British Energy Share Discussion Threads

[bgyered] 21/12/2004 21:26

snogger - I recently found out that HMG held ALL of the BGY bonds as of Dec 1999, and Hansard records that they were going to sell them some time in 2000. Despite my best attempts on Google I can find no evidence that this was done.

I think I'm going to chase my MP again to see exactly what happened to the BGY bonds - wonder if HMG somehow retained an interest after selling them? Would explain why the bondholders have been able to steal our investment so easily.

[labcake] 20/12/2004 13:37

If anyone is interested there is also a report on the Prospect website:

[jlrussell] 20/12/2004 13:10

its unbelievable, really...

[labcake] 20/12/2004 13:08

Its not only shareholders this bunch of greedy incompetents (aka BE board) are treating badly. Some quotes from my union newspaper below:

"Prospect has condemned British Energys shabby treatment of its staff after it reneged on pension and redundancy commitments in the same week that details of "fat cat" bonus arrangements for directors were revealed"

"Members affected have indicated that they are prepared to take industrial action"

The group BE are treating in this shabby way are engineers and scientists they want to move from East Kilbride to Gloucester. These are the very people that provide the support and expertise to keep the power stations running (eg: making "safety cases" when the NII close plant). These are not the sort of skills that are readily replaced or bought in from outside.

So the board show their commitment to improving plant reliability by upsetting and cutting down on the very people who could achieve it.

[martin036] 20/12/2004 12:53

British Energy PLC
20 December 2004



20 December 2004



British Energy plc



Return to service of Heysham 1 and Hartlepool



The Company announces that one unit at each of Heysham 1 and Hartlepool has
returned to service and it is expected the remaining units will return to
service shortly.

[bgyered] 16/12/2004 21:08

British Energy plc


15 December 2004


Posting of a document comprising supplementary listing particulars and a
supplementary prospectus


British Energy plc ("British Energy") announces that it has today posted a
document comprising supplementary listing particulars and a supplementary
prospectus in respect of British Energy Group plc and British Energy Holdings
plc (the "Document") to British Energy Shareholders, RBS and Bondholders in
relation to the proposed restructuring of the British Energy Group that was
announced on 1 October 2003.


The Document is required as a result of the announcement on 10 December 2004 of
the results of British Energy for the second quarter and first half ended 30
September 2004 and is supplementary to, and should be read in conjunction with,
the document comprising listing particulars and a prospectus dated 29 November
2004 (together the "Prospectus") which has been sent to British Energy
Shareholders, RBS and Bondholders.


The Document comprises: (i) supplementary listing particulars in relation to the
issue of New Shares and Warrants of British Energy Group plc pursuant to the
Schemes and other arrangements with Creditors; (ii) a supplementary prospectus
in relation to the issue of Warrants of British Energy Group plc pursuant to the
Disposal; and (iii) supplementary listing particulars in relation to the issue
of New Bonds of British Energy Holdings plc.


Unless otherwise stated, terms not defined in this announcement have the
meanings given to them in the Prospectus.


The implementation of the Restructuring remains subject to the satisfaction of a
number of important conditions. A summary of the conditions and of the
Restructuring is set out in Part VI of the Prospectus: Further information
relating to the Restructuring.


Shareholders with any questions relating to the proposals or the completion and
return of the Form(s) of Proxy or Form(s) of Election should contact the
helpline on freephone 0800-035-0844 (or, if calling from outside the UK, on: +44
(0) 1295-225-285 (calls charged at applicable rates)), Monday to Friday 9.00
a.m. to 5.00 p.m. (UK time) or log on to the British Energy Restructuring
website, www.britishenergyuk.info. The helpline cannot provide advice on the
merits or otherwise of the matters described in this announcement, nor give any
financial advice.

[hightech] 15/12/2004 21:52

Can someone estimate the price based on bond's closing price?

[bgyered] 15/12/2004 21:42

hollowtree - Polygon were made to toe the BGY line because BGY's legal hitmen made it clear to Polygon that they would force them to make public all of their secret dealings in BGY bonds & shares if they took them on in the UK courts. Whatever secrets Polygon have, they must certainly have been well worth keeping, because they not only agreed to vote against their own resolutions at the October EGM - they even accepted if they sold their BGY shares they would require the buyer to agree not to vote against/oppose any of the restructuring as a condition of purchase.

If you look at p359 of the deforestation document, you'll see that Polygon no longer held 3% or over of BGY shares as of 22 Nov, so I my guess is they were probably told to sell on their shares to a "safe hands" buyer ie: one of the banks committed to seeing the restructuring through.

So - dirty deeds - but par for the course in terms of contemptuous treatment of shareholders. I live in hope to see the whole BGY fiasco star in a major enquiry, but this is not going to happen unless we see a change of Govt in the spring. The current govt has its own snout far too deep in the BGY trough to expect any shareholder justice from them. Never forget that this is the crew that complained bitterly in 1994 that BGY was being privatised too cheaply for the benefit of all of those rich capitalist investors.

[hollowtree] 15/12/2004 16:20

pgaffney - Not heard a sausage, but suspect that's because mine are held in a Nominee Account.

[pgaffney] 15/12/2004 15:33

Had your coutesy phone call from British Energy yet? I`ve had two the poor lady ended up apologising profusly for the actions of the board.

[hollowtree] 15/12/2004 13:03

Polygon were keen to engage the support, and gained it, of retail during their action to force the hand of the board. They withdrew without any real explanation at the time, unless I mised it. Assuming they still hold, will they now be electing for the Members scheme and for the Shares & Warrants deal - anyone from Polygon care to comment ? Or, was it part of the deal when withdrawing their action, to remain silent. If so, will they at least confirm that they did agree to be silent (exercise no further influence). It's otherwise quite odd that they made such a noise and then suddenly became very compliant and 'disappeared'.

