December Retail Sales, page-3

Hi Ash - The Most Important Thing is a great read so hope you enjoy it.

The H1 results will certainly be interesting. From what I understand, Review was accounting for more than half of EBITDA historically, and I assume this is where most of the earnings decline has come from. Its also where most of the risk is given their high operating leverage, driven by their large store portfolio and associated leases (together with blackpepper). Lets hope Reviews issues are cyclical rather than terminal. Hopefully they have also been making good progress exiting the 40 leases they highlighted previously.

With swimwear becoming a more meaningful share of the total, and the new CEO being brought in with a swimsuit background, we should get better visibility on swimsuits as a standalone business.

Designworks should be a bright light, and hopefully be a source of modest earnings growth as the new contracts ramp up.

The H1 results should also provide important insight into how much the group is investing in future growth, or whether they have wound back investment to make sure they can pay the bills. Interesting times ahead.