THE KING buys POSTIE PLUS

[Nuts]

as stated result out yesterday with slightly higher loss but directors still fairly confident of achieving 4.8m for year , appears summer stocks nearly clearedout and cost reductions look good for future. if they can quit arbuckles it would be a big help i think .

[Phaedrus]

PPG is in an accelerating downtrend, requiring ever steeper trendlines to monitor its descent. There are no signs as yet of any imminent reversal.

This chart has some interesting features. Observe the big money making a mistake and getting in very late - quickly followed by even bigger money getting out. Notice how, shortly after this, the trendline break, moving average and trailing stop all gave near simultaneous sell signals. No excuses there for not getting out at around $0.95!

See how the same 3 technical indicators would have got you back in to PPG in August/September - and then out again a little later. With hindsight, this entry could be viewed as a mistake, but even so, following the signals would have resulted in a modest gain.

These 3 very different indicators (trendline, moving average, trailing stop)have worked superbly with PPG but you can see that none are anywhere near signalling a Buy as yet.

Not for me!

http://h1.ripway.com/Phaedrus/PPG329.gif

[BRICKS]

LOOKING at PPG price 3065 @.45c / 31,000 @ .46c,, has it come to the end of the road as the Media has done an very good job at destroying the market with there constant murmors of DOOM.. there are just NO buyers so stress sales may occur not a good time to buy NZ stock..

[tim23]

The doom in retail is not a rumour its a fact, ask Rod Duke, see WHS result, read the paper its all there.

[BRICKS]

The doom in retail is not a rumour its a fact, ask Rod Duke, see WHS result, read the paper its all there.

Because DOOM is constant in the Media it affects people if you say it enough then it becomes the NORM.. the worry is that people will stop SPENDING.. then stress selling starts good for some and bad for OTHERS..

[tim23]

I would agree with the self fullfilling prophesy theory, 12 months ago it was house price rises not its crashes and the costs of living but the reality is hard to ignore in the profit results.

[BRICKS]

NOW the shock at the bottom has been shown and the price is @ 41 cents is it worth the punt of our members it is cheap and we know about retail sales but this is a 107 store BIZ.

[COLIN]

NOW the shock at the bottom has been shown and the price is @ 41 cents is it worth the punt of our members it is cheap and we know about retail sales but this is a 107 store BIZ.

So who made the better buy - Jan Cameron with Postie Plus or Rod Duke with Pumpkin Patch?
At the moment it looks like Rod is ahead, and the falling NZ dollar would seem to be working in his favour.

[BRICKS]

BRICKS buys a parcel just to help out JAN C she mite need them off me some DAY..

[Dr_Who]

So far Rod is ahead, but not for long looking at the downward trend of PPL. Both these company will be good buying wihen the economy turns, which can be many years away.

There is no money left after paying the mortgage, gas and food.

[BRICKS]

So far Rod is ahead, but not for long looking at the downward trend of PPL. Both these company will be good buying when the economy turns, which can be many years away.

There is no money left after paying the mortgage, gas and food.

TRASH talk by "who" has little meaning mite be better if you went away for many years so that the economy can get on with its BIZ today,, Life goes on every day if you don't fit then leave and do something better, but life is not simple either there are opportunities all the time just ask DUKE he is not a poor man and he likes baby clothes, Why because NZ is producing a lot of baby`s and in full production mode so PPG has the BEST baby shops around the shop in ALBANY is the biggest & best in the group so it mite take some time to build on but the share price will not always wait better to BUY at the bottom than at the TOP...

[Dr_Who]

Such great analysis by BRICKS, I now have no choice but to put PPG on my watchlist.... LOL.

I dont disagree with you, I think PPG is a good buy at these levels. But on a macro view I do think there are further downside to this economy and the global economy at large. My main concern is the structural cost that the retail industry that has no control.

Due to the continue high cost of energy and commodities with the lower $NZ will have a big impact on our disposable income.

The continue prolong deterioration of the economy will have a devastating effect on retail stocks. It is an opportunity cost of putting your money somewhere else that gives a better return eg: oil, commodities, cash in the bank etc.

Good luck on PPG. I too will buy into PPG one day, but just until I see a turning point in the economy.

[Thumpa]

Brought PPG 3 years ago after spending a fortune on Baby stuff for my then new born . Sold at $1.03 after visiting the seemingly pointless "Point Zero" store..who on earth would wear those cloths? . Didn't seem to fit any demographic . Anyway , had to revisit for Child seats . $400 for two booster seats . I " get " baby city , but worry about the other franchises .

Arbuckle's still not sold?? . Everything stop's while due diligance takes place . Arbuckles Buyer's NOT BUYING NEW PRODUCT = stale retail offerings. If they can't sell it then re-vamp it......but DO SOMETHING.

Meanwhile value dropping away , and market share lost to superior Ezi-Buy homeware range.

Postie Plus looks unorganised and cluttered , with no theme.
The group needs some direction or vision .
Was tempted for re-entry but don't see a sign of turnaround yet.....
Whats the feeling of the divy this year ?? From the half year report

" The directors have decided that PPGL will not pay an interim dividend and the
annual dividend position will be reviewed at the year end. "

Gee...... wonder what Jan Cameron thinks ?

[BRICKS]

Brought PPG 3 years ago after spending a fortune on Baby stuff for my then new born . Sold at $1.03 after visiting the seemingly pointless "Point Zero" store..who on earth would wear those cloths? . Didn't seem to fit any demographic . Anyway , had to revisit for Child seats . $400 for two booster seats . I " get " baby city , but worry about the other franchises .

Arbuckle's still not sold?? . Everything stop's while due diligance takes place . Arbuckles Buyer's NOT BUYING NEW PRODUCT = stale retail offerings. If they can't sell it then re-vamp it......but DO SOMETHING.

Meanwhile value dropping away , and market share lost to superior Ezi-Buy homeware range.

Postie Plus looks unorganised and cluttered , with no theme.
The group needs some direction or vision .
Was tempted for re-entry but don't see a sign of turnaround yet.....
Whats the feeling of the divvy this year ?? From the half year report

" The directors have decided that PPGL will not pay an interim dividend and the
annual dividend position will be reviewed at the year end. "

Gee...... wonder what Jan Cameron thinks ?

WELL Thumpa "Point Zero" is being dumped to make way for "Postie Woman" only for woman
its going to trial at first and if works all the very small shops will change, as your comments where not to kind about "PZ" at least we have a move. The baby shops remain a Gold mine as the whole out fit it seems to need a management shake up as for "Arbuckles" out the door the better &/or quicker is better..

As for the div., feel a small or half Div will be paid this will keep the stock alive and KICKING.. to me its a BUY and that's what I have DONE..

[POSSUM THE CAT]

Bricks is buying so sell very quickly before he stops

[BRICKS]

Bricks is buying so sell very quickly before he stops

GREEN is the cat with NO money has yet again nothing to SELL but has plenty of YELL..

[Dr_Who]

LOL .. funny

I do think PPG is cheap at these levels, but the problem is I am still worry about the condition of the NZ economy which could further impact the retail sector.

I will wait until the economy bottoms out which could be a few years away.

[BRICKS]

LOL .. funny

I do think PPG is cheap at these levels, but the problem is I am still worry about the condition of the NZ economy which could further impact the retail sector.

I will wait until the economy bottoms out which could be a few years away.

IN the meantime DOOM what will you be doing for these few yeas before JOY don't tell your going back to WORK..

[BRICKS]

YES its a trading for what.. ?????? is the good lady JC or has the company gone BROKE take your PICK..??

[Dr_Who]

Such great analysis by BRICKS, I now have no choice but to put PPG on my watchlist.... LOL.

I dont disagree with you, I think PPG is a good buy at these levels. But on a macro view I do think there are further downside to this economy and the global economy at large. My main concern is the structural cost that the retail industry that has no control.

Due to the continue high cost of energy and commodities with the lower $NZ will have a big impact on our disposable income.

The continue prolong deterioration of the economy will have a devastating effect on retail stocks. It is an opportunity cost of putting your money somewhere else that gives a better return eg: oil, commodities, cash in the bank etc.

Good luck on PPG. I too will buy into PPG one day, but just until I see a turning point in the economy.

Looks like Jane is only interested in Arbuckles. Watch out BGR Jane is hunting down the BGR market. Retail market is looking very SICK !

PG
09/06/2008
QUARTER

REL: 1045 HRS Postie Plus Group Limited

QUARTER: PPG: PPGL Third Quarter sales release and profit guidance

NZX AND MEDIA STATEMENT
6 JUNE 2008.

Tough Quarter for Postie Plus

Quarterly and Annual Sales Trend Postie Plus Group Ltd

Sales $'000 2008 2007
$ $
1st Quarter 27.22 28.00 (2.79%) Decrease

2nd Quarter 38.57 37.10 3.96% Increase

Third Quarter 29.51 31.90 (7.49%) Decrease

Year to date 95.30 97.00 (1.75%) Decrease

Slower sales in a tough third quarter ended 30 April 2008 were reported today
by Postie Plus Group Ltd and, despite a current quarter lift, the
Christchurch-based national retailer now expects a poorer annual result than
previously foreshadowed.

"As indicated by recent economic data and reports , the retail trading
environment has been below expectations this year, said Mr Peter van Rij,
chairman of Postie Plus Group. "The reason for the slowing of sales - higher
costs for-fuel, mortgages, and food-impacting on households - are well
documented.

Group sales on an all-stores basis amounted to $29.51m in the third quarter
compared with $31.90m in the previous year's corresponding quarter. This took
nine-months' sales to $95.0m ($97.0m).

PROFIT IMPROVEMENT PROGRAMME

"Against this disappointing background, we have increased our focus on profit
enhancement."

Arbuckles

Following a strategic review, the company has entered into an agreement to
sell the assets of the Arbuckles chain of manchester and homewares stores to
New Zealand retailer Jan Cameron.

Ms. Cameron has agreed to acquire the entire Arbuckles stock and a number of
the Arbuckles stores. "The final number is yet to be determined and we will
keep staff fully advised of the likely outcome," said Mr van Rij. "The staff
in those stores will be offered employment."

"Stores not transferred will either be converted to other PPG brands or
closed as leases expire. The company will be talking to staff in those stores
as the details are finalised.

"Arbuckles stores in the cluster concepts will likely close and the space
utilised to present a wider selection of apparel as part of the Postie+
offering. All Arbuckles' stores are leased. The company is comfortable in its
view that it will be able to exit leases not sold or taken over by Postie +
without any material impact on future earnings.

Mr van Rij said, "This divestment will have the medium to longer term benefit
to Postie Plus Group Ltd of significantly reducing both operating costs,
interest costs on stockholding and will remove ongoing losses from this brand
in what has been an over supplied and increasingly commoditised market
segment."

The sale of Arbuckles is subject to shareholder approval as the purchaser is
a related party. All shareholders will receive notice of a special meeting
and an appraisal report on the transaction. The meeting is expected to be mid
July; details will be released shortly.

Inventory Reduction Programme

The chief executive, Mr Ron Boskell said "inventory reduction as at end May
confirms we have managed to reduce stock to plan. The overall stock reduction
at the end of May, compared with the previous year, is $4m lower,
notwithstanding a more difficult retail environment.

It is expected that at year end that the stock reduction plan will continue
to generate further savings.

Distribution

"We have now completed the shift of all apparel inventory and associated
distribution to a Christchurch logistics centre on target before winter and
will now book the costs related to this major undertaking. PPGL can then look
forward to accruing significant cost savings from a streamlined supply chain
over coming years."

Further Cost Savings

"Our drive to improve efficiency escalated in March 2008 in conjunction with
strategic advice from Ernst & Young. This will see further initiatives
introduced to extensively reduce costs across the organisation."

"The analysis has identified additional areas where costs can be reduced and
performance increased including purchasing, store operations, logistics, and
corporate expenses."

"We will realise these savings quickly and move ahead into the 2008-09 year
with greater efficiencies and new customer focused initiatives under way."

GUIDANCE

"As the 4th quarter is traditionally the strongest quarter for PPGL it would
be unwise to provide guidance on the extent of the loss for the group," said
Mr van Rij." However, with the slowdown in sales in the third quarter along
with some margin loss, it is unlikely we will make any significant
improvement on the first half loss of $2.9m."

The July annual operating loss will include non-recurring abnormal net losses
from restructuring of the group's distribution supply chain.

In addition there will be a pre tax loss on the sale of Arbuckles assets in
the order of $3.2m, most of this from goodwill. On current performance, the
payback will take approximately 18 months

"The one-off charges may be significant yet are part of a cost reduction
drive as our response to tightening market conditions and will have the
advantage of improving our future performance," said Mr van Rij.

OUTLOOK

Whilst the period leading up to May had been very disappointing, Postie+ has
seen signs of reasonable sales growth in the past 6 weeks, signalling the
opportunity to build on the reputation of the chain as a solid and affordable
retailer when difficult times impact family spending.

