Home » Posts tagged 'asda'
Tag Archives: asda
Alan Green talks to Venture Life Group #VLG CCO Sharon Collins about the results of the groundbreaking COVID Mouthwash trial at Cardiff University.
Alan Green talks to Venture Life Group (AIM: VLG) CCO Sharon Collins about the results of the groundbreaking COVID Mouthwash trial at Cardiff University. Sharon also discusses the group progress to date in 2020, and summarises the current investment proposition for investors
Venture Life Group #VLG – CEO Jerry Randall discusses today’s interim results & trading update
Alan Green talks to Venture Life Group (VLG) CEO Jerry Randall about the company’s interim results.
Jerry goes through the numbers and commercial developments for the period, before discussing post period-end developments, including an independent study at Cardiff University on the effects on Dentyl Dual Action mouthwash on patients affected by COVID-19.
Jerry explains the resilience and adaptability of the Venture Life business model in countering the challenge of the COVID lockdown, and highlights how the group’s strong cash position will fund any future acquisitions.
Atlantic View – Keep Buying Kingfisher #KGF, DIY Retailer Flying High Thanks To COVID Lockdown Sales Boom
by John Woolfitt, Atlantic Capital Markets
Fundamentals & Statement Summary
Kingfisher (KGF), the owner of B&Q in the UK and Castorama and Brico-Depot in France, today announced a resilient first-half sales performance after the impact of the COVID lockdown during Q1 was offset by strong sales recovery in Q2. The group said that the crisis had ‘reinforced’ its approach, ‘pushing’ the retailer to be ‘bolder.’ Sales fell 1.3% to £5.9bn, while adjusted pre-tax profit grew by 23.1% to £415m as a huge 164% increase in online sales and a strong recovery in reopened stores offset the temporary closure of all outlets in the UK and France early in the Covid-19 pandemic.
The results comfortably exceeded adjusted profit forecasts of £361m, and as a result Kingfisher said it would repay the £23m it received in furlough payments from the UK government. Free cash flow of £1.04bn, up £838m, reflected higher operating profit, working capital inflow of £656m and lower capex.
Kingfisher said it had benefited from a surge in spending on homes and gardens as people adapted their houses for working from home, using money they would have spent on holidays or entertainment.
Kingfisher CEO Thierry Garnier said the crisis “has prompted more people to rediscover their homes and find pleasure in making them better. It is creating new home improvement needs, as people seek new ways to use space or adjust to working from home. It’s also clear that customers are becoming more comfortable with ordering online. And delivering value to consumers is imperative against a challenging economic backdrop.”
Looking forward, Kingfisher said the momentum had continued into Q3, with UK sales up 18.9%. since the end of July and those in France climbing 16.7%. The group also intends to experiment with new store formats including a pilot with Asda to introduce B&Q mini-stores in supermarkets.
Garnier added that while the near term outlook was uncertain, “the longer term opportunity for Kingfisher is significant. There is a lot more to do, but the new team and new plan is now established in the business and we are committed to returning Kingfisher to growth.”
Chart and Technicals
Source: FactSet and Hargreaves Lansdown
In the run up to the March COVID fall, Kingfisher shares traded steadily, before plunging to a 10 year low of 124p on March 18th. By the end of April however, the shares had not only recovered the 50-day MA, they blew through it, and recovered the benchmark 200-day moving average at 190p less than 1 month later. Since that time KGF has traded above both averages, leading to a bullish golden cross formation on July 10th as the 50-day MA passed through the 200-day MA. The stock drifted back to the 50-day MA in the run up to the results, and having successfully tested that level, opened higher on September 22nd. While above this level, our expectations are that the stock will retest July 2018 highs of 317p by early November 2020.
Summary and Atlantic View
Although the strong trading performance had by and large been flagged up by Kingfisher to the markets, the pace of online growth and resulting profit number caught out even the most bullish pundits. As CEO Thierry Garnier says, people have used the cash they would have spent on holidays and entertainment on home improvements. This factor, also evident in Travis Perkins results earlier this month, led to strong free cashflow and the return of furlough payments to HM Govt. Now, with lockdown and movement restrictions set to return at home and in France, Atlantic Capital Markets believes Kingfisher websites and outlets will be faced with a huge opportunity to cash in on another surge in home improvement spending during the latter part of the year. Backed by this sort of momentum, we expect the shares to push higher and retest the technical target of 317p in the next 4-6 weeks. Keep Buying.
