Ebtm Share Discussion Threads

[thfc 1] 02/10/2008 12:05

Lloyd can you carry on posting on here, you could prove a very lucrative source of information. All one needs to do is look at your reccomendation and do the EXACT REVERSE. In a very old post you stated (quote) that 'asos will struggle after a while' they have just announced record trading figures and the share price has trebled in a year. Then you claim EBTM shares will hit £2, they are not now even 2p.
Good judge!!!!

[trigger45] 02/10/2008 07:49

malkie - any thoughts?

[abc125] 01/10/2008 20:34

I am not deramping EBTM but most companies that are financially secure tend to pay on time. I have supplied new look, H&M ....etc and the money arrives on the nail. Indeed, blue chip companies like marks and sparks pay on 14 day terms ! I tend to have more problems with fly by nite, cash poor 2 bit clothing wholesalers who don't have the cash to settle their bills on time.....one of whom exhibits at London Edge.....I won't mention any names !

No disrespect, but if you have racked up 17 CCJ's against you, I can see why you closed down. I have been trading for 10 years and not collected any ccj's along the way. Not something to be proud of.

[lloydebtm] 01/10/2008 20:05

It doesn't affect EBTM in anyway as nearly everything is sourced in China and India and without wishing to appear rude, if you won't deal with anyone with a CCJ, you might remain 'a little clothing business'. People that run businesses that pay dead on time might be lovely but they will not be about in a years time, they are much more risky.
THFC 1 has always talked down EBTM and probably has other motives, ie; perhaps a competitor or trying to drive the price down to keep buying shares at a cheap price.
BAHEID101 - I have mentioned this before but you may not of read it, if you buy a product at a £2, tell people that it is £20 but now 50% off, they are more likely to buy it than if you just sold it at £10. Same profit but you sell much more of them as everyone want to have a bargain (hence the growth of Primark and Matalan).
Anyway, I really am going to wait until Jan now before revisiting the forum as the comments are always the same.
DON'T SELL, WAIT UNTIL JAN 5th TO SEE HOW GOOD XMAS WAS AND THEN YOU WILL SEE...

[abc125] 01/10/2008 15:05

I don't think CCJ's can be dismissed so lightly. It goes on a company's record and can effect their credit rating. I run my own little clothing business and I would not deal with anyone who had CCJ's outstanding.

[granny7] 01/10/2008 14:55

ASOS, the AIM-listed internet fashion retailer, formerly known as As Seen on Screen, defied the gloom on the high street this morning, reporting buoyant first-half trading, with sales more than double, and issuing a confident outlook statement.

ASOS said sales for the six months to September 30th increased 104% and it was positive about its long term prospects.

This compares to growth of 95% for the 13 weeks to June 27th, reported June 30th.

'We remain positive about the long-term prospects for ASOS and the future of online shopping in general,' said CEO, Nick Robinson.

'We believe our business dynamics and customer base should be resilient to the wider economic issues and that online shopping will continue to gain market share.'

However, he said the retailer faces tougher comparative numbers in the second half.

As of September 28th, the ASOS.com website had 1.83 million registered users and 890,000 active customers, up from 490,000 last year.

The site targets Internet savvy 18 to 34 year olds looking to emulate the designer looks of celebrities such as Kate Moss, Paris Hilton and Victoria Beckham, but at a fraction of the price.

The second most visited clothing site in the UK after Next's offers over 18,000 fashion products across womenswear, menswear, footwear, accessories, jewellery and beauty.

Shares in ASOS, 12.8% of which are owned by Robertson, have nearly trebled in value over the last year.

[baheid101] 01/10/2008 13:21

LloydEBTM

I am a holder, have been for ages.

I am pretty confused as to how EBTM having huge amounts of stock is a no-brainer positive - it is only positive if the company can sell that stock profitably. What we know 100% for sure is that the company have used the EBTM website to flog excess Atticus stock using very aggressive discounts and offering a number of incentives that further dents the profitability - 50-70% discounts, free delivery, 20% discount codes. They have also had a further 'warehouse clearance' in the East End of London which implies that they still weren't able to clear their Atticus stock through EBTM.com despite all of the above. If the wholesale demand for Atticus (largest international market is struggling Spain)was as strong as indicated at the last results (orders up 40% year on year) then why would they be in such a position? I had previously thought it was a stock-clearing excercise in preparation for a warehouse move but now I am not so sure - I am nervous that Niggle's observations of independent retailers really struggling has impacted demand and EBTM have simply overbought their Atticus product.

Now, set against this negativity I would put forward the following observations of positive trading at Atticus. Remember the wholesale business made £600k of EBITDA before being acquired and accounts for 75% of group profits.

In the USA the new licencee seems to have worked very hard on grass-roots selling and brand building by operating stalls in a large touring rock/punk festival called the Vans Warped Tour. In addition Atticus is now being stocked on the Hot Topic website and if the Atticus brand could be rolled out across the Hot Topic pan-USA store portfolio then happy days.

Increased online distribution - the number of websites stocking Atticus has expanded rapidly during 2008 e.g play.com

Brand building through association with bands/artists has accelerated (loads of tour sponsorship deals where EBTM sell atticus products at gigs). Clearly we are taking it on trust that this promotion approach has sound economics (i.e. the tour support/product giveaways to artists are less than the gross prodit from product sales) but Breeden indicated to me last year that they do not pay bands so hopefully they are making sound commercial judgements here.

