II Editor
16 Jan 2018
NEW ARTICLE: Stockwatch: Bosses buy into this 6.7% yield "Now the air is somewhat cleared by LSE:CLLN:Carillion declaring a liquidation, is it time to consider other infrastructure and support service stocks, hard hit as this fiasco mounted?Part of the dilemma is anything "PFI-related" staying in the ..."[link]
LifeInPlastic
16 Jan 2018
Re: Debenhams take over target now Hopefully Mike Ashley will sell Newcastle soon and feel the need to spend the cash..........
oggie2
15 Jan 2018
Re: Debenhams take over target now i could not agree more Meredith. How many stores do Debs have in the U.K and taking into account their rent how many are actually losing money.Unfortunately except for vague platitudes management do not tell us.Debs is still profitable it is just a question of whether Sergio can turn the month to month trading around to turn reducing profits around to the plus side.
The Revenge of Meredith Hunter
15 Jan 2018
Re: Debenhams take over target now I read that none of the stores were loss-making it's just that some will obviously be less profitable than others.
oggie2
14 Jan 2018
Re: Debenhams take over target now surely the rent of that particular store is already taken into account in deciding whether it is loss making .It does not need to carry a double penalty in National Hunt terms
schwee
13 Jan 2018
Re: Debenhams take over target now The issue is the loss making stores and their rents. CEO has three years before debts become due to beat the relevant landlords up. At least he doesn't have a pension deficit to keep him awake at night, at least in accounting terms, though there are £5m pa contributions for a five more years to eradicate the buy out deficit.
oggie2
10 Jan 2018
Re: Debenhams take over target now the last thing we need at the present time is a change of CEO.Any CEO will face the same long lease problem.We are albeit on a reducing basis profitable.Does Sergio cancel/reduce the dividend or in my opinion heaven forbid borrow/go to the market to raise more cash to fund change or does he see what strategies work and proceed at a more leisurely pace and try and turn the ship round slowly.He has the right background as head of fashion for amazon to right the fashion/on line problems that we face.Give him time and at least give him a chance.
macbonzo
10 Jan 2018
Re: Debenhams take over target now Sorry, I misunderstood. In that case disregard my post. Looks like a new CEO is required.I do recall John Lovering doing something with them.
TX2
09 Jan 2018
Re: Debenhams take over target now The PE group who bought back Debenhams to the market exited in 1998 floating the company @ approx 200p per share.
macbonzo
09 Jan 2018
Re: Debenhams take over target now I trying to think, if I was a partner in the PE consortium, how would I exit from this mess. With PE exits, you basically either IPO it or have a trade sale. Bearing in mind each PE group will have raised it's own fund (doing the rounds of instituions and mezz debt providers) and made their investments, I think it may depend on a) the success of their current portfolio, b) Number of exits they have made and, c) the amount of 'carry' that the partners have taken on recent deals. They could write the whole thing off and do a trade sale to MA or try to turn it around. However, PE companies are in the business of making exits and raising new funds. I think, under the circumstances they may just off load it.
seadoc
09 Jan 2018
Re: Debenhams take over target now Gooffy,Yes. The PE consortium who signed these leases knew exactly what they were doing. Without the leases DEB is a takeover target, and will be taken out of receivership (perhaps by the same bandits in the from of a new consortium). There is every chance the shareholders end up with zilch and the cycle will be repeated.Regards, Seadoc
Gooffy
09 Jan 2018
Re: Debenhams take over target now Yes but would they have to adopt the leases???
the rag
08 Jan 2018
Buying at the bottom? First the chairman now the CEO have bought ~£50k of shares. I realise that may not represent a lot of money to them, but it does inspire a little confidence, unless they happen to know there's a deal around the corner!
MoonMan1977
08 Jan 2018
Re: Debenhams take over target now There are other possibilities however, go back 5 years when folk were predicting the demise of the out of town superstore that nobody was going to visit in the future etc. Now look at Sainsbury's who are putting in Argos stores in them. Debenhams stores could themselves allow other retailers to take up more space as either concessions or stand alone stores by remodelling the premises. Sports Direct for example, even if they don't buy Debenhams, could expand their offering into more Debenhams stores. The one advantage that DEB has it that it has stores in most town centres so a deal with another company/retailer would be attractive to both and would give the new company an instant presence in a large number of High Streets.
TX2
08 Jan 2018
Re: Debenhams take over target now cashphama Debenhams has an off balance sheet mimimum £4billion plus future lease payment liability on upward only leases running for up to 20 years which it cannot cancel(check the foot notes in its full accounts).Add in business rates perhaps £2 billion,staff,lights,heating,repairs etc.It cannot adjust its fixed cost base of its store portfolio except at the margin to meet changing retali trends.It locked itself into these long leases prior to its private equity owners refloating the business on the market as I assume they got an upfront "incentive".Some retail groups like Next for example have much shorter leases and can continually seek the best deals with landlords or where a store is failing relocate or close.
