A bit of a no-event as it turned out? More waiting. |
CRoots
While having a moan I forgot to say the AGM is on the 11th March, so there might be a trading update then.
Generally speaking, unless there's anything significant to say, there's no real update on AGM day though, so it may well be that we have to wait for the Interims which are due some time in May.
See |
Bk yes very poor but thanks for letting us know.
A lot more buys than usual pushing the price higher today. No obvious reason but maybe someone knows something! I'll be holding on to the lion's share of my holding. |
Thecroots
Yea, that is annoying, as is the fact that an email I sent to Investor Relations asking for clarification on that got a savage ignoring from them !
There are obvious benefits to having the company run by people with an awful lot of skin in the game, but I suspect that also means they're more likely to ignore emails like that. |
I still think its odd they never did a trading update when they promised.
When is the next update please? |
Typical after I sold a few at 95 to raise some funds for elsewhere! News pending? |
The contents page of the Annual Report lists a "Chief Executive's Report" on page 3, but what appears on page 3 is clearly labelled "Chairman's Report". Then on page 51 he signs the Financial Statement as Charles Smith, Chief Executive. |
The company calls itself a Group - if it was really a group and had multiple subsidiaries I could understand A Smith resigning from the Group board to run one subsidiary - but there doesn't seem to be anything other than the one business, so it's not what I would call a group. If he's actually running the sole business, no pun intended, then he seems to be the CEO but without a board vote.
All rather odd. |
I don't understand a CEO resigning in order to run the business. It makes absolutely no sense. There was some gossip somewhere about the two Smiths having a disagreement. - if that's the real reason they could have thought of a more credible explanation. |
Following reading of the Annual Report that was put out in a statement yesterday I have had a few thoughts regarding it. Anthony Smith resigned on the 16th April 2024 stating standing down to focus on the day to day running of the business - however his notice period is 12 months from both party - why was he allowed to leave early and why has a new chief executive not been appointed or any announcement about the recruitment for a new chief executive
With this happening, did he hand back his company car, life assurance and medical insurance which is part of his renumeration.
Since the statement made in April the company seems to have taken a downward spiral in sales - has Anthony lost his magic touch as what worked well in 2000 may not work so well in today's markets.
Will be interesting to see what other people think |
Let me know if you get a reply back from investor relations |
It is a fair point, I hadn't recalled the sentence you posted, although I don't think I've ever received a pair of shoes for Christmas. :-) |
Aye, I agree, just seems weird to say you'll do something and then not do !
Anyway, rather than just moan about it on the internet, I've emailed Investor Relations asking for clarification. |
 Fair enough, although they didn't do that last year and it would have been only a few weeks after the trading update on 18 December.
Regarding looking forwards there was some information:
Strategy Update
We continue our store refit and relocation programme, which should complete by the end of 2026, at which point our capital expenditure will reduce significantly, and we will continue to drive our digital strategy on the back of these solid Digital results.
Capital expenditure
We will spend c£6.5m in the next financial year to cover 26 store projects and Head Office infrastructure changes including IT projects and new vehicles.
Property
We ended the year with 185 new format, larger stores and 112 Original stores. This year we expect to relocate or open a further 17 stores and continue to close a number of older stores, and we will refit a minimum of 9 stores to our new format.
We will continue to rollout our larger format by targeting key towns for conversion or relocation. Our target is to have approximately 280 stores in total, by the end of 2026/7, with all "Original" stores having been refitted, relocated or closed.
Digital
We continue to invest in our Digital platform and in the next 12 months we will have a full year trading with Google pay, Apple pay and our new mobile App. We will also have a full year trading with the shoezone.com permanent offer of free next day delivery, which started in June 2024.
Part of the success of our digital operation is our efficient returns process which is complimented by our extensive network of stores. We have a returns rate of c. 11.4% with the vast majority of these being returned to store.
Product
We expect product margin levels to start to increase in the second half of the next financial year as container prices start to stabilise and reduce post Chinese New Year. Our buying and shipping teams are doing an exceptional job of managing the direct from factory supply chain, which is still volatile, and we are confident we are performing better than the market average.
Dividend
An interim of 2.5 pence per share was paid in August 2024. This will be the final dividend paid for the year ended 28 September 2024, as the Board deem it prudent from a cash management perspective, and continue to pursue a progressive dividend policy for future years where deemed appropriate. |
BH
In the trading update of 18th Dec they said
A further trading update will be provided alongside the announcement of our FY2024 annual results on 21 January 2025.
There was very little in the way of outlook and current trading in the Finals either. If there'd been a section on it then you could argue that covered what they promised. Bit strange really. |
When did they promise a trading update alongside their results? |
Agreed. the shops are dead- like really quiet.
Shein is killing them in my opinion.
the lack of trading update in January speaks volumes to me. they promised a trading update alongside their results. |
Long time since a bogof promotion was done thought. Think March 2020 was the last time they did this. I don't see the shops busy on my travels |
Could be, but BOGOF is pretty standard among low-end retailers. If John Lobb were doing it I might raise an eyebrow. |
I do think the business is struggling. Why put on a Buy 1 get 1 free on certain lines. My opinion stock not selling and need cash into the business hence why they know that the profit forecast has been reduced as with this offer on profit margins lower |
Though, for various reasons, not all related to SHOE, I'm not tempted to buy back in, if they can maintain profits at the levels just reported then there's plainly value here at a share price of ~100p.
I don't think that's a big if.
But, longer term, they need to continue to grow the digital side of the business if they want to get any meaningful growth in the business.
Given they basically say their USP on the digital side of the business is being able to return goods to stores, that's probably easier said than done. If they're successful on the digital side, then, sooner or later, more shops will close and it'll be further and further, distance wise, for customers to travel if they want to return goods to a store.
At some point, unless SHOE can come up with a cunning plan, people will just order online from where ever is cheapest and has free returns. |
The price closed up on the day in the end so after some initial indecision ended the day in agreement with that positive analysis :) |
Looks like a reasonably solid update given the headwinds, even though some of those headwinds might have been anticipated a bit earlier. A PER of 6 is hardly demanding.
Good to see cash flow is expected to increase after 2026, some patience may be required for that to be reflected in the share price. |
Look like the sole is worn out on this purveyor of cheap smelly plastic shoes. |