Independent News & Media Share Discussion Threads

[lbo] 16/12/2009 21:09

Don't count your chickens yet!

"dealings will commence in the Underwriting Shares at 8.00 a.m. on 17 December 2009"

[keelingr] 16/12/2009 08:01

"Huge majority of INM investors subscribe to rights issue"

[keelingr] 16/12/2009 07:58

"Independent News & Media was one of the best performers yesterday on very strong volumes, following the announcement that 97 per cent of the total number of new ordinary shares offered in the recent rights issue had been taken up. It gained 11 per cent on the day."

[lbo] 15/12/2009 14:11

In for a penny then in for a pound or as Denis would say in for half a billion loss then a few million more is loose change! :0

[mountpleasant] 15/12/2009 13:42

This is what happens when your ego gets in the way of commom sense.

[keelingr] 15/12/2009 13:25

Even Denis threw a few more quid at them!

"Denis O'Brien, the owner of around 14% of the shares and a longstanding critic of the company's strategy, was among those taking up their rights."

[lbo] 15/12/2009 13:09

Pump and dump time!

"dealings will commence in the Underwriting Shares at 8.00 a.m. on 17 December 2009"

[lbo] 13/12/2009 21:23

The fire sales continue! INM shareholders will be left with nothing as they try and pay off the remaining debts of €900m.


INDEPENDENT News & Media (INM) isrumoured to be strongly considering the sale of its 32.2% stake in Australian media group APN.

[lbo] 12/12/2009 13:54

In a report out yesterday, Standard Bank said that Ireland -- along with Greece -- was among several countries in an "intolerable" economic situation that might lead to bailouts or even an exit from the euro area by the end of next year.

"Countries like Ireland and Greece may not be able to grow out of the current crisis," said Steve Barrow, head of Group of 10 foreign-exchange strategy at the bank in London.

"With interest-rate cuts, exchange-rate depreciation and significant fiscal support all off-limits for these countries, bailouts or even pullouts from EMU may happen next year."

In his report, Mr Barrow had said the absence of a mechanism to permit so-called fiscal transfers within the 16-nation eurozone might undermine the exchange-rate system.

Concern some nations will need to be rescued may drive the premium investors demand to hold 10-year Greek debt instead of benchmark German bunds to 400 basis points next year, from 214 basis points today, and the Irish premium may also jump, he said.

"The widening difference in yield, or spread, between Greek and Irish bonds and German securities may accelerate, increasing the debt burden for these countries," Mr Barrow wrote in the report.

The Irish-German 10-year spread may rise to 300 basis points next year, from about 170 basis points, he said. The spread averaged about 43 basis points in the past five years, with the Greek-German average at 67 basis points in the period.

"It can, in many ways, be a more destructive line of attack for the market than currency pressure," Mr Barrow wrote

[mcsean2164] 11/12/2009 17:33

Well LBO, I'd say that depends on whether or not they could find a buyer.

In any case "they would not all get out at a profit" is different to "some say they will be even lucky to get their money back at the moment."

But that's nit picking and who really cares. I was hoping to get in and out quick with a nice profit...

[lbo] 10/12/2009 14:14

"some say" is what I said!

And yes if all of all them tried to get their money back now are you honestly trying to tell us they would not be "lucky to get their money back at the moment"

It was shares or nothing for some debtholders and if they all tried to sell their shares now then they would not all get out at a profit.

LOL

[keelingr] 10/12/2009 13:47

I think you will find LBO that these are your words "The debtholders will end up owning everything and some say they will be even lucky to get their money back at the moment"

[lbo] 10/12/2009 13:19

I never said some bondholders did not do well as we were talking about the equity holders? But I would question your sums that all bondholders have "doubled their money already"! The volumes of trades in the bonds and the shares would also question how well they have done and what price would be paid if they looked to bank the paper profit. Lets wait and see what happens with all those 5c rights shares when they are free to sell! Dolmen are good at the theory but the actual implementation of the theory is and was practically hard to do due to lack of liquidity.