The Baby City brand is growing and will see a further two new branches
introduced early in the next financial year. The high birth rate combined
with new product ranges have seen Baby City's growth higher than anticipated.

The Arbuckles business will continue to trade under PPGL until the sale is
approved.

"Over the last 24 months we have undertaken major initiatives which have
taken and will continue to take time to bed down. With the sale of Arbuckles,
the generation of efficiencies in a central distribution and logistics centre
and our strong focus on cost savings we are confident Postie+ is a leaner
and smarter business which will do well in the medium to longer term as we
act to increase our competitive market position and deliver value for
customers and shareholders."

[BRICKS]

OUTLOOK

Whilst the period leading up to May had been very disappointing, Postie+ has
seen signs of reasonable sales growth in the past 6 weeks, signalling the
opportunity to build on the reputation of the chain as a solid and affordable
retailer when difficult times impact family spending.

[The Baby City brand is growing and will see a further two new branches
introduced early in the next financial year. The high birth rate combined
with new product ranges have seen Baby City's growth higher than anticipated.]

THIS IS THE ONE>>

The Arbuckles business will continue to trade under PPGL until the sale is
approved.

"Over the last 24 months we have undertaken major initiatives which have
taken and will continue to take time to bed down. With the sale of Arbuckles,
the generation of efficiencies in a central distribution and logistics centre
and our strong focus on cost savings we are confident Postie+ is a leaner
and smarter business which will do well in the medium to longer term as we
act to increase our competitive market position and deliver value for
customers and shareholders."[/QUOTE]

WELL Arbuckles gone to JC so farewell trouble..

THE money is in BABY`s which is booming keep up the good work KIWI`s,,
two new shops & the gold mine at Albany..

WE now look to better times to come at least this is a good start so buy your shares over a bigger time FRAME..

[Thumpa]

Jan is going to pick up only the better performing Arbuckles branches .

PPG left with the dog's untill leases expire. Also up to 3.2M mostly goodwill loss on the sale of assets. Probably the best that could be achieved ?

Looks like 4th quarter is about minimising loss. Probably no dividend this year?

[BRICKS]

Jan is going to pick up only the better performing Arbuckles branches .

PPG left with the dog's until leases expire. Also up to 3.2M mostly goodwill loss on the sale of assets. Probably the best that could be achieved ?

Looks like 4th quarter is about minimising loss. Probably no dividend this year?

NO,, Thumpa, all Arbuckles will cease at the date of Sale the stores Jan takes are hers the remaining will be become PP+ or Baby City stores there will be NO drag on the company and
Very little shut downs so this is a WIN for PPG..

[Thumpa]

NO,, Thumpa, all Arbuckles will cease at the date of Sale the stores Jan takes are hers the remaining will be become PP+ or Baby City stores there will be NO drag on the company and
Very little shut downs so this is a WIN for PPG..

Bricks , I mean't to suggest dog locations . Obviously, some Arbuckles stores perform better than others despite all stores stocking pretty much the same range......thats why JC is nit-picking the best performering stores.
The ones not picked , may not be good long term prospects whatever the replacement PPG brand.

The name of the game is maximum sales per sq foot of retail space. You don't want under-performing store locations with a rising costs / stactic sales scenario a lot of retailers are in now.

[_Michael]

Does this really reflect well on management?

I start to wonder if the company might go under sometime next year if things do not improve soon. The thing is they don't really have a brand, yet they cannot undercut brand name products because brands are buying just as cheap as them. You can buy decent branded clothes for cheap as retailers discount heavily to clear stock so why would you go to Postie Plus?

Its beyond me, but I hope for investors sake that i am way off the mark.

[macduffy]

Now Jan Cameron didn't have to buy a big chunk of the Postie to be allowed to take Arbuckles off their hands, that outfit was clearly for sale to anyone.
So what's going to be the angle here?

;)

[Dr_Who]

Now Jan Cameron didn't have to buy a big chunk of the Postie to be allowed to take Arbuckles off their hands, that outfit was clearly for sale to anyone.
So what's going to be the angle here?

;)

The strategy seems odd to me. She can buy out PPG at a huge discount now, but then she would be buying into a lost making business. Maybe she is only interested in asset stripping? Dont know, your guess is as good as mine.

[Dr_Who]

Will PPG be profitable without Arbuckles? Perhaps JC thinks she can do something with Arbuckles while the main benefit (to her) comes from a rise in the PPG share price.
hiawatha

I think she will use Arbuckles store locations to expand her new household shops, NOOD. The Arbuckle brand is a dog. I have no idea why she wants a holding in PPG. It just seems odd.

[POSSUM THE CAT]

As a lot of Arbuckles stock is very high class linen maybe if sold into the correct market it will move at very high profit margins

[macduffy]

As a lot of Arbuckles stock is very high class linen maybe if sold into the correct market it will move at very high profit margins

Perhaps.
But the question remains, Why did she buy into PPG in the first place? After all, it wasn't just a token few %.
And what happens now?

:confused:

[Snoopy]

The thing is they don't really have a brand, yet they cannot undercut brand name products because brands are buying just as cheap as them. You can buy decent branded clothes for cheap as retailers discount heavily to clear stock so why would you go to Postie Plus?


I am struggling with where Postie Plus Group are positioned as well Michael. 'Baby City' I get, and leveraging into the school uniform market makes some sense. However, where the 'core' Postie Plus brand sits I am not sure. I can still remember those early Jude Dobson celebrity ads where 'Jude' walks as though in a trance like towards a counter carrying some garments. My response was, "Cripes I don't want to turn into a zombie", so I have never dared to go into a Postie store on my own.

I think partly PPG are trying to run a lower cost structure. As a rule they are absent from the big shopping malls. PPG tend to cluster themselves in new 'drive to' second line property developments, much as 'the Warehouse' does. Hopefully this means the stores are literally 'low rent' in comparison with the usual heated corridor marble floor mall, favoured by Australian clothing chains in particular. One exception is the Riccarton (Westfield) Mall here in Christchurch. Postie Plus have store space within the Riccarton Mall which they use to try out new store concepts. At the moment this store space is a new 'Postie + Women' , which is currently having a mid season mark down (or a sale when you shouldn't really be having a sale?) Anyway I took the liberty of striding along the shopping aisle in which 'Postie+ Women' is located between 4 and 4:30pm this afternoon. I did a crude and rather unscientific survey where I noted the name of each 'womenswear shop' and the number of obvious customers within each shop. The results follow:

Supre 3
Postie Women 2
Jeanswest 6
Lippy 10
Trendez 2
Kimberly's 4
JayJays 4
Moda Bella 2
Dotti 4
Hartly's 0

OK, this doesn't prove much. But there is no obvious evidence of a killer concept about to get off the ground either. And the way most Postie stores are located, you really need to go there as a destination rather than be drawn in by the window display 'on the whim'. It is a tough time for all retailers. But it has to be disappointing that the Postie Plus profit has evaporated completely.

SNOOPY

discl: never held PPG, never really got the post mail order concept

[_Michael]

Snoopy

I like your survey, I often did the same type of crude analysis at Sylvia Park looking into Pumpkin Patch Vs JK Kids / Cotton On Kids / Baby City. Sometimes I walked past everyday on lunch break for weeks in a row. To be honest Pumpkin Patch always had throngs of people holding up garments, usually one or two at the counter. Cotton On kids seem to get almost as much traffic but JK Kids looked dead as doorbell, every time. I am currently stalking out the Postie Plus store in down town after work each day and I just don't get how they can make any money. Enormous rent and one or two browsers and never anything over the counter. Sometimes researching high street is a great starting point for retailers, I reckon.

[Thumpa]

From the 3rd qtr profit guidance

OUTLOOK

Whilst the period leading up to May had been very disappointing, Postie+ has seen signs of reasonable sales growth in the past 6 weeks, signalling the opportunity to build on the reputation of the chain as a solid and affordable retailer when difficult times impact family spending.

This has traditionally been the theme in the past , and some underperformance in the last few years has been attributed to people spending up on flasher big name brand gear , while times have been good as people felt richer while house prices raced away and econmy going well.
The key thing to watch is if the 4th qtr results live up to the old thinking of shoppers flocking to cheaper cloths at postie plus when budgets get tight. According to PPG , its their turn to shine.
The difference now is that places like The Warehouse have improved their clothing offerings out of sight at bargin prices , so PPG no longer the king of the low end.

The changes that needed to be made at Arbuckles were pretty obvious. Its an old ladies brand , and there's only so many egyptian cotton sheets you can sell. Needed to be sexed up a bit with new offerings / new theme.

Always annoying to see capitulation and abandonment of a brand at a loss to shareholders . Much more fun to a see Determined / Innovative management led turnaround story , but in this case they didn't even try.
Jan could make a killing out of this , while PPG continue with never ending restructures.

Await with interest 4th qtr results.

[tim23]

Will she rebrand the store to "Nood" ?

[macduffy]

Jan Cameron may make a killing out of buying the Arbuckles stock but she also bought a swag of PPG shares at prices well north of today's. Unless they perform, she will do her chips like every other shareholder, except in much bigger lumps.
That's the bit I can't fathom.

:confused:

[Thumpa]

Jan Cameron may make a killing out of buying the Arbuckles stock but she also bought a swag of PPG shares at prices well north of today's. Unless they perform, she will do her chips like every other shareholder, except in much bigger lumps.
That's the bit I can't fathom.

:confused:


Maybe she wanted a blocking stake with PPG to prevent her secret masterplan for Arbuckles coming unstuck ?.... (ie testing her new store format NOOD before rolling out to the arbuckles chain) . Might have caused her a few problems if Private Equity or someone did a takeover raid on Postie Plus while she was still getting all her ducks in a row.

Maybe the thinking on the PPG stake was/is similar to the Wollies / Foodstuff strategy with The Warehouse. What ever reason , it has to be strategic .

[macduffy]

Maybe she wanted a blocking stake with PPG to prevent her secret masterplan for Arbuckles coming unstuck ?.... (ie testing her new store format NOOD before rolling out to the arbuckles chain) . Might have caused her a few problems if Private Equity or someone did a takeover raid on Postie Plus while she was still getting all her ducks in a row.

Maybe the thinking on the PPG stake was/is similar to the Wollies / Foodstuff strategy with The Warehouse. What ever reason , it has to be strategic .

Right, Thumpa! That's the best theory so far!
Mind you, she still has to ensure that her initial investment doesn't go sour. Unlike Woolies/Foodstuffs, I doubt that she wants to end up with all of PPG.

;)

[Dr_Who]

Maybe she wanted a blocking stake with PPG to prevent her secret masterplan for Arbuckles coming unstuck ?.... (ie testing her new store format NOOD before rolling out to the arbuckles chain) . Might have caused her a few problems if Private Equity or someone did a takeover raid on Postie Plus while she was still getting all her ducks in a row.

Maybe the thinking on the PPG stake was/is similar to the Wollies / Foodstuff strategy with The Warehouse. What ever reason , it has to be strategic .

I dont see PPG as a T/O by private equity in this environment. There are no money left for private equities to splash out on risky companies like PPG. PPG is not in the same league as WHS. One would assume HLG and PPL is a far better bet if someone was wants store locations in this sector.

[macduffy]

True, Dr, but I can also see that JC wouldn't want to take a chance on something upsetting her plans.
So Thumpa's theory is possible.

;)

[Dr_Who]

What now that JC has got Arbuckles? If she sells her holdings the sp will hit 10 cents.

[Snoopy]

I took the liberty of striding along the shopping aisle in which 'Postie+ Women' is located between 4 and 4:30pm this afternoon. I did a crude and rather unscientific survey where I noted the name of each 'womenswear shop' and the number of obvious customers within each shop. The results follow:

Supre 3
Postie Women 2
Jeanswest 6
Lippy 10
Trendez 2
Kimberly's 4
JayJays 4
Moda Bella 2
Dotti 4
Hartly's 0


Following the success of my extremely unscientific survey, I repeated it last Monday at the same time so that I could gauge the ongoing relative appeal of the 'Postie Plus Women' concept.

Supre 2
Postie Women 3
Jeanswest 1
Lippy 6
Trendez 4
Kimberly's 2
JayJays 3
Moda Bella 1
Dotti 9
Hartly's 0

I do think clothes stores do have an ongoing future, even in this internet age. Here is an article from the Wednesday 9th April edition of the Christchurch Star (originally published in the Auckland Herald on Sunday) which explains why. Quote:

-------

Lyle Reilly of AUT's textile and design laboratory said "size tags mean almost nothing" and "things would get worse before they get better. I think a lot of people are totally confused."

The former technical manager at top British high street clothing retailer Marks and Spencer said "vanity sizing" was a amajor reason why manufacturers had moved away from standard measurements.

