Amey Share Discussion Threads

[caphelps] 30/1/2003 16:52

It came from an inside source@ Jarvis

[jayeshp] 30/1/2003 15:42

where sis you see this?

[bionicman] 30/1/2003 13:09

News on the grapevine is that Jarvis are to move for Amey takeover. Jarvis Directors are apparently advising managers internally to buy AMEY shares. Watch them go when this is confirmed.

[miamisteve] 29/1/2003 20:08

According to the times a circular will be sent to shareholders outlining the current financial position in the next few days.

[brer rabbit] 29/1/2003 11:26

So that explains the stellar performance of this share ... Sal Smith Barney.

[miamisteve] 29/1/2003 11:23

I noticed Salomon Smith Barney are consistent buyers as the stock plummets on low volume. To give some assurance, Salomon are also ameys financial advisers.

[vs] 29/1/2003 10:54

AFX news 27th Jan

LONDON (AFX) - UK road contractor Amey PLC said around 250 jobs would go due
to a cost-cutting initiative. "There are less than 250 employees currently under notice across the group," said a company spokeswoman.

Amey has a workforce of around 8,000 currently.
Shares in Amey were off 2p at 26.25p at 1.30 pm. Amey has seen its share price lose over 90 pct of its value in the last year and chief executive Brian Staples and finance director Michael Kayser have both quit.

tf/lam

[ruairiglenn] 29/1/2003 10:38

HOT TIP - If u havn't heard already, OMH, punt of year, announced official FDA approval this morning, 1.4 billion market, last chance to get in under 4p imho, pile in big time folks, the hot money is coming....DYOR.

[quidzinn] 29/1/2003 10:04

Amy's bottom reappears ....

Q

p.s. Glad I sold @31p

[ildamiano] 29/1/2003 00:26

This is getting serious - another 8% down today. Something is desperately amiss - anyone heard anything?

[protec] 28/1/2003 17:04

Watching on Bloomberg yesterday I noticed that AMEY have sacked 350 workers but there has been no official announcment form the co any one else aware of this?

[brer rabbit] 28/1/2003 16:56

To quote the ex-finance director accurately, This POS is "... a little bowl of sick". We should all do likewise and leave the table. What a POS. The death knell is ringing and the players, inside and out, are still manipulating the paper. They caused this debacle yet they learned nothing ....

[miamisteve] 28/1/2003 13:24

It hasn't affected the other big four pfi companies share price and isn't a revelation, but here's yesterdays times article.

January 27, 2003

Hidden debts raise new fears on PFI contractors
By Mark Court



THE CAMPAIGN to force greater disclosure of secretive Private Finance Initiative contracts is stepped up today, as The Times reveals for the first time the amount of debt hidden in specially created companies by the industry's top players.
The top five companies in the PFI sector have amassed an estimated £2 billion of debt in more than 75 so-called "special purpose vehicles". These are obscure accounting entities which allow companies to park debts off their group balance sheets.

Hardened City analysts yesterday described the sum as "surprisingly large".

They added that the revelation will fuel concerns about the Government's support for PFI.

The £2 billion figure is calculated back from the interest payments which Amey, Amec, Balfour Beatty, Jarvis and Laing have paid to off-balance sheet vehicles. It probably underestimates the true scale of the debt supporting the PFI sector.

This is because the contractors hold only a small stake in most contracts, with banks and other financial institutions holding the lion's share.

The accounting treatment of PFI work by contractors has become highly contentious, contributing to a sharp derating of some company shares.

Today's disclosure is likely to increase pressure on the Accounting Standards Board to provide more information on special purpose vehicles, as well as clear guidelines on how and when PFI companies should book profits from PFI work.

Michael Parkinson, an analyst at the Newcastle office of Brewin Dolphin Securities, said: "The Accounting Standards Board will have to play a part in terms of clarifying the way in which profits from PFI projects are recognised, as it is clear that there are currently huge variances in the timing of revenue and profit recognition."

Mr Parkinson added that the lack of information provided by PFI companies makes it difficult to analyse their shares.

He said: "It is not easy at present for investors to put a value on a company's equity investments in PFI projects, a fact which many finance directors acknowledge.

"Going forward, investors will require more than a simple directors' valuation of their own investments and will require more information on future cash flows and returns on capital."

Laing, which recently sold its UK housing division to become a pure PFI company, is likely to take the lead in providing more information to shareholders.

Adrian Ewer, Laing's finance director, said: "What analysts need is information that enables them to value our portfolio because we are now as much about value creation as we are about earnings."

PFI projects usually have a lengthy construction phase during which value is created but before profits flow in.

The increasing number of PFI projects that are now reaching the operational phase is fuelling the debate on whether the Government should include PFI debt in the public sector borrowing requirement (PSBR).

This is because contractors are using an accounting treatment called finance debtor accounting once a PFI project is operational.

This form of accounting, laid out in accounting standards, is used in low-risk situations and treats the PFI contract as a finance lease.

This treatment undermines the Government's argument that PFI debt should be held off the PSBR because it involves substantial risk transfer to the private sector.

Special vehicles could be storing trouble

OFF-balance-sheet debt is the term for a company's borrowings that do not appear as part of group debt on the company's balance sheet. The off-balance sheet debt of a PFI contractor is non-recourse, so that if the special purpose vehicle (SPV) carrying out a PFI contract goes bust, then the contractor is not responsible for debts. Even so, if the SPV, which is usually highly geared and whose key asset is a cashflow from the Government, fails to perform in line with the contractor's hopes then it could have a serious knock-on effect. One analyst said: "SPVs have massive operating profits and massive interest payments so if an SPV is not generating the profits there could be big trouble."

