Billabong on Target for change?
What to make of this morning's announcement that a former head of Target, Launa Inman, will take over the CEO's role at Billabong? Should we make any correlation between Inman's former company and the direction of her new one?
A bit of backstory before we get to those questions: Inman replaces Derek O'Neill, a 20-year veteran of Billabong and the person in charge when the companies recent retail strategy was sunk. For the last five years Billabong spent big on bricks-and-mortar retail space in an ambitious plan to dominate the surf retail market. They were felled by the Global Financial Crisis and diminished retail spending.
In February this year, with the company floundering, Billabong were the targets of a takeover by a private equity firm. They subsequently sold half of Nixon watches, announced 400 full time staff would be axed and planned to restructure the company.
Prior to their fall Billabong, along with Rip Curl, Quiksilver and Hurley, were dominant in the surf retail market charging a premium for their goods. Unlike the others however, Billabong had a broad portfolio of brands that filled every aspect of the surfing lifestyle: watches, wetsuits, sunglasses, surfing hardware, swim wear, footwear and all manner of clothes. Although the products may have sported different logos Billabong was the one-stop surfing company.
In that regard they were beginning to resemble Target and its all-in-one shopping experience. With different market positioning, sure - Billabong pitched at high-spending, aspirational buyers; Target the common people - yet the success of each company hinged on a multi-faceted approach to supply chain solutions. Rather than concentrating on one product or field they sourced, manufactured and then sold myriad products in their own retail space.
And now to address the opening query: Is the announcement of a new CEO at Billabong a signal of an impending change in direction?
It might be reading too deeply into the situation to expect Billabong would move as downmarket as Target yet a slide in prestige is imminent – if not already in progress. The perception of Billabong as a hardcore surf company has taken a battering as the surfing world moves toward smaller, niche brands. They've fallen out of favour with long-term surfers, the heady days of the Hawaiian Billabong Pro and the adventurous Desert Challenge a distant memory. They've also cancelled their longest-running World Tour contest, the Billabong Jeffreys Bay Pro, which was demoted to a six star Prime this year.
Since Billabong's fall doubts have been expressed over their other surfing expenses, such as the Tahiti Pro, the Mundaka Challenge, and also their many sponsored riders, some of them on million dollar-yearly contracts. They're not expenditures that Launa Inman was ever troubled by at Target. The question now is whether she'll be troubled by them at Billabong.
Comments
What............ 10 mins already and no nostradamus prophesized rottmouth conspiracy/comments.
getting a bit slack brew or overindulging kim khadashian style on twitter!!
Kolohe and Carissa Moore are both sponsored by Target so theres a bit of crossover already happening.
Nah TTBB, Target in America is different to the Target in Australia - separate companies, same logo. Target in Australia is a bit more 'down home' than its Seppo namesake. Don't think they'll be sponsoring any surfers soon.
WHY is there a Target ad at the top of my page???
Ah the wonders of contextual advertising!
So with the world wide down turn in surf sales,and the rumour an innuendo everywhere saying that the big 3 are struggling ,and sales are evaporating,like a beer at an aussie BBQ,what are the chances that Billabong can maintain its turnover,as with the other big brands,but more importantly......what is a surf Co,by definition,if your chairman,CEO,and part of the board don't surf??
are there any real surf Co's left????
"what is a surf Co,by definition"
Good question. Do surf companies make surf stuff, or are they merely filled with surfers? I think Billabong is steadily slipping in both criteria anyway. Billabong: The company formerly known as a surf company.
Target during her reign played hard with their suppliers, dragging their margins down aka the big supermarkets, sourced their own extremely similar products from the same factories as their suppliers were using in a bid to get ridiculously cheap prices and still take more out of the chain. Their own products (obvious or not) now take up more space and less suppliers are being used - Kmart and BigW following the same model.
Look for BigWbong to use their store network and online sales to drop prices for their own products and go the squirrel grip on any small suppliers they have. Quality to drop further for any technical products, decrease of any R&D, dropping off of sponsorship and the complete erosion of any residual brand value or heritage to follow amongst surfers. If they can up their slice of the surf retail market, watch them squeeze the remaining surf co's as well.
