Wh Smith Share Discussion Threads

[taffychaff] 18/4/2004 14:38

LONDON (AFX) - WH Smith PLC, the retail and publishing group that issued a
severe profit warning in January, said it has received a preliminary takeover
approach from Permira, the private equity group, regarding a possible offer of
375 pencea share in cash.
The potential offer, which values the group at 939.5 mln stg and has a
partial equity alternative in the bidding entity, is being fronted by
Simon Burke, the former chief executive of Hamleys and Keith Hammill, the
chairman of Moss Bros Group PLC and a former WH Smith finance director.
WH Smith said it has had a preliminary discussion with Permira seeking
clarification of its proposal.
Its shares closed up 8 pence on Friday at 260 pence, valuing the retailer at
651.4 mln stg.

[badtime] 18/4/2004 11:23

sunday tel speculates on bid..for those interested

[pictureframe] 15/4/2004 08:56

results any day now, looks promising..up 3.2%

[pictureframe] 13/4/2004 15:42

If they sell it soon they should be on for paying the dividend. That is a very nice return considering there is room for big capital growth again

[pictureframe] 13/4/2004 09:16

LONDON (AFX) - WH Smith PLC is selling its Asia-Pacific operations so as not
to be distracted from its main task of turning around its core UK retail
business, reports the Financial Times without citing sources.
The FT says the newsagentand bookseller is set to confirm the planned sale
when it announces interim results next week but has not yet found a buyer.
The bulk of WH Smith's overseas operations comes from its chains in
Australia and New Zealand, which analysts say have acurrent value of around 30
mln stg.

[pictureframe] 07/4/2004 12:01

Just turned positive now

[pictureframe] 07/4/2004 09:04

looks like its bouncing off from here to me

[yf23_1] 30/3/2004 13:39

yf23_1 - 11 Jan'04 - 23:21 - 212 of 246 edit


churchtower
Care to enlighten us as to what particular signal you are looking at ?

There is bearish engulfing on the candlesticks but one would expect a pullback anyway as the gap on the profit warning hsa now been fully filled.
This is not a top reversal though, as its not occurring at a top.
A top implies a rising major trend with failure and then reversal, SMWH is in a downtrend.
Continuation of the downtrend will probably only be confirmed after a rejection of a longer term moving average after some consolidation near the current price.



50 day ma now rejected with 21 day ma crossover and rejection at 21 day also.
DYOR

[pictureframe] 30/3/2004 12:25

Jeffian,

Cant compare these to the dreaded Moni...

[jeffian] 30/3/2004 11:01

Yes, that's what I thought when I bought Marconi!

8-)

Regards, Ian

[pictureframe] 30/3/2004 08:49

Bought a shed load of these yesterday, looking undervalued at these prices.

[ydderf] 23/3/2004 15:34

getting interesting again imvho

[ptj] 27/2/2004 18:06

Hmm, and here we are. Those who bought in on the overreaction are seriously In profit. I do not see any sign of £1.

[enochthenocker] 05/2/2004 15:52

Any more tips Spadman?

[k4lia] 30/1/2004 09:57

when is the divi payment date please anyone?

[yf23_1] 26/1/2004 18:52

Meanwhile, DKW claimed that a recent bounce in WH Smith's shares "mystifies
even the company itself" given unfavourable market dynamics.

[coolforcatzs] 25/1/2004 10:21

donsan/detmij

At last Handover's going

Thurday's going to be an interesting day for WH Smiths

[ydderf] 20/1/2004 16:39

to most of you:

Your posts have dried up because you got it spectacularly WRONG!!!!!! whereas the MASTER got it just PLAIN RIGHT!

Think for yourselves my little sheeplike muppets - there's no point in being alive unless you do! lololololololololololol

[detmij] 17/1/2004 23:31

yddrF

No worries. If its all PEPS you are home laughing. SMWH is certainly a great trading share if you can trade without tax/timing considerations. Who knows you may get back in for a lot less. Plus you also have a great final dividend coming your way. Cheer up and take a holiday. I think you could get a special deal on the muppet train.

[donsan] 17/1/2004 16:26

you really need to get a life

[ydderf] 17/1/2004 15:04

this is a typical 'if, maybe, could be, shock horror - perhaps on the one hand etc etc' story

its a pity it wont cause the prices of both companies to collapse next week, i'd love to buy back the 80% i sold at under the 284-6 i sold them for.....muppets should pay attention to the current conditions in the markets, even after really bad news there are very few real sellers, from Matalan to Jasmin, the utopians are in charge - but when you want to sell i.e when the macro environment changes, they will be NO BUYERS!

[jeffian] 17/1/2004 13:17

Fred's view that the parts are of greater value than the whole (if I get the point) may take something of a knock from today's news (see below). All agree (I think) that the retail side looks in terminal decline; now the wholesale side looks under attack; that leaves publishing, which is a tiny part of the business. It's very hard to see the value here.

Regards, Ian

News wholesalers at risk of shake-up
By Michael Harrison
17 January 2004
Ministers Proposed bringing newspaper and magazine distribution agreements within the scope of UK competition law yesterday in a move that could have serious repercussions for big wholesalers such as WH Smith.

Newspaper and magazine distributors have been given 30 days to seek guidance from the Office of Fair Trading on whether their existing agreements would fall foul of the Competition Act and, if so, what they need to do to comply with the law.

Big wholesalers such as WH Smith and John Menzies in effect operate monopolies over newspaper and magazine distribution under deals that give them the exclusive right to handle supplies in defined geographic areas.

Smaller wholesalers and independent retailers have complained in the past about the stranglehold of the big distributors and this led to OFT investigations into the industry in previous years.

The Department of Trade and Industry yesterday proposed ending the exclusion from competition rules of these so-called "vertical agreements". The move is designed to bring UK competition laws into line with those in the European Union.

Gerry Sutcliffe, the Competition minister, said that if the Government decided to repeal the exemption newspaper distribution agreements currently enjoy, the move would not come into effect until May 2005. This would provide a "breathing space" so that any changes were made in a managed way.

"This process will ensure the outcome that is best for the consumer whilst bringing a greater degree of certainty in the long run for publishers, distributors and retailers," Mr Sutcliffe said.

The Government also plans to repeal the exclusion for agreements given clearance under the Restrictive Trades Practices Act. This will take effect in 2007.

© 2003 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd

[rone] 15/1/2004 16:35

The article suggested Tesco are flying at the moment and would want to maintain the momentum, therefore the WHS wholesale distribution network becomes attractive to them. Maybe..maybe not; it's just nice to see some blue on the board for a change!

[croquetman] 15/1/2004 15:57

Interesting. Hasn't Tescos just raised a load of dosh. And wouldn't that give them more Metro locations.

Another thought might be some US company who would like have an ££££ stream and not just a $$$$ stream. Who bought the WHS stores?

[rone] 15/1/2004 10:02

Jungle Jim

The rumour-monger in the Daily Mail, or was it the Daily Express, suggested Tesco were looking at Smiths.

There was no supporting evidence and I didn't see it mentioned anywhere else. Still, he gave us all a 15 pt. rise, so no complaints.