To take advantage of this trading idea, speak to a member of our dealing team on 01872 229000 or visit the Atlantic Capital Markets website here
Venture Life Group VLG – Trading Update July 20th 2020
Alan Green talks to Venture Life Group (VLG) CEO Jerry Randall about today’s trading update. Jerry provides an overview of the VLG offering, and then discusses the financial and commercial highlights in today’s statement. Looking forward Jerry covers VLG’s strong financial position, and how non-dilutive funding will be used for further acquisitions, some of which (subject to Covid restrictions), may arrive before Christmas 2020.
Jerry also provides key points for investors going forward.
1) Earnings growth, profitability and strong cashflow
2) Manufacturing capacity – following investment into the manufacturing and distribution, VLG can now increase it’s capacity by 50%.
3) Improving liquidity for shareholders. The appointment of N+1 Singer has improved liquidity and volumes in the market
Ian Pollard – Sainsbury #SBRY, Asda & Walmart – Merger Banned To Prevent Price Increases
J Sainsbury plc and Asda. The proposed merger between Sainsbury”s and Asda has been prohibited by The Competition and Markets Authority in its final report published today. As a result, Sainsbury’s, Walmart and Asda have mutually agreed to terminate the transaction.The reasoning behind the prohibition is that the proposed merger would result in increased prices for the consumer. Sainsbury is still unconvincngly trying to argue that it would mean lower prices. I know who I believe. Well done the CMA
Meggitt plc MGGT Revenue during the first quarter was strong with organic growth of 9% excluding the effects of foreign exchange and disposals. Strong revenue growth is expected to continue for the remainder of the year which is expected to be more challenging as air traffic growth is expected to moderate. The demand for defence products is also uneven despite organic revenue growth of 18%
Image Scan Holdings IGE produced a performance which was slightly behind expectations during the six months to the 31st March but expects to meet market expectations for the year to 30 September 2019. Revenue declined by some 30% and the half year profit of £39,000 was turned into a loss before tax of £178,000.The Chairman says that the recent decline in the share price is disappointing for shareholders but what else can he expect with results like that.
Ixico plc IXI updates that it is on track to deliver robust revenue growth for the first half of the year to the 31st March. Reported revenues are expected to show growth of 22% and the company is confident that full year revenue growth will match that. The momentum in building the order book during the first half of the year has continued from 2018. The order book is now robust and is expected to enable the company deliver on the +20% revenue growth targets which the business has set for itself.
Synnovia plc SYN expects results for the year to the 31st March will show strong growth in both sales and profits.Although profits will show a significant rise they are still expected to be marginally below current market expectations. The Industrial Division has performed extremely well as new business came on stream after the unexpected delays encountered in the previous year. Profitability in the Films Division was adversely affected by project delays in the current year.The Group also has to report that it has recently discovered an overstatement of revenue amounting to £1.619 million for the financial year ended 31 March 2018. This it claims, is non material but with repeated delays in its its two main divisions over this year and last, the picture painted by management could have been a happier one.
Beachfront villas & houses for sale in Greece; http://www.hiddengreece.net
Archie Norman Will Need More Than Singles Nights To Save Marks
Archie Norman made his name, not as the boss of ASDA but as the man who saved ASDA, and he was brilliant enough to do so virtually overnight. ASDA had taken the established supermarkets by storm and given them hard lessons in retailing. Then, all of a sudden for no apparent reason, shoppers were deserting it in droves and things got so bad that it had empty shelves as suppliers cut off supplies, fearing that it was going bankrupt, which left to its own devices, it probably would have.
Within 3 months of Archie Norman taking over, ASDA was unrecognisable – fully stocked, “colleagues” whose only wish was to serve, and unheard of in those far off days of the early nineties, a golden rule, that if more than two people were at a checkout, then more check outs had to be opened immediately. Customers loved it, a supermarket which was actually putting them first, with new initiatives galore. Even a singles night for the lonely shopper. Thursday night at ASDA could be quite an experience, as eyes met across the frozen peas and trolleys “accidentally” bumped into each other, ever so gently and with profuse apologies from the blushing owners.
