MYR - Myer Holdings

[Garpal Gumnut]

The only reason to hold MYR is as a short of some sort.

 

[notting]

Lew sends out a letter to his shareholders so the whole world can see that 'he would like the details of registered holders.' He does this on Premier investment letter head and as an ASX announcement. For gods sake!!
Seems to be wanting to attack MYR whilst holding the price up on the day it goes ex dividend.
I was shorting the stock thinking I had a bit of time before he would go for a second bite. After it fell after paying the div.
I quickly reversed the short then went short again today at .79 thinking it was just harassment which he will continue to do to disrupt the board and make the market lose even more confidence in management.
Then collect the whole thing.
So back short again.
Was lucky I didn't lose too much given what it did today and will continue to build the short on strength.
Most are expecting him to harass for a while before going in for the feed.

 

[satanoperca]

Myers is a dinosaur that cannot compete in today's world. Simple

Out dated, no customer experience run by arrogant individuals who have no understanding of the digital world.

The time for a short was the IPO, they have nothing left and will only be a memory in peoples minds within 10 years.

 

[notting]

Sure it was, specially if you called it at the time.........

 

[mcgrath111]

Myers is a dinosaur that cannot compete in today's world. Simple

Out dated, no customer experience run by arrogant individuals who have no understanding of the digital world.

The time for a short was the IPO, they have nothing left and will only be a memory in peoples minds within 10 years.

It boggles me as to why this hasn't dropped into the 40's.

I wouldn't be surprised if it gets consolidated under a bigger banner. But who would want it? It sits in a strange place in terms of customer segmentation. (Fancy Target, Shitty David Jones)

 

[greggles]

Does the Aussie retail icon have a future? It's been hitting all-time lows recently and there doesn't appear to be any positives on the horizon.

 

[Miner]

Folks
Some thoughts on the table for hopeful and existing holders of Myer since it is more than likely that none of the executive management team reads our forum.
We all agreed that myer board is not working rightly or dont have the competence to turn around the company. Solomon Lews is just waiting the company to sink at the bottom so that he can buy.
What about we individually pick up at least one area where we can provide some suggestion of improvement znd directly write to the board? We can save thousands of jobs.
I have identified some and going to write to them.
1. Quality of goods to be improved.
2. Too many brands to be reduced. Saves inventory and cost.
3. Stop draining out money paying big dollars to top models like Jennifer Hawkins.
4. Undertake customer profiling and have product mix accordingly.
5. Stop loss making products and reduce them. For example fragrance - stop or reduce them. We all can buy cheap at chemist warehouse.
6. Too high margin is not helping the customers. The competition is high. So have a reality check.
7. Cut down top layers and bring efficiency.
8. Bring back the iconic customer service. The staff are now of so reduced volume as well they are demoralised waiting for jobs to disappear.
Etc. Etc. Let us write directly and not to generic common addresses. Some good thoughts will prevail.
Regards

 

[satanoperca]

I have identified some and going to write to them.
1. Quality of goods to be improved. Simple in idea, but requires a complete overhaul of the buying teams and cultural change. Their level of arrogance blinds them from seeing opportunities and understanding the current market place.
2. Too many brands to be reduced. Saves inventory and cost. See above and add a leader with vision and invite into the fashion market place.
3. Stop draining out money paying big dollars to top models like Jennifer Hawkins. Agreed, invest in robotic models instead, they are less demanding the real models.
4. Undertake customer profiling and have product mix accordingly. Obvious statement and I am sure they all ready do this, it is how you interpret the data and draw direction from it that it important.
5. Stop loss making products and reduce them. For example fragrance - stop or reduce them. We all can buy cheap at chemist warehouse. Fragrances is large revenue earner and I don't have information information on it to take the conclusion that they should remove these product lines.
6. Too high margin is not helping the customers. The competition is high. So have a reality check. Margin is one thing, but stop the endless discounting, people only buy now when things are reduced, stupid business model
7. Cut down top layers and bring efficiency. Agreed totally, way to top heavy with people who think they are so important.
8. Bring back the iconic customer service. The staff are now of so reduced volume as well they are demoralised waiting for jobs to disappear. What's that customer service? Who would of thought consumers were looking and demanding that. Couldn't agree more
Etc. Etc. Let us write directly and not to generic common addresses. Some good thoughts will prevail.
Regards

All in all, I don't think the company can be saved until there is a complete restructure of the board and I can only see this when Solly can get is hands on it and that means it must fail first.