Joe urban and his cohorts amongst the developing economies will get a cheap tee and boardies for the annual week off down the coast or asian beach holiday though...
suburban joe and his cohorts aren't going to buy this surf wear crap forever...
Since it is absolutely morally and economically defensible for anyone to make as much money as they can,... because how much you make is ultimately a function of your value added,... it's good to see the folks at the top of Bilabong hiring a proven winner. Still, the proof will be in the puddin'... And if the Bong ends up failing, it does not mean the whole of surfing as we know it fails as well!
Oh, and for those blaming "enablers" for someone else's addictions, maybe said bunny eared barnold living in his house of mirrors can blame Billabong for Mr. painter of lights sorry ending too.
http://www.mercurynews.com/los-gatos/ci_20574343/coroner-artist-kinkade-...
"Since it is absolutely morally and economically defensible for anyone to make as much money as they can"
You a fan of Ayn Rand, Roller? Perhaps the economics of Julian Simon, too?
At one stage Nike was just a 'running' company. They made running shoes. Somewhere along the line they moved beyond that category to include all sports. Then they become a 'sports' company.
Billabong, or any other surf company for that matter, will never make a similar leap beyond the surfing market. Surfers are too possessive for that too happen. Nike might be able to enter the surf market but Billabong won't be allowed to leave it. At least not with it's cachet of cool intact.
Fuck, surfers are fickle bunch of prats.
Stu. It's not just about cool. Or even mostly about cool. Fickle? Nope. It's at least as much about whether the form is authentic. And whether it functions properly in critical situations.
What makes for authenticity; it's one of those things that you know when you see and feel it.
Bong has not been truly authentic and really functional for a long, long time.
Look, Launa Inman is a great retailer . But she really needs to get the point about authenticity. If she ignores it, there's no way on this earth that she will turn Bong around.
Getting to grips with on-line retailing is not her core challenge. Putting together a range of consistently relevant, critically in-demand products is. And I don't think Bong's public company status and its volume/growth business model will allow her the time to take the R&D risks and make the necessary mistakes needed to get to that point.
Stu brah, the rest of the quote, "because the how much you make is a functionality of your value added" is the important part. and you running a business must know this fact first hand.
As to Ayn Rand, personally not a reader of novels, but her philosophy of Objectivism is as valid as any other.
And her interviews are pretty damn fine. as she holds here own with the interviewing clowns.
&feature=related &feature=relmfu &feature=channel&list=ULBillabong is not the branded business it used to be, They are now the biggest retailer in the industry as well. In Australia they are the largest account for many if not all of the clothing brands due to their multi store retail presence. It has come to the point that when they hit a bump in the road the whole industry will feel it.
Having a person who understands retail is probably what they need right now so they can get their retail stores working well as this is now their destiny. They spent so much money buying all those stores and the wheels seem to have fallen off the program, now it in in place. For the most part you could think of the Billabong brand as a private label exercise for their own stores I reckon. The bulk of their revenue is derived from sales direct to the consumer either from these stores or via the web.
They like many other companies in the industry aren't so much surf brands anymore but use the shot gun approach to target modern day youth as a youth culture brand. At the end of the day their authenticity is manufactured. They have to constantly reinvent themselves with the next batch of youth. The youth that grew up in the 1990s are all now in their 40s. Not much youth about that. This is one of the hardest and most expensive games in the world
It will be interesting to see how they go over the next 5 years. I am not sure if I would be buying any shares right now.
are the blind leading the blind
do we not see the signs of the times
capitalism is crumbling
it is build on dept thats why it will fail
whos running the world system? the politicans?
they are pupets on strings
we will see massive change in our life time
they are already bringing in the new world order
they are plaining ww3
exciting times
Funny thing is, instead of Billabong be on the ropes and scrambling, they would be still be sporting the big swinging dick if they had not offered up shitehouse terms to the licensing renewal, and dumped Bob Hurley as their American license... You know, the OC/OG guy who single handedly put Bong on the global map...
proving positively once again, how much you make is a functionality of your value added.
Instead, Bob created out of thin air, his own bloody company....
and now Nike/Hurley rules the farking roost.