He said basing measurements on our last size survey which was done in the 1970s and based on British measurements was "crazy".

Body shapes had changed so substantially over the last few decades , to standardise clothing sizes to specific measurements would not solve the problem anyway.
"Perhaps it is time to have a greater understanding of of our own personal sizing. The difference between a women's waist and hips can vary dramatically depending on the body shape. You can have someone with a very slim waist and a bigbum, for example, but it is still categorized as a 10-12."

Digital body scanning was increasingly being employed by international clothing manufacturers , like American plus size company Lane Bryant, which had introduced a new line of jeans based on scans of 14,000 customers. He said it was the way of the future. The ministry of Consumer Affairs said sizing was not covered by legislation and was therefore up to the manufacturer.

A spokesman for Standards New Zealand said there were once six Kiwi-unique recommended measurements for children's, men's and women's clothing. Introduced in 1973 they were thrown out on 1988 "because obviously they were out of date."

He said there had been talk of resurrecting a a standard for clothing sizes, particularly after the corporate T shirts ordered by the department turned out not to fit, but it was not a high priority.

Top New Zealand fashion writer Stacy Gregg said any attempt to standardize the industry wouldn't work. "You can't because sizes are determined by the cut of the garment and everyone cuts garments differently."

----------

The article had an accompanying picture of reporter Alice Hudson wearing five blue/black skirts: A size 4 from 'Country Road', a size 6 from 'Pagani', a size 8 from 'Glassons', a size 10 from 'Valley Girl' and a size 12 from 'Lippy'. The thing was none of the skirts looked 'missized' and Alice looked equally great in all of them! The way I see it physically trying on clothes before you buy will be the way of the indefinite future.

SNOOPY

[BRICKS]

WELL SNOOPY are you always attending woman's fashion for research work must be nice, heavens you not thinking to BUY PPG soon, Well beat you to it now have a good holding below 40 cents and the market has trended up now that its down to two divisions takeover is positive on could be broken in two even WOOLWORTHS mite have a CRACK..

[macduffy]

WELL SNOOPY are you always attending woman's fashion for research work must be nice, heavens you not thinking to BUY PPG soon, Well beat you to it now have a good holding below 40 cents and the market has trended up now that its down to two divisions takeover is positive on could be broken in two even WOOLWORTHS mite have a CRACK..

As a small holder of PPG I'd like to think that Woolworths might be interested. Can't really see it - too small scale for WOW unless they also had designs on something else.
Any ideas?

[BRICKS]

As a small holder of PPG I'd like to think that Woolworth's might be interested. Can't really see it - too small scale for WOW unless they also had designs on something else.
Any ideas?

WHEN it comes to making money nothing is to small even for Woollies another thing
"THE WOL" in NZ is only in food but NO "BIG W" type shops that's why they are hounding Warehouse won day they will realise it not worth it to fight on and look around for a floor plate that's us POSTIE + in the mean time the company is out there battling on like a TROOPER..

A BARGAIN get in at the BOTTOM..

[Dr_Who]

Full yr lost is equivalent to 50% of PPG's market cap. :eek::eek:

PPG
01/08/2008
FORECAST

REL: 0949 HRS Postie Plus Group Limited

FORECAST: PPG: PPGL Profit guidance and Arbuckles settlement

Arbuckles Sale & Guidance
The directors at Postie Plus Group Limited advise that aggressive
restructuring and extremely difficult trading conditions in the second half
this year will result in a full year trading loss of between $6.5M - $7.5M.
In addition with the sale of Arbuckles which settled yesterday, there is an
extraordinary one-off write-off loss of $2.4 - $2.6M relating primarily to
goodwill.
The trading loss included one - off costs relating to initiatives announced
in November which will improve financial performance in future years. These
included:
- The relocation of the Westport distribution centre to Christchurch
which is now delivering significant benefits.
- An internal review of all cost centres, resulting in costs savings at
head office.
- Closure of non-performing brands.
- Aggressive reduction of stock levels by $14m.
- Sale of the loss making Arbuckles chain.
Chairman Peter van Rij noted that the Company has had to take some hard
decisions to reposition the Postie brand for future success into the rapidly
changing retail environment. Despite the poor result the company has retained
market share and also maintained good cash flows which is important in
difficult trading conditions.

[BRICKS]

Full yr lost is equivalent to 50% of PPG's market cap. :eek::eek:

PPG
01/08/2008
FORECAST

REL: 0949 HRS Postie Plus Group Limited

FORECAST: PPG: PPGL Profit guidance and Arbuckles settlement

Arbuckles Sale & Guidance
The directors at Postie Plus Group Limited advise that aggressive
restructuring and extremely difficult trading conditions in the second half
this year will result in a full year trading loss of between $6.5M - $7.5M.
In addition with the sale of Arbuckles which settled yesterday, there is an
extraordinary one-off write-off loss of $2.4 - $2.6M relating primarily to
goodwill.
The trading loss included one - off costs relating to initiatives announced
in November which will improve financial performance in future years. These
included:
- The relocation of the Westport distribution centre to Christchurch
which is now delivering significant benefits.
- An internal review of all cost centres, resulting in costs savings at
head office.
- Closure of non-performing brands.
- Aggressive reduction of stock levels by $14m.
- Sale of the loss making Arbuckles chain.
Chairman Peter van Rij noted that the Company has had to take some hard
decisions to reposition the Postie brand for future success into the rapidly
changing retail environment. Despite the poor result the company has retained
market share and also maintained good cash flows which is important in
difficult trading conditions.


SOUNDS good sounds like spring cleaning and a good price ripe for a TAKEOVER..

[Dr_Who]

SOUNDS good sounds like spring cleaning and a good price ripe for a TAKEOVER..

I am interested to know why you think this is a T/O target and who would buy it?

[BRICKS]

I am interested to know why you think this is a T/O target and who would buy it?

Jan`s the name she has a head START..

[Dr_Who]

Jan`s the name she has a head START..

I actually have been thinking about that scenario that JC may T/O PPG. The question begs, why would she want to pay for Arbuckles when she can have the entire company cheap? The fact that she bought Arbuckles maybe tells me she doesnt want the entire PPG, but just around 19.99% as an investment? Similar to her PPL holding.

She may have vision to be on the board and turn the company around once she gets 19.99%? Just my assumption.

[BRICKS]

I actually have been thinking about that scenario that JC may T/O PPG. The question begs, why would she want to pay for Arbuckles when she can have the entire company cheap? The fact that she bought Arbuckles maybe tells me she doesn't want the entire PPG, but just around 19.99% as an investment? Similar to her PPL holding.

She may have vision to be on the board and turn the company around once she gets 19.99%? Just my assumption.

Arbuckles gone so NO worries, bump the baby shops to Pumpkin Patch get Postie Woman for
FREE.. but there is NO rush any way got a GOOD holding of PPG..

[Thumpa]

Market Capitalisation:$15,600,000 (@39)

- Closure of non-performing brands.
- Aggressive reduction of stock levels by $14m.

No real evidence of trying to grow this business . The postie+ stores look cluttered and cheap . No real theme or consistant layout. All the cloths seem a different shade of gray.

Does not look good at all. Going to be hard to maintain " Good cashflow " when this stock is sold below cost.
Hope they know the dollars falling and chinese costs are rising , so what happens when they re-purchase?

[Nuts]

i dunno if id be so negative thumpa , they seem to have taken the opportunity to clear out the bag log of stock thats been bothering them for the last few years plus the stock cleared by the selling of arbuckles . moves to better and cheaper distribution , so it appears they have taken the bull by the horns and carried out all the one off costs into this year . an interesting piece in the chch press today saying the co had been reshaped to ensure its future success and was looking forward to delivering a profit in the new year starting today. they also they had managed to retain market share and sales had dropped only minimally over the year .
given an improving economy i would think that they would look like a good bet for improvement in div and shareprice .
rgds nuts

[_Michael]

I was in Postie+ downtown Auckland two weeks ago during their sale and the shop was full (for a change) and the shelves bare. Asked the lady where everything went and she said it was all sold, that there was a real rush during the sale. Looked to me like they had been sitting on some of those old dull looking cardigans etc for a good few years! Perhaps now Jan might be able to have quiet word in management's ear about sourcing more relevant/modern product mix and managing inventories. Likewise its good to see they are starting to weed out the parts of the business that are losing money. Even though I struggle to see the relevance of their brand am starting to think that within a year or two they will be back to making 3 or 4 $m NPAT which given their tiny market cap might be worth holding onto.... still risky though.

[Dr_Who]

What is PPG's strategy going forward apart from just cleaning out the closet? Anyone can simple clean out the closet. I recently bought WHS and want to buy some PPG shares, but PPG management has given no reason to do so. I am trying hard to find a reason to own their shares. Please convince me PPG is a good share to own.

[macduffy]

What is PPG's strategy going forward apart from just cleaning out the closet? Anyone can simple clean out the closet. I recently bought WHS and want to buy some PPG shares, but PPG management has given no reason to do so. I am trying hard to find a reason to own their shares. Please convince me PPG is a good share to own.

Sorry, doc.
I can't see any reason to buy PPG at present, despite JC's presence on the register. But she has a lot more money than I have!
I'd wait for an uptrend in the SP.

Disc: Holding PPG, but not a good idea.

:(

[Thumpa]

I understand the need to reduce stock , but that has been the theme for the last few years I thought .

Always had to much left over and it was always because of wet cold summers or short warm winters.
But this year had a good long summer and winter has been crap like the old days , so dissapointed at over stock situation again.
Maybe they found heaps left over at the back of the west coast distribution centre?

Anyway , good stock decisions come down to good buyers and they have to make good decisions on range and quantity . This should be the focus.

To be honest , the new distribution centre should have been in Auckland. Closer to the main market . A pallet of anything costs up to $150 line haul to send interisland , but can be sent Auckland to Auckland for about $25.
Have all stock ship from asia straight in to Auckland. You can have a strong market in the rest of the country , but you need a strong Auckland presence to make it really work. Would make mail-order cheaper to Auckland customers as well.
Not convinced about dramatic savings doing distribtion from Christchurch. Huge cost increases in the last year for logistics (fuel / labour / 4 weeks annual leave etc) . Those initial savings would evaporate over the next year.

As for Jan , maybe she will just swap her PPG holding for another part of Postie+ she can turn around , and just have her shares cancelled (a bit like a buy back ) . Time is on her side and PPG need to prove a " clean slate " means a change for the better.

[Snoopy]

Following the success of my extremely unscientific survey, I repeated it last Monday at the same time so that I could gauge the ongoing relative appeal of the 'Postie Plus Women' concept.

Supre 2
Postie Women 3
Jeanswest 1
Lippy 6
Trendez 4
Kimberly's 2
JayJays 3
Moda Bella 1
Dotti 9
Hartly's 0


A couple of months on (now 28th August 2008) and I have just taken my spring walk in the mall at the 'control time' (between 4pm and 4:30pm). Once again I was counting customers to assess the relative people pulling power of the arcade of women's clothing stores. Be warned - reconstituted minerals should not read further if they are liable to take offence!

Supre 5
Postie+ Women 2
Jeanswest 5
Lippy 4
Trendez 11
Kimberly's 6
JayJays 10
Moda Bella 2
Dotti 11
Hartly's 3

This is looking like a disaster for Postie+ in the making. The spring season stock is not firing at all. Can anything be done, over and above those desperate end of season clearance sales?

SNOOPY

[croesus]

Snoopy...........I have always valued your posts... buts whats with this Reconstituted minerals thing... suspect you have had a big night on the Marque Vue......

[BRICKS]

Snoopy just walking by the shops at the same time of a day proves nothing but dose give you some figures to write down and a little talk, So that's nice are you a PPG holder and you would like to know whats going on then pick up the phone and get the good oil from the Head office boss they live in Christchurch and you could tell him about your walks..

At Paraparaumu have done the same thing and talked to the manager she told me weekends is where they make the money so it may to pay to walk WEEKENDS..

[Snoopy]

Snoopy just walking by the shops at the same time of a day proves nothing but dose give you some figures to write down and a little talk,

At Paraparaumu have done the same thing and talked to the manager she told me weekends is where they make the money so it may to pay to walk WEEKENDS..

Fair enough Bricks. If most of those Postie Women buyers are out working between 4-4:30pm or 'in working' at home then they won't show up on my weekday afternoon survey.

I might do a Saturday walk by and see if there is any 'relative difference' in my results. The problem with doing the survey on a Saturday is that there are more people about, so it is harder to get an accurate count.

SNOOPY

[BRICKS]

[QUOTE=BRICKS;220725]Snoopy ,, So that's nice are you a PPG holder and you would like to know whats going on then pick up the phone and get the good oil from the Head office boss they live in Christchurch and you could tell him about your walks..

SO what do think..

