Marchpole is one of those stocks which have had a really bad time. Boardroom battles, losses, price collapse, profit warnings up the ying yang.

Now all of those things seem to be sorted out, new management are getting to grips, new contracts and the price is on the up. So much so that Monday ought to see a 50/200 day MA golden cross.

DYOR of course, but I think I will be putting a few of these away at the open.

Socco

Yep these shares must be for something.

Agree with Capa re JCC and big money to be made there. Will find out in the next results how JCC is doing so far. Managed to get some more today under 35p. Well chuffed, nice end to the week!

Gav

Anyone seen the financial mail this morning?

"Bardot fashion for sale"

Marchpole the mens fashion group behind Yves Saint Laurent and Ozwald Boateng, is in talks to buy the Louis Feraud fashion brand, above.
Louis Feraud, who died four years ago, rose to fame in the sixties when he dressed the young Brigitte Bardot and the brand is now run by his daughter.
Marchpole would not comment, but said last week that its order books for the summer collection of its YSL and Boateng labels were 15 per cent up on last year. A source confirmed that the companies were holding talks.

Very interesting, news just out today. Anybodys thoughts? Not very clued up on Feraud fashion brand...

yes i saw it, right on the front page... It is something I too don't know much about

Going to try and do a little homework, will post anything of interest later on.

Evening all,
This talk of buying Feraud seems interesting, not to sure if it positive news for the short term though guess it would all depend upon the price paid etc etc.
Theres no doubting the quality of the brand itself, recent history shows that in 1999 there are about 50 Feraud outlets around the world whose annual turnover was about 81m.
French fashion designer Louis Feraud retired in 1995 and his business was run by his daughter, ex wife and colleagues until it was took over in 99 by Dutch firm Secon. It appears that a German fashion company, Escada now owns the feraud brand, who bought out Secon in 2002.
Hope that makes sense!
Buys outweigh sells today, but no real move in the sp

Can't find any info on recent collections from Louis Feraud. Head designer is a Danish man I've not heard of who has held the post for about a year. The last one was sacked as his collections were not commercially viable after two seasons.They do a jewellery line as well as accessories( handbags,etc)furs and perfume - not sure, do we cover the lot? It appears Norma Major and Edwina Currie were both fans, at least of the same outfit..but now may not be after a picture of them wearing the same outfit was put together and hung in the Feraud shop window with the caption....they may not like each other but they both like Louis Feraud. Doubt whether their lack of custom would seriously harm sales overall.Appears to be a well recognized brand...used to do haute couture but like many fashion houses stopped a few years ago. I don't know if that helps account for the lower profile and lack of newsflow.

I've brought this up before but had no comment...
looking at trades today, there was thin trading (cos the ftse's falling) then you have 2 MM trades pushing the price down with sales of 15,000 a piece and then they put through a 50,000 (purchase)trade from 8.58!!
It seems that especially on this stock, mm's are (hiding) purchases and manipulating the price lower to encourage sales.

SP fell on low volumes today, no doubt some were shaken out by this. Maybe the MM's thought a good chance to shake a few sellers out and get some stock cheaply. My guess is that this will move up sharply when buyers get in ahead of the results.

016622 - If what you say re MM's manipulating the stock to encourage sales is true, then they must want the shares for a reason. Perhaps for a sharp upturn in the run up to 9/11.

Having looked around, find it quite hard to find out much info on Louis Feraud.

Found this on Fibre2fashion.com:


France : Marchpole targets Louis Feraud
20th October 2004


Louis Feraud, the French fashion brand, may be the latest brand to be added to the expanding portfolio of Marchpole Plc, the British menswear maker already owning Castelbajac as well as licences for Yves Saint Laurent, Ozwald Boateng and Emanuel Ungaro.

The London-based group, which is actively looking to acquire new licences, informed it was in talks with a number of brands, but that British weekend press reports saying it was negotiating to acquire the Paris-based fashion house were speculation.

The group has the licences for the Yves Saint Laurent and Ozwald Boateng in the UK and recently obtained the worldwide licence for Ungaro, excluding the US.

Feraud Paris is in charge of the Feraud brand and licensing operations and has been put up for sales together with a new company by the name of Feraud Fashion GmbH, which was formed after the former Germany-based company filed for bankruptcy in June.

The brand's long-standing British licensee, Robert de Keyser has been granted the additional distribution rights for Australia and North America.

