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Strategies & Market Trends : Rande Is . . . HOME -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Rande Is who wrote (2211)	1/21/1999 4:33:00 PM
From: Rande Is	Respond to of 57584

Launch Vitamin Brand on the Cyber Phar-Mor Online Store' First Phase of Phar-Mor's Internet Drugstore YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio, Jan. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Phar-Mor (Nasdaq: PMOR) announced today that it is bringing its years of discount retailing experience to the Worldwide Web by aligning with NBTY's Vitamin World to offer online sales of vitamins. Currently under construction at www.pharmor.com, the Company's online venture "Cyber Phar-Mor" is scheduled for opening in late February, 1999. Similar to its retail stores, Phar-Mor will focus on its "store within a store concept" and open the e-commerce business with a Cyber Phar-Mor Vitamin Store. The online Phar-Mor Vitamin Store ("PVS") will offer a large mix of vitamins, minerals and herbs at the same discounted prices customers have come to expect in a Phar-Mor retail store. PVS will feature a proprietary line of vitamins and supplements labeled "Vitamin World". The Vitamin World brand is found exclusively in Phar-Mor and NBTY's Vitamin World stores. Note: NBTY = Nature's Bounty, Puritan's Pride, Vitamin World, etc. This alliance of two prominent retailers in the vitamin supplement industry is designed to catapult the launch of Phar-Mor's online drugstore. Dave Schwartz, the Company's President and COO, remarked "Phar-Mor is known as the leading retailer of vitamin supplements in the United States, on a sales per store basis. This success includes the integration of the Vitamin World Store within its 106 retail stores. Currently, Phar-Mor is realizing sales growth far beyond its expectations in Vitamin World sales alone. These results, along with Phar-Mor's desire to introduce this product to more customers, makes PVS a logical extension of this business." For over 25 years, NBTY, Inc., has been a leading vertically integrated manufacturer and retailer of a broad line of high quality, value priced, nutritional supplements located in 250 Vitamin World outlet mall stores throughout the United States. Extending the Vitamin World brand to the online consumer at an everyday low price will truly make PVS unique to its competitors. Customers may also receive product information by asking the online Phar-Mor Vitamin Specialist. Phar-Mor is dedicated to offering more than just supplemental products to the online customer. The online customer will receive added service and direct assistance with vitamin, mineral or herbal purchases by receiving health and nutritional information through the Phar-Mor Vitamin Specialist. Plans to offer additional health and beauty care items to the online store are being developed. Phar-Mor is a retail drug store chain with 106 stores in 19 states and traded on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol "PMOR." Visit Phar-Mor at www.pharmor.com. This press release contains forward-looking statements. The actual results of NBTY and Phar-Mor may differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Factors that may cause such differences are identified in each company's current Report on Forms 10K and 10Q. SOURCE Phar-Mor CO: Phar-Mor; Vitamin World; NBTY, Inc. ST: Ohio IN: MTC MLM SU: JVN 01/21/99 15:21 EST prnewswire.com

To: Rande Is who wrote (2211)	1/21/1999 4:36:00 PM
From: Rande Is	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 57584

NBTY overview: Pasted from Research Week: researchweek.com NBTY, Inc. (NBTY : NASDAQ) January 18, 1999 NBTY, Inc. is a manufacturer, marketer and retailer of a diverse line of nutraceuticals in the United States and the United Kingdom. The company offers approximately 900 products under various brand names including minerals, herbs, vitamins, sports nutrition supplements, amino acids, diet aids and many other nutritional supplements. HIGHLIGHTS For the fourth quarter ended September 30, 1998, the company reported $0.10 diluted earnings per share as compared to $0.08 diluted earnings per share for the same period in the prior year. For the same period comparison, sales were $146 million as compared to $116 million for the same period comparison. Net Income for fiscal 1998 was $38.9 million as compared to $29.1 million. On January 4, 1999, NBTY, Inc.announced the rollout of a national advertising campaign to promote it's mail order vitamin products and it's Puritan Pride products on the Internet. OVERVIEW NBTY, Inc., manufactures, markets and distributes a diverse line of nutritional supplements. The company sells over 900 products through various distribution channels including mail order, retail chains in the United States and the United Kingdom, pharmacies, supermarkets, health food stores and wholesalers. Through direct mail, the company offers it's full line of vitamins and other nutritional supplement products as well as personal care items. The company's retail operations in the United States consist of 230 stores in 40 states operating under the name Vitamin World. The company's products are sold under the name Vitamin World and the stores also inventory other company's products. In the United Kingdom, the company operates under the name Holland & Barrett (H&B) operating from 415 locations. H&B sells a full line of nutritional supplements ( similiar to the U.S. operations ) in addition to nutrtional foods such as nuts, fruits and sports nutrient bars. The company operates through wholesale channels under several brand names in supermarkets, pharmacies, drugstore chains and other retailers. The company also sells to supermarkets and drug wholesalers under the Nature's Bounty brand. INVESTMENT SUMMARY We are initiating coverage of NBTY, Inc. with a Strong Buy rating. Our 12-18 month price target is $24. NBTY, Inc. is implementing an effective transition from their wholesale operation to becoming a leading retailer of supplements. Management has stated that they have implemented programs to improve the profitability of the retail stores in the United Kingdom and we feel comfortable with management's plans. We believe that the nutraceuticals has been excessively corrected creating great value within the group. We are estimating $0.60 earnings per share for fiscal 1999 and $0.82 earnings per share for fiscal 2000. The company plans on opening in excess of 150 stores in fiscal 1999. Although this will have a negative impact on earnings per share for the next 6-9 months, we are anticipating robust earnings contributions from the stores in fiscal 2000. The company's old store sales ( stores open for 12 months ) are operating consistently with margins in excess of 20% which represents one of the highest margins within the sector. In the last quarter, the company experienced a significant slowdown in it's mail order operation. However, we believe that the recent business shift with an emphasis on the vertical integration of the company culminating in the retail operations should assist in reinvigorating the company's 20% plus growth rates. In closing, we are initiating coverage of NBTY, Inc. with a Strong Buy rating.

