Ian Pollard – More headwinds, volatility, weak & challenging markets and footfall

Next plc NXT First half full price sales were up +4.5% on last year,. ahead of the +1.0% guidance given in January and the +2.2% given in May and even coming as a surprise to Next itself which admits that its performance was flattered by the unusually warm summer. The reality is that the market […]

Ian Pollard – Harvey Nash #HVN – “Core” Blimey

Harvey Nash HVN Preliminary results show that a record “core” performance was delivered during the year to 31st January, which actually saw profit before tax down by 37.!%, earnings per share nearly halved with a fall of 45.5% and the final dividend increased by 5%. The CEO says these were excellent results which were ahead […]

WPP Currency Tailwinds Add Over 10% Growth.

WPP plc WPP produced another record year in 2016 helped by huge favourable exchange rate movements, especially in the second half. Without these, the strength was much less pronounced. Reported billings rose by 16% but at constant currency rates the rise was reduced to 5.5% and on a like for like basis it was down […]

Not Again – More Unspecified “Challenging Conditions”

More and more Boards and CEOs seem to be waking up to the fact that if they claim to be operating in “challenging conditions” it makes their performance and governance, good or bad, look even better than it really is. What they forget is that some of us, perhaps even some shareholders, would like to […]

Lloyds Claims “Robust” Profits Fall & “Operating Jaws” Success

Lloyds Bank LLOY claims to have delivered a robust first quarter performance with underlying profit down 6% and statutory profit before tax down by  46% – you can’t get more robust than that. And then just to illustrate  how banks are prepared to show their teeth when necessary it does not seek to hide the fact […]