II Editor
01 Jun 2018
NEW ARTICLE: The week ahead: WH Smith "It's another quiet week in terms of scheduled announcements, but this market is always liable to throw some curve balls.Monday 4 JuneTrading StatementsAbzena, Tungsten CorporationAGM/EGMVietnam Enterprise Investments, InterQuestTuesday 5 ..."[link]
Bowman
29 May 2018
Re: Bad Press Invested here first in 2012 at 550. Have bought and sold various tranches since and also received over £4,000 in dividends. Current holding (1500 shares) is now pure profit so these shares owe me nothing.Over the years I have read many reports and posts implying that the sp is too high and the only way was down, however, SMWH continued to rise, although 2016 was a slight reversal, much like we are seeing at the moment. I would be far from surprised if we were to approach or pass the previous peak later this year, however, I do not see the investment case as quite so impelling as it was a few years ago.
Lupo di mare
28 May 2018
Re: Bad Press Still haven't re-invested here - maybe one day.Not too fussed about the bad press, if anything it'll make them concentrate on resolving any negatives. Popped into Winchester High Street store the other day and was impressed by the changes they'd made to the lay-out.It may have potential, but I really don't know how or where other than Travel. The High Street is not really a place of growth these days. Perhaps the attraction could be special dividends after they've run out of ways to grow Travel. As stated in Update, even Travel isn't having a great time of it.Garden calls, tara.
Lupo di mare
29 Mar 2018
Re: Buy Territory SL - " but what a tough sector when competing with Amazon, so I tended to use them when I couldn't wait 24 hours - how many times is that..... SL"Ever tried Argos, SL? Pretty handy now that you can Click n Collect at Sainsbury's stores, or have your purchase delivered with your spuds, maybe? Admission - I'm invested in Sainsbury's, but find Argos de ad easy now.
Still learningafterallthistime
01 Mar 2018
Re: Buy Territory It's a fairly quiet board.... I think it is a very well run business, on the high st they seem to squeeze costs to defend margin, in travel locations they are doing well. I think they look cheap at the moment, but what do I know?? I think they have worked 'round' ebay and amazon to an extent but they have head winds, plastic bottles, min wage being two. I think of it more as a well run utility company. I never used Toysrus, why would you? And I liked Maplin, but what a tough sector when competing with Amazon, so I tended to use them when I couldn't wait 24 hours - how many times is that..... SL
Uncle Doug
01 Mar 2018
Re: Buy Territory With Toys R Us and Maplins going bust yesterday due to online competition it makes me think WH Smiths could get a knock on effect kick in the SP. I don't think they will fail but Amazon and EBay must be making inroads on lots of their sales. I'm not too sure if WH Smiths have much online trade. If not, they need to address this. Any thoughts / holders out there ... or is this BB dead?
Uncle Doug
08 Feb 2018
Buy Territory Sound business. Boring but successful, cash generative and dependable. Results always good. 15% off recent highs of 2 months ago (2347). Tempted to buy. What's not to like?
Lupo di mare
25 Jan 2018
Re: Plastic bottles Actually, the wife tells me that WHS doesn't sell plastic water bottles on the High St.Lupo says, talking to himself.Wotev
Lupo di mare
25 Jan 2018
Plastic bottles I guess that this will, or should, become the norm at airports, which would hi t WHS to a degree, in addition to the High Stree hi t. Good news for the environment, not so good for WHS."Shops, cafes and businesses will offer free water refill points in every major city and town in England by 2021.Industry body Water UK says its scheme could cut disposable plastic bottle use by tens of millions a year.The move comes amid growing concern about the effect of plastic waste on the environment.Whitbread, which owns Costa Coffee and Premier Inn, is the first to sign up to the initiative and will provide water in all of its branches from March 2018.Refill stations and public fountains will be able to be found via an app or window signs pointing people in the direction of the nearest one.
Lupo di mare
24 Jan 2018
Update Seems to be running out of steam. Sold my last lot 3 weeks ago at 2314 and glad that I did.I mean, it's doing well in travel, and no doubt creating cash, but I just don't think that it's worth its present rating.Travel LFL +3% against +5% last year.High Street LFL -4% against -3% last year.I'll keep an eye on it, and hope that it falls (sorry) to a level I'd be happy with.
II Editor
09 Jan 2018
NEW ARTICLE: Top share tips for value investors in 2018 "Most of the past decade has been a miserable time to be a value investor. These investors follow the school of thought that says one way to gain an edge over the wider stockmarket is to hold a selection of shares that are trading at a significant ..."[link]
Lupo di mare
08 Dec 2017
Deutsche Bank "Deutsche Bank today reaffirms its hold investment rating on WH Smith PLC (LON:SMWH) and raised its price target to 2025p (from 1950p)."Wonder what's been driving these. Maybe it's the share purchase programme. Whatever, DB looks to be behind the curve just now.
Lupo di mare
12 Oct 2017
Results Nice results in line with expectations. What's not to like?P/E 19.5, looks high, but with steady, pretty reliable, growth and zero debt and a PF that's not a problem, that's about right.Yield 2.4%. Nothing to write home about, but pretty reliable growth there too.They're toying with other means of growing, such as hospital outlets and online, but no big game changers. There's always the possibility that they'll take advantage of their strength and do a large deal, but who knows what that would be; retail's not exactly an easy market to be in atm with online making inroads - and there are some big beasts online.
II Editor
28 Sep 2017
NEW ARTICLE: Forecast-busting quarter for SSP "We've written much about the unforgiving mood of markets when companies fail to hit expectations, but not so much on the positives. Food and coffee chain owner LSE:SSPG:SSP Group benefited from an enthusiastic reaction to a strong trading update ..."[link]
II Editor
30 Aug 2017
NEW ARTICLE: Growth catalysts still in place for WH Smith "UK retailers are struggling to cope with weak consumer demand due to rising inflation and stagnant wage growth, alongside increasing sector disruption from online offerings such as NASDAQ:AMZN:Amazon. It's why those looking away from the high ..."[link]