Oh, and as a side note, competition is always good for the consumer!
the whole "surf industry" classification is a misnomer.
they are fashion retailers, providing disguises for bogans and boomers. the bulk of the clientele have little to do with surfing or even the beach, especially on the womens front.
If your stooged believe these companies are a "surf industry", you've swallowed the bait as badly as the fools who pay 60 bucks for a $4 t-shirt.
as for the 2 Bobs (Hurley and McKnight), it was simply right place, right time.
zqk US$ 3.01
bbg AU$ 2.26
they are both just debt-bloated cash cows for the banksters.
@Sid The Fish belches: "If your stooged believe these companies are a "surf industry", you've swallowed the bait as badly as the fools who pay 60 bucks for a $4 t-shirt."
Sid, then what "industry" runs the ASP and competitive pro surfing?
I'll accept whatever name that doesn't include surfing, as I happen to agree.
The Male Models Wave Riding Tour?
The Mediocre Retailers Catwalk on Shitty Waves Tour?
The Fruits of the Sweatshop Waveriding Bizarre?
The White Man's Failed Attempt to Handcuff the Natives Tour?
Any more...?
competitive surfing/pro tour/surfing the pastime is irrelevant to the bulk of people who buy quik/bill/hurley etc.
especially the women punters,
its just fashion, nothing more, nothing less.
Interesting to see the financial markets here ,have rejected Mrs Inman as good for the future of Bong,and that they now call the board disfuntional,and the stock price dropped 6% last week !
In the Age this morning,their is actually a very good article on why BB looks doomed.......Inman does not have brand management skills,and does not know the surf market......
Will be interesting to see how contract negotiations go for surfers at the end of the year??
Holy shit, what a read!
http://www.smh.com.au/business/skiing-skills-no-comfort-on-billabong-201...
whats more important is that the finacial markets have rejected Inman's becoming a CEO of BB as a minus...
what will be the affect on the surfbrands and the perception that BB is some kinda cool surf co,when its now plain to see that its mr merchant running the show with a few so called financial experts...
surfers won't like the changes and the business gurus are now putting doomsday scenarios out there.......maybe the mayan 2012 predictions were actually talking about the Bong!!!!
not to worry Brutus, the big swells down your way will still come , regardless if bbg goes down the gurgular.
considering what is coming down the line financially across the globe, watching bong crash and burn is the least of our worries.
"considering what is coming down the line financially across the globe"
What's coming Sid?
"It might be reading too deeply into the situation to expect Billabong would move as downmarket as Target yet a slide in prestige is imminent."
I didn't know Billabong was upmarket Stu - FMD - I thought they already were the Target of the surf industry.
And roller - did you really write this?
"how much you make is a functionality of your value added."
Are you preternaturally naive, perhaps equivalent to a new born baby, or do you actually believe that rubbish.
Or was it ironic, i.e. that only the most bogan fool would believe there is a correlation between your income and your worth.
Sorry, irony never plays well over the internet, but that statement just stands out like the proverbials as the most egregious horseshit.
I sincerely hope you were being ironic. Say it is so, Joe.
Anyways, back to the story, I really don't care what Billabong does.
the "value added" lies somewhere between a $4 t-shirt and a $60 con job.
for me, having "billabong" printed on it adds no value to the $4 t-shirt, in fact, it renders it unwearable...
but that's me.
the '$60 con job' only seems to apply in AUS. Have you seen the prices you can get bong wetties etc from UK websites? Even with international delivery its close to half what we pay in shops here! and BBG's not the only one
The Surf companies can restructure all they want ... what they refuse to believe is that the gravy train has run out of steam. Even the bogans are over the Massive logos. Hopefully this will convert to less people in the water.
Regretfully, for Inman, the package she brings to the table is not what the market (or I suggest the surfer) is going to find attractive. You need a little more than '...and my kids are into watersports'.
Apparently the new hire not only has heaps of hands on experience, but has been a BBG consultant since early last quarter. And noting that she's a specialist in the very important job of sourcing and supply, if they can get it right, it would do wonders to healing the Bong balance sheet.
Not to worry though, If it does not work out, and the water drains out the bong, TPG or someone else in the grave dancing biz can and will pick up the pieces cheap,... out of the BK courts.