Myers needs to modernize and turn shopping back into an experience with knowledgeable staff on the ground, products that meet the market and stop trying to satisfy eveyone.

Several years ago I was involved in the revamp of Melbourne Myers, some great design fit outs where implement and it lifted the level of presentation and atmosphere in the store, however, 3 months down the track and all the good work was wasted, clothing racks were stacked to the brim, everything was disorganised and there was way, way to much product on the floor, it looked like a junk shop. I am yet to return.

 

[notting]

It's at times like these when I think. 'You know you could just about bet the house on this pretty shortly. Lew's definitely not gonna let 120 million just disapear.
Thinking after falling from $5 to 55c or so that the thing would be cheap.
Not so, they have 30 expensive lease contracts and here is how it compares -
HVN PE 10.8
JBH PE 14.7
MYR PE 39.64
Which means it would be a reasonable buy at about .20c per share.

 

[Miner]

Well documented Notting.
For a change, I took my emotion out (could be wrong this time who knows) and looked into the scene.
Option 1 - New CEO will do something worthwhile and the market will respond. Could be a good time to hold or to add
Option 2 - Lew could take over as this is too cheap a price for him considering earlier effort. Could be a bonanza to hold.
Option 3 - Look into present financials, past outcome with so many promises. Consider the Chairman is equally responsible and now he is running the show knowing it is not just the CEO who is responsible to have this situation with Myer and time to SELL.
I took the option 3 and sold out.
Often my decisions were wrong with plenty of times. So hopefully there will be a return time.

 

[satanoperca]

It's at times like these when I think. 'You know you could just about bet the house on this pretty shortly. Lew's definitely not gonna let 120 million just disapear.
Thinking after falling from $5 to 55c or so that the thing would be cheap.
Not so, they have 30 expensive lease contracts and here is how it compares -
HVN PE 10.8
JBH PE 14.7
MYR PE 39.64
Which means it would be a reasonable buy at about .20c per share.

I think this is even to optimistic. It is not just the current CEO that f--kd this company, it was the past. Out of date, old dudes that think they know better and are not intouch with changing demographics and technology.

They should have asked their teenage children how to direct the ship, would have got a better result.

Until Myers, heavily reduces their reliance on expensive bricks and mortar, they are a dead duck.

All things must come to an end, I cannot see Myers surviving much past 5 years.

 

[Smurf1976]

Looking at competing "bricks and mortar" retailers they seem to be either doing OK or are owned by a much larger company (Wesfarmers or Woolworths) who can afford to either prop up an unprofitable division if they think they can turn it around or alternatively shut it down in an orderly manner.

Myer would seem to be in the weakest position and I can't see them surviving much longer given that it seems pretty clear that at least one department store type retailer is going to disappear sooner or later.

If Wesfarmers management reach a similar conclusion then logically they'll seek to move their struggling Target stores into part of Myer's space in terms of what they sell and then just wait for Myer to go bust which would happen more quickly with another competitor. They could tolerate the loss in the short term and then do pretty well given that they should have far lower overheads than Myer has (mostly because Target doesn't have huge stores in super expensive locations). Just a thought.

 

[McLovin]

I don't have the answers on how to fix MYR, but surely recognising the internet as a real, competitive sales channel is a step in the right direction. It just seems to show how out of touch they are with anyone under 40.

Out of touch much...

Mr Lew also reiterated his criticism that Mr Hounsell, the former chairman of Spotless Group and a former CEO of Arthur Andersen, lacked retail knowledge and experience.

