Anyone notice the exratordinary volumes yesterday? (10/5/2004)

48 million!!!

Many more buys than sells.

That and the price held out only losing a fraction of a penny.

No Easter Eggs in sight in my local store.

May be one reason but............

Any ideas people?

KBC Peel Hunt says buy Woolworths (WLW.L) (on weakness).

Panmure says hold Woolworths (WLW.L) (reducing the target price to 40p from 45p).

Cheers SWW - and a happy new year to you - here's to a profitable 2005!!
The sun certainly isn't shining in Woolies Winter Wonderland today.

I would agree with that sw,{on weakness}.

By: Gavin Lumsden, Editor in Chief
07:41 Tue 04 January 2005

Woolworths shares slide 3p to 37p following the poor Christmas trading statement.

Confirming fears of a bad Christmas for many retailers Woolworths (WLW) said like for like sales at the main chain were flat in the 4 weeks to 1 January, fell 8% at Big W and fell 4.7% at MVC.

In the 48 weeks to 1 January total sales gained 2.9% helped by the entertainment wholesale and publishing business. However, like for likes at the main chain fell 1.5%, Big W was down 4.1% and MVC slid 5.3%.

Seymour Pierce notes that gross margins improved by 30 basis points but says this is well below the 150 point improvement that management was seeking. Seymour Pierce says its decision before Christmas to cut 2005 pre-tax profit forecast to 68 million looks justified. For 2006 the broker has cut forecasts from 89 million to 76 million. It has maintained its underperform stance on the stock.

'A poor performance from the group, though we are sure that Woolworths will not be the last to disappoint,' it says.

Begining to look like 35p may be on the cards imo.

but not today..........

Come on wlw,come to your uncle dave!!

lol

Morning Dave and don't jinx my tiny profit young man! ;>)
As it stands now there's about enough in my WLW pot left to
get me a pot of Pick-n-Mix
:>)

Morning bunny,sorry to here that,young man theres hope for us 40 year olds yet then,missed it early on that 36,i feel it will be here again,,anybody want a buy a time pc 599,but i can get it for 299,i now a man at woolworths,,and theres a camera.
I have been to see my guy at wlw,this morning,still 18 left.

Price has recovered a fraction - guess people are getting in
on a gamble. In all honesty apart from MVC the figs. for WLW
were basically flat, so the initial drop was I feel a tad over
done.

I am still looking at 36 & mybe lock it away until 45,and take a divi.

As always............... overdone.

Difficult to make a judgement initally between a market adjustment and a free fall but some people, (dave), likes a gamble and a cheap computer.

The chart does look like an upward trend from now on unless there is a mass exodus.

The next crunch will be in March then.

Reduced dividend I wonder?

Hope not SWW - that's one of the positives with this one
the yield is fair currently, so hopefully no drop.

Sw,i never said i wanted a tiny pc there out of date before they boxed them.

It's all right dave, I not selling them!

I see its found a level,whats your view on the volume,it will smash through 100 million trades.

Seems 38 is all it can snuffle.

That'll do for now dave.

100 mil?

no not today.

Heres another one............

No wonder at Woolies
Published: 12:34 Tuesday 04 January 2005

By: Douglas Bence, Companies Correspondent

A disappointing Christmas trading statement from Woolworths is the first big clue that Britains high streets ended the year not with a cheer, but a whimper.

Woolworth (WLW) chief executive Trevor Bish-Jones said there were fewer shoppers last month than in December 2003, buying decisions were made later than ever and customers were more than usually stimulated by special promotions.

Bish-Jones is convinced the Woolworth experience was mirrored elsewhere in the high street and believes it did a lot better than some of its competitors. The shares fell 2.25p to 38%, a drop of 5.59%.

He says Woolworths is in better shape than it was two years ago, operational systems are working and margins have improved. There are no problems with unsold seasonal stocks, with levels around the same as 2004.

The grim news is no surprise coming after a weak November when Woolworths sales of entertainment products and toys were below expectations.

In the four weeks to 1 January 2005, like-for-like sales in Woolworths Mainchain were flat against last year.

Christmas sales of entertainment products were held up by a shortage of electronic games hardware and Bish-Jones says key DVD releases like Shrek 2, Harry Potter and Spiderman underperformed. DVDs from the Little Britain team, Peter Kay and Jeremy Clarkson were all in the top 20.

Woolworths increased its focus on toys, but although it improved market share, Bish-Jones says not by enough to justify the extra retail space.

Parents seem to be moving away from toys and opting for iPods, digital cameras and mobile phones, he says.

In the four weeks to 1 January 2005, like-for-like sales at Woolworths' big W declined 8%, reflecting the phased exit from non-core categories as the company prepares to dispose of a number of sites. Contracts have been exchanged on seven.

For the 48 weeks to 1 January 2005, group sales rose 2.9%. While the entertainment, wholesale and publishing businesses rose 31.6%; the retail fascias side was down 3.3%.

At the 58 refurbished 10/10 stores, sales and margins were ahead of the rest of Mainchain where like-for-like sales were down 1.5%. Woolworths big W was down 4.1% and the game cube side, MVC, down 5.3%.

Bish-Jones says profit for the year to 29 January, before tax, exceptional items and goodwill, will be similar to last year. It will be announced on 23 March. The analyst consensus figure averages between 76-7 million within the range 68 million to 82 million.

Citywire Verdict:

Although the poor Christmas was widely anticipated, Seymour Pierce says that the gross margin improvement of 30 basis points was well below the forecast 150 basis points. Seymour Pierce cut its forecast for the year from 89 million to 76 million and now thinks the bottom of the range, 68 million, is about right. It expects the shares to under perform, but says Woolworths will not be the last to disappoint.