[ildamiano] 28/1/2003 13:12

21% down in 1.5 days. Either something is up or this is an incredible buying opportunity. Even though I hold, I'm plumping for the former at this point in time, but hope to be proved wrong. The Finance Director needs to present his review as quickly as possible - the 21% drop suggests that he is about to, and that it is not good.

[ildamiano] 27/1/2003 16:01

I know that the markets are bad, but what has justified a 7% drop today? Is it fallout from the Tube chaos this weekend? I would have thought that the fact that the accident didn't happen on a Tubelines line would, if anything, steer the Government towards signing over more lines to them! I note a report from the Times which says that the Top 5 PFI companies have amassed £2 billion worth of debt between them and have hidden it from accounting view - any ideas whether Amey is a Top 5 PFI company, and whether it could be exposed in this regard? The predator companies must be happen with the downward move - it will make a takeover that much cheaper!

[alisonm] 25/1/2003 00:22

RNS Number:5934G
Amey PLC
24 January 2003

SCHEDULE 10

NOTIFICATION OF MAJOR INTERESTS IN SHARES

1. Name of company
Amey plc

2. Name of shareholder having a major interest
Meditor Capital Management Limited

3. Please state whether notification indicates that it is in respect of holding
of the shareholder named in 2 above or in respect of a non-beneficial interest
or in the case of an individual holder if it is a holding of that person's
spouse or children under the age of 18
Notification in respect of 2 above

4. Name of the registered holder(s) and, if more than one holder, the number of
shares held by each of them


The Bank of Bermuda Ltd - 1,901,000 shares

The Bank of New York - 1,585,000 shares

Morstan Nominees Ltd - 27,849,000 shares


5. Number of shares / amount of stock acquired
Not stated

6. Percentage of issued class
n/a

7. Number of shares / amount of stock disposed
Not stated

8. Percentage of issued class
n/a

9. Class of security
Ordinary shares of 1p

10. Date of transaction
Not stated

11. Date company informed
24 January 2003

12. Total holding following this notification
31,335,000

13. Total percentage holding of issued class following this notification
12.40%

14. Any additional information
Of the holding by Morstan Nominees Ltd, 18,480,000 shares are beneficially owned
by the Meditor European Master Fund Ltd, of 6 Front Street, Hamilton, Bermuda.
So far as we (Meditor Capital Management Limited) are aware, none of our other
clients owns more than 3% of the voting shares of the Company.

15. Name of contact and telephone number for queries
Timothy Maw

Company Secretarial Administrator

020 7659 1935

16. Name and signature of authorised company official responsible for making
this notification
Timothy Maw

Company Secretarial Administrator

020 7659 1935

Date of notification
24 January 2003

[miamisteve] 25/1/2003 00:14

meditor have reduced their holding by 2.3%. Must be the 5.8m.

[miamisteve] 24/1/2003 19:46

I noticed that meditor also have reduced their holding in MyTravel, which still hasn't rebounded. Only guessing but perhaps with falling markets the sales were out of necessity, not strategy. This may become clearer with their actions over the next couple of weeks.

The 5.8m sale went to Salomon, who having taken the block at below market price dumped 2m+ on the market which prompted yesterdays fall. If ,as appears, they had taken a trading position there could be some resistance on the bid at the 28p mark as they try to off load the rest of the block.

The 100,000 shares acquired by Stirling(registered as sell 28.5p) appears to have been purchased today after the Meditor disclosure. This suggests that tito's strategy is unaffected by meditors decision to sell and that they aren't in contact/conspiracy. If they were why wasn't the 5.8m shares offered to Stirling?

Yes, it's getting more confusing.

[sunbeam100] 24/1/2003 11:55

Could someone please explain why the RNS is a 'rule 8' as opposed to 'holdings in company' if Salomon Brothers UK Equity ltd have bought all the above shares.

[alisonm] 24/1/2003 11:32

Another announcement made:-


RNS Number:5880G
Salomon Brothers UK Equity Ltd
24 January 2003




FORM 8.3



Lodge with Company Announcements Office (which will publicise and copy to the
Panel). Use separate form for each class of securities in which dealings have
been made.



Date of disclosure: 24 January 2003



DISCLOSURE UNDER RULES 8.1(a), 8.1(b)(i) AND 8.3 OF THE CITY CODE ON TAKEOVERS
AND MERGERS





Date of dealing: 23 January 2003

Dealing in: Amey Plc



(1) Class of securities. Ordinary shares:


(2) Amount bought Amount sold Price per unit GBP
73,800 0.2878

25,000 0.2803

350,000 0.2800

450,000 0.2900

2,000,000 0.2825

200,000 0.2800

100,000 0.2800

150,000 0.2800

[alisonm] 24/1/2003 00:51

RNS Number:5385G
Deutsche Bank AG London
23 January 2003

EMM DISCLOSURE

FORM 38.5 (SUMMARY)

Lodge with a RIS and the Takeover Panel. Use a separate form for each class of
securities in which dealings have been made.



CONNECTED EXEMPT MARKET- MAKERS:
DISCLOSURE UNDER RULE 38.5 OF THE CITY CODE ON TAKEOVERS AND MERGERS



Name of EMM Deutsche Bank AG London




Date of disclosure 23/01/03




Contact name Kelly-Jade Ledwich




Telephone number 0207 545 7804

Sorry should have posted this as well its in relation to the following company and Amey:-


Please see attached disclosure of dealings under Rule 38.5 in the securities
of the following companies:

Waste Recycling Group plc

Amey plc