Wh Smith Share Discussion Threads

[the pixie] 06/12/2004 22:54

Even after the analysts giving this the thumbs up today, I still see this as a deadcert short stock until they sort out their direction.

[pineapple1] 06/12/2004 13:23

Well after all that activity it seems to be slipping back a little.I wonder if the venture capitalists are coming for another nibble soon although i would have expected them to wait till the new year

[pineapple1] 06/12/2004 12:25

LOL......Wasn't he the evil one off doctor who

[ydderf] 06/12/2004 12:23

pineapple1 - the only thing going on may be value appreciation by those investors able to think for themselves instead of swallowing all they read or hear from lesser minds than the MASTER'S

[pineapple1] 06/12/2004 12:17

something going on?????

[ydderf] 06/12/2004 12:17

as you can see from price action, my analysis that there is 'something going on' is spot on yours truly THE MASTER! lololol

[biscuit2] 06/12/2004 11:25

The Travel business turnover is tiny compared to the rest of the business and WHS News is a very mature business with low growth, also I beleive it is next year that the news distribution industry will be opened up to competition. i think they'd claim it is too early to give a profits warning as they still have the biggest sales weeks to go.

[smartypants] 06/12/2004 11:17

Do you all get that ?
If they are gona update on 19th Jan, then they are NOT gona give an imminent warning

[recruiter] 06/12/2004 10:51

do they own their own properties ?

[ydderf] 06/12/2004 10:42

as ever, no mention of the news distribution and travel businesses which account for nearly half their proifts its as if they are invisible.....fine by me, i hope to buy more at 288

[biscuit2] 05/12/2004 19:06

I believe the company has tried several times to go for margin, which it acheives but at the cost of sales, then it goes for sales at the cost of margin and it just yo yos between the 2 year after year, what the market is wanting to see is sales and margin been driven together. You can only cut costs so far before the business starts to get damaged. If the company isn't promoting it's goods on price then it must be appealing on the basis of shopping experience etc, in which case Waterstones, HMV and Ottakers are competing. It is trapped on both sides. Clinton cards stores are alot better for cards as well and are now appear to be situated fairly close to WHS stores. If I saw them selling new excitng products then I maybe persuaded that they are attempting to turn around but it seems to be more of the same this year, how will the out come be any different??

[ggekkko] 05/12/2004 18:47

maybe he was showing willing!
or was told to...

[ydderf] 05/12/2004 11:06

another negative story without any foundation (read carefully) in the Financial Mail.....i wonder why they keep appearing ( the company has said recently - according to the same story - that analists expectations were in line still) oh and a director bought 8000 on friday, paid one penny more than me - he couldn't so so if there were a profit warning on the way!

[mroalan] 03/12/2004 20:47

yd,get of de herb man,your heads shot.

[ydderf] 03/12/2004 16:04

interestingly the company is not competing on price anymore - who cares how many bestsellers asda sells, or ottakers, or amazon, this (wh smiths) is a serious business with fat margins. analists are unable to comprehend Kate's strategy but the MASTER does - go for margin and leave the low margin volume business to the competition to oght over! Bought more today!

[smartypants] 03/12/2004 11:21

Hello...o......o........o...........o................o............... .. .

[biscuit2] 30/11/2004 13:49

WHS has one of the largest footfalls of any retailer on the High Street, the main problem is that the majority of purchases are either very small i.e. a newspaper or they don't buy anything at all. Also what can you do when your biggest lines eg. DVD releases and bestselling books can all be sold at Tesco's etc as loss leaders?? You can't possibly hope to beat them otherwise your profits go out the window. If WHS chase margin their sales drop and if they chase sales their margin drops.
I would hope that Brent Cross is busy as it's one of their largest stores and remember WHS generates roughly 80% of it's profit at Christmas so it has to be busy.

[ydderf] 30/11/2004 11:06

the conspirers, pushed and they pushed and they pushed, but they could't get the price below 295 - methinks either they need to pay their pr people more or give up, smwh is booming this am at brent x and no doubt everywhere else !

[smartypants] 29/11/2004 11:51

Not a lot of comment on here ?
No one interested ?

[the pixie] 28/11/2004 22:57

WHSmith is a 'jack of all trades..master of none' and nothing will change that fact. Its in a downward spiral and I believe the rumours that a substantial profit warning will be announced before Christmas this year. This is a definite short stock....!

[ydderf] 28/11/2004 19:04

if you want to buy a book, chances are the only place to go is Smiths. Waterstones etc are rare birds in the high street and the supermarkets have no range outside of the top ten or so - what is it exactly that they need to 'turn around'? 2.5 billion t/over market cap 540m....profitable, market commanding presence etc etc - many people just repeat the same unthought out mantra about this company, overlooking that it is a successful and profitable operation - why the venture cap bid otherwise?

[biscuit2] 28/11/2004 14:02

For the money Kate Swann has been paid for even turning up, her "turnaround" strategy seems even less convincing than those tried in the past. This company is stuck between a rock and a hard place and now has few assets to sell off to actually invest in the "core business". I actually thought the plan to buy into the supply chain, ie. Hodder Headline was good one as at least you can still supply your competitors. John Menzies had the best idea in selling their retail arm and moving the business into less competitive areas. I really cannot see how it can be turned around.

[ydderf] 28/11/2004 08:19

We get lucky (296p) again, a certain analist claims to know how well they will do over the christmas period even before it has begun! This means that the price is falling again and value investors can top up their holdings and lower their average. Interestingly Kate and another director bought substantially about four weeks ago @ 326 and 335 - not that they would know anything about their company and its prospects :) ......and i wonder why that bidder thought it was worth 900m (less the 200m since received for the publishing business = 700m) versus a market cap of less than 540m now....and the pension obstacle now seems to have been dissolved too!

[ydderf] 28/11/2004 08:14

We get lucky (296p) again, a certain analist claims to know how well they will do over the christmas period even before it has begun! This means that the price is falling again and value investors can top up their holdings and lower their average. Interestingly Kate and another director bought substantially about four weeks ago @ 326 and 335 - not that they would know anything about their company and its prospects (lol)......and i wonder why that bidder thought it was worth 900m (less the 200m since received for the publishing business = 700m) versus a market cap of less than 540m now....