Forth Ports Share Discussion Threads

[abcd1234] 15/6/2006 09:46

Absolutely Haydock!
Good to see you here Gateside, think we were both on baa together

Haydock, Re Qld
Agreed, Patrick is storming ahead in the south, but nrth qld has facilities shortage
Was there earlier and due back in 4/5 mths

Re Forth, what sort of timescales do folks envisage??

[haydock] 15/6/2006 09:04

One day later & the battle is now on.
Goldman has upped the bid 10% already, and 111 & the Australians are poised to bid, having already told the shareholders to do nowt!!!!
Now the best is always left until the last & the last two port groups have had a contested battle.
Some big corporate egos will be on the line this time, so what about third time lucky/ desperate.
Hopefully more money than sense, when they get to Forth, and go auction crazy.
It may happen, it does in the real world.

All positive news whatever the global market, we are not producing enough commodities, and ports to service the ships are even scarcer.
For example the Queensland backlog of coal to China, due to lack of port capacity.

[gateside] 15/6/2006 08:28

And also the airports are gone with the takeover of BAA

Just Forth Ports left!

[alan russell] 15/6/2006 06:53

Also Clydeport and P&O. I held Clydeport, when it was taken over I looked around and figure Forth was as good a home as any for the proceeds. Don't know where the money could go if Forth also goes!

[ed 123] 14/6/2006 23:19

Yes, you're right. Confirmation released that there's competition for ABP. Will the unlucky party later turn its attention to Forth Ports? Forth has good assets to sell and good income flow to borrow against.

Mersey gone, PDP gone, ABP soon will be gone, Forth next?

[abcd1234] 14/6/2006 09:01

yes, very good for fpt,...
as they are unlikely to succeed with ABP, and increasing focus will bear on FPT.

I may have to increase my holding ;O)

[haydock] 14/6/2006 08:57

Bloomberg confirming that German bank is buying very heavily AB ports at 10% above the bid.
Contested bid in prospect therefore , brilliant for FPT.

[alan russell] 14/6/2006 08:29

Mmmmmm. My cunning plan to patiently wait for an opportunity to buy more shares in the low £16's isn't looking too smart. Today's bid for ABP merely serves to underline the attractiveness of these business's and assets. Some of the ABP money is bound to find its way to FPT in due course. Ho-hum - to buy or not too buy, that is the question.

[abcd1234] 14/6/2006 08:27

Forth will get more attention now as said above

Goldman S consortium just confirmed agreed take out of ABP at 810 this morning

... and the market is still hot for ABP with it currently at 835p (some 3% above what's just been offered and accepted)

[haydock] 12/6/2006 08:42

As we all know Forth will be the next step on the ladder, good for the sp, it will keep an element of froth, but the fundamentals are so interesting, with future forward developments that the longer term should be a steady ride anyway.
This share price has done well in a difficult period.
If the bid happens this will move up for a while,but the froth will stay one way or the other, its a hot m&a area.

[highland terrier] 11/6/2006 17:26

Associated British P AB Ports to receive firm Goldman Sachs offer in next few days - report

LONDON (AFX) - Associated British Ports Holdings PLC will receive a firm
takeover offer of 2.5 bln stg from a consortium lead by US investment bank
Goldman Sachs Inc in the next few days, The Sunday Telegraph reported, citing an
executive close to the talks.
The 810 pence per share offer is expected to be recommended by the board,
the paper said.
Goldman at the end of May raised its indicative offer from 730 pence.
The bank is keen for the deal to be successful after losing out in the
battle for airports owner BAA PLC last week, the Telegraph claimed.
[e-mail]
ab/cml

[alan russell] 30/5/2006 23:45

Not much time may need to be bided! On a five year view anything in the low £16's is very good value.

[ed 123] 29/5/2006 22:51

Tax tail wagging the investment dog, eh?

You're not alone!