[Ekrub]

Does the King still buy Postie Plus?
Getting cheaper every day!
28c at last look, and that's when some reports
tip retail to improve, with tax cuts and Christmas
coming. Sad, sad.

[POSSUM THE CAT]

Ekrub ask Bricks who I suspect is a reincarnation of The King

[Dr_Who]

Surely PPG cant go belly up can it?

[Ekrub]

Well Bricks?

If PPG goes belly-up, and I have to say whenever I look
in to their Lower Hutt store, there are very few people
there, then Jan Cameron, me, and quite a few others,
have blown it. But I suspect, like the Todds backing
the also struggling ProvencoCadmus, Ms Cameron will
have done more extensive research than me!

But, looks like a long wait just to get back to entry point.

[POSSUM THE CAT]

Dr Who the elderly that bought from Postie have stopped buying from them as clothes no longer suit or fit them and modern teenager would not be seen dead in Postie Plus so it is certainly a posibility. As being rather elderly I used to shop there but nothing they have will now fit. Some store that caters for elderly fashion and fitting would probally be a goldmine if well run.

[Dr_Who]

Oh dear, whats happening with PPG? Either JC has a cunning plan up her sleeves or she is kissing her money good bye.

[Thumpa]

Market Capitalisation:$15,600,000 (@39)

- Closure of non-performing brands.
- Aggressive reduction of stock levels by $14m.

No real evidence of trying to grow this business . The postie+ stores look cluttered and cheap . No real theme or consistant layout. All the cloths seem a different shade of gray.

Does not look good at all. Going to be hard to maintain " Good cashflow " when this stock is sold below cost.
Hope they know the dollars falling and chinese costs are rising , so what happens when they re-purchase?

Well , 1.5 months later :

Market Capitalisation:$10,000,000 (@25)

PPG has lost a third of its value and NZD / USD has fallen over 11% (more expensive to buy Chinese goods. Not sure if PPG are hedged ? . if not , can they raise prices in current enviroment to even maintain margin?

Must tread water and hold out till Xmas and possible tax cut spending spike........ no fun in retail land. Need to have a good business model to see thing thru.

[_Michael]

Ouch - that must have hurt BRICKS.



PPG
25/09/2008
FLLYR

REL: 1705 HRS Postie Plus Group Limited

FLLYR: PPG: PPGL Annual Results Announcement 31 July 2008

NZX STATEMENT

25 September 2008

Postie Plus Group Reports Loss in Tough Year But Readies for Improvement

Performance Summary

- Net loss after tax of $10.8m reflects drop in consumer spending,
tightening margins, one-off costs relating to the completion of the sale of
poorly performing Arbuckles and investment in profit improvement initiatives
- Total Group operating revenue down 3.5% to $131.3m
- EBITDA down to ($5.2m)
- Inventories significantly reduced by 42% to $21m from $36.2m
- Cashflow from operating activities dramatically improved by $10m with
greater rates of stock turns and company borrowings reduce by $6.8m
- Centralised Christchurch-based national logistics centre opens with
$1m savings p.a. targeted
- Group-wide savings and efficiency gains on track from streamlined
retail structure, new information systems and sale of Arbuckles.

Postie Plus Group ended the toughest year in its trading history with a net
loss after tax of $10.8 million against a backdrop of bad news stories,
falling consumer spending, squeezed margins and discounting as retailers
nationwide fought for sales and market share.

The full year result, released today (25 September), also reflected
investment in critical cost and efficiency improvements and development of a
new consumer offering to position the company strongly in the current testing
retail environment with a return to profitability targeted in 2008-09, Group
CEO, Ron Boskell said.

"The Board and Executive believe the company is now well equipped to meet the
challenges of the times to maintain market share and capture any upturn in
trading conditions. While little improvement in sales is expected in the
short term and Postie Plus Group shares the chill of recession with the rest
of retail, longer term the outlook is positive."

Financial Results

Mr Boskell said the full benefits of this new competitive strategic retail
model that is currently being rolled out could not mitigate the generally
poor financial results for the year under review and there would be no
dividend paid to shareholders.

The reported loss was slightly higher than the August market guidance,
attributable to goodwill and stock write-downs of $2.8 million associated
with the final settlement of the sale of the Arbuckles chain of stores. The
final result includes adjustments made under IFRS (International Financial
Reporting Standards).

Total Group operating revenue was down 3.5% to $131.3 million from $136
million the previous year and EBITDA dropped to ($5.2m) from $9.3 million.
The key contributor to the negative earnings result was a $10 million loss in
margins from heavy discounting and two winter sales to reduce high stock
levels in a fiercely competitive retail climate.

"A major achievement was the promised, significant reduction at year end of
inventories of unsold stock which came down 42% to $21 million from $36.2
million previously despite the retail slowdown," Mr Boskell said.

Operating overheads were up 4.5% to $64.2 million with increases in wages and
rentals. Also included were restructuring costs relating to the now
successfully completed centralisation of warehousing and distribution to a
single site in Christchurch. Annual savings of over $1 million are targeted
from this supply chain rationalisation.

Cashflow from operating activities dramatically improved by $10 million,
company borrowings reduced by $6.8 million and interest costs were set to
reduce further as a result of the increase in stock turns and impact of other
efficiency gains.

The divestment of the Arbuckles manchester and homeware chain, which posted a
pretax loss for the year of $3.3 million, would also bring benefits to the
Postie Plus Group.

Profit Improvement Strategy

Mr Boskell said that while the Board and Executive were disappointed to have
delivered a full year loss, the platform to return Postie Plus Group to
sustainable profitable growth through right sizing the business, cost savings
and an attractive down to earth consumer offering was in place and gaining
traction.

Key features are to:
- Continue to reduce inventory levels to restore margins and reduce
working capital
- Drive further efficiencies and cost savings from the operation of the
new national distribution and warehousing centre in Christchurch
- Drive cost efficiencies in purchasing, store operations, logistics
and corporate expenses
- Launch a web retail channel
- Introduce a new loyalty programme
- Refresh the Postie Plus brand story to appeal directly to women who
want to dress and buy smart for themselves and their family
- Continue to expand Baby City and SchoolTex brands.

Outlook

"Given current inflationary pressures and falling discretionary spending that
is dulling sales, Postie Plus Group aims to do the basics brilliantly," Mr
Boskell said.

"We are determined to drive down our costs, lift our supply and delivery
chain efficiencies and reignite the appeal of our brand by helping New
Zealanders look good for less."

He said the Group was in a good position. Inventory levels and margins were
now at a healthier level, the brand offering was compelling and supported by
an efficient, integrated delivery chain and information and reporting
systems. The business now operates a lower cost structure, had good forward
cover on the main purchasing currencies and a committed and capable team
across the organisation.

"We are cautious and there are many factors still beyond our control, but at
this point we are on track to deliver a modest profit in 2008-09 with
performance steadily improving in future years," Mr Boskell said. "Postie
Plus Group is ready to take on the market and fulfill its potential for
shareholders, staff and consumers."

For further information please contact:
Mr Ron Boskell
Postie Plus Group Chief Executive
Tel 0-3-339 5700; M: 027 221 7561; Email: ron.boskell@postie.co.nz

For company and investor information please go to: www.ppgl.co.nz
End CA:00170615 For:PPG Type:FLLYR Time:2008-09-25:17:05:37

[Dr_Who]

PPG made a lost that is the size of their market cap.

Still, nothing in the announcement that can convince me to buy PPG shares. The strategy is all reactive instead of proactive. No competitive advantage to their competitors.

[BRICKS]

POOR Pumpkin Patch has to sack 30 people to keep the doors open and could be more to come,, Back at PPG we have displayed our cash flow which is working all right and BRICKS
has been BUYING more share at very low PRICES..

[Stranger_Danger]

That is because Pumpkin Patch has management, and Postie Plus does not.

[BRICKS]

That is because Pumpkin Patch has management, and Postie Plus does not.

DONT know what you mean but if it takes management to disrupt 30 lives by heaving them out the door to save Pumpkin Patch BRICKS would never buy PPL..

[Stranger_Danger]

Your comments are irrational. Am I to assume that if you owned a horse and cart taxi service at the time when cars took off, you'd lay nobody off and in 2008 would be paying people to sit around doing nothng?

Pumpkin Patch are cutting *people* from their business. Postie Plus are cutting *businesses* from their group.

Surely even you can see the difference.

[macduffy]

Has there been any announcement as to what happens to the Arbuckles' staff in the stores that have closed/are closing? I wouldn't have thought that they could be redeployed within the Postie Plus "empire".

;)

[BRICKS]

Has there been any announcement as to what happens to the Arbuckles' staff in the stores that have closed/are closing? I wouldn't have thought that they could be redeployed within the Postie Plus "empire".

;)

ARBUCKLES is NO longer part of PPG when the BIZ left all stock,shops & people went to the new owner so there will be NO more statements..

YOU are Strange, Mr Danger..

[macduffy]

Sorry, Bricks.
Postie Plus announced that the Arbuckles brand would be discontinued, that some A stores would be absorbed into PP and that other stores would be taken over by Jan Cameron's company. I don't remember seeing what happened to any of the staff but I would be surprised if everybody kept their jobs after that re-shuffle.

:)

Disc: By the way, I hold a few PPG shares.

[BRICKS]

Sorry, Bricks.
Postie Plus announced that the Arbuckles brand would be discontinued, that some A stores would be absorbed into PP and that other stores would be taken over by Jan Cameron's company. I don't remember seeing what happened to any of the staff but I would be surprised if everybody kept their jobs after that re-shuffle.

:)

Disc: By the way, I hold a few PPG shares.

ARBUCKLES is HISTORY, Pumpkin Patch sackings are NOW.. to keep its doors OPEN..

[macduffy]

ARBUCKLES is HISTORY, Pumpkin Patch sackings are NOW.. to keep its doors OPEN..

Not quite history yet.
This morning's DominionPost advertises that Arbuckles are running a two week Closing Down sale at their Wellington, Porirua, Palmerston North and Napier stores - " 60-70% off everything in Store! Only while stock lasts ".

;)

[BRICKS]

dont worry, Bricks really does have rocks in his head as you couldnt put it more simply really could you SD, but he still doesnt get it:D

maybe he is Japanese, they are good at paying people to do nothing

WELL stated [if you know what it means] that's why you call yourself the "UNDERDOG"..

[Dr_Who]

I ve notice the latest PPG TV advert which mirrors the BGR TV advert.

[BRICKS]

THE annual report is now out but not yet received but two letters have been received informing on the way ahead is all sun shine sounds good, they have turned Coastlands into a Baby shop along as a Postie + this was much needed at Paraparaumu and will great to check before Xmas feel the cheep prices for the stock has past to be a rising stock NOW..

[Sideshow Bob]

I tried to read this out loud, but also passed out......

[BRICKS]

I tried to read this out loud, but also passed out......

Pity you did not drop DEAD but you can work it out if you try THINKING and shopping at

POSTIE..

[Sideshow Bob]

Pity you did not drop DEAD but you can work it out if you try THINKING and shopping at

POSTIE..

I'm sure I would be cut to the core if I could work out want you said.

Merry Xmas Bricks.

[BRICKS]

UnderDOG = I will buy PPG now/soon

never invested yet


Lets see how it goes from 25c lows

BIT late now man take it now for what you can GET..

[Nuts]

Looks like this is one company which has made the right moves early to climb back to profitability and may reap the rewards ahead of other retailers eh...

[macduffy]

Looks like this is one company which has made the right moves early to climb back to profitability and may reap the rewards ahead of other retailers eh...

I'm not sure about that. I think they got into trouble earlier than most and were therefore forced to take action sooner than most.
Still not clear what if any competitive advantage they have but I'm still holding a few, more in deference to the skills of Jan Cameron ( aka Bricks ? ) than anything else.

;)

[BRICKS]

Hoping at the meeting has Good news for a CHANGE..

[POSSUM THE CAT]

Bricks is the good news your resignation as director of Postie Plus

[BRICKS]

Bricks is the good news your resignation as director of Postie Plus

IS that so CAT...

[Nuts]

PPG annual meeting seemed very positive to me , board very dissappointed over past year of course but they have made all the right moves for the future and margins are actually up for past quarter . lets hope they can pull off a profit this year eh , many dissappointed shareholders otherwise ...
nuts

[BRICKS]

PPG annual meeting seemed very positive to me , board very dissappointed over past year of course but they have made all the right moves for the future and margins are actually up for past quarter . lets hope they can pull off a profit this year eh , many dissappointed shareholders otherwise ...
nuts

YES it appears the past has gone and we look forward with hope and believe they have done the right THING..

[GTM 3442]

YES it appears the past has gone and we look forward with hope and believe they have done the right THING..

Once again. Again.

[BRICKS]

Once again. Again.

COULD you explain yourself..???