[hollowtree] 15/12/2004 10:54

Martin036 and BGYered - Many thanks

[bgyered] 15/12/2004 00:14

Check ldrcvem's post 8250. He worked out a rough price based on the current bond price, taking the value of the warrants into account.

If you do the calc on the current bond price (last I heard 235p) you get a current share price of about 12.6p, and a relisting share price of £2.21 ( based on BGY valuation of £1.55bn and same 700M shares issued). Obviously any further consolidation of the shares will pro-rata this price.

So if you hold 10,000 now, at 1 for 50, that's 200 new shares at £2.21 = £442 worth, and 2.1 warrants for each of those = 420 warrants at £1.23 (the simplistic warrant valuation - "relisting share price - subscription price" - ie: £2.21 - £0.98 (see p434 - Subscription Price, of the deforestation document from BGY) = £517 worth, total £959 (equivalent to a "current" share price of 9.6p).

Differences are due to ldrcvem's calc using 2.5% dilution when the actual terms now on offer seem to be 2.0% (1 for 50). Also he had warrants based on 5% of the capital valuation after deducting £550M, whereas the announced terms are 2.1 warrants per new share for a 98p subscription price.

Thes are just my rough calcs based on ldrcvem's original, offered for comment - all IMHO and please DYOR.

[martin036] 14/12/2004 20:50

Hopefully at 50 x the midprice they de-listed, or am I being too optimistic?
ie £7.12p

[hollowtree] 14/12/2004 17:08

Anyone care to have a stab at what price the shares might relist at, and what the warrants will be valued when trading re-commences Jan 17 ? I assume they will be freshly valued, or do they re-appear as consolidated, but fundamentally at the price they closed at when delisted.

[pc4900074200] 13/12/2004 16:38

Master

Signed all my forms today.

Taking the 1 for 50 and the 2.1 warrants per share.

Warrants come with the new share's, free.

pc

Edit: would have thought we will have to pay later.

[master rsi] 13/12/2004 16:27

Still no one posted what shareholders should tick if want to keep shares and add Warrants ?

Are warrants free or need to pay extra for them ?

[pc4900074200] 11/12/2004 12:46

This is $. 10-12-2004.

Tougher times at British Energy.
Guy Dresser.

STRUGGLING nuclear power generator British Energy alarmed the City again today with a steep rise in operating losses and an admission that the second half of the year will be challenging.

Power firm British Energy has had a tough time. It expects 2005 to be equally difficult.

The group, which produces about 20% of the UK's electricity, blamed increased pension costs and an inability to take advantage of electricity price rises and higher depreciation charges for problems in the six months to the end of September.

Group losses after tax and one-off items came in at £262m against £79m last time.

British Energy added that the rest of 2004-2005 would be difficult due to a number of unexpected shutdowns at its plants since mid-March and delays in reopening power stations at Hartlepool and Heysham.

The company had already contracted to sell much of its planned nuclear output for the current financial year in 2003 and so did not benefit fully from recent electricity price rises.

British Energy nearly collapsed two years ago after weak power prices forced its high-cost operations towards insolvency. The company de-listed its shares in October in a move to fend off shareholders who stand to lose while creditors gain from a rescue plan for the company.

Creditors agreed a deal last year with the company and the Government, giving them 92.5% of undiluted equity in return for cancelling more than £1.3bn debt.

Last month, British Energy pushed back the deadline for its restructuring by three months to March 2005 to give it more time to battle potential objections to the plan.

pc

[retired captain] 10/12/2004 21:11

Hate to say it - but maybe Montague knew things we non-Institutional Shareholders
didn't???????????????????????????
RC

[kordeiv] 10/12/2004 20:46

A loss for indebted nuclear power firm British Energy (LSE: BGY.L - news) has ballooned to £234m for its first half. The company is surviving on a loan from the Government - said its financial and trading prospects remained "challenging".The country's biggest nuclear power producer, providing about one-fifth of the UK's electricity, said the loss compared with a £60m los for the same time last year.

It had been hit by a number of unplanned stoppages and delays to the return of services at two of its plants.

It has also made its deals for this year during last year, so had not benefited fully from the rise in electricity prices, it added.

"These factors have had a significant adverse impact on our profitability and cash flow", BE said.

Increased pension costs and an increased depreciation charge had also affected it, the company said.

British Energy nearly collapsed two years ago after its high-cost operations were forced towards insolvency.



AND FROM FT.COM


British Energy (LSE: BGY.L - news) , the nuclear generator, said its first-half losse had tripled following the unexpected closure of two nuclear power plants.

A structural inspection unexpectedly led to the shutdown of two nuclear stations in Hartlepool and Heynsham, which were forced to stop generating electricity as safety inspections and modifications were carried out, the company said.

The embattled company, which produces a fifth of the UK's electricity but is teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, reported an interim pre-tax loss of £262m, compared to a loss of £60m for the same period a year ago.

Higher electricity prices during the interim period did not improve results as British Energy had already forward sold most of its planned nuclear output for the current financial year.

Indeed, the company actually had to buy back power to meet its obligations, it said.

In order to put its rescue plan in place, British Energy delisted its shares in October.

Under the rescue terms, shareholders will be left owning just 2.5 per cent of the company with warrants to acquire another 5 per cent.

Creditors, following a debt-for-equity swap, will own the rest of the group.

[hightech] 09/12/2004 23:37

I wounder who is deciding about the future of the company under the name of "the company". It's clear that "the company" doesn't like it's shareholders.
"the company" is not human is it. Who is it?

When is EGM?