Independent News & Media Share Discussion Threads

[caveat_emptor] 11/5/2011 09:08

The market does'nt obviously think the Boardroom row
reported by the SRP is in any way serious.

[caveat_emptor] 11/5/2011 09:05

Put up or shut up?

[caveat_emptor] 11/5/2011 05:13

Moneybags says it's all about DOB going to 29.9%,
and selling APN stake to pay down debt......
then presumeably DOB takes it over?

[lbo] 10/5/2011 22:41

Was Mr O'Brien becoming a shareholder in INM a "positivity"? Some would even question if Mr O'Reilly was a "positivity"! The only constant so far has been the destruction in shareholder value.Mr O'Brien has lost about €600 million on his INM shares!



Fresh tensions are emerging around the boardroom table at Independent News & Media following a fractious row between three Denis O'Brien-nominated directors and other board members.

The latest flashpoint came late last month when three non-executive directors on the board questioned whether another non-executive director could technically be deemed to be independent. One source described the meeting as ''incendiary''.

Leslie Buckley, Lucy Gaffney and Paul Connolly questioned the independence of Bengt Braun, former chief executive of a major Scandinavian media group. The three argued that because Braun is a member of the board of WAN-IFRA, a world association of newspaper groups, along with INM chief executive Gavin O'Reilly, he shouldn't be described as independent.

The issue was raised by the three at a board meeting on April 27 which became heated and fractious.

All the other directors, including two other independent directors, backed Braun's independence, and it was pointed out that Gaffney, Buckley and Connolly had accepted Braun's independence last year. There are more than 100 members on the board of WAN.

The three are not recommending that shareholders accept the first resolution at the forthcoming agm next month, which relates to the receipt and adoption of financial statements.

The rest of the board are backing the motion. Buckley, Gaffney and Connolly are supporting Braun's re-election as a director, but object to his classification as independent. Denis O'Brien is expected to use his 21.5 per cent shareholding to vote against the resolution.

A spokesman for INM declined to elaborate on the issue beyond what is stated in the letter from the company chairman to shareholders. It expresses disappointment that the three ''affiliated'' directors have taken this view.

[linney3] 10/5/2011 12:02

LBO - Dermot Desmond takes a 2% stake in INM.Is that not worthy of a post from yourself or do you not recognise positivity?

[lbo] 05/5/2011 10:15

O'Brien pays E 0.45m for Harney libel





O'Brien, who is also a significant shareholder in Independent News and Media and was recently embroiled in controversy over the circumstances in which he won a mobile phone licence, personally approached Harney before the out-of-court settlement.


APN warns on profits and plans restructuring

[lbo] 30/4/2011 12:23

INM chief O'Reilly's pay rose 18% last year

[caveat_emptor] 22/3/2011 08:11

I winder how much the APN stake is worth?

[mcsean2164] 10/3/2011 22:52

oh, the pain of watching this go nowhere....

[caveat_emptor] 10/3/2011 06:56

At least 10p profit on offer here for the daytrader.
20 if he/she was quick on the ball.

Wednesday March 09 2011

CITY research firm Liberum Capital has initiated Independent News and Media as a "buy" and put a target price more than 80pc above the current stock price.

Liberum has slapped a target price of €1.05 on the company's shares, pointing to a lowering of net debt and what it calls an excellent position in its core markets to capitalise on the recovery in the advertising sector.

"In the markets that INM operates in, newspaper advertising has been more resilient in protecting its share than the global picture.

"In Ireland, newspapers' share of the overall advertising market is the same as it was in 1999, at over 50pc; meanwhile South Africa, New Zealand and Australia have all seen less severe declines than the global picture suggests," the report states.

The report goes on to point out that the Irish Independent, has a 25pc share of the morning daily circulation total giving it "a very powerful position in the Irish advertising market".

"In Northern Ireland, the 'Belfast Telegraph' is the market leader in the NI-only newspaper space. Meanwhile, in New Zealand, the 'Herald' similarly dominates the daily newspaper space."

