Sports Direct Share Discussion Threads

[terminated] 08/11/2017 22:56

Well in all the descriptions of a put I've never heard about being able to accept a cash alternative but then I've never heard you can't.

[discodave4] 08/11/2017 20:07

My understanding is that it's one or the other, cash or shares but not both......but we (the royal we) are not privy to such details.

[ltcm1] 08/11/2017 13:36

I think the whole idea was about gaining control over the shares without having to fund their purchase ie leverage. So I am thinking if the trade went against him it would be logical to assume he would take the loss in cash. Or roll the trade over!!!

Grant Thorton are the accountants, the same people that looked after BHS.

[terminated] 07/11/2017 22:18

I totally agree, he should not be using shareholder funds for gambling. I would have thought at some point he needs to disclose how much he paid for the shares given it should appear on the accounts. I must say i am confused over his put options. Given he is supposedly committed to acquiring 10% of Debenhams, and given 4 of his options have expired already, I would have expected debs price to move up on the purchases. If anything they have come down. 10% is a lot of stock to buy in a 4 week period. Do the shares have to be acquired straight away or indeed can he just take a cash loss and leave the shares?

[discodave4] 07/11/2017 19:27

He has used shareholder funds to bet on companies!

[ltcm1] 07/11/2017 13:05

Terminated he couldn't bet against a company he had concessions in could he??? Could you really use shareholder funds to bet against companies???

This share is starting to smell and whiff like an old jockstrap.

[terminated] 04/11/2017 09:19

DD - I was under the impression he took it out with GS but if he issued them then I have misunderstood.

[multiplural] 02/11/2017 12:45

I saw in a SEC filing yesterday that SPD are now over 30% in The Finish Line (FINL). Interesting that they can keep accumulating at low prices.

[ltcm1] 02/11/2017 11:53

Mike's totally done his crunch on this one!!! Perhaps that is why he is selling Newcastle, though things seem to have gone a bit quiet on that front after the initial flurry.

I think MA is looking at a big writedown on his property splurge if things downturn next year.

[discodave4] 01/11/2017 22:11

Hi Itcm1, thanks and likewise to yourself.Terminated you do know how MA's put option works don't you?. Just one more time just for you, a put option is the ability to sell shares in a company over a specific period and at a specific price. The buyer of the option is the one who decides whether to exercise it.In this case, Sports Direct is the writer of the option. It receives a premium payment but has no control over whether the shares change hands. The buyer, who has not been publicly identified, is the one who makes the decision.If Debenhams' share price falls significantly, Sports Direct would either be forced to become a significant shareholder – at a loss – or pay the party on the other side of the option in cash. If the share price rises, the buyer would probably not exercise the option and Sports Direct would not end up with the shares.As a result, for the period of the option, Debenhams will live with the prospect that Sports Direct will become a large shareholder if its share price falls.Does that help?, no need to thank me.DD

[ltcm1] 01/11/2017 12:22

How many times do people need to understand MA has a big stake in Debenhams and that MA wrote these puts with Goldman Sachs holding the shares and the puts!!!

DiscoDave the only voice of sanity round here.

DD it's nothing new. With over 200 companies it would seem MA has form when it comes to getting other people's money to pay for stuff.

[qantas] 29/10/2017 15:55

www.ft.com/content/f4f8a372-ba6c-11e7-9bfb-4a9c83ffa852' target='window'>https://www.ft.com/content/f4f8a372-ba6c-11e7-9bfb-4a9c83ffa852


Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct buys stake in Debenhams

Please do you own research..

[terminated] 28/10/2017 22:45

Well let's not forget he has a series of put options on debs, which a bet they will drop in price. Many were taken out at 70+p. No idea what's his overall average is.

[discodave4] 27/10/2017 09:10

Good to see MA focussing on sports retail and has now got shareholders to pay for his own personal (MASH) equity analyst!.......fair play though, he does need some strategic advice on where to invest his NUFC + Rangers cash......not forgetting sorting out his loss at DEB.DD

[multiplural] 14/10/2017 14:29

ING group filed control with 7,8% of Finish Line yesterday. I wonder if they own them on behalf of SPD or if we can see competition coming for the acquisition of the co.