[Ekrub]

Having been to the company website, and read the speeches from the AGM,
it appears that management have worked to clear old stock, shift
warehousing to Christchurch, (Westport? May have been a sentimental
attachment, but sorry Bullerites, too far remote!) hired a likeable
presenter, sacked Arbuckles.....now, where are those pesky shoppers?!!

[Dr_Who]

now, where are those pesky shoppers?!!

They've all gone bargain hunting at all the 50% off discount retailers or second hand clothes on Trademe.

[POSSUM THE CAT]

But changed the merchandise to try and attract new customers but alienated a lot of the old customers. The management in my opinion have not got a clue about which market they are catering for.

[BRICKS]

But changed the merchandise to try and attract new customers but alienated a lot of the old customers. The management in my opinion have not got a clue about which market they are catering for.


YOUR an old cat how about we put you in control but remember you can not make
the slightest MISTAKE..

[BRICKS]

PPG has moved to 33 cents its all this good news..

[Nuts]

Do you think the new director mr Ted Vanarckle will hell things ? he seems to have a good background .
Nuts

[POSSUM THE CAT]

Bricks The only sensable thing to do now is liquidation to many mistakes have been made for any confidence in the company

[BRICKS]

Bricks The only sensable thing to do now is liquidation to many mistakes have been made for any confidence in the company

Pussy don't be so negative its harder to build than to close down, a lot of KIWI`s
would rather shut every store in NZ just hoping that the problems will go AWAY..

[POSSUM THE CAT]

BRICKS I do not view my Investments through Rose coloured glasses.I am not a philantrofist that gives money to company to just pay the management fat salaries. If they do not suceed either fire them or get out, or better still do not invest in the first place. Also I follow the BRICKS indicator it has saved me a large amount of Money The big problem with NZ retailers is that one finds a niche and does reasonably well ever other retailer jumps on the band wagon. NZ has far to many retailers for the size of its population

[BRICKS]

BRICKS I do not view my Investments through Rose coloured glasses.I am not a [philantrofist] that gives money to company to just pay the management fat salaries. If they do not [suceed] either fire them or get out, or better still do not invest in the first place. Also I follow the BRICKS indicator it has saved me a large amount of Money The big problem with NZ retailers is that one finds a niche and does reasonably well ever other retailer jumps on the band wagon. NZ has far to many retailers for the size of its population

DO what you like, But you should have bought Mr Chips..

[Nuts]

Jeez , yous guys are so busy poking at each other questions dont get answered .
i asked if any one thought Ted vanarckle would add value to the board ?
get serious and stop poking the borax at each other.
nuts

[POSSUM THE CAT]

NUTS The Answer to your Question if I have to spell it out is NO. My opinion is it will be in liquidation within 12months and PPL will not be far behind it.

[BRICKS]

Don'T take any notice of Pussy he is just an old angry trader that's lost his way..

Now your prob don't expect any great turn around in this market think all the directors are doing there best and the company will not go BROKE that was suggested but should improve and produce a profit, feel our best chances are a takeover from some where but mainly from AUSTRALIA..

[Dr_Who]

Jeez , yous guys are so busy poking at each other questions dont get answered .
i asked if any one thought Ted vanarckle would add value to the board ?
get serious and stop poking the borax at each other.
nuts

How would Ted add value to the board? Oh, you mean the way he added value to RBD and the Pizza Hut operations.

[Nuts]

many thanks Bricks for your sensible comments .
nuts

[Major von Tempsky]

Whatever happened to "The King"?

Did the crusty, ignorant old b****r pass on?

[BRICKS]

Whatever happened to "The King"?

Did the crusty, ignorant old b****r pass on?

AT Port Macquarie NSW 3 years ago, Thanks for remembering him he must have
been a GOOD bloke..

[BRICKS]

POSTIE + is headed for back to a profit position and a $3.6 million reduction in debit
it had to come you fix the engine and it will work AGAIN..

TO all the past nasty people you can now eat your hearts OUT..

[Nuts]

totally agree bricks .
nuts

[Ekrub]

Don't think we're out of the woods yet Bricks, it's still going to
need shoppers going in and doing what we want them to do, and
maybe school uniform purchases after Christmas will give it a boost.

But whenever I've looked in to my local Postie+ shop, in Lower Hutt,
it is seriously depopulated.

Fingers crossed sfor a splurge in the few days left to Christmas.

[BRICKS]

Don't think we're out of the woods yet Bricks, it's still going to
need shoppers going in and doing what we want them to do, and
maybe school uniform purchases after Christmas will give it a boost.

But whenever I've looked in to my local Postie+ shop, in Lower Hutt,
it is seriously depopulated.

Fingers crossed for a splurge in the few days left to Christmas.

YER right it wont be an instant fix but the word is out that it is getting BETTER..

PPG is a funny store to visit the same story for me it appears quite but then at
the end of a reporting time out comes all these millions type figures so it must
be working time will TELL ..

[Snoopy]

A couple of months on (now 28th August 2008) and I have just taken my spring walk in the mall at the 'control time' (between 4pm and 4:30pm). Once again I was counting customers to assess the relative people pulling power of the arcade of women's clothing stores.

Supre 5
Postie+ Women 2
Jeanswest 5
Lippy 4
Trendez 11
Kimberly's 6
JayJays 10
Moda Bella 2
Dotti 11
Hartly's 3

This is looking like a disaster for Postie+ in the making. The spring season stock is not firing at all. Can anything be done, over and above those desperate end of season clearance sales?


Time for the summer walk by to count the customers in shops, to test the appeal of the Postie + Women concept. Once again I observed the 'test time' at between 4pm and 4:30pm on a weekday.

Supre 9
Postie+ Women 3
Jeanswest 3
Lippy 2
Trendez 7
Kimberly's 2
JayJays 13
Moda Bella 0
Dotti 5
Hartly's 2

The 3 customers that I counted were the most I had ever seen in a Postie store at one time. That is the good news. The bad news is that the Postie Women summer range appears to not be getting the foot traffic in comparison to the competition. Summing over all four of my surveys, Postie is the least appealing women's brand bar one. Only Hartly's has a worse record. Another big sale coming up to clear summer stock at Postie Plus? Don't hold out for too much good news if you are a shareholder.

SNOOPY

discl: do not hold

[Jay]

Been in two stores recently (during the recent sale) - The Taumarunui store - about 6-8 people at around 10:30 am on a Monday and in the Sylvia Park store on a Sunday (mid afternoon)
Not alot of buying going on that I could. We made a big purchase of around $15-20 for some summer clothes for the little one :-)

Discl: Not a holder and not likley to be

[BRICKS]

Time for the summer walk by to count the customers in shops, to test the appeal of the Postie + Women concept. Once again I observed the 'test time' at between 4pm and 4:30pm on a weekday.

Supre 9
Postie+ Women 3
Jeanswest 3
Lippy 2
Trendez 7
Kimberly's 2
JayJays 13
Moda Bella 0
Dotti 5
Hartly's 2

The 3 customers that I counted were the most I had ever seen in a Postie store at one time. That is the good news. The bad news is that the Postie Women summer range appears to not be getting the foot traffic in comparison to the competition. Summing over all four of my surveys, Postie is the least appealing women's brand bar one. Only Hartly's has a worse record. Another big sale coming up to clear summer stock at Postie Plus? Don't hold out for too much good news if you are a shareholder.

SNOOPY

discl: do not hold

SNOPPY you must have a lot of time on your hands to pop down to the mall and
check the ladies out in the name of science,, with thanks Jay for the $20 now
safe in the POSTIE TILL..

[BRICKS]

Joan C back at it again up the anti from 15% to 17% approx so BRICKS topped up

JUST in CASE..

[Nuts]

I see if she gets to 20 % thats the threshold that would require a takeover offer.
what sort of offer would that necessarily have to be to get control do you think ???
Nuts

[BRICKS]

I see if she gets to 20 % that's the threshold that would require a takeover offer.
what sort of offer would that necessarily have to be to get control do you think ???
Nuts

THat's just a thought prob less but she wont do that she already got a control stake
so she will go to 19.9% and do what she wants but don't forget the company may
be back in PROFIT..

[Nuts]

What ever Jan has done she has started some buying pushing the SP to 30 today .

[Nuts]

To my inexperienced eye ppg latest half year result looks promising , any one agree or not ???

[BRICKS]

To my inexperienced eye ppg latest half year result looks promising , any one agree or not ???

YOU must say its a slow boat to CHINA but one day it will get there a plain report but
it is still loosing money but good news as well could become a TRADING stock..

[macduffy]

YOU must say its a slow boat to CHINA but one day it will get there a plain report but
it is still loosing money but good news as well could become a TRADING stock..

There may be trading opportunities but I don't see PPG as a good investment. A successful retailer needs a competitive advantage - an "edge" - and I don't see that PPG has this or is likely to create one. Unless the Jan Cameron factor means something?

[BRICKS]

There may be trading opportunities but I don't see PPG as a good investment. A successful retailer needs a competitive advantage - an "edge" - and I don't see that PPG has this or is likely to create one. Unless the Jan Cameron factor means something?

WILL cross you off when they call the roll because you say its not a good INVESTMENT
and come to think of it NO one said it WAS..

[macduffy]

News that Jan Cameron has bought the Australian Discount Retail Co.


http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/2285407/Kathmandu-founder-goes-big-in-Aus

Any implications here for PPG?

[Dr_Who]

JC has so much on her plate. I am wondering how she will be able to keep an eye on all these businesses. Me think maybe abit too much to handle.

[macduffy]

JC has so much on her plate. I am wondering how she will be able to keep an eye on all these businesses. Me think maybe abit too much to handle.

I suppose that depends on how many she takes a hands-on role with and how many she treats as part of a portfolio of investments.
The numbers are much bigger of course than my portfolio investments!

;)

[BRICKS]

I suppose that depends on how many she takes a hands-on role with and how many she treats as part of a portfolio of investments.
The numbers are much bigger of course than my portfolio investments!

;)

With all these "BUYS" what affect will it have on PPG..

[macduffy]

With all these "BUYS" what affect will it have on PPG..

Hey Bricks!

That was my question!

:D

[BRICKS]

Hey Bricks!

That was my question!

:D

FOR PPG none but she would now be in heavy DEBT of some sort we don't know the details
but the stores that where bought are trash have been in some in NSW. the ones in VIC are a bit better but unless she is like your richest KIWI we will have to wait and SEE..

[BRICKS]

POSTIE is making money again and the SUN has shined on them for all there good work
just keep it up, its all those nice colourful catalogs in your letter box and the good looking ladies doing the trick in real terms it just had to HAPPEN..

[Nuts]

a pretty good result for a retailer in the current climate. a well run co now i think with noses to the grindstone has finally begun to put them on the right path .
nuts

[BRICKS]

a pretty good result for a retailer in the current climate. a well run co now i think with noses to the grindstone has finally begun to put them on the right path .
nuts

WELL nuts your efforts have been rewarded today with a 10% rise just think of all the time when the shares where cheep and NO one would touch them that's the time to BUY
in gloom and SELL well that's up to YOU..

[BRICKS]

For your enjoyment,, what we need are BUYERS..

[BRICKS]

For your enjoyment,, what we need are BUYERS..

IT appears not one KIWI give a tinkers cuss about PPG..

[COLIN]

IT appears not one KIWI give a tinkers cuss about PPG..

Jan Cameron does. Don't write it off.

[Nuts]

The whole damn share market is going nowhere ...
no wonder so many young people are putting there equity into investment houses to help in retirement , and now the government wants to kill that too .
nuts

[Ekrub]

IT appears not one KIWI give a tinkers cuss about PPG..


Maybe if Postie+ pay a dividend, they hinted at that earlier in the year with a return to profitability, but you're right, not a whiff of interest in what seemed to me to a darned good turnaround.

[blackcap]

Maybe if Postie+ pay a dividend, they hinted at that earlier in the year with a return to profitability, but you're right, not a whiff of interest in what seemed to me to a darned good turnaround.


ssshhh Ekrub.... dont tell too many ppl, great time to accumulate :)

[POSSUM THE CAT]

Blackcap one fine day does not a summer make. Woof Woof

[Ekrub]

We could say there has been two fine days.....this from Postie+ three months earlier:

11 May 2009

Postie Plus Group Beating Recessionary Blues with Q3 Lift in Sales and
Margins

Nationwide retailer, Postie Plus Group, has performed creditably, ending the
third quarter with growth in sales and margin, and increased market share, as
its family focused brands hit the mark in terms of price, position and
appeal.

Managing Director Ron Boskell said Group sales were up 7.3 per cent and
margins had improved by even further in the quarter ended 30 April 2009 to
maintain the momentum achieved as the Group continues to rebuild to return to
profitability.

[BRICKS]

Blackcap one fine day does not a summer make. Woof Woof

PUSSIE you don't know if your a DOG or CAT..

