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?

Hi Dave

Yes, I have held a good stake for a while now!

I have been in and out of these over the last year or so and taken a little on the way from the highs and lows.

To coin another phrase;

Well Worth It!

Noticed over the last two days that someone unloads 5 million at the end of the days trading!!!!!!!!

nice one ringo,have you noticed the stores much more busy,i no the manager of my local store we talked about different prommos to get people in.there latest seems to be working,daily papers,no titles named are offering free dvd films if you bring the coupons in store{kiddys cartoons} they give you the films free,sounds easy ,and its working,in his store 50% of the people buy other things eg cds/dvds/toys/etc on average each basket 9 pound ,its true i stayed in his store for 1 hour tuesday,and seen it for my self.its amazing people think they get something for nowt,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,as if. retail is all about average basket,seems there average basket is on the up,,,,,,,,happy days regards dave.

ringos_tar_2000
Are you sure they are sells??? Not everything is as you see it:-)

Jules

Not really sure, I am going by the Moneyam guide.

Some thing is afoot.

10 million bought in 2 minutes at 09.39...........

Other big buys......

slow ,slow quick,quick, slow,they keep buying dont they,,ringo how much you in for,are you ,are you buy,sell,hold.dave

share price still going up,,neck and neck regarding buyers/sellers,,,,,,,,,,,,,,i may review my target sell price. any thoughts on what level the current run may hit {0.50} wish.

It did reach around 48p if I remember rightly - check a chart over the last
6 mths approx. - did read some time back there was a target price by the
broker of 52p (that would be nice!) I bought in April 2003 at 34p and it
does dip up and down a bit but has much more going for it than the current
price suggests.
Remember it also owns EUK (entertainment UK) which distributes DVD's etc
to other retailers for sale, so even if Woolies (the shop) is not selling
as many as it could, if Tesco are, indirectly Woolies (the group) are still
making money on that sale!

cheers bunny,,` i`ve going short i was going to sell at 44,may stall for 46 ish.three buys of late 39/40/41 , regards dd

looks like its getting followers again,,could be a intresting week,,,my local is busy,,,, an i`am not talking about the pub ..

Woolworth always looks like going to the Promised Land.

It did go to 48p, shows 50p as the high but it probably only went there for a very short time.

The 48 p was because of takeover hype.

Trading statement due Thursday.

Expect news that they ran out of Easter Eggs and Mars Bars.

Sweet-toothed shopper buys 10,000 chocolate bars
LONDON, May 5 (Reuters) - A woman with an apparently insatiable sweet tooth stunned staff at a British shop when she bought more than 10,000 chocolate bars and had them loaded into her chauffeur-driven limousine.

The woman asked staff at a north London Woolworths branch for every single Mars bar in stock -- 10,656 of them packed in 220 boxes -- and paid for them in cash with 50 pound notes, a Woolworths spokesman said on Wednesday.

The total bill was 2,131 pounds ($3,828).

"It was very, very strange but nobody thought to ask her why she wanted so many," the spokesman said.

"It would usually take us a month to shift that number of chocolate bars," he added. "Perhaps she has a sweet tooth."

sockbunny your secret is out!!!!!!!!!!!

But what DID you do with them?

No not me - I usually wipe out the stock of Bounty bars and
of course they also sell Thorntons (well some anyway) and then there's
a brand of marzipan (sheer heaven) that you can't get except in Woolies,
and the pick-and-mix nought and Raspberry Ruffles...Oh Man you
haven't LIVED until you have had a raspberry ruffle and then there's.....
.........................(lol).................................

i was wondering who`s buying all the confectionery..

27 May 2004

Trading Statement for First Quarter 13 weeks to 1 May 2004

At the Woolworths Group plc Annual General Meeting to be held at 11.00am this morning, the Group Chairman, Gerald Corbett will provide an update on key strategic initiatives and trading in the first quarter of the current financial year.

In the 13 weeks to 1 May 2004, total Group sales increased 6.5 per cent to 576.6 million. Underlying retail sales (Mainchain, Woolworths big W and MVC) for the 13 week period grew 1.6 per cent versus the same period last year after adjusting for the agency treatment of electronic top-up sales for mobile phones and the outsourcing of the in-store cafoperation. Entertainment third party sales (Entertainment UK and VCI) grew 45.0 per cent.

Group retail like-for-like sales increased by 1.0 per cent. Within this, the Mainchain was up 1.0 per cent, Woolworths big W increased by 0.9 per cent and MVC was up 1.2 per cent. The gross margin has continued to show solid year on year improvement. The overall sales and margin performance reflects the successful execution of the Easter trading strategy.

The store refit programme is on schedule, with a further twelve stores having been converted already this year. These stores are showing similar sales and margin improvements to the first ten.

Good progress is being made in working through the future of the Woolworths big W properties. There has been a high level of interest in the sites and the smaller out-of-town proposition continues to be refined. A further update will be given with the pre-close statement on 21 July 2004.

Commenting on the first quarter's trading performance Gerald Corbett said, "The Group's recovery programme continues to progress and the current financial year has begun as planned."

For further information contact:

Christopher Rogers, Finance Director 020 7706 5883
Nicole Lander, Head of Corporate Affairs 020 7706 5653
Kate Inverarity, Tulchan Communications 020 7353 4200

All progressing nicely, but it is increasingly looking like a
long haul on the share price, very disappointing tiny rise today.

Have another look, it hit 47p for a moment.

Bid rumours?

Looks like they went up in sympathy with Marks & Spencers. This story surfaced at 16.45, but I am sure the rumours were rife before the close which explains the rapid rise late in the session.

Here it is:-

Philip Green confirms considering Marks & Spencer bid
MoneyAM
Revival Acquisitions Ltd, a company owned by Philip Green and members of his family, confirmed that it is considering a possible offer for Marks & Spencer PLC.

Revival said it intends to approach the board of Marks & Spencer in the next few days with its proposal and to seek a recommendation.

Any proposal would involve a mixture of cash and shares in a new company which would seek a listing.

Now that is confirmed, I daresay the price for WLW.L will drop back to it's previous levels.

Could be a selling followed by a buying opportunity, that is if it does not drop back too quickly.