Independent News & Media Share Discussion Threads

[lbo] 15/3/2009 17:16

Money – and the need to raise it amid the worsening economic climate – lies at the heart of today's dramatic shakeup at Independent News & Media.

The owner of the Independent and Independent on Sunday is facing a €200m (£184m) bond repayment in May and having the company's two largest shareholders - chief executive Sir Anthony O'Reilly and mobile phone entrepreneur Denis O'Brien - at loggerheads threatened to derail the refinancing of that loan.

The company's debt pile, which tops €1.3bn, also includes bank debt of €590m in two facilities that need to be renegotiated by next year.

[crosswire] 15/3/2009 13:41

Reckon these will double from current sp!!!

[crosswire] 14/3/2009 06:27

Analyst Consensus 12 Month Target Price

The 6 analysts offering 12 month price targets for Independent News & Media (IPD:ISE) have a median target of 1.55, with a high estimate of 3.85 and a low estimate of 0.30. The median estimate represents a 811.76% increase from the last price of 0.17.

[crosswire] 14/3/2009 06:25

O'Reilly bows out at Independent

By Ben Fenton in London

Published: March 14 2009 02:00

An era in Irish business ended yesterday when Sir Anthony O'Reilly ceded control of struggling Independent News and Media to his son Gavin, and Denis O'Brien, his long-time business adversary, took a firm grip on its board.

The changes in management and board structure prompted immediate speculation about the future of the London-based Independent newspapers, which Mr O'Brien has previously and vainly lobbied Sir Anthony to close or sell.

But the Financial Times was told that Mr O'Brien had softened his views on the group and had an open mind on its future, although he had yet to see detailed financial projections.

A person with knowledge of his thinking said: "If it [the Independent group] can be saved, we will save it."

Mr O'Brien has nominated three non-executive directors to a radically changed board, and the trio of Paul Connolly, Lucy Gaffney and Leslie Buckley will begin detailed work with INM next week.

The share price of INM rose 6.8 cents or 66.67 per cent to 17 cents on news that Sir Anthony, who became principal shareholder of INM in 1973, was to become "president emeritus" and step down as chief executive on May 7, his 73rd birthday.

His son becomes chief executive designate with immediate effect. Sir Anthony said he hoped a new board, slimmed from 17 to 10, would strengthen the company for challenges ahead.

Analysts said the leap in the share price reflected more than Sir Anthony relaxing control of INM.

Paul Gooden, an analyst at house broker RBS, said: "In my view, the rally in the share price is not due to a change in the CEO, it's that the company said negotiations on its bond refinancing [due in May] are moving in the right direction."

Another analyst, who asked not to be named, added that Gavin O'Reilly, had been "de facto running" INM for several years.

"It's a sensible step for Tony O'Reilly. It could have been more difficult for him to make the changes needed at INM, and there is a love-in effect with Denis O'Brien that should not be underestimated."

The presence of Mr O'Brien, the 50-year-old telecoms magnate that Forbes magazine last week anointed the richest man in Ireland, loomed over INM's formal announcement yesterday.

Since January 2006, he has built a stake in the company from 5 to about 26 per cent, making him the second largest shareholder after Sir Anthony with 28.1 per cent.

He was highly critical of the way in which the O'Reillys ran INM, commissioning a corporate governance report in 2007 that spoke of a "crony" board of directors.

Yesterday, Gavin O'Reilly told the FT that differences with Mr O'Brien were "a thing of the past".

"We wanted to articulate a unified front today in this announcement, but the real work of disposals and refinancing and other capital market alternatives has been going on and, well, we are right in the middle of it."

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009

[lbo] 13/3/2009 14:06

Debt deadline looms for Indo Group

[james t kirk] 13/3/2009 09:07

If you try and get a quote off Selftrade its quoting with the wrong decimal point so 14.3p to buy rather than 0.143p?

[hybrasil] 13/3/2009 07:57

So now that Sir Anthony is no longer a billionaire (according to Forbes) they have buried the hatchet and put O'Briens reps on the board. They have also cut the board to 10.
The MD however is still an O'Reilly. I am surprised to see that Denis agreed with this.

