John Lewis Of Hungerford Share Discussion Threads

[adamb1978] 24/10/2014 13:00

errr a trade for 25m shares or about 13% of the company is showing up....any thoughts?

[adamb1978] 24/10/2014 09:21

Also if someone speaks to managemnet, can they ask about a dividend? JLH should be able to think about paying one once the store-roll outs slow

[adamb1978] 24/10/2014 08:42

Re-assuring update this morning, particuarly around Q1 sales again being double digit ahead of Q1 last year. Also seems that the new stores are having a very decent impact and that should only accelerate as people living near the stores become more aware of them - the Cobham store will also have barely contributed in Q1 this year.

Based on the Q1 turnover of £2m, they should comfortably be able to do £8.5m - £9m this year which therefore makes the £10m which they're targetting in the year to August 2016 very achievable and based on that the PE I think would be perhaps 6x - 7x(?)

Management as cautious as always, mind you thats better than the opposite.

If anyone on here is in contact with the management, can you raise the question of the freehold property (£1.4m) and whether they've thought of doing a sale and leaseback? They could return about half the market cap to shareholder if they did!

[briangeeee] 03/9/2014 08:40

HOT OFF THE PRESS (not really!)

Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited (Williams F1) on hearing the name "Grove (Oxfordshire)" has become available, announce their intention to rename. A spokesman for the company commented: "We don't really have a good reason for the change, but would like to give the impression we've too much time on our hands. It will also help us maintain a lower profile among potential investors, and reduce the impact of our racing heritage".

[briangeeee] 03/9/2014 08:29

The meeting is presumably needed to hold a vote to change the name. So I'd assume no meeting, then no name change. There was no indication of an intention to reconvene.

It's not like JLH have some embarrassing history to forget, or are changing names from one that is obscure to something with significant brand potential. They are/were proposing to change from a name that is well established, and most people recognise from many years in the business. The proposed new name of Grove is the name of a small mainly residential town - why?? There wasn't even a proper reason in the announcement.

Anyway, hopefully it's all forgotten now.

[battlebus2] 01/9/2014 12:47

Has it been withdrawn?

[briangeeee] 01/9/2014 12:43

Glad to see the daft re-naming idea has been withdrawn.

[charleyduck] 20/8/2014 15:19

They have created two subsidiaries. Artisan for the fitting service and John Lewis of Hungerford for the design, construction and supply (to maintain and build on the brandname).

The fact that the holding Company for these two Companies has the name Grove seems of little concern really.

If it were not changed, Artisan might struggle to get work from JLH competitors when they saw the JLH name on the bottom of the letter. This should aid the expansion of an excellent part of the service. I was very impressed by Damian Walters, the Director who runs this part of the business, when we met them in Chiswick.

Overall I think that there is much more to gain from this rationalisation and nothing will be lost from the John Lewis of Hungerford brand.

I do agree that the RNS could have been better worded - but a good thing nonetheless.

[briangeeee] 13/8/2014 23:39

It makes sense to create a new installation subsidiary. There is no good reason mentioned to change the name of the PLC. It's crazy.

[adamb1978] 13/8/2014 18:37

DOes anyone have any of their own or third party forecasts for JLH for this year and next which they'd like to share? I could find any analysts forecasts....

My figures are £7.5m turnover this year and £8.4m next. EPS of 0.03p rising to 0.15p next year, so trading on about 10x Aug-15, despite having an unlevered balance sheet and also having about 50% of the market cap in freehold property

[adamb1978] 13/8/2014 18:34

The name change announcement I thought was poorly worded as it took too long to get to the point. However you can understand why they want a seprarate trading name for hte installations business and therefore it makes sense to change the of the plc

[morwood] 12/8/2014 11:20

I don't understand it either. What is the point!

[garbetklb] 12/8/2014 09:23

I'm struggling to understand this morning's RNS proposing a change of name - epecially the need for it. To me, it appears to be the equivalent of fiddling whilst Rome burns......
Any thoughts / comments?

[lord c.] 13/6/2014 19:11

CR - good to hear from you again - long time no communicate.
I stand by my last post and agree with all that you say.
JLH has consistently failed to deliver, IMO run for the directors.