Mr Hounsell was appointed executive chairman of Myer last week after the board dismissed Mr Umbers and will have day to day control of Australia's largest department store chain until a new CEO can be found.

"Mr Hounsell ... has no real retail experience and (his) only role as CEO was at the collapsed accounting firm, Arthur Andersen Australia," Mr Lew said.


"Last week, business media outlets reported Mr Hounsell as saying he was "old-fashioned", hadn't used the internet to shop, and only bought for himself 2 to 3 times a year. He also couldn't properly explain how Myer's debt covenants worked," he said.

"If this out-of-touch incompetence wasn't causing all Myer shareholders significant value destruction, it would be comical," he said.

Read more: http://www.afr.com/business/retail/...-is-incompetent-20180218-h0wa7g#ixzz57VYSESkH

An incredible amount of hubris is required for the executive chairman of a large retailing operation to openly admit he has never used the internet to shop.

 

[greggles]

An incredible amount of hubris is required for the executive chairman of a large retailing operation to openly admit he has never used the internet to shop.

Especially given the growth in online retail sales in Australia. It's pretty clear where the future of retail is and it's not in old-fashioned upmarket department stores with extortionate markups.

Bricks and mortar department store sales have been flat for a decade and the discount stores are doing much better than the Myer/David Jones style.

Myer seems like a dinosaur these days. It's glory days have long since passed and it's too big, too old and too tired to re-invent itself effectively. Its market cap still seems too large given the rapidly changing face of retail. David Jones is in the same boat.

 

[brty]

In both the US and UK the big retailers are being hammered and not just by the internet. It seems that overall spending on/in retail is changing.
These types of headlines are from around the world recently........
" Sears and Kmart brands - A disappearing act this holiday season. Still the company insisted it is on track with its turnaround plans, despite the falling sales and financial difficulties."

"Lego, the world's most profitable toy manufacturer, suffered the first fall in global sales for more than a decade in the first six months of 2017. Toys R Us's problems are just the latest sign of high street distress"

In terms of Myer, the above headline for Sears in US/Canada about turnaround plans, seems very familiar.
IMO it might just be the model is broken, and Myer now having long term leases instead of owning the bricks and mortar are in deep trouble. (I think they still own the Melbourne city real estate only!)

A revenue downgrade (again) and the swift departure of the CEO, just before the half yearly results, paints a gloomy picture here.
Share price at 5 year lows means it is probably going lower.

 

[notting]

RAID

 

[Calvin27]

What about we individually pick up at least one area where we can provide some suggestion of improvement znd directly write to the board? We can save thousands of jobs.

Imo myer needs to stop this boom and bust retail model. It's not to do with inventory or range or whatever, it comes down to the basics - sales. it needs to stop this perpetual stocktake sale model where half the time you get oversized clothes for a penny while the rest of the time you pay double the nearest competitor for a regular size. The strong success of retailers like H&M and Zara is repeat business. People walk in frequently and their business model is built for that. Those retailers do not have flash sales frequently (I believe they would rather shred their stock) and their pricing is lower than that of Myer's RRP but at a significant margin to stocktake sale Myer. Customers can walk in with confidence knowing that prices are reasonable and this gives them confidence. The whole, 'I'll wait for the next sale' retail model is killing them.

On a side note, how much are their assets worth? They have some nice buildings in good locations.

 

[Gringotts Bank]

They have some nice buildings in good locations.

IMO, they will be converted to a mix of apartments/gym/spa/healthfood/parking mix, as is the trend.

 

[notting]

Raider seemed to be still around yesterday but was limiting to .455 by the afternoon.
Has not appeared today and there is a bit of a seller in there today so far!
Unlikely to be lew unless it gets very aggressive this afternoon.
find out who or what it was tomorrow.

 

[Garpal Gumnut]

IMO, they will be converted to a mix of apartments/gym/spa/healthfood/parking mix, as is the trend.

Many are rented or are not owned outright.

gg