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Home Retail Group Trading and Disposal

As a follow up to my blog post on the possible Sainsbury/Home Retail deal yesterday, here are some comments on the Home Retail Group trading statement issued this morning. Total sales at Argos increased 0.9%, but like-for-like sales were down 2.2% in the period as a result of reduced store footfall and growth in digital transactions. Homebase total sales were down 4% but like-for-like grew by 5% - this mix arises from an "aggressive store closure program". But the killer in their statement ...

More on Sainsbury (SBRY) and Home Retail Group (HOME)

Sainsbury published their Third Quarter Trading Statement this morning (13/1/2016) and they have also published a document arguing the merits of their possible bid for Home Retail Group under the title of "Accelerating our strategy for growth". Home Retail Group previously rejected an approach from Sainsbury on the basis that it undervalued the company. This note discusses the latest news as a follow up to my previous comments on this matter. Now I have previously declared an interest in this subject as ...

Stockbroker Transfers – More Evidence of Unreasonable Delays

Back in November I wrote about the delays that can occur in switching a portfolio of shares from one stockbroker to another. I now have a file of 7 examples contributed by different people where such transfers took several months. This is surely totally unreasonable and unnecessary. On behalf of ShareSoc and our members I have written to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) complaining about this problem and have received a response which provides some more information at least. The FCA does have ...

The Importance of Having a Stock Selection Process

There is a good editorial in this month's edition of the Sharewatch newsletter. As was emphasised by our coverage of stock picking systems in the last ShareSoc newsletter, the key is to have some system, and some discipline, when selecting stocks. This is the time of year when the media are publishing their "naps" for the new year and when many investors are looking to refresh their portfolios by getting rid of last year's duds and picking new ones. This is ...

Sainsbury (SBRY) and Home Retail Group (HOME)

Sainsbury have announced today (5/1/2016) that they may be making an offer for Home Retail Group (the owners of Argos and Homebase) although their first approach in November was rejected. No doubt the publication of this information, and the advantages of such a merger, is intended to bring pressure on Home Retail to talk further. Now I have to declare an interest in this matter have recently purchased a few Sainsbury shares on the basis it looked the best value in a ...