And guess what?... Professional surfing in all of it's forms,... will still be around for decades.
true rolls.
the current BBG stock price isn't reflecting the new CEO necessarily, it's simply a case of the foreign fundies/instos/hedgies pulling their bucks out cos the Aussie $ is hitting the skids.
ZQK is lookin more beat up today - US$ 2.87 , down 5%. mmmmmmmmm.
Who cares who runs Billabong. I have bought Billies since the 70's and still buy them. Bogan...I don't think so, a pair of $100 boardies still last three years or more in Queenland, surfed about 9 months of the year almost daily. Find me a pair of boardies that do that from a Homebrand and I will buy them. Billies is safe if they build quality product.
Sunny says, "Bogan...I don't think so"
Which one of us should break the news??
Haha. Bogan town love what true surfers have made of the surf brands. Still a good product to surf in. I rejected all surfbrands in the 90 s but returned to them as I could not find a product that could not stand up to regular surfing. I hope the target lady recognizes that quality will still sell, maybe not in the volume she wants though.
you're classic sunny. At least you're honest about why you buy Billabong. I hope for your girlfriends' sake you don't wear your Billabong boardies to the shops on the weekend. Here's a tip, the Mambo boardies from Big W are just as good as Billabong and like $30 or something.
I know I add nothing when I say that I hope 95% of the 'surf' industry falls over. Really shitty and obnoxious 'fashion' all made in china at massive markup. Who buys this stuff anyway?
just make good wetties and plain trunks please. that is all.
unlucky for the Big Surf Corpos, Brazil already has their own surf brands.
Have a look at the board average age and some of the companies they have been involved with prior. minus GM
No surprise here ,
L-U-L-Z.
Could be the least you've ever had to say, Brewser.
Ahh rotty good to see you back
"how much you make is a functionality of your value added."
yer right finky, i forgot to take into consideration politicians and government employees.
Its business, not 'surfing'. $80 for a pair of boardies? If they were made locally from good quality materials, had their workers comp, public liability and super annuation paid, maybe. If not the 4 pairs for 20 bucks in Kuta that are still kickin on will do me fine. Global economy, global wages? Another conversation for another time perhaps.
So Greasy has come out backing Laura Inman: http://www.smh.com.au/business/billabong-founder-sacked-former-ceo-20120...
Interesting quote: "Mr Merchant said that Ms Inman would bring the structure and staff training to Billabong to improve its performance."
WTF? Staff training?
From the same article: "Mr Merchant said former CEO Mr O’Neill did a good job growing the business but did lack the edge of a retailer.
‘‘I think with people like Derek, he helped establish our business in Europe and but he didn’t really have any formal training as a retailer and he took on a lot.’’"
Retailer - not Producer, Business Developer - selling other people's stuff, not creating: copying.
Time is right for smaller niche companies to produce advanced, well designed wetties for surfers - customising to increase.
"Asked if he had full confidence in Ted Kunkel remaining as chairman of Billabong, Mr Merchant said: ‘‘We’ll see what happens."'
Talk about damning with faint praise....
A horrible train wreck unfolding.
staff training ??? lol.
Imagine being a 'bong store staff junior or manager and being pumped to "make budget" in today's financial climes.
These "surf brands" should wake up and realise that the bulk of their customers ... DON'T SURF .
It's all well saying "we're all about surfing", cos too bad, so what, your customers aren't. Like trying to sell heavy rock to country music fans.
And... I won't even start about being Debt Slaves... another victim of the debt fuelled economy hoax STITCH UP ... yes stitch up I say, it's a fucken stitch up.
'Staff training, lol', I concur.
I've mentioned this previously but last time I was in Oz, my wife and I visited one of the Billabong mega stores ready to drop a wad of cash.
In between the deafening hippity hop we couldn't catch the eye of any of the cool young things strutting around in their lanyards and inverted baseball caps. One turd in particular, for reasons I cannot fathom, instead of asking could he help us, shot us a look one would normally reserve for a Balinese street dog. I felt like slapping him.
Worst retail experience EVER!