Friday’s sudden, surprise announcement that Archie Norman had agreed to take over as Chairman of M&S, raised more than an eyebrow, it sent the share price roaring ahead by some 5%. Indeed there is more than a slight similarity between the old ASDA and the sorry state which Marks now finds itself in. It is only six weeks ago that it was forced to announce that it was pulling out of mainland China,completely – closing down for good in what is now the worlds largest retail market. This followed on the heels of November’s announcement that it was pulling out of a number of major European countries and closing its flagship store in Paris.
Will Mr. Norman be able to repeat his success at ASDA. If anybody can save Marks, he can but it is now a different ball game entirely. It is not a just a major retailer which is at risk, it is the concept of high street shopping itself which is under threat, as online shopping takes over from that tiresome Saturday afternoon drag round the shopping malls. Will he be able to change the way Marks thinks just as he did with ASDA.
Very often it is the periphery of a large organisation which gives the game away and shows how deeply the rot has set in. One can not be more at the periphery of M&S than Greece and what a disgrace their operation is here. Management seems to be non existent. The late Lord Marks used to be proud of the fact that he could visit any of their UK stores and be instantly recognised by store managers. Store managers in Greece appear to be ashamed at even the thought of being seen on their own shop floor.
My last two visit to an M&S food store in Athens resulted in me leaving my purchases at the check out because there was nobody there to serve me. One assistant was making a special coffee for two customers at the coffee bar and the rest of the staff were tidying the shelves and completely and deliberately ignoring customers. Both check outs were unmanned.
On a previous occasion all the shop floor staff were being spoken to by a lady apparantly from head office, perched precariously on her very high heels and so, so important, that she was only allowed to carry a single sheet of paper in her hand. Again the check outs were unmanned. I asked her if they were closed when she asked me, as I wason my way out, if she could help. I suggested that she could perhaps take herself to a check out and start serving customers. That did not go down at all well but it is even worse in the clothing department.
As a sign of how management has thrown in the towel, one M&S store is across the road from a Lidl, which like all supermarkets in Greece, opens at 8a.m., except for Marks, which steadfastly refuses to open its doors until 9a.m. by which time Lidl will have taken tens of thousands of Euros and Marks will not have taken one. Customers have been seen knocking on the doors and windows of Marks trying to get in but the staff just point at their wrists and indicate they must wait for 9a.m..
Archie Norman is going to have his hands full.
Sainsbury Slashes Price of Eggs As Sales Fall.
Sainsbury J. SBRY When a major supermarket group has to describe a 0.8% fall in like for like retail sales excluding fuel, as a solid start to the year, then you know that the industry’s problems are massive and that this particular company and its management are troubled. But it has permanently slashed the price of eggs in an attempt to win back market share. Total retail sales for the 12 weeks to 4th June rose by 0.3%.
With Walmart about to start a major price war in its attempts to save ASDA and beat off Lidl, the future looks bleak for all UK supermarkets.
Domino’s Pizza DOM has gone on the takeover path with the acquisition of a 49% stake in Domino’s Iceland and 45% in Domino’s in Sweden and Norway. Local management is described as strong and will be retained whilst the deal is expected to be income enhancing in 2017. Domino’s has the right to acquire all the remaining shares in the three groups between 2020 and 2023
Sanderson Group SND is raising its interim dividend by 11% as confidence is boosted by a continued improvement in the general economic environment and by a very strong order book. Revenue for the 6 months to 31st March rose by 8% and basic earnings per share by 13%. The order book jumped from £2.35m at 30th September 2015 to £3.2m at the end of March.