[undervaluedassets] 13/10/2017 10:18

I had forgotten about the world cup...

[kmann] 11/10/2017 13:25

nice momentum building now, great bounce back.

500p for xmas imo, the new year world cup bonanza 600p!

[undervaluedassets] 05/10/2017 14:17

Buying back shares, acquiring businesses, paying bonuses to staff, increasing sales, growing the business and doing all this in the teeth of a howling gale of adverse publicity does not look like failure to me.

[ltcm1] 04/10/2017 12:27

UVA I don't see Next as a fair comparison because Next was already a mature business at the start of your comparison date. FWIW I am not disputing the glory days of SPD growth. My argument is that as SD has matured the strategy has only belatedly changed, the business has become tired and bloated like a Burtons or a BHS.

Personally I think the Guardian and BBC stories are largely noise and the signal for the decline was rising prices and exchange rate movement. As one who shops there, I have noticed the quality of the gear has gone down too. All the end of line good brand stuff seems to have stopped and its all Lonsdale and Slazenger now where as they used to have Fila, Addidas and a few others I think on special deals at times. I should go back and see what is happening in the regular shops.

IMO the decline since 2014 is not corporate governance related but the rise of JD and the fact MA was being restricted by the big brands. Which has been seen in the very real decline in profits. Also there has been a big decline in cash and a lot of commercial property buying. I guess you see that as a good thing but perhaps MA is buying at the top of the market. Time will tell. Then there is all the cross shareholdings. SPD is now a complicated beast compared to the slick machine it was in 2009.

It is hard to see at times where MA ends and SPD begins. Look at all the connected companies MA is director of. The accounts are pretty opaque. It does look eerily similar to Robert Maxwell to me. Perhaps MA will get found out one day???

[undervaluedassets] 04/10/2017 10:53

I think the "unethical" issue has surely been NOT paying staff properly. That is what has been the driver of the decline. The Guardian and the BBC have harried Mike and SPD to death over these issues.

The recovery lately is surely about putting these things right and treating staff decently as much as it is about anything. And quite right too.

Interesting to note that on a straight share price performance basis SPD has outperformed Next both year to date and on a 10 year basis. (calculation does not include dividends)

Dont believe me - take a look on Google finance.

Dividends ... well interestingly Mike stopped paying divis in 2009 and from that point in 2009 to the peak in 2014 the share price put on 2700%. The decline of the last 3 years has been about corporate governance not the lack of a dividend.

As for tired - he is as ambitious as ever isn't he. Hardly tired. They will reap the reward . They own too much of the high street no to.

[ltcm1] 04/10/2017 10:32

Well we could always contact 'topcop' Keith Halliwell, I'm sure he will undertake a through investigation.

Not paying a dividend when you are making good profits is unethical in my book, aswell as these absurd staff bonuses for what is a very simple job.

[multiplural] 03/10/2017 21:14

I see in a SEC filing dated Oct 2nd that Monecor, whom I believe hold the position for SPD, have sold 1.950.000 shares of Finish LIne since the last filing Sept. 8th.
The reason is probably that they want the very large short position to cover before putting forward their bid, thus enabeling a lower take over price (probably 14-15$)without the pressure from a huge short squeeze.
I don't know if this is legal, but it sure seems a bit unethical imo.

[ltcm1] 03/10/2017 13:40

Turnover is just for show matey, profit is for dough.

UVA I am calling you out as an Ashley shrill what with your farcical NEXT comparison. Why don't we compare the Next dividends with SPD over the last 10 years???

Mike has got 13 flags and 300 sinking ships in his tawdry and tired empire.

Yes he might look good on Oxford St and a few big cities but go to Hastings, Exeter or Bolton and it's a far more depressing story. It's a tired format in a bunch of poky stores. The trouble is he is acting too late and JD has eaten his lunch leaving sad Mike in the remainder bin.

[undervaluedassets] 03/10/2017 13:21

post 5783.

nuff said

[ltcm1] 03/10/2017 11:11

No it's only held by PI useful idiots now. The smart money sold out months ago.

Also there is incessant trolling and ramping, which is why this thread has gone dead as there is no intelligent conversation to be had.