Sports Direct Share Discussion Threads

[cautious7] 28/7/2019 21:54

Sleep on this!!


1 =Why did SPD not disclose the massive tax bombshell earlier?

2 =Tesco had a blackhole of about 200 million and look what happened to
her share price and Tesco is/was fundamentally strong at the time unlike
SPD.

3= Why were the results delayed by two weeks?

4 = Several years years of decent profits to reapy this tacx bill and other loses only if the co is making a profit and we all know what is happening in the retail sectro, worrying indeed.

5 = If you was a major supplier to SPD, would you want your money up front is the next big problem

4= Most worrying of all, what else may the company trying to hide?

IMO the shares won't dive as much as expected but will end even lower than tomorrows lows at the end of the week when the city fully wakes up to the
incompetence at SPD and shares may even be suspended for a few hours or days imo

DYOR

Regards

C7

PS -TO ADD INULT TO INJURY THE 600 MILLION PLUS TAX WAS ONLY MENTIONED AT THE VERY BOTTOM OF THE REPORT,

[no24rton] 28/7/2019 21:50

fire sale most likely, if any takers

[ignoble] 28/7/2019 21:40

I always said to myself that if ever SPD came tumbling down, that will be near the bottom for retail stocks.
The last dinosaur of retail becomes extinct.
The rest will struggle but survive

But what do I know... I lost money on Woolworths and never touched a retail stock again

[sbb1x] 28/7/2019 21:38

So hof and cycles made a 70 million loss and 605 million fine.Minimum 40 % of the share price tomorrow could even be 50 %The word terminal to cause serious pain over next few days, weeks and months a head. Mike's words about HOF are no very encouraging. Big big mistake The city hate him and going by the #sportsdirect #nufc hash tags on Twitter so many more hate him.He tried to rescue debs so share holders would get something back, I dont think he is such a bad chap.I'm sure there will be quite a few rns in coming days what will see share price bouncing around all over the place.

[csmwssk12hu] 28/7/2019 21:38

I wonder how MA feels tonight, if he was smart he would have off loaded most of his shares when they where above £5, chances are tomorrow they will be sub £1, from its peak of around £8 a share with his 61% stake he will have lost over £2.2bn personally, that has to hurt no matter what you have got

[whiskeyinthejar] 28/7/2019 21:34

Mike Ashley once admitted that there was in fact another person who has really been running Sports Direct.

[csmwssk12hu] 28/7/2019 21:32

Someone asked earlier where the profits had gone without dividends, since floating they have bought back approximately 186 million shares besides buying and selling some businesses, unfortunately the last twenty four months have been an unmitigated disaster

[chestnuts] 28/7/2019 21:25

The question i would ask is are SPD buying all these companies to hide whats really going on inside SPD, ie smoke and mirrors

[ltcm1] 28/7/2019 21:23

On the hopeful side there could be a 7am RNS clearing up this tax issue.

GLA.

[debsdowner] 28/7/2019 21:15

If readers trawl through my historic posts I said yonks ago the pe ratio far too high despite the recent woes and it will probably be fall significantly tomorrow.

[debsdowner] 28/7/2019 21:11

Tim agreed.

[tim 3] 28/7/2019 21:08

MA reminds me of Woodford at one time could do nothing wrong but now he's lost the plot completely.

[knigel] 28/7/2019 20:54

Seen the Telegraph update tonight?
Auditors were in the dark about the tax bill..

[snoopy12] 28/7/2019 20:14

MA was never liked in the city quarters. No wonder the big four never tendered for the Audit.Due to his overall decision making and control over the business. This would be one of the main concerns for the auditors as internal controls can be compromised.
Grant Thornton should have highlighted the tax liability as a contingency liability in the previous year's audited accounts,which is material.
Grant Thornton auditors of patisserie Valerie,and now Grant Thornton should definitely start looking at their indemnity cover.
I wonder who will be a replacement for Grant Thornton.

