Any one know why the share price for MJW has fallen off a cliff? They had a good year to March 2004 and prelim results are coming out soon. Don't tell me we are all so upset by Iraq that we've all stopped buying booze.

Hadn't thought of that Harry, they go Ex.divi on the 10th July.

Nevertheless, I still think MJW is a very solid company & I have traded in & out for quite a few years. Shame that they have possibly overreached themselves in France, but their U.K. operation seems to be very steady.
I do think, however, that they are going to have to diversify at some point, otherwise there is going to be very limited growth. Lets hope the new marketing chap earns his salary!

a magnam of 13% 'frontera' chilean merlot for under 5 at tesco.

http://www.tesco.com/winestore/controller.aspx?Bc=60459+5512&Bc2=60459%7cMerlot*5512%7cChile&R=12381066

tesco given the chance will beat the shit out of any retailer, they got the outlets and the buying power.

"the average bottle of wine purchased is now 5.75, up from 5.59." ...so as you can see price is not the only consideration with some of the wine buying public.

Also you can spend a rediculous amount of time getting in and out of some of these supermarkets....and all for one item!

i always eat and drink in the aisles ,it saves the queueing

...So the rumours are true -):

Majestic fizzes ahead

MoneyAM

Majestic Wine said H1 pretax profit was up 16.7% to £7.5m despite an early-summer slow down.

The wine retailer said trading strengthened from the beginning of August as customers responded to additional promotional activity. UK like for like sales for the eight weeks from July 31st to the end of the half grew 6.4%, it said.

Majestic said the like-for-like sales for the four weeks to October 29th were up 2.2%. It added it expects the trading environment to continue to be challenging but said it is well prepared for the important Christmas trading period.

It declared an interim dividend of 2.8p, up 22% on the previous year.

Only had a quick look at the full results but relieved that there doesn't seem to any glaringly bad things in there.

i think Majestic knock the socks off their competitors ..... the stores are well run, well stocked with a wide range of wines to suit all, from the cheapest to fine wines, and more importantly, their staff are knowledgeable ...... all the above also used to apply to Oddbins until the french took over and the accountants got busy, knocking out about 25% of their better wines because they took up too much space without giving the return ...... big error as their results have shown

Up over 12% so far today, no announcement yet. The boy How is going or gone.

Wonder if there's an offer coming?

Don't hold these anymore.

Well spotted! Took this off my watch list a while ago, but maybe worth a quick punt. Hope figures due in june are reasonable.

Having looked at the chart, support at 200p is very tentative. Next stop 110p if 200 doesn't hold. Well below the 200 DMA now (Approx 300p). Very risky punt on second thoughts. Back on my watch list.

Retail = stay clear for the foreseeable future.

http://moneyam.uk-wire.com/cgi-bin/articles/200811071620057518H.html

Does anyone know what AIM Rule 17 is please?

MJW is almost certainly the best wine retailer in UK ..... not only do they carry a wide range, from cheap to (almost) top quality, but the staff are knowledgeable too.

there was a time when Oddbins were serious competition, but they went badly downhill once they were taken over by Nichiolas and their bunch of accountants ..... actually, i heard a story a few months back that the management were buying them back again, though whether or not it is true, i do not know.

MJW's chart (below), looks pretty ugly, and for sure they cannot have escaped the downturn in spending, but if sp dips to 140 again, that could be a good entry point especially with Christmas in the offing

In answer to my own question in post 27:

Disclosure of miscellaneous information
17. An AIM company must issue notification without delay of:

♦ the resignation, dismissal or appointment of its nominated adviser or broker.

A good business but with the large supermarkets to contend with they are in a tough position.
There was a decent note on Investors Champion (www.investorschampion.com) that addressed many of the issues on this one

Wonder Aim share of the past 10 years now in backwards momentum I would guess 60p..

Corporate sales dip at Majestic Wine
MoneyAM
Majestic Wine said this morning that in the first half it saw an increase in sales to private customers and its share of UK wine market maintained. However, the wine warehouse chain reported a decline in corporate sales, particularly Champagne. Down over 7% on the news.

I had to laugh about the decline in corporate sales, "particularly Champagne" -):

Business Financial Newswire
"Majestic Wine chairman Simon Burke will retire following the next AGM on August 6. Non-executive director Phil Wrigley, 57, has been appointed as chairman-designate to succeed him.

Wrigley was until recently chairman of retailer New Look, having previously been its chief executive, and has held senior management positions at Debenhams, Arcadia and BHS. Currently he is chairman of LXB Retail Properties. "

From Altium Secs:
"A very short Christmas trading update details that LFL sales growth (ex VAT) was 3.7% over the nine week trading period from 2 November 2010 to 3 January 2011. A commendable performance in our view particularly given the weather disruption etc. Clearly this represents a slowdown from the very strong +7.6% LFL position reported for the 6 months to end Sep 2010. Taking into account new store openings (which are H2 weighted this year), total sales advanced by 6.4% during the period.

Given no indication otherwise, we assume the company remains comfortable with the current market consensus of which we are very marginally above. Looking a year further out we are upgrading our TP to 400p but given the exceptionally strong share price performance (61% relative outperformance over last year) we are now moderating our recommendation to Hold. Nevertheless the long term attractions remain, not least the significant self-funded organic growth opportunity and the groups growing cash pile.