I don't mind Billabong gear and I seem to be one of the few that don't want to see them go under. They employ many many people both in Oz and overseas, they are one of the ever diminishing companies that can say they are wholly Australian owned (I think) and their stuff is not as bad as people make out. I've had the same boardies for 4 seasons now, not bad $15 a year, also they make brilliant cold water wetties and I surf in seriously cold water. 6 deg c water and below freezing air temps. Their booties and gloves are crap though. But, I buy my wetties and most of my gear online anyway. It's cheaper and I don't have to deal with the cockheads mentioned above.
I think Billabongs situation is symptomatic of retail in Australia in general- undertrained, overpaid staff who think that anyone that walks through their doors that doesn't fit their own pre-conceived notion of cool is immediately mentally branded a trespasser and is treated as such. Until they wake up to this, online shopping will continue to smash them.
CHANGE?...
At least they hired on someone with heaps of experience, and not a Barry Obama.
Sidthefish,Ben-Day and Bum acid are the only people on this thread who who are awake. What does the rise and fall of BBG or any other surf company have to do with going surfing.
The sooner surfing heads back to the fringe and BS like The tour, Surfing Academies and paid soul surfers disappear the better.
Then being a surfer will start to mean something again and all the posers and glory whores in front of cameras will fade away and the essence of surfing, riding waves with friends and family will return.
I think you're waxing nostalgic farrah. The majority of people who surf to this day, still do so with family and friends. Most of the people who buy this stuff, don't surf. Who cares? I can guarantee that most people who bought Crystal Cylinders t-shirts didn't surf either.
Surfing aint going back to the fringe, that was 40 years ago. I surf and continue to do so because it's a shit load of fun and has kept me fit into my middle age. Taking the tour away, surf acadamies, glory whores will not make one shred of difference to numbers in tne water.
And when all the surf companies are gone, you can come and join me in sub-10 degree water in your cut-off jean shorts. I'll surf with you mate.
Presumably you're also parafin waxing onto your balsa plank....
I already bought a $14 billabont Tshirt the other day. And its pretty sik. Fits me better than the rest... havent stopped wearing it.
BBG down to $1.85 today. Still 15c off the 52 week low of $1.70, but it's lost 35% value since mid-April. I wonder how low it'll go?
ZQK hit a 2+ year low over nite @ US$ 2.53 .
Interestingly, Motley Fools describe Quiksilver as ...
" Quiksilver is the retail chain specializing in casual life gear for outdoor sports enthusiasts. "
No mention of surf, pretty much on the mark.
Quik could have some Euro based debt refi about due, might be tricky.
You'll get BBG @ sub 1.50 and ZQK @ sub 2.00 sometime in the next few months. Easy.
The thought of Billabong pursuing "Target like" advertising and marketing campaigns sickens me, almost as much as seeing Nike adds in Tracks mags. Not long now till we are all runnin around like the characters out of glee, singing and dancin and jabbin each other in the bum.
The problem with Billabong like most companies is they sell out. It's not enough to make a regular profit, people want more and more so they expand and go beyond there market. Instead of promoting the lifstyle to get more people hooked on surfing they bought into products that appealed to a wider audience.
There used to be a skate shoe company called Airwalk that started off small offereing good quality shoes to people that wanted something comfortable to wear. They started selling through certain skate stores, no larg retailers, and this s what set them apart from other shoe companies. People don't like buying mainstream, they want to be different. Eventually they lost focus of this and sold through the large chaines(target and similar) and went to crap as well.
To keep something authentic takes balance, investing in surfing comps has always been important, but at the end of the day the surf brand run by the local guy and yet to be sold to EVERY man on the planet is all thats left of authentic surf gear. Money tends to tip people past the "making some money for a quality product" to "make some money from every sucker entering every store."
The screws are tightening on Billabong: http://www.international.to/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id...
mmmmm. That might be looking at the wrong animal .
BBG - market cap 486 mil / debt ~400 mil .
ZQK - market cap 412 mil / debt ~770 mil .
I'll stick by my BBG sub 1.50 & ZQK sub 2.00 call.
Sid, I have BBG with a market cap of $495 and long-term debt of $597.
Where are you getting your numbers?
PS. And I'll stick by my prediction of Bong-branded* stock in mainstream distribution by Christmas.
* as distinct from the other 12 brands in BBG's stable
whaaat, just my own back of napkin figures, post Nixon completion and div. reinvestment.
you'll know for sure soon, with full year results.
http://www.international.to/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id...
