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.

Preliminaries out today http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=4614747

Ex-divi on wed 17th July, 11.8p.

Interims http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=4707608

Investec Buy 0.00 547.50 495.00 620.00 Retains

These usually have a good end of the year.

stan - no doubt the thought will rankle with your socialist sensibilites, but i think you're right that christmas could prove to be a bumper time as public optimism improves as it perceives that the economy is indeed gathering pace - and a damn sight faster than predicted or elsewhere in eu

cynic don't forget the saying about statistics and damned lies.

so long as the plebs believe it (so do i actually) then that's all that matters - confidence breeds confidence like the converse

Blimey Alf, some of you Tories really are quite desperate for attention, Read the post again and then continue your thinking if you can... The word "usually" is the clue.

stan - perhaps i'm being unusually thick - blame the cold weather! - but i fail to see the point you're trying to make

... Yes, I think you probably do -):

But to be serious, Followed this lot on and off for a few years, not very much these days but think I'm right in saying that around Christmas their share price hits its high point of the year, so a good trade is in the offing if you're timing is right for a profit. Please check their 10 year chart for reference.

whatever old bean :-)
have added these to my watch list, but am trying to keep a lid on my pot, so would currently need to make a sale to find room (and for EZJ)

Yes, I'm doing the same thing at the mo.

Majestic Wine PLC ("Majestic" or the "Company") the UK's largest wine specialist, today announces a trading update.

On 16 June 2014 the Company will announce its results for the year ending 31 March 2014 and the Board now expects to report that profit before tax will be broadly in line with the previous financial year.

Although the 10 week Christmas trading period was satisfactory and we achieved like for like sales growth of 2.8%, we have experienced challenging trading conditions since the start of the 2014 calendar year. With two weeks to go until our year end we now expect like for like sales to be flat for the financial year as a whole. The latest market data published by Nielsen indicates that we have maintained our market share at 4.1%.

Furthermore, as part of our longer term growth strategy to increase the store footprint to over 300 and expand our e-commerce operations, the Board has decided to invest in the necessary infrastructure enhancements to underpin our future growth plans. These include new office space, a larger and more efficient distribution facility to handle higher volumes, establishing our own in-house e-commerce development team and increasing the size of our Commercial sales team. Building on our strong customer service ethos we are also increasing our investment in both staff training and in our CRM and data analytics capabilities. These investments are necessary to ensure that we can drive further growth although the costs in the short term mean that the Board now anticipates a flatter profit growth profile in the 2015 financial year.

Steve Lewis, Chief Executive, said:

"The Majestic proposition remains compelling to the consumer and our future growth prospects remain bright. I am confident that the investments we are making over the course of the next twelve months will drive future shareholder value."

Down nearly 20% on the back of that statement!

Worth a punt Harry?

So long as there was nothing in the budget to knock the sp even further, I reckon this drop is a little overdone.

Nasty.

N+1 Singer Buy 408.75 590.00 590.00 Under Review

Panmure Gordon note:
Trading update.
The group has experienced challenging trading conditions since the start of the 2014 calendar year and LFL sales growth has slowed from 0.8% YTD to flat and as such earnings are likely to be broadly similar to last year.

Outlook.
The group also expects a flatter profit growth profile next year reflecting investment in the business as it scales to 300 stores and capitalises on the digital opportunity. These investments will include new office space, a larger and more efficient distribution facility to handle higher volumes, establishing its own in-house e-commerce development team and increasing the size of its Commercial sales team. The group is also increasing investment in both staff training and in CRM and data analytics capabilities. FY 2014E results will be reported on 16 June.

Forecasts.
We anticipate a c5% downgrade to FY 2014E earnings to c£23.5m PBT and a c13% downgrade to FY 2015E earnings to £24-25m PBT. We will firm up our forecasts following a conversation with management.

Valuation.
Pre-downgrades the stock trades on a FY 2015E P/E of 15.6x an EV/EBITDA of 9.4x and yields 4.0%. The stock retains attractive long-term growth characteristics and we are inclined to view this as a blip – notwithstanding the need to invest in some of the older stores – and we reiterate our Buy recommendation but reduce our target price from 635p to 550p."