Parkson Retail Asia

[frus]

For what it's worth the executive chairman just bought shares for 15'000 SGD

http://infopub.sgx.com/Apps?A=COW_CorpAn...ed9d89e04d

First such purchase in over a year.

[trade4life]

spotted this counter. very interesting 0.156 is a very strong base. Guess no other sellers left?

And if no other sellers left, it also means buyers will come in soon.

As much as poor management and such, it still doesnt make sense to say that a 'shopping center' is valuated at penny prices.

not looking into numbers, just watching the flow. took some and see how.

[frus]

Not sure what the story is, but trading volume has surged in the last two days to its highest in the counter's history from almost nothing. Price is moving up too. We'll find out soon.

[frus]

18% of the shares outstanding have traded over the last 2 days

[trade4life]

0.097 0.095 0.098

has been ding dong around this prices.

NAV is a HUGE 50% discount. watch it guys!

[karlmarx]

PRA has not been profitable since FY13.

They have been paying out dividend, but that has been decreasing with the increasing losses over the years.

The losses and impairments it has been taking over the years has also shrunk the book value from $253m in FY13 to $90m in FY17.

And it also continue to finance its negative working capital with debt from suppliers, as first highlighted by CF. See FY17 results here:

http://infopub.sgx.com/FileOpen/PRA%20FY...eID=468170

Can traditional department stores survive? Isetan Singapore struggles with profitability as well, but is not in as bad a shape as PRA. Unless PRA does something to bring shoppers back to its stores, it is highly unlikely that they will survive as consumers increasingly turn towards online shopping. At the rate it is going, it will be game over in 2 years.

Smaller retailers which are more nimble already finds the operating environment to be challenging. Larger department stores which are less agile will go extinct quickly unless they change their approach.

[karlmarx]

PRA's book value shrinks to $75m. CL is more than CA by $68m. Cash dwindles to $13m. Looks like I was far too optimistic in my previous prediction.

http://infopub.sgx.com/FileOpen/PRA%20FY...eID=478472

[karlmarx]

CL - CA deficit widens to $74m. Same store sales continues to shrink. No dividends were declared.

Book value shrinks again to $73m. According to AR17, of the $145m of its PPE, $73m is 'renovations' and $41m is 'furniture and equipment.' 'Renovations' will probably not be worth anything during liquidation. 'Furniture and equipment' maybe can get about 15%? In other words, there will probably not be any book value to speak in the event of a liquidation.

Market price is $47m. Shareholders still optimistic of a turn-around?

http://infopub.sgx.com/FileOpen/PRA%20FY...eID=488321

[weijian]

Physical retail will evolve and hence continue to strive in a post covid/post e-commerce world but department stores probably wouldn't.

Once upon a time, department stores were the perfect distribution method for retail brands/vendors that were too small in scale. Besides paying for the physical space, these retail brands/vendors could also allocate part of their advertising budget to pay the department store operator as it naturally attracted traffic. In the post internet world, all these advantages have disappeared with brands/vendors have the opportunity to shift their scale/advertising online.

Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of the Company

Q2.Can the Directors share with the Members the current performance and trends of the retail industry in Malaysia? Given the prevalence of online shopping and retail businesses today, and the closure of many physical department stores, what are the Company’s strategies to remain competitive?

In Malaysia, physical retail stores remain widespread and robust, with many shopping malls located within 15 to 20 minutes of where people live. Shopping is commonly regarded by most Malaysians as a leisure activity. While online businesses boomed during the COVID-19 period, they have experienced a decline since the lifting of the Movement Control Order, as many shoppers returned to physical stores for shopping. As such, management was confident that physical retail and offline shopping will continue to dominate the Malaysian retail market.

https://links.sgx.com/FileOpen/PRA_Minut...eID=846645