AXA IM's Thomas: Why we bought into Poundland's IPO

AXA Framlington UK equity manager Nigel Thomas has bought into the recent Poundland IPO in his UK Select Opportunities fund, expecting the store to benefit from the rise of the 'promiscuous shopper'.

Poundland made its debut on the London Stock Exchange in March, via a restricted initial public offering to City institutions, and saw its shares jump more than 20% immediately after listing at the price of 300p. The stock has since fallen to a current level of 341p. Thomas said the discount store will particularly benefit from the increase in middle and upper class customers, pointing out that "53% of [Poundland's] customers are now classified as ABC1." "We are all promiscuous shoppers now," Thomas said in the bi-annual 'Thomas Report'. "The invested cash payback [the length of ti...