-3x Short China Discussion Threads

[bridge2far] 15/6/2011 14:11

It feels like we are literally waiting outside the meeting room...

[boffster] 15/6/2011 14:11

The snippets we have seen suggest that the board will be able to salvage at least something for shareholders - I believe that this something will be more than the current mcap so I am staying put for now.

[bridge2far] 15/6/2011 14:09

Totally agree.... one thing is for sure is that the company will not look the same. How it looks will dictate the market sentiment. News will leak throughout the afternoon even if there isnt an RNS.

[bogg1e] 15/6/2011 14:01

The thing is this is a big meeting. I wouldnt be surprised if we dont see any news until 7:30 am tomorrow in which case theres nowt the small PI will be able to do if you need to sell, should the news be bad of course.

[bridge2far] 15/6/2011 13:57

hope so too!!!

[boffster] 15/6/2011 13:56

Hopefully its not good bye time for shareholders!!

[bridge2far] 15/6/2011 13:54

good buy time for the brave

[bridge2far] 15/6/2011 13:49

MMs making a good fist of this and peeps not wanting to hold at the time of any announcement....twitchy time lol

[boffster] 15/6/2011 13:42

Auction Auction, are we about to get the news we don't want to hear? :-/

[lej2] 15/6/2011 13:00

If HMRC make concessions to SC will they do the same for the other 92% of the care home industry, 75% of whom are very small operators of 6 homes or less. Ditto with any LA inducements.

[crosswire] 15/6/2011 12:59

Shares in the company, which have collapsed from a high of 159 pence in January last year, were trading up 10 percent at 9.74 pence by 11:56 a.m., in anticipation of a deal being reached later on Wednesday.

[typo56] 15/6/2011 12:50

I don't know about the "rather than". I think current ordinary shareholders will be pretty much wiped out whatever happens. Ask JJB shareholders!

[clarendon] 15/6/2011 12:40

unofficial CVA I would call it. creditors take the pain rather than the shareholders (for a change)

[edmondj] 15/6/2011 12:23

"And, as part of this reconstruction, Southern Cross's creditors - its banks and the taxman - would be asked to take a hit, to write down what they are owed (Barclays and Lloyds are owed a bit under £50m by Southern Cross)."

Curious how there can be anything worthwhile left for shareholders in this scenario; well we shall see.

[aspers] 15/6/2011 11:34

Typo...it means we are still in the money!! :-))

[typo56] 15/6/2011 11:23

But what does "avoiding bankruptcy/staving off administration" mean for existing shareholders? Not a lot I suspect.

[crosswire] 15/6/2011 11:08

However under pressure from the Department of Health, they have agreed to do all they can to help Southern Cross avoid bankruptcy - and that should be confirmed late this afternoon in a joint statement to be issued by them, the company and creditors after a vital meeting.

[crosswire] 15/6/2011 10:44

Southern Cross 'to avoid administration'



One of the biggest problems for Southern Cross is that its landlords are highly critical both of the way it manages its homes and of the way it has organised attempts to stave off administration.

However under pressure from the Department of Health, they have agreed to do all they can to help Southern Cross avoid bankruptcy - and that should be confirmed late this afternoon in a joint statement to be issued by them, the company and creditors after a vital meeting.

"We have agreed to keep Southern Cross solvent", said a landlord.

As I said yesterday, the most likely outcome is that Southern Cross will shrink massively from a business operating 751 homes and serving 31,000 vulnerable residents to a business probably less than half that size.

Several hundred operating leases will be taken back by the landlords - who will either operate the homes themselves (Four Seasons and Bondcare are likely to do this, for example) or will appoint new operators.

At the heart of a reconstructed, diminished Southern Cross would be the homes belonging to the biggest landlord, NHP, which has 249 properties.

And, as part of this reconstruction, Southern Cross's creditors - its banks and the taxman - would be asked to take a hit, to write down what they are owed (Barclays and Lloyds are owed a bit under £50m by Southern Cross).

But even that outcome, of a massively shrunken Southern Cross, is not guaranteed. All the landlords are talking to alternative operators, so that there is a back-up plan to avoid any interruption of care to residents in the event that Southern Cross can't be saved.

The landlords insist to me that residents do not need to fear that they'll be turfed on to the streets or will suffer detriment in the event that Southern Cross were to collapse. "It would be madness for us to allow a home to become empty" said one, "because that would destroy our own businesses."

[bridge2far] 15/6/2011 10:09

Boff that is 'sick'

[boffster] 15/6/2011 09:32

Gas chambers in care homes "nothing to worry about" says Southern Cross

[typo56] 15/6/2011 09:30

But does it follow that old folk have to be kicked out onto the street simply because shareholders are wiped out?

[edmondj] 15/6/2011 09:29

Chief executive Jamie Buchan described as "toast"...

Another insider, who acts as an advisor to Southern Cross landlords, said he expected its management team to be booted out imminently. He said: "Creditors are agreeing how to break up the business. Everyone is going to take everything back from the company."



Curious, how there should be any shareholder value remaining, with creditors including HMRC being required to take haircuts. Funny old world though.

[aspers] 15/6/2011 09:26

Kicking the old folk out onto the street is the moral hazard!!!

[typo56] 15/6/2011 09:23

If SCHE can't be allowed to go bust, where's the moral hazard?