Wolfgang Felix from Sarria told 9fin: “Management is currently prioritising getting customers into stores and driving up overall market share rather than increasing margins. This year’s objective is definitely to maximise revenue in preference to margins.”
Read MoreOnline growth will be strong, this is what supports the credit story, said Wolfgang Felix from Sarria, the credit opportunities desk. The company previously held back on its online rollout on fears of self-cannibalisation. But by the same token it has a captive customer base and will be pushing hard to maximise its IPO valuation, he said.
Read MoreWolfgang Felix at Sarria acknowledged that Douglas’ online business was now a powerful attraction for investors, but said the group would need to demonstrate more online growth and post-COVID stability before CVC could cash in on an IPO.
Read More“If they are trying to restructure creditors, there would be no way the CEO would be talking in the press about a 2022 IPO," independent special situations firm Sarria said. “It is important they paid the coupon and the CEO talks about EUR 1bn online sales and Christmas sales being down less than 10% plus the 2022 IPO. None of this would happen if they were kicking off Germany’s biggest test of its new insolvency regime. It wouldn’t happen in this order – they could do an A&E.”
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