However they have all lost so much it probably makes sense to agree.

The market should react positively

[lbo] 09/3/2009 23:39

Independent granted banks charge over three key titles

[lbo] 04/3/2009 19:10

Tony O'Reilly tried to persuade Rupert Murdoch's media company, News Corporation, to take a stake in his ailing Independent News & Media in autumn last year, according to a story in News Corp's newspaper, the Wall Street Journal.

Quoting "a person familiar with the matter", the paper claims that O'Reilly wanted News Corp to take a 3% or 4% stake. But "Murdoch nixed the idea." An O'Reilly spokesman denied the approach.

That's the biggest revelation in a lengthy WSJ analysis of O'Reilly's current business dramas, Irish mogul's empire totters as slump tames Celtic tiger. Aside from INM, it also involves Waterford Wedgwood, the maker of fine china and crystal that's now in receivership.

INM's market value has plunged from £760m to £36m in 18 months. Now, with a looming £178m debt payment, the article argues that O'Reilly could be forced into a fire sale of assets, including The Independent.

"His big bets on newspapers, luxury goods and the remaking of Ireland itself made him the richest man in the country", says the article. "Now each of those areas has boomeranged on him."

[lbo] 26/2/2009 16:14

INDEPENDENT NEWS & Media's Sydney-based associate, APN News & Media, yesterday reported a steep decline in profitability for 2008 after experiencing what it described as "the most challenging trading conditions" it has faced since becoming a listed company

[lbo] 26/2/2009 12:56

Trinity Mirror, a UK peer of Independent News & Media, has reported a pretax loss of £73.5m for 2007. This is down from a profit of £21m a year earlier as the company warns it expects the economy to remain difficult and uncertain for 2009. Advertising revenues for the first two months of the year declined 30% on the year, with regionals falling 37% and Nationals falling by 16%. On a positive note, the group did deliver annualised cost savings of £30m, exceeding the company's target of £20m and remains confident of implementing 2009 annualised cost savings of £25m. We recently downgraded IN&M to Neutral from Buy In light of INM's inability to sell APNl. Given the highly leveraged nature of its balance sheet, we need to see further information on asset sales along with the refinancing of its €200m bond due in May before we could become more positive on the stock.

[lbo] 07/2/2009 15:27

Johnston puts its 14 Irish newspapers up for sale

[lbo] 06/2/2009 17:11

Unions representing INM employees in the UK have balloted staff at the Independent and the Independent on Sunday with regard to strike action. In November, management informed staff of its intention to cut headcount by 90, 60 of whom were expected to come from the editorial staff. Subsequently, 50 journalists applied for voluntary redundancy, of which 15 - 17 were refused. To make up the shortfall, management is now looking to make compulsory redundancies and it is this, and the refusal to accept all voluntary redundancy requests, that has prompted the union ballot. That ballot was easily carried and if a resolution is not reached, strike action is planned for Friday the 13th. The news is hardly good for INM, which is already reeling from declining revenue and circulation at its UK titles, which we are currently forecasting will account for 14% of FY09 revenue, though only 2% of operating profit.

[lbo] 05/2/2009 15:12

THE 600 million (£565m) doled out by French president Nicolas Sarkozy in emergency aid to the nation's print media earlier this month has once again thrown the future of the print media into stark relief

[lbo] 02/2/2009 20:18

I suspect the Irish Times is in financial trouble too! They face losses in 2009 of over €13m!

Irish Times staff 'paying the price for paper's commercial calamities'

[lbo] 31/1/2009 11:32

UP TO 400 newsagents around Ireland are expected to boycott selling the Sunday Independent newspaper this weekend as they escalate their row with Independent News Media over a cut in their margin.

[lbo] 27/1/2009 23:38

Sir Anthony O'Reilly open to offers for The Independent newspaper



Sir Anthony O'Reilly effectively put The Independent up for sale yesterday after saying that he was willing to consider offers for his struggling newspaper, which loses about £10 million a year.