Lord C.

[pugugly] 13/6/2014 17:25

CR: Agreed . With 30% held by the founder there could be a significant ovehang sometime in the future - There is potentially an interesting business available which is why I was having a look as (with hindsight and luck) I had a reasonable outcome with Waterline (in a similar area of business) a few years ago but the share holding was not so concentrated.
Oh well back to the drawing board unless ther is a significant further fall.

Have a good weekend

[cockneyrebel] 13/6/2014 17:03

I held these to my deep regret several years ago Pug. The co is run like a micky mouse outfit imo. Should never have floated but old man Lewis was persuaded to by Richard Worthington of Coffeehaven infamy apparently.

Every set of results differ to the last. They post an upbeat set then 6 months later they are backtracking. They can't compete with Howdens, Magnet and the like and their ranges don't change with the times enough. Bedroom furniture is too bespoke - there just isn't the volume - you want standard off the shelf pieces to get volume up but what's a standard bedroom? To grow the business you need to take on lots more staff - then you are screwed when we have a downturn imo.

Someone buys a few hundred k shares and the price soars. Then someone sells a few hundred k and it dives. Hold a meaningful amount and you're locked in imo.

As for the website - amateur imo.

Co should be taken private imo.

CR

[pugugly] 13/6/2014 16:29

fugwit- Found it but right at the very bottom of the consumer website Not investor friendly in any way and the ADVFN link is to the J L Partnership. Not useful.

You could have been helpful and helped with the link. - I had to phone the Corporate advisors who were most helpful

PS Are you the heavy buyer of 1 million plus shares today ?

[fugwit] 13/6/2014 16:18

Of course they do, if you bothered to have a look you would know that.

[pugugly] 13/6/2014 16:14

fugwit:> Do you know if they have aa website for investors, as required by the AIM regulations as both the Stock Eexchange [LSE] a potential investor any confidence - On top of which a Google Search produces the untrusted message above.

[fugwit] 13/6/2014 15:43

Does anyone have a quick answer to the current average capex cost per new showroom? I am struggling to find it in my notes.

[pugugly] 11/6/2014 15:27

Just come to have a look in view of share price fall. Admin costs look horrible. Not sure what is included. If showrooms then imo these should be in cost of sales.

If not then I think we need a breakdown.

Far worse however is that shareholders website is either not available or or links are wrong (ADVFV goes to the John Lewis Parnership and LSE only to the Consumer Web site) Not very reassuring.

A search attempt produces

""This Connection is Untrusted

You have asked Firefox to connect securely to www.john-lewis.co.uk, but we can't confirm that your connection is secure.

Normally, when you try to connect securely, sites will present trusted identification to prove that you are going to the right place. However, this site's identity can't be verified. What Should I Do?

If you usually connect to this site without problems, this error could mean that someone is trying to impersonate the site, and you shouldn't continue.""


On the surface revenue to market cap ratio look as theough they may be interesting but could be another Waterline without access to far more details

Anyone got any suggests but initially inclined to agree with CR's comments.

[cockneyrebel] 11/6/2014 11:51

Hi Lord C - long time no see :-)

I see JLH never change then - as hot and cold as my toaster in the morning :-)

Best thing I did was get out of this years ago - they aren't a co that should be listed imo - Rosby & Hepworth on a nice gravy train here - the co makes enough just to pay their wages which a sceptic might think is all they are running the company to do - no more, no less.

All imo/dyor etc.

CR

[lord c.] 23/5/2014 17:04

So we are on for a fiver then.

[davidosh] 23/5/2014 15:44

Lord C.....Who and when did they pay 3p and get their fingers burnt ? Investing is a longer term activity that requires patience. If you have not noticed the market started selling off in hundreds of stocks about six weeks ago and especially smaller companies as there was a dash for larger defensive stocks whilst the Ukraine and other world issues played out ! I am in here for another two years at least and will be backing the management with their strategy plan. That is what investing is about.

Tell me about a few companies you can prove you invested in early and backed the management ? Have you met the new directors here ? John Lewis left his executive role six years ago btw