[BRICKS]

AT last PPG is in profit but NO div for yet another year as BRICKS has been selling down
but still making a profit of 25% mite see him out COMPLEATLY.. cheers NUTS..

[BRICKS]

IT appears not one KIWI give a tinkers cuss about PPG..

WELL sold out made 25% profit now BRICKS can join the mob and not give a tinkers
cuss until next TIME..

[Snoopy]

SNOOPY you must have a lot of time on your hands to pop down to the mall and
check the ladies out in the name of science,


Looks like your bail out was timely Bricks.

I went to the Riccarton Mall again last week Bricks, to do another of my surveys on how well Postie Plus was stacking up in the 'shoppers in the store' stakes. However, I can report that the Postie Plus Store in the Riccarton Mall has now closed down completely. The last gasp was as a Postie Plus Woman store. Before that the same floor space was being used to try out a new Postie brand that was set to appeal to younger woman.

That first trial was a failure (I can't even remember what the new brand was) , and now Postie have admitted the ultimate defeat in pulling the plug completely. It looks like Postie will only survive as a discounter in low rent sites. Given a level mall playing field with those other fashion brands, the shoppers have voted by the absence of their feet. Postie Plus cannot compete, whatever the price, whatever the season, whatever the brand.

The Postie ship looks like it is sinking to me. I hope new major shareholder Jan Cameron has a good life jacket on. Bricks, in a fit of good sense, has made his own escape rowing into the sunset in good time.

SNOOPY

discl: do not hold

[macduffy]

If the Postie can struggle on until Jan Cameron throws off her restraint of trade yoke and starts up "Son of Kathmandu", they might find a buyer for the best of their leases. Or takeover/back door listing perhaps?

;)

[Dr_Who]

If the Postie can struggle on until Jan Cameron throws off her restraint of trade yoke and starts up "Son of Kathmandu", they might find a buyer for the best of their leases. Or takeover/back door listing perhaps?

;)

Holy Shiat Batman Mcduffy, you may have something there. Great lateral thinkning mate. She may even want PPG to go belly up so she can get it cheaper.

Keep us up to date. You got me all keen and on my watchlist now.

[BRICKS]

IS a goer but don't forget she is the largest holder of PPG,, So what is Chickenfeed,
in Oz we had many of these cheap shops but about the time that Warehouse disappeared
so did did all the rest but Chickenfeed survived in Tassie now NZ only thing wrong they
flood the place with cheapness and you know what happens in the long run disaster
but that aside your got $2 dollar shops and the like it will be fun to watch how it all pans OUT..

[POSSUM THE CAT]

Dr Who she got a lot of shops that are basically in a holding pattern as dogs breakfast trading company after last bailout of Postie Plus

[macduffy]

Someone bought a few PPG today - SP up on a down day!

Was that you, doc?

;)

[Dr_Who]

LOL.. Na mate.

I was so busy watching Myers and other Aussie stocks I completely forgot about PPG. I did buy some more BLY and NUF today, cheap stock.

[Nuts]

Not too bad an improvement for first quarter sales , what u think ?

[Silverlight]

10 FEBRUARY 2010

PPGL Lifts First Half Sales by 9.25%.

Nationwide retailer Postie Plus Group has sustained its improving performance with sales increased by 9.25% in the first half year ended 31 January 2010, compared to the same period last year.

“The fact that we achieved this improvement in challenging economic conditions confirms the strength of consumer loyalty to PPGL’s brands with Postie+, Schooltex and Babycity each continuing to grow market share,” said Mr Ron Boskell, group chief executive.

“The group sales lift of 5.5% for the important November-January second quarter is in contrast to the flat sales reported for the apparel sector this summer”

“The first half is not normally our strongest period, however, we have reaped the benefits of our complimentary product range across apparel, school uniforms, and nursery products,” said Mr Boskell. “We are delighted that PPGL also retained the increases in margin achieved as part of our longer term profit improvement programme.”

“Importantly, the first half sales growth has ensured that the anticipated first half loss will be significantly lower than the first half loss of $2.7m last year, further continuing an improving trend.

“PPGL will move forward with stock holdings well managed and we are now focused on achieving a strong performance in the second half, which has traditionally provided the profit for the business.”
A detailed six month earnings statement for the first half will be provided to NZX on 9th March 2010.

[Ekrub]

Yup....all good....but one wishes Postie+ knew the difference between "complimentary" and "complementary"....tsk tsk!

[BRICKS]

HE said never again but dont say never dived in with a small parcel to be back in the race not much to BUY in NZ ,,
But have the feeling they may get it right as the other day Warehouse let it slip in there clothing department there
compertion was getting SMARTER BRICKS took it they ment PPG..

[devito]

Got to be worth a toe in the water with this one just to see what JC does.

[BRICKS]

Got to be worth a toe in the water with this one just to see what JC does.

WELL devito JC back at it again with another 600,000 shares nothing is said and funny the share price NO move..

This must be the dullest stock in NZX on going into a store like being in church waiting for something to happen
its beyond ,,BRICKS..

[percy]

Am I missing something.I have recently been in Postie Plus stores at Timaru,Westport,and Sydenham Mall,looking for a Jersey and a sweat shirt.All three were cluttered messes.The Jerseys were not to my liking and the sweat's had zips which I didnot want.Jane Cameron's Dogs Breakfasts were as the name states,while NOD appears to be just as hopeless.I do not buy their products so why buy their shares?PPG has a record of over promising and under delivering.Should JC's shares come on the market be interesting to see where the share price goes.In retail overheads keep ticking alone even when sales don't.

[Nuts]

seems strange that jc would build up near 20% and then do nothing , if its just an investment then maybe her stock picking isnt too great , sure the co sales are running at 4.5% up but its the cut in overheads etc that will reveal any profit that will be the major result for this company.

[BRICKS]

seems strange that jc would build up near 20% and then do nothing , if its just an investment then maybe her stock picking isnt too great , sure the co sales are running at 4.5% up but its the cut in overheads etc that will reveal any profit that will be the major result for this company.

NUTS,, to me it seems they have far to big an ORG 80 odd stores in NZ that have one large overhead and many staff
getting paid by the week and the management have plenty of time to do adjustments my method to fix the prob
would be starting with the worst stores just keep closing untill something goes into BALANCE..

[percy]

NUTS,, to me it seems they have far to big an ORG 80 odd stores in NZ that have one large overhead and many staff
getting paid by the week and the management have plenty of time to do adjustments my method to fix the prob
would be starting with the worst stores just keep closing untill something goes into BALANCE..

Bricks you maybe right.
However the stores do not stock what I want,they are cluttered messes with poor displays.Better stock,better displayed would go a long way.I know you have SCY and you do not see cluttered messes there.I know Halienstiens are well stocked,bright with good displays.I also notice Pumpkin Patch seem to have got it wrong with too much purple clothing which does not sell.Even the local Addington Salvation Army shop is not as messy as Postie Plus.Maybe Ron Boskill could have a look at them as they are only 100metres from PPG headoffice.

[Nuts]

geez percy i dunno what stores you been in but wot u report aint my impression . with ppl i understand having grandkids etc that purple is the in colour for kids.
as for halienstiens they cater for young people mainly so i guess its the target demo you are in that impresses most .as for jc i cant see her shares coming on the market when she has just been buying up . she must have some sort of plan eh...

[percy]

geez percy i dunno what stores you been in but wot u report aint my impression . with ppl i understand having grandkids etc that purple is the in colour for kids.
as for halienstiens they cater for young people mainly so i guess its the target demo you are in that impresses most .as for jc i cant see her shares coming on the market when she has just been buying up . she must have some sort of plan eh...

I think you maybe right JC may have a plan.I am not impressed with her present retail enterprises.I
would not invest in NOD or Dogsbreakfast.I was wondering what PPG SP would be if she were not buying.I will have a look at Tower Junction postie plus and let you know. May be I should have just said they had too much stock in them,but Westport and Timaru really were cluttered messes. The PPL store was at Northlands Mall,and must admit I thought the shop had lost it's colourful brightness.Looked flat,not as inviting as it did a year ago. I will look out for your grand kids as mine will not wear purple!!

[percy]

Postie Plus store visits.
Kaikoura today 4.30pm.Location bit out of the way
Store appearance; good
Window display; good
Store layout; good
Lighting; good
Backround music;good
Staff;excellent,bight young lady who seemed to really enjoy her job
Stock level.full
Blenheim store Visited Monday morning and this morning,
Shop location;excellent
Window display;Poor 2 spotlights not working
Store layout;Poor,walk ways blocked with extra display stands
Backround music.poor some old death march
Staff,good
Stock level.poor far too much stock

Problem;One of two things;either carrying too many lines or I suspect they are grid locked.ie not selling enough to make room for new stock arriving.So there are still problems.Must admit all retailers are facing the same ones;not selling enough while overheads just keep on increasing.

[Nuts]

interesting observations percy . maybe you should forward them to ppg hq will save them on mystery shoppers , assumming they use them at all .
wee piece in todays press , states no reason for share price jump 20% last week other than thinly traded share.
PPG state no communication with jc . broker stated fair value for ppg is 50 cents . still some believe jc may be positioning herself for move on ppg someday , who knows ?????
ppg also stated they hope to better the 4.5% they mentioned recently .
if they did and overheads are down to extent they been crowing about one would expect a decent profit and a return to divs eh.... my comment not theirs.

[BRICKS]

interesting observations percy . maybe you should forward them to ppg hq will save them on mystery shoppers , assumming they use them at all .
wee piece in todays press , states no reason for share price jump 20% last week other than thinly traded share.
PPG state no communication with jc . broker stated fair value for ppg is 50 cents . still some believe jc may be positioning herself for move on ppg someday , who knows ?????
ppg also stated they hope to better the 4.5% they mentioned recently .
if they did and overheads are down to extent they been crowing about one would expect a decent profit and a return to divs eh.... my comment not theirs.

Nuts your reference`s to balanced overheads are the same as mine whick would assist the company back to profit
but it appears managment love a large chain and staff bill other than fix the prob but it could be JC has them scared
they loose there jobs which could be true,, As JC has a lot on her plate and it seems she must make money to say
she is in NO hurry to JUMP..

[Felix]

A very average profit announcement today. If sales increased by 3% for the year and operating expenses decreased (half year referred to reduced inventory, distribution and administration costs) then margins must have been very low.

I appreciate that the retail environment has been tough and that PPG have had to significantly discount their stock, but I just wonder whether there is any point continuing down the same path when you only make a profit of circa $500k on sales of approx $113m. It is such a low margin. Contrast that with Hallenstein Glasson which has forecasted a profit of $28m on sales of $207m. Surely for PPG to be successful in the low margin game they would need to generate a much high sales turnover than they currently achieve.

It seems like PPG needs to carve out their own place in the market. They target the lower end of the market however this is now fully covered by the likes of Farmers and The Warehouse. I don't really know the answer but what I can see is PPG being absorbed or driven out of the market completely unless something changes.

Disc: got some skin in the game

[percy]

A very average profit announcement today. If sales increased by 3% for the year and operating expenses decreased (half year referred to reduced inventory, distribution and administration costs) then margins must have been very low.

I appreciate that the retail environment has been tough and that PPG have had to significantly discount their stock, but I just wonder whether there is any point continuing down the same path when you only make a profit of circa $500k on sales of approx $113m. It is such a low margin. Contrast that with Hallenstein Glasson which has forecasted a profit of $28m on sales of $207m. Surely for PPG to be successful in the low margin game they would need to generate a much high sales turnover than they currently achieve.

It seems like PPG needs to carve out their own place in the market. They target the lower end of the market however this is now fully covered by the likes of Farmers and The Warehouse. I don't really know the answer but what I can see is PPG being absorbed or driven out of the market completely unless something changes.

Disc: got some skin in the game

I would have thought there was a gap between The Warehouse and The Farmers/Hallensteins.In mens clothing I think they need to offer better quality at a bit higher price.All retailers are getting their clothing from China and making huge margins,but you do not make anything until goods are sold.Better quality,better displayed goods in uncluttered stores.They have proved cluttered ,rubbish is not profitable.I am still looking for a jersey to buy.I ask other posters to look at the ones at Postie Plus and tell me they are not rubbish.Good stuff always sells.
The real worry in the result, was they lost sales in their most important winter months.

[Nuts]

I agree with you both , i find it very difficult to see how on a turnover very close to that in 2005 when they were loosing on arbuckles and still distributing out of westport that they achieved a 1.6mil net profit and today they can only achieve $500000 as you say felix .
i agree its been tough but for three years they cannot get it together . maybe the directors need to re assess things do you think ?

[Dr_Who]

The stuff from China are not as cheap as it used to be. Chinese cost of production have gone up, while the NZ retail sector and economy is still under pressure. Retailers are getting squeezed on both sides.