[alan russell] 28/5/2006 17:39

Well done Ed. I decided to top up when the price fell to near £16 however I wanted to do so in my ISA, the managers insisted I complete and post a form to them and by the time I did so the price had bounced. My fault, when the delay became apparent I should have just bought normally rather than bothering about the ISA. Yet again trying to be clever tax wise has cost me money! This is one lesson I never seem to learn.

I find it hard to believe that the price will see £16 again. Another dip into the mid £16's is perfectly likely so I will bide my time (cue the bid!).

[ed 123] 25/5/2006 10:53

Topped up my Forth Ports holding during the recent dip. It looks very likely that the ABP board will recommend accepting the indicative offer. Just waiting for due diligence completion. UK ports businesses remain attractive despite the stockmarket fall.

[highland terrier] 12/5/2006 12:45

Associated British P Goldman Sachs presses ahead with AB Ports bid - report

LONDON (AFX) - Goldman Sachs is putting the final touches to a bid for
Associated British Ports Holdings PLC, according to the Daily Mail.
The report, which cites city sources, said the US investment bank has made
another tentative offer of 775 pence per share for AB Ports, after an initial
bid of 730 pence was dismissed out of hand.
However, AB Ports is holding out for around 800 pence, valuing the group at
2.4 bln stg, a source close to the company told the Mail.
[e-mail]
sd/jc

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If this goes ahead as seems likely Forth Ports shares will soon reach £19 again.

[ed 123] 03/5/2006 20:15

Solid statement, solid stock, buy and hold, sleep easy, IMO.

[gateside] 03/5/2006 11:03

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING STATEMENT



At today's Annual General Meeting, Christopher Collins, Chairman of Forth Ports
PLC, commented:

'Trading to date has been satisfactory. As in prior years, we expect to see
improved levels of activity in the second half.

'We have recently secured a two year contract with Scottish Power to import coal
through Leith.

'We have an active pipeline of projects in our Ports business, these include:

• new distribution park at Grangemouth; and

• preparation of plans for a new deep water cruise liner terminal at Leith in
partnership with City of Edinburgh Council and Scottish Enterprise. This has
the potential to generate £40m annually of economic benefit to the City.

'Tilbury is well placed to take advantage of opportunities arising from the
supply of materials for the 2012 Olympic Games and the Thames Gateway.

'Terry Smith retired as a Director of the Company today after 16 years of
service. The Board is extremely grateful to him for his major contribution to
the Company.

'The Board is confident of another year of progress.'

[gateside] 03/5/2006 09:52

AGM today... expecting a statement at 11am

[alan russell] 22/4/2006 08:32

Brief mention in this weeks IC by Simon Thompson. Theme is the consolidation (not quite the right word) in ports sector and ABP and FPT as the two left standing. He prefers FPT as (1) if the bid for ABP is successful hot money released will switch to FPT and (2) he reckons FPT isn't expensive anyway bid or not. He puts a value of £600M on the ports business (using recent sector take-out multiples - questionable if interest rates rise), DTZ's valuation of property of £285M "as is" and £385 to reflect the potential to the group plus £137M of investment properties. A total of £1122M using the higher DTZ valuation and £1022M using the lower. The present market cap is about £830M and Mr. Thompson's enterprise valuation ( net debt + cap) estimation is £985M.

One person's view - might be right, might be wrong.

[ed 123] 12/4/2006 17:10

I sold some at the opening this morning. It seemed a good time for me to book some profits for the current tax year and raise a bit of cash too. Retaining a holding for longer term.

[markth] 12/4/2006 11:56

Just down in line with the market I reckon.

Sold at 1843 yesterday myself. Not because I think FPT is headed down, just that the market is due a correction and I wanted to sell some holdings so as to take profits and be in cash as much as possible.

[siskinbird] 12/4/2006 11:45

Yes, but we're still sinking - ouch! Is there some news from elsewhere in the sector I wonder?

[gateside] 12/4/2006 11:06

Thank you siskinbird.

I had the Ex-div date down as next Wednesday. My notes were wrong, you are correct it is today.

Makes me feel a little more comfortable about the drop.

[siskinbird] 12/4/2006 11:03

I think we went ex-divi today, which would account for about 28p of the fall.