The move comes as the Irish former rugby international battles with €1.4 billion (£1.3 billion) of debt and would mark the end of 11 years in which the London-based title has topped his global newspaper group.

[lbo] 27/1/2009 16:31

None!

Irish people losing trust in business


Ireland has the lowest levels of trust in business according to the Edelman trust barometer.

A total of 83 percent of Irish respondents to the survey said they had lost trust in businesses. Japan was second, with 79 percent of respondents having lost trust in business.

In total, the survey of 20 countries found that 62 percent of respondents trust corporations less than they did a year ago.

"It has been a catastrophic year for business, well beyond the evident destruction in shareholder value and need for emergency government funding," said Richard Edelman, president and chief executive of Edelman. "Our survey confirms that it's going to be harder to rebuild our economies because no institution has captured the trust that business has lost."

[bongo bwana] 26/1/2009 10:46

What English based assets could INM dispose of to raise cash to redeem the 5.75% Bond due for repayment in the near future?

[hybrasil] 26/1/2009 10:34

They post a trading update to say they have pulled the dividend, that the sale of apn hasnt gone through, that they have to raise €200m etc and the share price goes up?

[hybrasil] 23/1/2009 15:01

Could Sir anthony find it a little difficult to renew his facilities?
Denis O'Brien has now lost his shirt at todays price.

[lbo] 21/1/2009 13:10

Billionaire Helps the New York Times

Through the Banco Inbursa and Inmobiliaria Carso, billionaire Carlos Slim Helú will be increasing his stake in the New York Times Company. According to Forbes, Mr. Slim is the second wealthiest individual in the world following Warren Buffett. This deal, worth $250 million, will give him six-year notes with a 14 percent interest rate and special warrants allowing for conversion to common stock. 11 percent of this interest would be paid with cash, while the remaining 3 percent would be paid with additional bonds. What are other details of this event? In addition, why would the media giant agree to this kind of deal?


Stock Analysis
Before Mr. Slim approached the New York Times, he had a 6.9 percent stake in the publishing giant. His ownership interest would reach 17 percent if the special warrants are exercised. The Ochs-Sulzberger family would be the only other shareholder with a larger stake (19 percent). It is also unclear about what his intentions are. A battle for the company seems unlikely though. The Ochs-Sulzberger family has a special class of shares which provides them with controlling interest. Also, this deal does not give Mr. Slim voting rights or representation on the board of directors. Lastly, similar investments have been on the stocks of Sak's Fifth Avenue (SKS: Charts, News, Offers) and Citigroup (C: Charts, News, Offers).

The New York Times agreed to this deal because they need more money. $46 million in cash on-hand will not cover the loan expiring on May 2009. That loan amounts to $400 million and is the first payable due on a two-part revolving credit facility. A second $400 million will be due in the near future. This follows the report that advertising revenue fell 21 percent from November 2007. Acknowledging this, countermeasures are being taken in order to combat a bleak situation. They have begun allowing ads on the front page of their newspapers, and they are selling their stake in the Boston Red Sox. If necessary, they are considering the sale of their Manhattan building, and then leasing it back in order to save on costs. These strategies are probably unsustainable in the long run though as they reduce the company's their assets. However, by pushing costs into the future, they are betting on a better future economy that may help the company turn around.

Rival competitor, the Tribune Company, recently filed for bankruptcy protection. To say that the economic conditions are the sole reason for publisher failures would be incorrect. Both the Tribune and the New York Times have been struggling to compete with the internet for a while now. While they have online ads on their sites, those are decreasing as companies cut back on spending.

The next earnings release is scheduled for January 28. Given the turn of events, it is probably not going to be a positive announcement either. Despite negative signs, Mr. Slim is showing confidence that they can remain a success. He may be on to something. Management is demonstrating their prowess for running the company, competitors are struggling, and moreover, a new US president brings new hope that something will change and spark the economy once more. On the other hand, this move may end up like Ricardo Salinas Pliego's, a wealthy Mexican investor who purchased shares of Circuit City (CC: Charts, News, Offers) in only to come out see it liquidate its assets come 2009