[cautious7] 28/7/2019 20:11

Hi
I like others here have been guessing but there is one point that I can see as an ALMOST DEAD CERT. ..MORE BAD NEWS KEPT FROM THE POOR SHAREHOLDERS

DOOR

C7

[ltcm1] 28/7/2019 20:08

I'm not really clear why they have quite high debt and not too many assets when they have been making such good profits over the last decade, profits which haven't been paid out as dividends.

[onjohn] 28/7/2019 20:03

120p here tomorrow

[debsdowner] 28/7/2019 20:01

Yes you are right that is if the Belgium tax authorities have similar rules and you believe they do so on that basis I accept your viewpoint.

[csmwssk12hu] 28/7/2019 19:45

They would definitely know there was something in the pipeline, for a start they would have had letters asking for paperwork, if there is penalties involved that is at discretion of the investigator and is not set in stone, it can be zero if you are upfront and honest and inform them of a potential problem, it is based on whether they cooperated, whether they attempted to hide etc, the less cooperation and more elusive the bigger the penalty, I leave you to judge which you think it has been

[debsdowner] 28/7/2019 19:30

csmwssk12hu

I based my opinion on what is normal in the UK there is always an appeal process but don't known what the rules are in Belgium.

I must admit its a strange situation as penalties normally arise after a tax investigation in the UK and a similar procedure and penalty of 200% of tax due and also interest.

It would appear to me the demand may not be a total shock to SPD but a shock to the market and one which the auditors had been speaking to SPD most of the day on Friday.

The question is did the company have any inclination there would be a tax demands the last time they delayed their results a few weeks ago.

They made one of their main excuses at that time the delay was due to the HOF acquisition but its all now very suspicious. Whatever the reason SPD now lost all credibility with brokers analysts, the press and shareholders alike.

Mike Ashley was disliked by the city prior to this shocking revelation he wont have any credibility now.

I would expect heavy trading tomorrow many institutions will want out.

[csmwssk12hu] 28/7/2019 19:19

Someone said earlier they don’t have to pay the demand till it’s correctly determined, erm no, they have to pay the demand or be wound up, they can pay now, argue later, get refunded later, pay nothing now is not an option

[honestmarty] 28/7/2019 19:17

Tomorrow should be brutal.
Everyone seems to hate poor MA.
He won't get much sympathy.

[debsdowner] 28/7/2019 18:43

Its usually too late when the end is in sight, you do not hear the bang of the gun when you are shot through the heart.

And so it is that Mike Ashley's ego and lust for power and greed has reaped what he has sown and let it be a warning that greed and power are in themselves a warning shot in advance of a leap from the dark which many should have seen but were themselves blinded by their own failure to do proper research.

But let the wise take heart in their prudence and take comfort that they to could have been victims as well.


As one who understands retail in particular I have followed Sports Direct through my interest in Debenhams but not as an investment but as a warning to investors not to be taken in by management and statements of better times to come when through the mist one could see trouble ahead.

[eggy6198] 28/7/2019 18:17

Sorry pj was taking the mick of this doesnt look good short term! This is below 170 monday and 130 to 150 best by end of week. If he does take it private might aa well let it drop.

[debsdowner] 28/7/2019 17:17

pj and cautious,

I have to admit it does seem a strange affair penalties are usually given after a investigation into tax affairs so it would appear they may have had demands previously.

It would appear the board hasn't been transparent enough as to the demand.

Lets face it how do they arrive at the figure?

The tax demand must be based on information given to them at some stage by sales going through Belgium surely the company would have had some inclination there could be tax implications at some stage.

They may have had some demands previously but thought they were not liable for the tax but its all a bit irrelevant now as the tax demand has come to light.

It may be the case that SPD didn't think they were liable but the auditors deemed the company must be transparent and advise shareholders of the significant liability should it have to be paid it would cause a significant problem to the group and moreover have to be declared due to the fact its a public listed company and market obligations.


The fact is its now in the open, and a most terrible bombshell along with losses at HOF which have caused a shock to the city, and shareholders alike.


This is a sell now and the share price will be punished tomorrow morning I wouldn't like to say what percentage the share will fall at but it must be in double digits.