Cheers

BH

[dixi] 01/10/2008 11:35

THFC - last comment is somewhat unwarranted - the way LLOYDEBTM operates is not altogether unusual - at least he is willing to divulge as such on here. I have a monthly nightmare trying to get invoices paid and hear all manner of bull. Sounds like LLOYDEBTM would be one of my nightmares - but he is not alone.

LLOYDEBTM - appreciate you point about stock - so why is so much unavailable on the website - check out the jeans stock from the home page feature panel - all styles are limited - some just one size rest out of stock.

[niggle] 01/10/2008 11:29

I have spoken to numerous branded suppliers recently and most would agree that independent retailers are falling over like nine pins, most will only pay when they need more stock/repeats. Slighly worrying then that 65% of their busienss is focused on supplying them. I agree that if the business was all online I would not be so concerned.

[thfc 1] 01/10/2008 11:21

How is it a free loan when intrest is charged on the full amount at a rate above base until paid in full? The belts example is also irrelevant as the monry should be there to buy the belt stock anyway.

As interest is payable on the debt and considerable extra charges are at risk if the order to pay is ignored it is not clever to 'leave it to the last minute'. Lloyd how would it look to your customers if the bailiffs turned up at your shop?

Lloyd you seem proud of your CCJ's you remind me of some pond life living on a sink estate talking about his collection of ABSO's.

[lloydebtm] 01/10/2008 11:07

Regarding stock (this is a no win situation on this forum), if you turnover millions every year (as they do) you have to keep a very large stock holding otherwise you will get some people saying 'there's loads of stuff out of stock, they must be in trouble' but in the same breath, you will get some people saying 'they have got loads of stock which they haven't sold, they must be in trouble'. They cannot win with this forum.
At the end of the day if you were selling baked beans, you had room on your shelf for 100 tins, you got one delivery a month and you sell 20 tins a day, you would have 100 tins on show but 500 in stock. Just because you have 500 in stock doesn't mean your in trouble, it means you are thinking ahead.
Regarding ccj's, I used to leave it to the very last moment to pay, I mean the very last day. Better off the money in my account then someone else's, you can use the money to buy stock in the time-frame, sell it and use the profit to pay the ccj, naughty but true :)
£10k ccj, buy £10k wholesale stock (belts £2 each = 5000 belts) sell 5000 belts at £10 each = £50k, pay the ccj £10k = £40k profit thanks to the free £10k loan. This is very very common practice everywhere, even the big boys do this, but make millions out of it not thousands.

[thfc 1] 01/10/2008 10:34

Lloyd it is obvious EBTM have hundreds of thousands of pounds of stock. That is the problem. The money is all tied up on the shelves, hence the ongoing desperate clearance sale. Has it not even crossed your mind that all may not be well. The finance director states the intention is to satisfy the CCJ's implying there is no dispute. According to court websites non payment will lead to a warrant of execution being issued and baillifs, why delay payment of the ccj? One of them is nearly 2 months old. If all is well surely you would just pay up and move on.

[dixi] 01/10/2008 09:47

LLOYDEBTM - I admire your confidence, and I have to admit you have far greater knowledge of the industry so I will take a bow to your expertise and hope that EBTM are being straight up with you retailers about the popularity of the brands. Googling Atticus does seem to give the impression they are very popular and well stocked.

I have also suggested lost parcels may be the cause for the one CCJ, I work in media and have on many occasions had run-ins with publications - they generally treat customers with contempt - although now estate agent advertising is dwindling they may become more polite in desperate times.

The non-functioning links that lead to error messages and lots of out of stock issues on the website are a bit dissapointing still, especially when it is products featured on the home page - hopefully they will sort this out soonest.

[dixi] 30/9/2008 21:28

Can anybody help with this - I asume that the USA Atticus webstore and site is wholly owned by EBTM? Does anybody know?

Thanks.

[greengiant] 30/9/2008 20:57

Tells a story



put www.ebtm.com in

gg

[dixi] 30/9/2008 20:50

I have emailed EBTM about this - it is happening on other products on the site - great way to impress - knackered links on the homepage!!

[trigger45] 30/9/2008 20:41

dixi - Apologies, on that item I'm getting the same message as you. I clicked on a different item last time.

[dixi] 30/9/2008 20:33

Trigger45 - it is the hoodie (second product down) on home page under 'Top Sellers' it is the Clandestine zip hoodie.

I have got the same error message on two separate PC's tried AOL browser, Safari and IE on Vista and XP - all same result - are you sure you can click this and see the full product description still?

[barn owl] 30/9/2008 20:32

Still holding the shares but not my breath! Share contract notes have now been filed as a likely capital loss.

[moob] 30/9/2008 20:30

If suppliers get to know of these CCJs there may well be credit issues, I guess suppliers will want paying upfront rather than in 30 days once they know ebtm is low on cash.
That will use up all the cash.....ouch.

[the analyst] 30/9/2008 20:28

Trouble is, online is only a part of EBTM. I'd have been much happier to invest if they had kept to an online business model.