To: Rande Is who wrote (2211)	1/21/1999 4:49:00 PM
From: Kevin Shea	Respond to of 57584

III vs Big Boys: Generally agree with Michael on who controls things around here. I believe that the big boys own the rule book and can change the rules (with Fed agreement) should things get out of hand. I believe that currently IIIs control only a handful of stocks within a select sector(s). Not a very large concern in the big picture. HOWEVER, it could become looming in the future!! But, before that happens, the big boys will attempt to kill, maim, fold, spindle and mutilate. I do think that IIIs can make a lot of money buying and selling among themselves- but that does not really make for a market in the long run. Eventually, you will run out of newbies who want to play ...(Monte Carlo Theory). I do think we saw evidence of III influence around Thanksgiving and the XMAS breaks, but they were squashed. ... (and then there is Tmex!) Don't get me wrong, if I can make money I will. If I can do it using the III method OR the BB method I will. I do use a broker. I get my fills, I get fast executions and I get rapid confirms -- which I pay for. But, I don't get all the hassle and real losses associated with electronic trading. Both environments exist. We need to understand how to work in both to be most effective, and evolve as these two systems evolve. Good luck to all.

To: Rande Is who wrote (2211)	1/21/1999 5:58:00 PM
From: Rande Is	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 57584

What I see in NBTY? NBTY was a S.A.M. due to its e-commerce plans that had not yet hit the wires. Phar-Mor [PMOR] is a drug-store that, if I recall properly, had a CEO that allegedly skipped town with all the money. They had to close many stores and are still recovering from the blow. Now, not only is PMOR announcing a web-site to dig them out of their hole. . . they are focusing their efforts on selling NBTY products to do so. Make no mistake, Vitamin World belongs entirely to NBTY, Inc. [PMOR press release leaves some holes to be filled by the imagination] Because PMOR has played the NBTY card in regards to e-commerce AND because NBTY made an initial announcement just a few weeks ago. . . I figure it is just a matter of time before folks put 2 and 2 together and we miss the big run-up. Hate for a big news to come out early AM like it did on NINE, without me elaborating on what I see. So far, the only official NBTY news release has been the Jan. 4 release stating roughly that they were planning on advertising their products via television to promote their Puritan's Pride products that are available via the internet. rt.freerealtime.com That's it. Nature's Bounty is a vitamin manufacturer, distributor and retailer. They sell via Puritan's Pride catalogs and via 230 Vitamin World stores in the U.S. and via 415 Holland and Barrett stores in the U.K. If that wasn't enough...they are a leading distributor of vitamins, etc. to supermarkets and drugstores under the Nature's Bounty name. Check out Company Sleuth on NBTY: companysleuth.com Broker rec added this week:http://www.companysleuth.com/framewrap.cfm?LOC=www.newsalert.com/free/zacks?Symbol=NBTY&Module=analyst Here are Internet Domain names for NBTY: VITAMIN-WORLD.ORG GOODNNATURAL.NET FREEVITAMIN.COM FREEGINKGO.COM FREEVITAMINC.COM VITAMINS4FREE.COM NBTY.COM PURITAN.COM PURITANSPRIDE.COM HUDSONVITAMIN.COM VITAMIN-WORLD.NET HNBL.COM NBTY.NET HOLLANDANDBARRETT.COM HOLLANDANDBARRETT.NET CAPSULEWORKS.COM HOLLAND-AND-BARRETT.COM GOODNNATURAL.COM Now when I look at that list of website names, I can't help think that this picture is just beginning to unfold. I could only get NBTY.com and Puritanspride.com to bring anything up. The former is corporate site and the latter reflects the Jan. 4 release [TV teaser]. The best part about NBTY, IMO, is that barely any of the above .com names have been released to shareholders or to the press. What do they plan on doing with them? And how will it affect their bottom line? Speaking of which: For the FY ended 9/98, net sales rose 61% to $572.1M. Net income rose 33% to $38.8M. This is an internet/e-commerce play with positive earnings for 7 bucks a share. Earnings are expected to increase over next year. [without e-commerce impact]. . . .Hello? As the leading catalog for vitamins, I believe that Puritan's Pride's internet site will soon be reflected in the bottom line of NBTY. Catalogers are going net. Retailers are going net. Distributors are going net. And manufacturers are going net. NBTY is all 4 of those. You guys know well enough that I believe certain products lend themselves well to being sold on internet and some do not. Nobody wants to get in the car to drive to the vitamin, supplement, nutrition, health store for products when they need them. To buy these over the internet at discount prices is worth the time. . .the products are generally light...costing very little in shipping [unlike wines, bottled water and even books]. PRFM-NBTY-SPGLA-SGDE-DLIA my favorite e-commerce retailers. Of these, all have run hard recently except one. You guessed it. . . . bigcharts.com I believe PRFM-NBTY-SGDE all have much farther to go on the upside. Now NBTY has a 68 mil shares and a 50 mil float, so it will not move like KTEL. But by comparison, IOM has 267 mil. SPGLA has 131 mil. So we know it should move quicker than either of those. Best of all, the larger float companies are easier to daytrade. We should be able to get in and out of this stock at will without fearing we are going to tank a run, like in the thinly traded stocks. Well, that about does it. May have to start a new NBTY thread to post all this stuff. Rande Is