---SURF, skate and ski wear group Billabong has realised $276 million after completing the controversial sale of a majority stake in accessories brand Nixon.
Billabong in February announced plans to sell a 48.5 per cent stake in Nixon to private equity firm Trilantic Capital Partners, with a further 3 per cent stake to be sold to Nixon management.
The company said it needed the cash from the sale to clean up its balance sheet, and halve its debt from $525.6m to about $250m.---
that might be a stretch, tax 'n all.
Hmmmm. My money's on Ms Tingle demanding a dump-n-cut strategy for the (mainly Billabong-branded) distressed stock pre-Xmas. In one fell swoop, she will drastically reduce the huge stock overhang, give the co. a much-needed cash injection, give her a discrete, stand-alone low-margin event that she can wash out of future years' comparatives, and, perhaps most importantly, cut the company's most significant ties with the recent past, giving her some breathing space to develop an on-line strategy and build viability into the remaining brands. Billabong is the only mature brand in the stable, whose time has past. The whole world sees it - well, except Merchant, mebbe, and his resistance to wholesale change is a pain in the arse that the rest of the board and, particularly, the big shareholders won't wear for much longer.
Watch this space.
Er, sorry, I meant Ms Inman.
whaaat, that's some pretty in depth second guessing of potential strategies for the company.
the online thing is accomodated via surf stitch, which they partially own.
the surplus/dead inventory can be slashed and burned thru in-house clearance centers.
but I don't think the share price will bottom until...
A/ the AU$ bottoms outs, post a Euro collapse and a full blown global market capitulation.
or...
B/ the EuroKrouts crank up massive QE via Eurobonds and complimentary money printing courtesy of benny@the Fed.
My bet is on B/., because even after the collapse of the mortgage-backed securities fraud, Wall Street has recklessly sold more than $90 trillion in credit default swaps against Europe's debt, but lacks the cash to make good on the swaps when they come due.
In other words, a Euro collapse takes the yanks down too.
Err, righty-oh. I'm a simple man so I'll take your much more informed views on the grand plan. I gather you foresee the dark knights of the Keynesian and Monetarist schools winning the hearts and wallets in the present Eurobattle...
Whatever happens, LT has to do something to appease the ravening hordes. Doing nothing or maintaining the status quo are not options
Props for some really interesting reading here, I have kept up with Billabong's movements in the last few years and it is a point of interest for me. With the expansion into bricks and mortar I was worried about the effect on local businesses, from shapers to core stores, the family run/owned aspect. Although the GFC can also be attributed to this as well too many small stores have been closing as of late and that is troublesome. Is this the big 3 related, is it GFC related, were they not running a store well enough who is to say? but the increase in small business closure is well above the average...
This being said the new appointment to Billabong is this troubling or is it good for the industry? The one aspect that many above failed to remember is that without the corporate bullshit logo crap, none of the r&d would have developed, we would still be in footy jumpers and footy shorts freezing, I am comfortable with my wetsuit and new surfboards, during summer I like my Hurley Phantoms, they are $100, I am a Uni student who earns $20 an hour, five hours work that lasted me nine months of summer, and still kicking, that is a beautiful return of my investment.
The online and overseas retail pricing will all be different, the RRP was constructed around the exchange rates (back when our dollar was not strong) and the comparative rates of wages. Sure the same boardshorts above are $40 (guess??) in the states, but that is based around a wage where I would be earning $6 an hour not $20. It is not that the Australian surf industry is greedy (the RRP, of course they are, who in their situation would turn down money) in this sense, it is purely reflective of what is earned.
Although I would love to see Billabong crash and burn, and open the doors for more core related brands, this would be a detriment to the industry. Most brands (Rippy, QS, Hurley, Volcom, Rusty etc etc) rely on the Billabong stores to fuel their companies, 60% of their Australian sales are through those outlets, with those doors closed the prices of surf gear would escalate not drop.
TL;DR Billabong failing is bad for industry, $100 is not much for shorts you spend 9 months surfing in (500 hours of surfing is 20 cents a surf), support local business less our whole economy suffers.
