By Patrick Avenell
Clive Peeters’ remarkable share price revival has continued again this morning, with the retail group, once the subject of jokes in the industry, jumping over 30 per cent in early trading.
After opening at 13 cents this morning, shares in Clive Peeters bucked the overall market trend by going up. Although the All Ordinaries was down 53.6 points in early trading, Clive Peeters jumped 4 cents, which is just under a third of the valuation at the start of the day.
This upward surge over the last week of trading has been as remarkable as it was unexpected. Before the corner was turned, Clive Peeters was trading at the 6 cent mark, and various media outlets published reports suggesting the brink had been crossed and the company was already doomed.
Clive Peeters managing director Greg Smith confronted these reports head-on, and with his newfound media confidence, went on the record to deny any misleading information. Whether this had had a causal effect or not is nebulous, but Smith must take some credit for the northward momentum, as it was preceded by new strategic store openings and a diversification of the product range in store.
In the case of today’s movement, there could be critics who dismiss a 4 cent increase as insignificant. To counter that position, consider this: if you had purchased 1 million shares in the company last Thursday – that’s an investment of $60,000 – your holding would this morning be valued at $170,000. There are far harder ways to make a hundred grand in a week.