market share. Clothing and home outstanding performance with the highest market share in seven years

[masurenguy] 12/1/2023 07:11

Q3 TRADING UPDATE FOR THE 18 WEEKS ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022

Solid trading in a tough environment with balance sheet strength maintained

Highlights

-- Q3 product revenue in line with Q2 trends and management expectations, reflecting a soft and highly promotional market

-- Outlook for FY23 Adjusted EBITDA(1) in line with market consensus(2)

-- Planning for 2023 UK discretionary consumer goods market conditions to be soft, reflecting ongoing macroeconomic pressures

-- As announced on 9 January 2023, long-standing legal dispute with Allianz settled

-- Strong balance sheet, with significant liquidity and positive unsecured net cash, which will be maintained post Allianz settlement

Strong balance sheet

At 31 December 2022 the Group had unsecured net cash of GBP82.9m(6) , which is in line with the prior year total of GBP83.4m (unsecured net cash of GBP33.5m and an additional GBP49.9m voluntarily undrawn on the securitisation facility). The Group also has access to a RCF of GBP100m and an overdraft of GBP12.5m, both fully undrawn, which combined with the unsecured net cash at 31 December 2022 resulted in period end total accessible liquidity of almost GBP200m. As announced on 9 January 2023, a payment of GBP49.5m is being processed relating to the settlement of a legal dispute with Allianz. After satisfying this, the Group will retain a strong unsecured net cash position of c.GBP30m, with both the RCF and overdraft facilities remaining undrawn.

FY23 outlook and guidance

The Group's Q3 trading performance has been in line with our expectations. With peak season behind us, we expect Q4(7) to be softer than Q3, in what are typically our quietest months of the year. Against this retail backdrop and assuming a continuation of the trends we have been seeing in Financial Services revenue and margin, we expect FY23 Adjusted EBITDA(1) to be in line with market consensus.

The Group maintains strong unsecured net cash and total accessible liquidity positions. At year end we expect net debt to be higher year-on-year after the cash outflow associated with the settlement with Allianz, with net debt well covered by the gross debtor book.

We expect the market for UK discretionary consumer goods to be soft in calendar year 2023, particularly in the first half. This, together with the difficult trading environment in FY23, means we will commence FY24 with lower active customers year-on-year. Against this backdrop we will continue to carefully monitor consumer credit conditions whilst maintaining our focus on self-help measures through tightly managing costs and margins, continuing to invest in and deliver strategic change.

[creditcrunchies] 11/1/2023 22:57

Looks like they're re-stocking new lines as they've been running low on stock as most sizes were unavailable after Christmas. Been disappointing to see that they didn't discount much in the new year sales. The best discounts were mid November.

[davebowler] 10/1/2023 09:18

hTTps://masterinvestor.co.uk/evil-diaries/evil-diaries-n-brown-is-in-the-clearm/?mc_cid=0a022f634a&mc_eid=31ad53697c

[creditcrunchies] 09/1/2023 22:14

Short interest on the major European indices are getting close to 90% I wonder if we get a bit of a short squeeze first

[outsizeclothes.com] 09/1/2023 15:33

Another positive imho - Now that the settlement has been made, it will give any possible bidder a true picture, and a clear runway, for a potential bid.
This would, of course, include the Alliances, who now know that the big unknown and previous uncertainty to taking this private has been removed.
Get Schroders in your camp at, let's say, 50p, and you've got an offer, at half value, with 65% acceptance already sewn up.
I've bought 50k shares in an ISA.

[creditcrunchies] 09/1/2023 12:08

Good luck with that Jackson I'd certainly be looking to add on any weakness in share price from here.

[jackson83] 09/1/2023 11:49

opportunity to bank profits & SHORT this now IMHO

[jackson83] 09/1/2023 11:32

Don't forget the £290m loan as the net cash position failed to mention this

[davebowler] 09/1/2023 09:17

Shorecap-
N Brown Group+
Allianz dispute settled for £49.5m – a
distraction removed
A cloud has been hanging over the N Brown Group (‘N Brown’) investment thesis for some time; the
legal dispute with Allianz. Accordingly, both the Group and we are pleased to see a settlement
announced, noting that the cost is ahead of the balance sheet provision of £25.5m, at £49.5m, albeit
funded from ample liquidity. N Brown can now press on with its operating strategy unencumbered by
this distraction. HOUSE STOCK.
Full & final settlement: N Brown Group, the Manchester based apparel and home wares pure-play
retailer with a strong in-house credit facility, has announced that it has reached ‘a full and final
settlement’ with respect to the outstanding legal dispute with Allianz Insurance PLC (‘Allianz̵7;). N
Brown is pleased to see the back of this outstanding case, which was set within its JD Williams
division (‘JDW’), as are we, the detail on which we shall now explore.
Completion of the JDW dispute for £49.5m: The dispute between N Brown and Allianz related to
‘redress paid to customers by JDW and the Insurer in respect to certain historic insurance
products’, which included payment protection insurance. Whilst no admission of liability has
occurred, the negotiated settlement involves JDW paying Allianz £49.5m, a sum that is below the
£70m+ of claims by the Insurer when interest charges and legal costs are taken into account.
Settlement payment is expected to be completed by the end of January 2023.
P&L reconciliation to come: N Brown Group has a February financial year-end. The Group had
provided £25.5m with respect to anticipated coverage of the Allianz dispute, a figure that the
settlement exceeds by £24.0m. Accordingly, in the FY23 preliminary results, to be issued in the
spring, we anticipate a charge for the outstanding balance between the provision and the
settlement, which we would expect to be treated as a non-underlying and non-recurring item in
thy present year. Net cash balances will also reflect the settlement payment, which we will adjust
following the forthcoming Q3 trading statement (see below).
A sense of relief: Whilst N Brown’s shareholders will not be blind to the magnitude at a £49.5m
settlement, this brings to an end a long chapter of legacy costs that the business has had to face
into for some years, well before the present senior management team’s tenure. Indeed, we should
underscore the sense of freedom of such external legacy distractions with this settlement on issues
that go back to the last century.

[creditcrunchies] 09/1/2023 08:15

N brown did have an enterprise value of 361.26 million and a market cap of 116.96 million. A book value of 100p on the latest Time to Market valuation.