Debenhams Share Discussion Threads

[mreasygoing] 20/9/2016 19:30

I'll have a few at 20p.

[harebridge] 09/9/2016 21:00

Tonight's Evening StandardBusinessMarket report: Debenhams on the rack after digital downturnAnalysts at HSBC spelled out the challenge facing new Debenhams boss Sergio Bucher today as they warned the ailing department stores group would struggle to adapt to the digital age.Shares in the FTSE 250 company retreated 1.15p, or 1.8%, to 62.9p as the investment bank cut its rating to reduce, concerned by the average lease lengths of its 165 UK stores, which are around 22 years.That compares with an average of seven to eight years for Marks & Spencer and Next, which HSBC said would make it harder for Debenhams to close stores as shoppers move online."Debenhams has less flexibility to reduce fixed costs to adapt to a rapidly evolving, increasingly competitive omni-channel market," the investment bank said.It said Bucher, who starts work next month, will not be able to map out a clear plan to turn around the business before its interim results next April.Even without having to fight BHS for customers, HSBC claimed competition will increase as rivals slash prices.Debenhams had been tipped by analysts to profit from BHS's collapse.

[silver tortoise] 08/8/2016 12:12

So have I this morning,if only for the nice div.Off topic also bought Barc.

[1fox1] 02/8/2016 10:47

Bought back in at 55p. Look cheap to me

[terminated] 01/8/2016 18:08

Looking at the chart over the past 5 years these have usually been over 70p despite very difficult trading conditions. Net asset value over 800 mil and market cap below 700 mil, with a P/E ratio of 7.3. You can't tell me Brexit is going to be worse than 5 years ago, the economy was in a much worse state. Add to that a 6% divvy and it's a compelling reason to own a few.

[el chupacabra] 13/7/2016 16:45

why aren't any of you DEB trading mofos all over this Kat Von D news?

[mreasygoing] 06/7/2016 10:35

They want to cut their noses off to spite their faces. I wish the elite would just accept that they lost.

[isis] 06/7/2016 10:31

Doesn't look like there will be a BHS in a few weeks time - all closing down.

[wllmherk] 06/7/2016 07:22

completely agree isis,


wllm

[isis] 06/7/2016 07:07

Seems everyone especially Brexit stayers are calling the economy down, self prophesying to prove they were right.

Osbourne should go and Carney. imo

[wllmherk] 05/7/2016 22:22

Been out of these for a couple of years, bought in today, hope the dividend is maintained.


wllm

[18bt] 22/6/2016 08:31

Pretty dull update - but cash position much improved.

[kendonagasaki] 27/5/2016 08:05

The new CEO from Amazon has a great track record.He aims to ramp up their online by a minimum of 25% this year.He is the right guy to take it forward.Looks good to go from here on in IMO.

[moelfre geld] 26/5/2016 06:29

DEB is holding her own in a tough economy. I'm looking at 5 years + with this one. Still posting a profit, debt is reducing yearly. I'm thinking 5 year target of 140. Should hit steady 80 by year end. Good value stock.

In reply to a previous post: I don't believe that the management are to blame for losses; the lack of spending power in the UK, Ireland etc is the main issue.

[pillion] 12/5/2016 15:41

.....follows several years of financial losses at DRIL culminating in a financial loss of EUR6.7m in the last financial year ended 29 August 2015. This reflects disproportionately high operating costs, such as above-market rents and other overheads.....

[edmundshaw] 12/5/2016 15:00

Wow. First I heard that the Irish subsidiary has been losing millions over the last few years. In results all wrapped up in "International" with Denmark business &co.

I am disappointed in the lack of transparency in the past, or action on a loss-making subsidiary. But action now could be positive (to the tune of 5%+ in EPS) for the PLC as a whole if a sensible restructuring or exit ensues...

Makes me wonder what else is available for upside change if a good new CEO can be found to take over...

[simon templar qc] 11/5/2016 14:20

U.K. Retail Sales Spell Gloom for High Street

06/05/2016 10:50am

Dow Jones News



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1 Month : From Apr 2016 to May 2016
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LONDON—The U.K. high street is feeling awfully low.

Retail sales on the high street, Britain's name for the main shopping drags in its towns and urban neighborhoods, plunged 6.1% in April compared with a year earlier, accounting firm BDO said Friday. The firm's high-street sales tracker gauges the weekly sales changes of more than 70 midmarket retailers.