[percy]

The stuff from China are not as cheap as it used to be. Chinese cost of production have gone up, while the NZ retail sector and economy is still under pressure. Retailers are getting squeezed on both sides.

I agree that you are right Dr.however if you look at margins Hallinsteins are reporting you will see the margins must be gross 150 to 200%.Huge.
I think they are buying product for under $5 and selling at over $20.What I am suggesting is they pay $7 or $8 and sell for $25.Better quality at manufacture is not that much dearer.Freight costs and handling stay the same.

[Nuts]

percy , as i understand it ppg imports by container load ex china with very high margins , hallinsteins largely buy from local distributors and they dont need to carry huge qty's of stock so you would think ppg would have the better gross margin ???

[percy]

percy , as i understand it ppg imports by container load ex china with very high margins , hallinsteins largely buy from local distributors and they dont need to carry huge qty's of stock so you would think ppg would have the better gross margin ???

HaHa you have got met here.I know you are right about PPG.I read a number of years ago Hallinsteins went to Europe to see fashion trends,then took designs and fabric choices to China for manufacture.So I therefore thought they sourced mostly direct from China.I do not know what there arrangemrnts are but whatever they are the margins are great.Between us I may have understated PPG margins,but having posted too many negative posts on PPG I did not really want to inflame the issue.

[Felix]

Seems like PPG had a good bounce off the 26c low today. At one stage there was a seller of 126k shares at 26c, those were swallowed up in a couple of hours and now there is 156k of buyers lining up at 26c. It seems that 26c might be a floor for the price (for now anyway) judging by the amount of buyers who came in at that price.

If the boss is promising a dividend for 2010/11 then you would expect a 1c dividend as a minimum. If that was the return then at the current 28c share price you are looking at a 3.6% return (which it appears would be fully imputed). That's certainly nothing to write home about, but then if the dividend was 2c or 3c then you are talking a decent return. With a company that is not really growing you would want to see a relatively high and consistent dividend paid. The company's debt level is a little concerning and I think the high debt will constrain high dividends, especially when you also consider the store refurbishments that they are undertaking.

[Nuts]

good comment felix. lets hope they can put a few runs on the board for a change.

[Felix]

It looks like Jan Cameron has purchase another 0.5% of the company in the last fortnight, based on the fortnightly movement of significant shareholders (PPGL website). That takes her holding to 19.77%. If she wants to go above 20% she will need to make an offer for the whole company.

Unfortunately there has been a lack of information from the company since the earthquake. I guess that means they have been relatively unaffected from a profit perspective. I suppose they do have business interruption insurance.

I wondering if they are still aiming to pay a full year dividend or whether they will use the earthquake as an reason to delay it for another year. The increase in debt at the half year was a bit worrying - hopefully it is only temporary.

[Ekrub]

They did say they would be extremely disappointed if they couldn't pay a dividend, but with just a 25c SP, and the hit to the ChCh HQ, it may be a bit much to expect. It would be a good indicator to the market though, that things were improving. Topped up with 20k more shares a few days ago.

[Nuts]

well at long last PPG are starting to show some improvement . one hopes they will pay a div come year end eh ?????

[percy]

well at long last PPG are starting to show some improvement . one hopes they will pay a div come year end eh ?????

What I see as encouraging is the "gross margin dollars providing further gains"comment.Divie? The store refresh program I would think is more urgent than any divie.If they do n't refresh they will not stay in business in MHO. GST increased 2.5% so does not look to me as though they have gained a lot of market share.
The next quarter sales will be very important.From what I hear retail sales in South Island are stronger than North Island,so maybe next quarter PPG may do very well,seeing that winter clothing is where the margins are.

[winner69]

Sales would be recorded excluding GST so what the 4.6% increase is real

[Lizard]

...seeing that winter clothing is where the margins are.

Given the amount of fabric in the clothes my daughters have been coming home with, I rather thought the margins in Glassons summer-wear would be the go!

[percy]

Sales would be recorded excluding GST so what the 4.6% increase is real

Thanks Lizard,makes Postie look a lot better.
Nice to see Whitcoulls finally in good hands.
No, your daughter may not feel the cold,but down south here we need many layers.[and thick wooly ones]

[Felix]

Yes it is another positive quarterly result for sales and (it appears) gross margin. Most of their annual profit is derived in this last quarter of their financial year so fingers crossed it is a good one. This time last year they were also on track to generate a credible full year profit but then the retail sector got savaged so their profit really dipped out.

I think even a small dividend would be appreciated by the market. Paying out just 1c dividend provides a 4% yield on the current share price and would only cost the company $400k. I agree with Percy though that the store refresh should be the focus right now - their stores are looking tired and the refreshed stores look really good.

[percy]

Postie Plus store visits.
Kaikoura today 4.30pm.Location bit out of the way
Store appearance; good
Window display; good
Store layout; good
Lighting; good
Backround music;good
Staff;excellent,bight young lady who seemed to really enjoy her job
Stock level.full
Blenheim store Visited Monday morning and this morning,
Shop location;excellent
Window display;Poor 2 spotlights not working
Store layout;Poor,walk ways blocked with extra display stands
Backround music.poor some old death march
Staff,good
Stock level.poor far too much stock

Problem;One of two things;either carrying too many lines or I suspect they are grid locked.ie not selling enough to make room for new stock arriving.So there are still problems.Must admit all retailers are facing the same ones;not selling enough while overheads just keep on increasing.
Well a year on.Shop visit Blenheim store Monday afternoon.
Nice new window.fresh looks good.
shop layout improved.Generally shop looks pretty good.Good or a lot better layout. Well done Postie.
Sorry I missed Kaikorua but was not sure of road conditions getting back to ChCh.

[Felix]

Another disappointing fourth quarter sales result caps off another average year for Postie. Fourth quarter sales decrease of 6.7% from last year is not good enough, especially given the fourth quarter sales last year was a 5.3% decrease on the year before that. The fourth quarter is when the company is supposed to make hay and yet the opposite is happening. That's not good enough.

Profit after tax will be a small increase on last year, which was $415k. So, if we are looking at an after tax profit of about $500k then this equates to about 1.25cps. On a $8.8m market cap that is a PE of about 18. That is seriously too high for a poorly performing company.

The directors hoped to pay a full year dividend this year. On earnings of 1.25cps I can only imagine that they could pay up to 1c dividend, at best. On a 22c company that is a return of about 4.5%. Again, not a good percentage given the company's lack of growth.

Why aren't shareholders seeing a good return from the refurbished stores? Cutting the company some slack, no doubt the earthquake did some damage to sales, and the announcement isn't clear about whether the after tax profit will include loss of business payments from their insurers.

C'mon Jan Cameron, step right up and take over the company for a discount price.

[Ekrub]

Good on ya Postie+, a 1c divvie in time for Christmas! Tough times ahead maybe, but good going.

[Nuts]

considering the retail climate they have done very well , lets hope they can keep up the good work.

[Felix]

Yes a relatively good result. Small profit again but, heck, it is still a profit and sales are continuing to increase despite the tough retail environment. Best news is the company delivering on their promise of starting to pay dividends again. 1cps dividend is a good start.

I can't see the share price heading significantly north until there is evidence of an improving retail environment. At a current PE of 13 it is probably fairly valued at present.

[winner69]

Well done to that tip sheet that tipped this a whole ago ..... nearly a buck now and on track to your to your 120 odd

The power of tip sheets .... 2006 .... and the operator of it really got pissed when people doubted his motive

The only thing that has boosted the PPG share price .... maybe needs another tip sheet follower

[percy]

Am I missing something.I have recently been in Postie Plus stores at Timaru,Westport,and Sydenham Mall,looking for a Jersey and a sweat shirt.All three were cluttered messes.The Jerseys were not to my liking and the sweat's had zips which I didnot want.Jane Cameron's Dogs Breakfasts were as the name states,while NOD appears to be just as hopeless.I do not buy their products so why buy their shares?PPG has a record of over promising and under delivering.Should JC's shares come on the market be interesting to see where the share price goes.In retail overheads keep ticking alone even when sales don't.

Post13/07/2010.
This thread makes sad reading.!
I really do not know how many "The King Buys Postie Plus' threads there are.

[Snow Leopard]

Post13/07/2010.
This thread makes sad reading.! ...


Of the companies I know who have installed SAP, none have come out unscathed. You tend to miss your profit targets for the year, and maybe beyond.

My post (http://www.sharetrader.co.nz/showthread.php?253-THE-KING-buys-POSTIE-PLUS&p=113991&viewfull=1#post113991) from this thread on the 20th September 2006.

You really should have joined ST earlier, percy!

Best Wishes
Paper Tiger

[percy]

My post (http://www.sharetrader.co.nz/showthread.php?253-THE-KING-buys-POSTIE-PLUS&p=113991&viewfull=1#post113991) from this thread on the 20th September 2006.

You really should have joined ST earlier, percy!

Best Wishes
Paper Tiger

Yes I certainly should have.
Learnt so much.

[winner69]

Hey Percy

They found more jerseys that were obsolete and out of fashion ....or couldn't find all the jerseys the computer said they had. ....and even more write downs

However alls well now ...decks cleared ...new boss who going to turn it around in a few months ...and banks still happy ...in other words 'well positioned'

[percy]

Hey Percy

They found more jerseys that were obsolete and out of fashion ....or couldn't find all the jerseys the computer said they had. ....and even more write downs

However alls well now ...decks cleared ...new boss who going to turn it around in a few months ...and banks still happy ...in other words 'well positioned'

The market loves it,and reacted strongly with 1,000 shares traded at 10.5cents for $105.
Maybe time to renew their computer?.A very brave bank?Hope its not your Co-Op or my Heartland.Maybe Snoopy's ANZ?.!

[Nuts]

How on earth will they, ever earn enuf to pay off thls debt let alone ever pay another div, im wondering if I should sell outside

[jmsnz]

With companies like this listed, is it any wonder people just buy a rental property? I found this gem (http://companyresearch.nzx.com/corporate/PPG/reportsfile.php?T=S&F=PPG.pdf) on their investor centre, which apart from its obvious formatting issues, seems to be saying:
a) They destroyed +/- $5million in value with Arbuckles between 2003 & 2008
b) They make large losses
c) Their distribution provider is hopeless
d) They lost 11.65 million to the year ended September 2013
e) Current liabilities increased from 9.57 to 22.66 million and are now greater than current assets

I guess the bright news is that they have relocated to AKL and have announced they have fixed the problems with distribution, so what could go wrong from here?

Also interesting to contrast there performance with Briscoes that the opening post compared them with over the same period.

One (semi) serious question for anyone who bothers, is a punt here at $0.10 cents any better/worse than are punt on XRO at $40?

[winner69]

With companies like this listed, is it any wonder people just buy a rental property? I found this gem (http://companyresearch.nzx.com/corporate/PPG/reportsfile.php?T=S&F=PPG.pdf) on their investor centre, which apart from its obvious formatting issues, seems to be saying:
a) They destroyed +/- $5million in value with Arbuckles between 2003 & 2008
b) They make large losses
c) Their distribution provider is hopeless
d) They lost 11.65 million to the year ended September 2013
e) Current liabilities increased from 9.57 to 22.66 million and are now greater than current assets

I guess the bright news is that they have relocated to AKL and have announced they have fixed the problems with distribution, so what could go wrong from here?

Also interesting to contrast there performance with Briscoes that the opening post compared them with over the same period.

One (semi) serious question for anyone who bothers, is a punt here at $0.10 cents any better/worse than are punt on XRO at $40?

easy to answer that one

[percy]

I have had trouble down loading the annual report,but have now done so.
Earlier today I wrote a PM to a new investor.I told him he should look for the following.
Statement of cash flow from operations should be positive.[PPG is negative $4.658mil]
Current assets should be twice current liabilities.[PPG's current liabilities exceed current assets]
Chairman's report and out look should be positive.[PPG is positive]
The sector the company is in should have strong future.[PPG is in a poor/difficult sector].
At present PPG's equity ratio is 16.7% and would need to get up to about 50%.To achieve this PPG would need to raise about $10mil or 25cents per share.
Nuts.I can't advise you.I myself would go down to my nearest sports shop and buy a good pair of running shoes,then run for my life!!!.

[jmsnz]

Percy/Winner,

I always enjoy your comments & thank-you for these ones as well.

Percy, I will add that list to my share selection knowledge base. As a relatively financially unskilled contributor I would also add:
Would you deal with the company by choice
Can you relate/identify with the board and/or key management

Once again thanks, and I must try to get to a CHC meeting.

[winner69]

Quote of te day from Punter "Our shareholders have every right to feel dejected this year, with the group having to report a poor financial result for the year ended 4 August 2013,"

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/9376181/Postie-Plus-touch-and-go

Hope not too many dejected ones on this site

[Nuts]

Any comments on the article in last sundays sunday tmes re postie please . If they have some financial input in feb then that may help .

