CCX - CITY CHIC COLLECTIVE LIMITED

[ShareCafe]

MRL

[playmaster]

Anybody have an opinion on MRL...a big writeup in the latest Intellegent Investor newsletter who rate them as a strong Buy and have done for a little while.

[versacorp]

you must ignor those II recommendations http://www.ShareScene.com/html/emoticons/thumbdown.gif , they have lost their subsribers millions of $$ http://www.ShareScene.com/html/emoticons/grrr.gif

 

MRL heading back to $1.30

[bello]

Is it true that Intelligent Investor have put a 'sell' on Millers now?

[wizzkid]

From a technical view MRL has been in a downtrend since March 02.

 

 

[remlif]

In reply to: bello on Friday 03/12/04 12:03pm

Yes bello, you are right

 

They have finally seen sense. I'm a subscriber with them and was foolish enough to follow their advice in earlier days

[hay]

In reply to: remlif on Friday 03/12/04 11:34am

Dear MRL posters,

I'm burned too on MRL, and also subscribe to II. I even forwarded the recommendation to others who bought in too - so I feel v bad. However still a fan of II, who openly admit their mistakes, and I believe provide excellent advice most of the time. Show me any broker/adviser/newsletter that get's it right all the time?

 

Hay

[remlif]

In reply to: hay on Friday 03/12/04 01:06pm

Hi Hay,

 

I agree that II are very honest with their advice and they do admit to their mistakes. And they do write in an entertaining "easy to read" way. I can never quite come to trust a broker's advice as they seem to have so many other vested interests (witness the rash of Telsra upgrades starting to hit the market).

 

However, I probably won't be renewing my subscription to II next time round. I have come to the conclusion that their research is a bit too shallow. I'm not sure that they do much more than read the annual reports and peruse the ASX announcements.

[bearto]

In reply to: remlif on Friday 03/12/04 12:34pm

Although I don't subscribe to II if they have now changed MRL to a SELL then,

somehow the logic escapes me.

 

If they were rated as a BUY at $1.30 then one would have thought that at a $1.02 or therebouts they should be a better buy.

 

That is, unless something has changed. Unless I am missing something this

does not appear to be the case. The competition in the discount variety business

has not changed. As far as I am aware it has not got worse. One would think

that sometime in the future it has to get better if WHS is not going to keep losing $30odd

million a year in Oz. Also the MRL CEO in has AGM address said that sales for the four months ending 31 Oct are up 7.8% on last year although like for like store sales are down 2%. This does not seem to be info that should drop the share price of MRL by 20 odd % in a week. What am I missing???

 

Bearto

P.S. I hold. The only good thing I can think about this is that if the dividend does not

drop then I will get a larger quantity of shares under the dividend reinvestment scheme.

[remlif]

In reply to: bearto on Friday 03/12/04 03:32pm

Hi bearto

 

Below are the latest words from II

 

Recommendation: Sell down to $1.15

We've made a mistake and, we are sorry to say, it's a large one. It has been an arduous process but we have become increasingly uncomfortable with Miller's Retail and its management since the release of the company's inadequate annual report. Attending the annual meeting last week, we hoped the concerns we raised with management might be addressed. But not even the view from the meeting room on Level 10 of Darling Park Tower could allay our disappointment. We already knew the discount variety division was doing it tough. What we wanted to know was how management intends to deal with the problem, and on that point we were given precious little. Instead, shareholders were fed gobbledegook slogans such as 'creating the platform' for growth, 'brand repositioning' and 'supply chain management'. Such phrases are not what we expect of a management team in partnership with shareholders. We'd be less concerned if we could see any respite, but details about current performance were also lacking. Like-for-like sales for the first four months of this financial year were down 2%, with no breakup between apparel and discount variety provided. Our conclusion is that the business's performance may be worse than we thought for longer than we thought, and that management is hoping that the current television advertising campaign and Christmas trading might save its bacon. This doesn't inspire confidence, which partly explains why the stock has fallen 10% since last issue (Hold - $1.29). While there's no need to panic, we can no longer justify portfolio holdings of 10% in a troubled company when management has clammed up. We recommend subscribers now SELL enough shares in Miller's so that it represents no more than 5% of your portfolio, down to a price limit of $1.15. Clearly, we have misjudged Miller's badly, and we'll be analysing why next issue.

 

II have long been a fan of MRL. They had them as a strong buy at over $2 and it is only recently (since their AGM) that they started cooling.

 

I finally sold mine earlier this week for $1.25 (before this report came out)