[mcsean2164] 10/12/2009 11:18

Contrary to LBO's statements the bondholders did extraordinarily well.

Debt to equity at 5c, they've practically doubled their money already. As I said before, if I had a spare €100k as Dolmen stockbrokers stated it would have been a sweet deal.

[lbo] 10/12/2009 09:42

If this Government knew the meaning of the word fair, it would impose a €1m charge for retaining their Irish passports on wealthy tax 'exiles' with homes, wives and sometimes children attending school here.

It would not make such a feeble effort to hold to account individuals who spend great chunks of time in Ireland, occasionally emerging from their gilded palaces to defend the Seanie FitzPatricks of this world.

I'm talking about you, Denis O'Brien. The new passport levy of €200,000 is chickenfeed to a man who pocketed a quarter of a billion euro tax-free from the sale of Esat Digifone.

[lbo] 09/12/2009 18:30

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[keelingr] 09/12/2009 13:50

INM do not need to totally eliminate the debt LBO. In case you haven't noticed, there is an advantage to having debt on the balance sheet, albeit an appropriate amount. Currently INM have too much relative to operating profits. In c. 2 years time, they will have reduced the debt to an appropriate level. In addition EUR460m of the EUR950m is non-recourse.

Leverage is not necessarily a bad thing. An appropriate level is what is required and that is what INM will achieve in the next 2 years. Equity value will begin to be priced in once the markets are convinced that this is being achieved. I would love to hear some of your "underleveraged businesses that give investors an immediate return"!

[lbo] 09/12/2009 12:46

As opposed to the confidence inspiring performance in the share price! LOL

It will take 5 years just to pay off debt and start to get any return for shareholders. And thats not even allowing for the economic risks over the next five years. And in the opportunity cost of not investing in the many other underleveraged businesses that will give an investor immediate returns for only a slight valuation premium over the "long term" valuation of INM ie 16c per share or EV of €1.1bn and circa 6x operating profits. Fact remains that INM like Digicel and Waterford have some very similar fundamentals ie they were all leveraged up and are now owned by the debt and bondholders not the shareholders!

[keelingr] 09/12/2009 09:23

Waterford....Digicel....have you actually got anything to say about INM? INM makes about EUR200m operating profit per year, waterford was loss-making for years. You are a fanatical pessimist LBO.

[lbo] 09/12/2009 08:26

What has Santa got to do with Christmas! LOL

And as for "balance sheet sorted".....How mant times was that claimed at Waterford Wedgeford?

The debtholders will end up owning everything and some say they will be even lucky to get their money back at the moment

[keelingr] 09/12/2009 07:57

Might I ask what Digicel's refinancing has to do with INM?

So 950m net debt, with c. 200m annual operating profits and the banks have agreed to a 4.5 year extension. 4.5 x 200 = 900m --> balance sheet sorted --> restoration of dividends and equity value.

[lbo] 08/12/2009 17:58

"long-term" being the key word. It will be the grand kids who will make a fortune! LOL

I wonder is there some worry about the Rights issue take up? "Post restructuring the bondholders in the group will retain an equity interest of at least 47.7% and potentially more depending on the acceptance of existing shareholders in relation to the current rights issue" Either way the extend and pretend continues! Even after the restructuring they will still have circa €950m net debt by the end of 2010

O'Brien's Digicel in USD500m funding


Digicel, the Denis O'Brien lead, Caribbean-based mobile telecoms fir, today announced that it has completed a USD500 million corporate bond offering of senior notes due 2017.

The bonds were sold with a coupon of 8.25pc and priced at 98.625 to yield 8.5pc.

The proceeds of the offering will be used to repurchase Digicel's outstanding US$450 million 9.25pc senior notes due 2012 in a tender offer or through redemption, with any balance retained by the company for general corporate purposes.