James Pascoe increases stake in Warehouse to 7.4%

Thursday 22nd January 2015

James Pascoe, the retail group owned by David and Anne Norman, has added to its holding in Warehouse Group by buying on market this week, as the shares traded at a near two and a half year low.

James Pascoe acquired 305,000 shares for a total of $817,000 yesterday, implying a price of about $2.68 a share. The latest purchase lifts the investor's holding to 7.4 percent from the 6.3 percent it disclosed in October, when it first emerged as a substantial shareholder.

The Norman family's retail empire includes department store chain Farmers Trading Co, the Whitcoulls bookstores, and jewellers including Pascoes, Stewart Dawson, Goldmark, Prouds and Angus & Coote. Kevin Turner, the general manager finance at James Pascoe, told BusinessDesk the Warehouse stake remains an investment, and that the stock was too tightly held for the company to take a seat on the retailer’s board.

Shares in Warehouse rose 1.9 percent to $2.76, after touching $2.59 earlier in the week, the lowest level since July 2012. Warehouse shares are rated an average of 'sell', according to the consensus of six analysts surveyed by Reuters, with a median price target of $2.64.

Warehouse shares have fallen some 13 percent since the start of the year, after saying it expects first half earnings to fall about 20 percent to $37 million as cold, wet spring and summer weather forced it to discount clothing and other seasonal merchandise at its 'red sheds' general merchandise stores and sales declined at its Noel Leeming consumer electronics chain. Investors and analysts have said they want the company to produce profit growth this financial year after the retailer spent hundreds of millions of dollars overhauling stores and buying new businesses the past few years.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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