[percy]

Any comments on the article in last sundays sunday tmes re postie please . If they have some financial input in feb then that may help .

When you claim "loss of profits" it is very difficult to come up with an exact amount.Postie will claim ........... while the distribution centre while say it was only...,and problems were caused by Postie.Questions will then be asked of Postie's record of keeping track of stock.!! Then if no agreement is reached expensive lawyers then get involved.Should they also fail to reach agreement,then we go the very expensive courtroom route.! Then either party can appeal.It all takes a lot of time and money.
My view is any settlement will most probably be case of too little too late.
So where to next.? The major shareholders? New shareholders? Old shareholders?

[blackcap]

.
So where to next.? The major shareholders? New shareholders? Old shareholders?

Chapter 11?

but seriously I think receivership is the only solution for this company. There just do not seem to be many prospects. Too much competition (hallensteins, farmers, the warehouse). Actually spoke to a PPG staff member about a week ago and asked her what she thought the problem was with Postie. One suggestion was that the "farmers card" was killing them. Seems to be people shopping at farmers can "tick" things up, something off course that a one purpose retailer like PPG cannot offer. But off course the biggest problem she thought was the distribution and logistics which she hoped they had now fixed... Time will tell

[BlackCross]

A friend of mine asked two of Posties buyers if they were going to a particularly important and relevant trade show. "No, we don't like to travel" was the answer and perhaps sums up the quality of management.
Also my partner(an avid fashion shopper) went in the Albany store on Sunday, saw the new range and remarked 'They seem to be reduced to selling cheap tat'.

[macduffy]

I doubt that anything's changed there, though. The Postie's about the last place I'd expect to find anything you could call "fashion"!

(Sorry, percy!)

:ohmy:

[Arbroath]

A friend of mine asked two of Posties buyers if they were going to a particularly important and relevant trade show. "No, we don't like to travel" was the answer and perhaps sums up the quality of management.
Also my partner(an avid fashion shopper) went in the Albany store on Sunday, saw the new range and remarked 'They seem to be reduced to selling cheap tat'.

probably can't afford to travel anyway. I feel sorry for holders - I lost some $$ here but got out around 17c.
reckon this could be its last Xmas.

[winner69]

Hocking off the school uniform part to reduce debt

....and as a consequence release valuable real estate in store for more valuable lines ......hey Percy, more jerseys/jumpers in store

[percy]

Hocking off the school uniform part to reduce debt

....and as a consequence release valuable real estate in store for more valuable lines ......hey Percy, more jerseys/jumpers in store
$9mil seems to be a very good price for SchoolTex business.
May make things simpler for them.SchoolTex should be an excellent investment for the buyer.
Does seem they are selling the crown jewels.

[Ekrub]

9 million dollars makes a good dent in the debt, brave move, it'll be interesting to see what products come in to increase the "average basket size".

[Nuts]

Sounds like a positive move to me, perhaps after selling every thing else they might be making the
Right moves at last.

[Felix]

They really need to either scale up the company with a merger or reverse takeover, or put the company up for sale. The directors said in late 2011 that the company needed to double in size to be a viable business listed on the NZX yet since then they've hocked off Babycity and now Schooltex. Their size and scale is going in the opposite direction.

Agree the Schooltex sale price appears good but it isn't going to help them in the long run, no matter how much positive spin put on it. It's a real shame to lose a good part of the business due to a short term debt pressure caused by a third party distributor.

A real alternative outcome to this was receivership, given the dire debt situation, or a cut price equity raise, so I guess the sale is a lesser evil.

[macduffy]

I'm not sure that they are left with much that is saleable after selling off Babycity and now the uniforms business.

Who would find a marginally profitable clothing store - with no particular competitive advantage now but with a lot of property lease commitments - to be an attractive proposition?

[macduffy]

I'm not sure that they are left with much that is saleable after selling off Babycity and now the uniforms business.

Who would find a marginally profitable clothing store - with no particular competitive advantage now but with a lot of property lease commitments - to be an attractive proposition?

[winner69]

Best jerseys/jumpers in town mate - that's their competitive advantage. Just ask Percy

[percy]

Best jerseys/jumpers in town mate - that's their competitive advantage. Just ask Percy

Yeah right.!!! ,but they sold them off at huge discounts a couple of months ago.So their competitive advantage is gone,sold.!!!
As macduffy points out the property lease commitments remain,and are on going.

[janner]

Best jerseys/jumpers in town mate - that's their competitive advantage. Just ask Percy


Nah !!.. they do not come with lamb skin seat belt covers..

Right percy ??

[winner69]

So Q1 sales down $2.6m on last year to €$16.0m

The bit about expenses being the same sort of suggests that this years profit will be more than a$1m more than last year

How many more months has his Richard guy got to turn things around?

[Nigel]

So Q1 sales down $2.6m on last year to €$16.0m

The bit about expenses being the same sort of suggests that this years profit will be more than a$1m more than last year

How many more months has his Richard guy got to turn things around?

Declining revenues, stable costs. They said gross margin has improved, but if the margin had improved so dramatically as to outweigh the reduction in revenue, they would have said so. So still not looking great for these guys unfortunately.

[blackcap]

Declining revenues, stable costs. They said gross margin has improved, but if the margin had improved so dramatically as to outweigh the reduction in revenue, they would have said so. So still not looking great for these guys unfortunately.

Wonder when the banks are going to get nervous and pull the plug. (They probably are nervous already but havent pulled the plug as yet)

[Nuts]

10 years of going nowhere. Every thing they have tried has been sold or closed .a few divs earlier on nothing much since . Promises every year but no gain . I dispair .
Whats in it for long loyal shareholders . 400000 out of the sale for even a one cent div would say they
Are thinking of us.

[winner69]

10 years of going nowhere. Every thing they have tried has been sold or closed .a few divs earlier on nothing much since . Promises every year but no gain . I dispair .
Whats in it for long loyal shareholders . 400000 out of the sale for even a one cent div would say they
Are thinking of us.

Don't despair nuts

Richard was on the radio this morning and said that sales for the first week of the new quarter were ahead of last year .....and Q2 should be up as well

So all back on the growth curve

[winner69]

Richard also said the new buying group he set up is buying much better merchandise and they getting higher prices.

So for Percy this means higher priced jerseys/jumpers ....but they have what he needs to protect them his set belts

[Lizard]

My daughters all shopping at Mirrou these days. Sadly, don't think we can invest in "Fast Future Brands" (they also own "Temt" which is popular among my three as well). I tried looking at the annual report, but my Korean is non-existent... still, there's some balance sheet info on the web-site which looks fairly strong. Just need them to list! :)

[Nuts]

the board got quite a grilling at yesterdays agm. most shareholders were not keen to see schooltext having to go , but board admitted they had no alternative. punter alluded to an announcement next week which seemed to be regarding finance but wouldn't add anything at this stage.
quite a few questions of a grilling nature from the floor but I walked out not knowing not much more than I went in.
Richard Bins came across as quite positive and full of ideas , we shall see. absolutely no indication as to what they might replace the space left by schooltex.
a suggestion was made that a shareholder group of 4 or 5 be formed to watchover and quiz the board but was more or less shot down.
I usually walk out of these meetings with hints of all the positive things they were planning but it always seems secret squirrel stuff and one is non the wiser.
well maybe this this year is turnaround year , who knows.

[Ekrub]

Announcements in the next week.....Christmas Day perhaps? Hope it's a good present!


Another shareholder asked what steps the company planned to take to reduce the remaining $12m debt ''to a more manageable figure''.

Punter replied: ''We certainly need some more capital in the company. We have the support of the bank at the moment and we hope to make further announcements about that in the next week."

[Arbroath]

the board got quite a grilling at yesterdays agm. most shareholders were not keen to see schooltext having to go , but board admitted they had no alternative. punter alluded to an announcement next week which seemed to be regarding finance but wouldn't add anything at this stage.
quite a few questions of a grilling nature from the floor but I walked out not knowing not much more than I went in.
Richard Bins came across as quite positive and full of ideas , we shall see. absolutely no indication as to what they might replace the space left by schooltex.
a suggestion was made that a shareholder group of 4 or 5 be formed to watchover and quiz the board but was more or less shot down.
I usually walk out of these meetings with hints of all the positive things they were planning but it always seems secret squirrel stuff and one is non the wiser.
well maybe this this year is turnaround year , who knows.
No announcement although it is a holiday week. I'd say it's curtains in the next few months if they don't find a new cornerstone backer

[stoploss]

$9mil seems to be a very good price for SchoolTex business.
May make things simpler for them.SchoolTex should be an excellent investment for the buyer.
Does seem they are selling the crown jewels.

WHS the Buyer .......

[percy]

WHS the Buyer .......

I think WHS will do really well with it.
With WHS backing it they will quickly regain ground that PPG lost with mucked up orders and poor service/delivery.
A good fit for WHS.
WHS certainly doing all the right things.

[Nuts]

Richard punter said at the agm that they have the support of the bank at the moment and that they hope to make a statement about that in the next week.
0ver a month later and no word , is that a concern ?

[percy]

Richard punter said at the agm that they have the support of the bank at the moment and that they hope to make a statement about that in the next week.
0ver a month later and no word , is that a concern ?
\
Nuts you must ask yourself whether Postie have ever done anything that they said they would do?.!
Offcourse it is a concern.

[winner69]

Is this Postie Plus a tech stock now ....price following the Nasdaq down!

[Nuts]

Is this Postie Plus a tech stock now ....price following the Nasdaq down!

what a disappointment this company has turned out to be. why don't they just aggressively try to sell , might get 40c per share perhaps. better than
jumping from pillar to post , ive been with them for over 10 years now and everything they have tried has been a failure so far

[percy]

what a disappointment this company has turned out to be. why don't they just aggressively try to sell , might get 40c per share perhaps. better than
jumping from pillar to post , ive been with them for over 10 years now and everything they have tried has been a failure so far

The problems for anyone looking to take them out are;
The lease liability of stores.We do not know the terms of the leases.Maybe a 5 to 7 year liability.
The ongoing distribution issues.
The staff intitlements/liabilities.
The lack of systems,and or people to run the business.Other than retail store staff Postie have had ongoing poor management/directors.
I see receivership as the only course to sort out lease liabilities.
ps.I still would love to be proved wrong.

[Nuts]

You prob right percy. I wonder where they are trying to raise the extra financial backing they are on about.

[percy]

You prob right percy. I wonder where they are trying to raise the extra financial backing they are on about.

Very good question!!!
I would most probably get sued if I said what I am thinking.!!!

[winner69]

TRADING HALT

What's owing Percy?

Special announcement that jerseys to be discounted 90% because of the warmer weather

Or maybe finally being euthanised in the kindest manner. Closed down or sold off?

[winner69]

Hopefully for Nuts it's good news

He deserves a decent payday for remaining so loyal for so long

[percy]

We live in interesting times.!

[Xerof]

It said "a material announcement", so I think it must be something to do with cardigan inventories:scared:

Percy, what you were thinking a while back is probably about to be realised IMO

[winner69]

It said "a material announcement", so I think it must be something to do with cardigan inventories:scared:

Percy, what you were thinking a while back is probably about to be realised IMO

That makes sense mate

Banking covenants aren't material like eh

[percy]

Maybe a material announcement could mean the use of rayon or polyester instead of wool? EG, their use of materials.

Just thinking outside the square.

Took me awhile to wake up.Missed it on first read.!! lol.
Hope for Nut's sake you are right.!!

[winner69]

Took me awhile to wake up.Missed it on first read.!! lol.
Hope for Nut's sake you are right.!!

Methinks nuts be OK now

If they had gone broke or in receivership we would have known by now

Maybe they buying Pumpkin Patch

[percy]

Methinks nuts be OK now

If they had gone broke or in receivership we would have known by now

Maybe they buying Pumpkin Patch

I think you are right.Receivership would most probably been announced without a trading halt.

[ziggy]

I understood Jan Cameron had a large shareholding in PPG. Does anyone know if this is correct?

[Rep]

I understood Jan Cameron had a large shareholding in PPG. Does anyone know if this is correct?

According to page 37 of the Annual Report for 2013, the holding of Janet Cameron and Bichero Investments Pty Ltd was a substantial security holder at 20 September 2013 with 7,991,163 which appears to be held via J B Were (NZ) Limited. This is recorded as 19.98% of the shares.

The only other SSH was Terence Nuttal, Noelene Nuttal and John Buchan held 1,935,129 which was 4.84% of the shares.

There appears to have been no SSH notices lodged with the NZX subsequently so I presume that there are no significant changes thereafter.

[ziggy]

Thanks for that Rep. It is a good thing that she has not sold out but perhaps she wanted to but not enough buyers. Will be interesting to see what TH is about

[macduffy]

Maybe they buying Pumpkin Patch

Wouldn't receivership be a better idea?

:scared: