Agreed. The traditional response to increasing cost pressures, (exchange rate), is to source product from cheaper suppliers but that hasn't gone down well at all with PPL customers so I think the HLG directors can rule out that approach.
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Yeah IIRC it was mate and I definitly dodged a bullet with this one. Was thinking of taking a small stake again yesterday but something smelled funny with the price drop and volume on offer so it gave a pretty solid reading on my information "leak metre". Best investor tool by miles I reckon is a beagle dog's nose for information leaks, B.S. and corporate spin, (only information leak metre gave a reading, Directors seem like pretty straight shooters to me). I like the company but something's got to change to meet the changing circumstances and I'm not sure what ?
Be interested to see nz/Aus breakdown when interim comes out
In nz if the electronic card spending data can be used as a proxy for market conditions then HLG performing in line with the 'market'.The Clothing and Footwear Category sales were up just 2% over the sae period. So maybe 1.3% isn't that bad ...but not good
Maybe clothing retailing in NZ isn't that buoyant at the moment after all. Everybody spending the extra cash on restaurants and in hardware stores by the look of the numbers
The bottom of his cycle will come - later this year or early next year.
Look at my chart in post #400 on this thread to see what I mean
Get a good price sometime - they keep paying divies - and some capital gains until things turn again and its all honky dory.
See the bargain hunters already piling in
I initially thought this was a good idea but then remembered that they own Storm which is trying to play in that market (for womenswear rather than menswear).
I don't think that have been terribly successful there. Maybe mewswear would work better but with a general trend away from suits and ties in the office environment, I'm not so sure.
At the moment, I'm not sure what to think about HLG. I think there are a reasonably robust brand but the company hasn't really gone anywhere in the past few years.... and is slowly dealing with more and more competition (internet, TopShop, H&M, Zara, etc).
Fair comment mate. I guess directors are signalling confidence with dropping the dividend by only 1 cent from 14.5 to 13.5 cps, much less than ~ 20% drop in profit. I guess if one is trying to read the tea leaves one could read something into that. Yield is super attractive but is it maintainable...that's the $64,000 question !
Now that would be a radical move away from their knitting for HLG!
For what seems like hundreds of years they've been the go-to place for conservative, value-for-money menswear. Why, even as recently as last year I bought my grandson a smart new shirt from HLG. For some, probably quite valid reason, he hasn't worn it yet.
Seriously though, I don't hold but wouldn't be betting against them coming back strongly.
Bit of sell down at days end and close 295
Maybe the words of Rod Duke spooked a few - he said the next year going to be harder to manage margins than the past one, the adverse impact of a lower $ is just starting to hurt.