Fashion retailers were once again the poorest performers, BDO said, with sales down 9.2% in April. Fashion sales dropped in nine out of 12 months in 2015.

"Seasonal discounting and soft spring line launches led to a slight midmonth boost," BDO said. "However, significant post-Easter sales didn't emerge as hoped, with consumers opting to shun the high street and retail spending in general."

The continued sales declines and the recent filings of middlebrow retailers BHS and Austin Reed for protection from creditors are among the latest signs of deep trouble for the high street.

Traditional chains are caught in a shrinking midmarket, between the luxury and service of high-end shops and the rock-bottom prices of discounters. Chains that focus on their brick-and-mortar locations face the added challenge of the U.K.'s rapid shift toward online shopping: In March, online sales rose 12.3%, and it was the third consecutive month in which more than 20% of all nonfood shopping took place online, according to the British Retail Consortium and accounting firm KPMG.

"These legacy businesses have found it harder to cope in a market squeezed by new capacity," said Tony Shiret, an analyst at Haitong Securities.

Verdict Retail analyst Sophie McCarthy said the clothing and home-goods chain BHS is a case in point, having fallen by the wayside while department-store rivals John Lewis Partnership and Debenhams PLC invested heavily in a streamlined customer experience, design-led collections and engaging marketing.

"BHS is an exemplar model of what happens when a retailer fails to take risks and try something new," she said.

The 88-year-old chain filed for protection from creditors April 25. BHS declined to comment on a possible sale, but Duff & Phelps, the company's administrator, said it has received a number of expressions of interest in the business.

Suit specialist Austin Reed, which entered administration a day after BHS, suffers from a failure to recruit younger shoppers and a moribund online operation, analysts said. Faring better on the high street is competitor Moss Bros Group PLC, whose online sales rose 36% in fiscal 2016.

Alix Partners, administrator of Austin Reed, said it is exploring options including the sale of all or parts of the 115-year-old business. The company declined to comment, but Peter Saville, a managing director at Alix Partners, said he is confident that the Austin Reed brand offers an attractive proposition for potential buyers.

As BHS and Austin Reed found to their peril, youth appeal is a key factor separating successful retail names from struggling ones. Women in their 20s are by far the U.K.'s biggest spenders on fashion, according to the Office of National Statistics, spending on average £ 551 a year on clothing compared with £ 260 for their male counterparts.

Online-only fashion retailers ASOS (founded by Austin Reed's great-grandson Nick Robertson) and Boohoo.com reap benefits from their focus on a younger demographic. A number of traditional brick-and-mortar clothing retailers, too, have thrived by targeting young customers, such as Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Miss Selfridge—all owned by private-equity investor Philip Green, who also owned BHS from 2000 until last year.

Still, even relatively well-situated names on the high street are vulnerable to an array of chilly headwinds—literally. Clothing and household retailer Next PLC on Wednesday blamed cold early-spring weather for a 0.9% fall in brand sales during the first quarter, ended Monday, and lowered its full-year guidance.

Next said sales had improved significantly in recent days on warmer temperatures. "However, the poor performance of the last six weeks may be indicative of weaker underlying demand for clothing and a potentially wider slowdown in consumer spending," the company said.

[simon templar qc] 04/5/2016 12:41

NEXT warns today and Sainsbury's produces less profits, add to that a slowdown in consumer spend and also poor weather, the market now going negative on Debenhams.

edit:

John Lewis Partnership weekly sales...

Food mediocre, furniture, fashion and electrical had a good week.

[pillion] 27/4/2016 09:54

The BHS pension scheme has a deficit of £571m and Sir Philip has offered to make an £80m voluntary contribution.

[isis] 27/4/2016 08:23

Not sure if DEB's is the same Boat as BHS. It was milked to death and virtually no refurbs or upgrades - run into the ground, which is why Green should never have got a Knighthood.

But we all knew that. ;-))

[simon templar qc] 26/4/2016 12:07

Austin Reed enters administration...



When Marks gave an update early April clothing sales were still falling.

[simon templar qc] 26/4/2016 11:04

John Lewis sales weakening total 0.8 % fashion down 10% last week...



Electrical and computers did well, food up 1.9%