Was at dinner last night and spoke with one of the senior boys at WES. What he said about Launa and her legacy at Target doesn't bear repeating. It wasn't complimentary.
@whaaat,
life might be better in boardshorts....
but clearly it's nowhere close to anything resembling "better" for sharemolders over the last several years.
and since those senior boys had not so complimentary things to say about Ms Inman. and her stint at Target. did these senior boys have anything to say about the one they rejected?...
the one they tossed away.
Bob Hurley.
Roller, WES is the (reluctant) current owner of Target Australia Pty Ltd. It's just dealing with the aftermath, and has tried, hard and unsuccessfully, to offload it. It's had nothing to do with BBG, ever.
Move on.
whaaat. are there any retail owners that aren't "reluctant" in the current economo-climes ?
CBA posted another blockbuster last week... at least we know where all the money's gone... mortgageville.
Billabong identifies 82 more stores for closure this financial year.
http://www.smh.com.au/business/earnings-season/billabong-plans-revamp-as...
Sid, probably not many bricks 'n' mortar types but I can think of a few on-liners that are thinking that life's pretty good at the moment.
But to stay on point: I gather that Launa's presentation got a mixed reception today. Didn't underwhelm; didn't blow minds.
http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Billabong-narrows-FY-...
http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/billabong-launa-inman...
hmmmm, heard the lady speak for the first time yesterday. Definitely wrong. wrong look, wrong feel, could barely read from the script and seemed to have no idea what she was talking about.
sid,
after is all said and done, the epic failure of BBG's mgmt, coupled with the absolute success of Hurley is a win for the consumer.
in the long run, consumer sovereignty rules.
and competition breeds competence.
rolls, why don't they bail out surf co's like they bail out banks ?
sid, possibly two reason why...
one, surf related companies are not key/mandatory to a fluid, functioning society.
and maybe these surf related companies have not positioned themselves in a place where they need to have politicians writing legislation that favors surf related companies.... in exchange for campaign contributions.
sid, in light of the just completed absolute top shelf contest in Taheets, where it was an all Oz final, and Eugene pulled off yet another epic last minute Micktory,...
why does not Rip pull off a competing bid for Bong?
fair enough question, they probably don't need the hassle.
look at the state of the 2 big listed'd, you wouldn't do it to yourself would ya?
I won't make any obvious, derisive retorts about whether banks are 'key/mandatory to a fluid, functioning society' but I will add my thoughts about why RipCurl doesn't need let alone intend to make a bid for Bong.
It's a private company with its roots deep into the surfing substrata. Its brand is still regarded as authentic, vital and useful. It isn't on the tiger's back when it comes to having to keep growing to keep the market at bay.
And, most importantly, each of its directors understands why the hell we all do what we do. The only one at Bong who still knows that feeling is Merchant, and he's outnumbered on the board, and getting outflanked by the other scrip holders.
Sid, since speaking with the WES bloke, I've listened to Inman's interview by an ABC bloke. Not a rabid financial reporter, just a soft bake. I was utterly, utterly dismayed. Management jargon, cliches, motherhood statements, and self-serving shite.
"We know who the customers are, we know they like the brand.â€
What? Who? Show them to me. Take me to any beach and show me a surfer who still thinks that Bong makes sound investment sense for their hard earned.
If Bong keeps it together as a surf company, it won't be with Inman at the helm.
And if she stays, Bong will go (even more) mainstream, then die.
Paul Naude's reportedly offering $1.10 a share. As such Billabong shares have been put into a trading halt.
I almost wrote 'interesting times ahead', but hey - it's been interesting for a long time now.
http://www.smh.com.au/business/billabong-shares-soar-on-talk-of-110-offe...
Thanks for the update, TB.
Rumors of a bid coming in at the equivalent of one bar of wax per share?..... Nice.
True that, Ben. BBG has come an interestingly loooong way.
http://bigcharts.marketwatch.com/quickchart/quickchart.asp?symb=au%3Abbg...
Further commentary
http://www.smh.com.au/business/in-play-again-billabong-executive-drops-i...
Three takeover bids in one year?? Bong is like the slutty girl at the dance getting hit on by the studs. Wonder if she'll drop her strides for Paul Naude.
Roller,
Tell me where you can buy wax for $1.10??