malj1
16 Aug 2019
Re: bargepole! Well I’m still laughing. Where are the folks who a year or so ago thought MA was the best thing since sliced bread?! So SPD is a FTSE100 co whose auditors have walked & even more amazingly no other practice wants to step in as auditor. Why’s that then? That’s a first. Not with a bargepole!! I saw MA a few weeks or so ago. Looking v spruce in a rather smart jacket & a very well chosen matching tie. So not the usual trackies + too short t-shirt showing off his wobble-tummy. That’s when I knew stuff was going wrong big time!!! Couldn’t happen to a nicer fellow. I daresay JD are laughing all the way to the bank.
malj1
30 Jul 2019
Re: still larfing - pretty picture God I haven’t laughed so much in years. These a/c’s are the numeric version of Carl Munch’s The Scream. Endless problems, which are absolutely nothing to do with MA (that’s a relief then), but it’s a bit of a shame everybody he’s ever dealt with is a complete thieving c**t (some people are just unlucky Mike - or perhaps he makes his own luck). Oh by the way there’s a £605m tax liability, let’s tuck that at the end of the a/c’s as it’s so unimportant it warrants no comment & perhaps if we ignore it, it’ll go away. Looks to me like the Belgians are alleging long term fraud & are determined to be at the head of the queue as a secured creditor. I can’t see the terms on the ca £0.4bn net debt staying unchanged, or indeed credit insurance even continuing. This could well be dead in the water. Yes Maxwell redux. But hardly a surprise.
frog_in_a_tree
27 Jul 2019
Re: ''ere we go again Ho ho ho Rada! Who do you think you are kidding. The bill will have to paid at some point otherwise it will be a no deal Brexit followed by years of agravation and kikely legal action. Borage is only threatening no payment in order to fool boneheaded Brexiters. All the best, Frog in a tree
Radaking
27 Jul 2019
Re: ''ere we go again Why pay the tax bill to europe? Just keep fobbing them off until the 31st October and then when we brexit say see you in the next life!
malj1
16 Jul 2019
Re: ''ere we go again Wot a larf. Auditors refuse to sign off a/c’s!!! When did this last happen with a FTSE100 company? Only name springing to mind is Pergamon Press / Robert Maxwell. So the endless accounting wizard wheezes + MA gambling with company assets is coming home to roost. HoF is driving a massive hole through the accounts - what a surprise, not. This is before you get into the latest round of strategic asset/acquisitions impacts. Yes there’s a good (but very highly prices) core VFM retail business ex growth, but unfortunately you get MA thrown into the bargain. Perhaps pace Maxwell, MA has learned to swim. This has a way go yet. I suspect JD are laughing up their sleeves (wasn’t MA going to ‘do them over’ etc).
Hugh_Betcha
15 Jul 2019
Donald Ashley You give him too much credit. What was his clever plan which saw £150,000,000 of shareholders money down the drain with Debenhams. House of Fraser - basket case. Goals. Game. And so on. It’s more a case of “I’ve got a lot of money (much of it not actually his) and I’m going to make a name for myself by mucking around with other companies and, when I get bored, I’ll go a vomit in the fireplaceâ€. The guy is a t w a t
SaraRacano
15 Jul 2019
Donald Ashley It´s all a murky world for Mike Ashley, a squash coach that goes on to become one of the UK´s richest people. Many of the companies he has bought come under complex derivatives known as contracts for difference, which incur fees that are not disclosed. NUFC, does make sense in part because of the huge advertising streams in brings in. Trouble is in football “profit†is a dirty word, to fans clubs must be run on a charity like status. My guess is that he is buying all these companies for their intangible “assetsâ€. Other than that i cannot possibly think why he wanted to buy House of Fraser or Debenhams. French connection only made 100,000 profit. Obviously there is a business plan some where.
Hugh_Betcha
15 Jul 2019
Donald Ashley Mike Ashley reminds me a little of Donald Trump. Both think they’re the master of the clever deal but both seem to be a lot less clever than they imagine and a lot less good at doing deals. Ashley has made a complete horlix of this company though his stupid deals and minority stakes (not to mention dodgy related party arrangements with family and friends). As for NUFC, the less said the better. In his defence, at least he made his own money, unlike Donald who was given his by his German daddy.
devonplay
20 May 2019
Re: sale & lease back malj1: ncreasingly looks like a man with a gambling addiction rather than an owner-manager Also the erratic response when a ‘strategic investment’ fails.
malj1
20 May 2019
Re: sale & lease back Sale & lease back of key core operating assets for £120m cash. Never a good move in my book. Indicative of further fecal matter to emerge in the accounts, necessitating masking. Currently most likely the full write down of all the ‘strategic assets’ (not just Deb). Following MA’s moves on unhedged fx, retail ‘strategic investment’, property, football etc, he increasingly looks like a man with a gambling addiction rather than an owner-manager - & certainly not God’s Gift to Retail. SD look to be increasing disarray with increasing wizard wheezes in the a/c. JD will be laughing all the way to the bank.
devonplay
03 May 2019
Financial regulators probe Sports Direct over Debenhams bid Sports Direct has been contacted by The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to ask about its disclosure of information surrounding a possible bid for Debenhams last year. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has also queried how the retailer’s auditor, accounting firm Grant Thornton, valued its stake in Debenhams. The two regulators launched an inquiry into Sports Direct’s financial accounts and compliance with rules on inside information, after concerns were expressed about how Grant Thornton valued its holding in Debenhams, which recently fell into administration. Sports Direct tycoon Mike Ashley had his 29.7 per cent stake wiped out when Debenhams went into administration last month, after repeated attempts to acquire the department store chain and keep it from completing a refinancing deal with its lenders. Following Sports Direct’s AGM in September, the the FCA is understood to have raised some questions with the sportswear retailer, and the company was forced to issue a statement saying it did not aim to place a takeover offer for Debenhams, according to The Times. Sports Direct said its senior independent director, Simon Bentley, had been misunderstood on the situation when he allegedly told the media that the board could combine Debenhams with House of Fraser, the department store which Sports Direct bought out of administration in August last year. Meanwhile, Grant Thornton was questioned by the FRC on the most recent audit of Sports Directs’ financial results, which could result in a sanction. The FRC also looked at whether Sports Direct’s stake in Debenhams should have been accounted for as having enough influence over the company. Retail Gazette – 3 May 19 Financial regulators probe Sports Direct over Debenhams bid - Retail Gazette Sports Direct has been contacted by The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to ask about its disclosure of information surrounding a possible bid for Debenhams last year. DL
devonplay
22 Apr 2019
House of Fraser landlord serves notice on Mike Ashley to leave House of Fraser landlord serves notice on Mike Ashley to leave Others expected to follow suit, raising doubts about number of stores tycoon will keep open the Guardian – 18 Apr 19 House of Fraser landlord serves notice on Mike Ashley to leave Others expected to follow suit, raising doubts about number of stores tycoon will keep open DL
Flashboy
06 Jun 2018
Great move Don’t like the company but shares going v well now!
Katonga
27 Apr 2018
Rise over last week or so Welcome rise as mentioned above.Anyone any inkling why?
II Editor
06 Feb 2018
NEW ARTICLE: Stockwatch: Post-IPO plunge offers scope for recovery "Has £150 million AIM-listed LED lighting, wiring and portable power equipment group LSE:LUCE:Luceco just had its eye briefly off the ball? Or does a two-thirds slump in its market value – with a profit warning only three weeks after the chief ..."[link]
