Mothercare Share Discussion Threads

[yump] 01/3/2018 09:49

Terminated

I make it somewhere between 1.5p and 7p earnings based on the 1-5mln.

If anyone would like to comment on the actual business, rather than the shorting / going bust etc. etc...

I'm somewhat curious as to why a consumer slowdown would have such a bad effect on MTC, given that PETS had a good last 12 weeks through Christmas. Are pets more precious than toddlers ? No that's not serious of course.

Is it that the product mix is still not sorted and/or only half way through strategy.

After all, the comments on the PETS thread with the shares being shorted, was that you could buy all the merchandise at supermarkets and online and yet those sales rose. They are sheltered a bit by their own and/or exclusive brands. MTC have them as well.

Is the issue that a much higher proportion of purchases made at MTC are more likely to be one-offs, whereas the purchases at PETS are repeat (particularly the food) ?

Is it as simple as that ?

[yump] 01/3/2018 09:36

Apart from techs. of course, who can make up some story or other to make people think they can win the investment lottery.

[dealy] 01/3/2018 08:41

Market seems to valuing all non profit making companies at liquidation value

[napoleon 14th] 01/3/2018 08:18

That chart looks like a pre-written autopsy!
Glad to have been out the last six months...

[discodave4] 28/2/2018 20:31

Blackrock increased their short position......still some meat left on the bones eh yumpy.DX

[ltcm1] 28/2/2018 19:21

I hope it works out for you but do you really trust in the management???

The trouble is 140 odd shops is an awful lot if things go sour.

[terminated] 28/2/2018 14:46

Anticipated profits of 1-5m I should have said, so worse case 1m. Q4 results April 14th so not long till end of year. I think I'll ride out the rest of my holding I did consider dumping the rest today. It's been a bad trading year but if he can recoup 7m in costs, and given that there were sales increases in middle East and Russia reported in june), it would not take much to double in price.

[terminated] 28/2/2018 14:34

And of course, if you are looking for some light here, hevdidcsaybthe 7m approx in cost savings would not show through until 2nd half of year. It's not black and white here.

[kendonagasaki] 28/2/2018 14:19

Last one out turn out the lights!Adminstration looms!

[terminated] 28/2/2018 13:42

It's important to note their franchise business traditionally brought in 15 -27m. It was the UK retail division that always made a loss. The franchise alone is worth more than 100m given that it does not incur costs whatsoever. The expected profit of 1m was never fully explained. Was it due to exceptionals, was it just a poor Xmas in the UK? Was the franchise operation affected. There is just too much unknown here, which is why the market is jittery about it.

[dealy] 28/2/2018 13:22

This and lonmin are worth something to acquirors

[ltcm1] 28/2/2018 13:10

Dealy said Lonmin wàs worth a lot more than the £300m cash they had after the RI. Three years later the share price is lower and they have £80m left.

Dealy "the dip" has lasted over two years!

[fenners66] 28/2/2018 12:53

Toys are us has Babies are us - which is a competitor.
I had not heard about Maplin - but I went into one of their fancy new stores 18 months ago - was the only none staff member in there , saw no reason to ever buy any of their products at their inflated prices and have never been back so really not surprised.

Dealy "I bought the dip."

Which dip? Which of those ever falling candlesticks is "the dip"

I really should have shorted this when I noticed you posting here - what % profit would I be on now?

[ltcm1] 28/2/2018 11:59

Sorry to hear that Terminated. Do Toys R Us sell prams etc? If so there could be margin pressure while they liquidate this stock.

To me the last warning sounded odd and contradictory in places. The trouble is if you drop margins it's hard to get them back up.

I am not close to things here but the chart has been very consistent for a long time now.

[terminated] 28/2/2018 11:52

If they do indeed make a profit this year I agree, but the profits have been very erratic. If they hadn't increased the debt (with no in depth explaination) there would have stayed in the 40's until further news. Some more director dealing may help but at the minute he is loosing money hand over fist. I bought in on director dealing and two months later I was down 30%. I was lucky I sold half at 66p and halved again at 44p because normally my instincts are to ride out the storm. He should now be looking for a buyer just in case. A bigger retailer like tesco could really make use of their brand name. Even a department store like debenhams has the floor space to add variety to their range.

[eastbourne1982] 28/2/2018 11:47

dealy,

you say it is worth more than 50 million, most businesses that go bust are probably worth more than nothing.

[dealy] 28/2/2018 11:28

I bought the dip. Things aren't great here but the company is worth more than 50m

[eastbourne1982] 28/2/2018 11:03

yump,

Do you think the CEO has done a good job during the time he has been in the role.

The business performance has been poor albeit in a tougher retail environment, the share price is down 90%.

It all speaks for itself.

Someone else should have been brought in two years ago.

[ltcm1] 28/2/2018 11:01

Bad weather does affect trading badly in the short run, it can all go against you very quickly in retailing. I imagine cash flow is the real issue.

[yump] 28/2/2018 10:53

I think if you know what the CEO should be doing, you should say so.

I'm surprised Maplin lasted so long really. Everything they sell is available through multiple sellers online, a lot of products are almost commodity electronics and there's no need to look at anything in store.

[dealy] 28/2/2018 10:33

That would mean no new news. Just new impatience which would be a buying opportunity