Feraud GmbH in Krefeld also declined to comment on Marchpole's alleged intends to buy the brand.

Should see share price moving up prior to results.Chance to buy for under 35p.

I feel that there is a persistant seller in the background holding this back.

No doubt this should be higher.

capa

Hopefully the momentum should start to grow up to the reults announced on 9th nov, expected to be above expectations. Lots more in this one imho.

Still trending up. Impossible to buy in any size late yesterday, and a good move up this morning.

Kivver, bumper results announcement anticipated, and maybe announcing a purchase of Feraud for a song.

Like I said yesterday there is a big seller hoding this back. 500,000 sell at 34.5p just gone through.

Clear him out and we'll be away

capa

The March to ???p continues.

"Gucci problems unsettle designer licensee
By Philip Stafford
Published: October 29 2004 03:00 | Last updated: October 29 2004 03:00

The problems at Gucci, the Italian fashion house, have helped unsettle the share price of Marchpole, the designer label, in recent days.

The upheaval at Gucci saw the head of its Yves Saint Laurent division become head of the parent brand to bring some stability in the wake of departures.

Marchpole has a licence to design and distribute clothes under the YSL brand and some commentators were worried that the disruption could affect the relationship.

The contract is due to end in 2007 as part of a long-standing agreement. Nevertheless, Marchpole is looking to find a replacement to maintain its revenue streams, although it has lessened its dependence on YSL with the additions of brands like JCC and Boateng.

There are plans for further licensees or acquisitions, although it is possible that YSL may change its mind and retain Marchpole.

Until now, Marchpole has been little affected by outside influences.

The turnround in company fortunes from 2002, when it nearly collapsed owing to a boardroom dispute, has filtered through to fund managers.

The stock has been one of the year's best performers, up more than threefold.

Yesterday, it added another 1p to 34p as traders took the view that the fall at the start of the week was a buying opportunity ahead of half-year results on November 9.

A trading statement on October 13 said interim sales were ahead of expectations.

Its capture of the highly rated Jose Levy to create collections under the Ungaro and Emanuel Ungaro labels was seen by the market as evidence of the company's turnround.

Several other brokers were also thought to be on the verge of initiating coverage in the next few weeks. Philip Stafford"
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/af7ef4b0-2946-11d9-836c-00000e2511c8.html

Capa, looks like you were correct re a seller holding this back. But remember the last time we had a big seller, finished selling then we rose quickly. Hopefully happen here again.

A piece in todays FT.

Gucci problems unsettle designer licensee
By Philip Stafford
Published: October 29 2004 03:00 | Last updated: October 29 2004 03:00

The problems at Gucci, the Italian fashion house, have helped unsettle the share price of Marchpole, the designer label, in recent days.


The upheaval at Gucci saw the head of its Yves Saint Laurent division become head of the parent brand to bring some stability in the wake of departures.

Marchpole has a licence to design and distribute clothes under the YSL brand and some commentators were worried that the disruption could affect the relationship.

The contract is due to end in 2007 as part of a long-standing agreement. Nevertheless, Marchpole is looking to find a replacement to maintain its revenue streams, although it has lessened its dependence on YSL with the additions of brands like JCC and Boateng.

There are plans for further licensees or acquisitions, although it is possible that YSL may change its mind and retain Marchpole.

Until now, Marchpole has been little affected by outside influences.

The turnround in company fortunes from 2002, when it nearly collapsed owing to a boardroom dispute, has filtered through to fund managers.

The stock has been one of the year's best performers, up more than threefold.

Yesterday, it added another 1p to 34p as traders took the view that the fall at the start of the week was a buying opportunity ahead of half-year results on November 9.

A trading statement on October 13 said interim sales were ahead of expectations.

Its capture of the highly rated Jose Levy to create collections under the Ungaro and Emanuel Ungaro labels was seen by the market as evidence of the company's turnround.

Several other brokers were also thought to be on the verge of initiating coverage in the next few weeks. Philip Stafford

Gav, yes I remember when the selling dried up we doubled in a few months. FT piece is a bit of a curates egg, bit negative at first but I like the ending about other brokers being interested.

capa

Hi All

Been trading Marchpole since 20p, hope you dont mind me
eves dropping on the conversation..

Capa, yes the end is very positive, more broker coverage will be good. Still very positive about the company here. And you are right about the last time the big seller finished selling, was good to see at the time!