Workspace Group WKP Claims a very strong financial performance for the year to the end of March, driven by both income and capital growth. Preliminary results show an 8.7% rise in profit before tax and and a proposed 25% increase in the final dividend. Like for like rent per sq. ft rose by 16.4%, leading to a rise of over 28% in net rental income. The underlying property valuation is up by 20.9%. Net occupancy is down slightly to 90.7%
ASDA After repeated promises from ASDA boss Andy Clark that he was here to stay, ASDA has announced that he is in fact stepping down. ASDA owner Walmart has got fed up of ASDA’s poor performance impacting its profits and leading it into a situation where annualised losses exceed £1 billion. The price war to come is expected to create havoc amongst the UKs major supermarket groups, with Sainsbury likely to be one of the two main victims.
Luxury Villas and Houses For Sale In Greece; http://www.hiddengreece.net
Morrisons – Oh for Archie Norman, Or Even Our Ken
As expected, Morrison’s (MRW) results are fairly horrendous with the total full year dividend slashed from 13.65p to 5p, like for like sales down 2% and total turnover down by 4%. The only positive signs are that in quarter four, like for like sales rose by – wait for it – a tenth of one per cent, which is hardly going to set everybody calling their stockbroker with buy orders. But they did at least manage to turn the previous years thumping loss into a profit before tax of £257. Plus the Amazon deal, which does seem to have added some hope for the future.
David Potts the Chief Executive, proudly claims that the team now comprises a wealth of internal and external talent. What a condemnation of the previous team. How and why were they allowed to get away with it for so long and to cause such damage to the company. And what, may one ask, was the Board doing whilst the old team so mismanaged the company. Will any heads roll there, where it matters? Potts blathers on about the company having started a the journey to turn the business round but makes no mention of how long this journey will take.
In the early nineties Archie Norman saved ASDA and turned it round in a matter of months, not years. He made his presence felt within weeks. England was once a nation of shopkeepers. Ken Morrison, the founder was a shopkeeper. He knew how to sell a tin of beans as did the Lords Marks and Sieff. Now they have been replaced in Retail UK not by bean sellers but by bean counters. And one dreaded word receives not a single mention – Lidl.
Despite the Amazon deal, the management of Morrisons seems to think it is still living in a world where they have plenty of time and Tesco is the standard setter. It isn’t and they haven’t.
Villas & houses for sale in Greece; http://www.hiddengreece.net
Retailers (Part 1) There’s No ‘Flys’ on Tesco
Tesco has problems but they are management problems which can be resolved if it can find a management team able enough to erase the long standing failures of the Leahy team which was directly responsible for Tesco’s current woes. Silly as it may seem, it may be best to get a grocer in and sack all the accountants and number crunchers. Once a retailer becomes as big as Tesco, it is the little things which count and it is the little things which they ignore because they have arrived and believe that nobody can knock them off their pedestal.
Marks made the same mistake and Asda and Walmart are following suit. But as far as Asda is concerned there is no Archie Norman in sight, to save them this time round. The worst offender is, believe it or not, Lidl,
Tesco first. Everything I have bought from Tesco has been wrong and should have been returned but I bought them on line, Greece not being blessed with even a Tesco Tiny or whatever the latest name is for its attempts to try and retrieve its lost shoppers. I bought two pairs of Jeans – they were excellent apart from one thing – the button flies. The problem was very simple, the buttons did not match up with the button holes – on either pair. That may be a little mistake but it can have big consequnces standing in some unlit loo on a dark night at the back of a grotty taverna trying to force the metal buttons out of a button hole which is misaligned and a bit too small in any event.
And then there are the underpants. Now M&S underpants in Greece are 25 Euro per pack of three and Tescos seemed a bargain by comparison but again they had the same problem, the flies. The inward fly entrance did not match up with the exit fly so that it was virtually impossible to put the hand in and retrieve the required body part, without twisting it in two. Imagine however if, in addition to the underpants, you were also wearing a pair of the button fly jeans. You had to struggle with buttons to gain access to the underpants and then found it virtually impossible to get through the underpants to access the, by now, urgently needed organ. And all because Tesco had gone ahead and bought no doubt hundreds and thousands of the offending articles without bothering to test the design. They must have been the only superrmarket in Europe trying to palm off underpants which didn’t work. Now their business is crumbling and they can’t understand why. I can.
Part 2 of this thrilling expose will appear tomorrow.
Looking for villas and houses for sale in Greece – visit; http://www.hiddengreece.net