"We do not see leverage as a substantive threat to the company and forecast that the company should meet its target of two-and-a-half times net debt to EBITDA in the medium-term, with leverage continuing to decrease through organic cash generation."

INM closed down just over 2pc yesterday at 60c.

- Peter Flanagan

[caveat_emptor] 08/3/2011 11:17

Reading through analyst reports over the weekend, it would seem
that the most important objectives are to pay down debt, and
introduce an IPAD compatible platform?

Would anyone here agree?

It is interesting to see all the financial pundits turn green on this share
price?

[caveat_emptor] 27/2/2011 10:51

Your IP address is well known by now......

[lbo] 24/2/2011 11:05

Regional ABCs: Dundee Evening Telegraph increases salesBelfast Telegraph the worst performer with double-digit sales declines in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland



it was Independent News & Media's Belfast Telegraph that suffered the biggest fall by some margin – both year on year and period on period – of regional dailies in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. The title shed 11.7% of sales year on year to 58,491, a fall of 13.2% compared with the previous six months.

[lbo] 24/2/2011 11:04

STAFF at the 'Sunday Tribune' have been formally laid off after the newspaper's receiver was unable to secure a buyer for the title by the deadline of the end of the month.

The 'Tribune' went into receivership at the start of February after Independent News & Media said it could no longer subsidise the paper, prompting the board of Tribune Newspapers to request that INM appoint a receiver for the company.

[tenapen] 18/2/2011 15:13

LBO, i would give it up if i was you. The share price is rising and looking good.

I do not hold.

[lbo] 18/2/2011 10:06

ABC figures show drop in sales for Irish newspapers

[lbo] 11/2/2011 14:56

Pressure mounting on media industry



The media industry is facing a further contraction in advertising revenue this year. While online media has experienced double-digit growth, ad revenues are falling in all other forms of media, at an average rate of 5 per cent per annum. In the boom years, advertising investment topped €1 billion.

In 2010, the overall spend on advertising was €749 million, according to one new estimate, and the total for 2011 is probably going to drop to €732 million.*

At least two other regional newspapers are understood to be in acute financial difficulty, hit by a squeeze on advertising and other challenges, such as a 20 per cent rise in the cost of newsprint. All papers have instigated pay cuts, several times in most cases. The Irish Times has recently started another cost-cutting exercise, as has Independent Newspapers.

This is not just an issue for print. In the radio industry, similar fears are being articulated, and there have been numerous efforts to consolidate stations that have shared ownership.

While even the smallest radio stations have managed to hang on so far - though niche Dublin station Phantom FM did so only by means of taking in Communicorp as a new investor - it is feared that 2011 could be the year when the luck runs out for organisations that have been hanging on by a thread until now

[lbo] 03/2/2011 10:32

Linney going on his share purchases (he has averaged down and presume he will throw more at it if he can can over time!) and total capital outlay increasing back to a circa 29% stake at 4x current market cap ie £1.4bn would be valued at 466m. So close to break even if he continues to average down and it continues to rise!

But I know where you are coming from with his stake having been diluted and consolidated (He is circa 21% now valued at circa 70m at current maket cap costing him over 500m) and thus needs a much larger rise for him to get his money back if he does not continue to average down ie more a 700% rise to get to close to break even.

[linney3] 03/2/2011 09:54

LBO "Share would need to rise over 400% to et his money back" - You forgot that the share consolidated - 4000% more like!

[lbo] 02/2/2011 19:18

Tell that to Mr O'Brien and many other shareholders. The share price would need to rise over 400% to get his money back. Puts your supposed "10% today" in perspective!

And in your own words not so long ago!

[mcsean2164] 02/2/2011 10:02

The basic sums since 1 October 2009 show that the company has reduced debt by selling core assets and a debt for equity swap.

It is in a much better position, assuming people still buy newspapers than 2009.

It went up by 10% today. Why not call these rises instead LBO? That's the way to grow an investment and theat's what most people come to ADVFN to do.

[lbo] 01/2/2011 23:01

And the losses still exist. Even less "smart" if you can't realise that and do the basic sums!